What Is Facebook Audience Network and Why Does It Matter

Facebook's Audience Network is expanding Facebook's influence in the marketing business and posing a new threat to Google. Business ThewordBusiness Tech Finance Markets Strategy Retail Advertising Healthcare Intelligence Life ThewordLife Entertainment Culture Travel Food Health Parenting Beauty Style News ThewordNews Politics Military&Defense Sports Opinion Reviews ThewordReviews Tech&Electronics Style Home Kitchen Beauty&PersonalCare Travel Gifts Deals Money All ThewordAll A-Z Advertising Business Careers Coupons DoorDash Walmart Dell Staples UnderArmour Culture Design Entertainment ExecutiveLifestyle Finance Food Health Healthcare Intelligence Latest Life MarketsInsider Media Military&Defense News Opinion People PersonalFinance Politics Premium Retail Reviews Science Sports Strategy Tech Transportation Travel TV BeautyExplorers BestinTown BonkersClosets FestivalFoodies MoviesInsider PopCultureDecoded TheMakingOf TheUltimateList Featured BetterCapitalism CitiesConnected InsiderTV MasterYourMoney NextStop TransformingBusiness About About Advertise Careers ContactUs Corporate CorrectionsPolicy Follow RSS Sitemap Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Subscriptions Intelligence Premium Accounticon Aniconintheshapeofaperson'sheadandshoulders.Itoftenindicatesauserprofile. Login Subscribe Subscribe Newsletters Worldglobe Aniconoftheworldglobe,indicatingdifferentinternationaloptions." US Edition US INTL Asia Deutschland&Österreich Australia España France India Japan México Netherlands Polska SouthAfrica GettheInsiderApp Clickheretolearnmore Aleading-edgeresearchfirmfocusedondigitaltransformation. SeeourResearch FacebookIcon TheletterF. Twittericon Astylizedbirdwithanopenmouth,tweeting. LinkedInicon Theword"in". YouTubeicon Aplaybuttonintheshapeofatelevisionscreen. Instagramicon Astylizedcamera. * Copyright©2021.Allrightsreserved. Registrationonoruseofthissiteconstitutesacceptanceofour TermsofService ,  PrivacyPolicy and CookiesPolicy. Sitemap Disclaimer Accessibility CommercePolicy CAPrivacyRights Coupons MadeinNYC Jobs Stockquotesby finanzen.net Reprints&Permissions Good Subscriber Accountactive since Shortcuts Accounticon Aniconintheshapeofaperson'sheadandshoulders.Itoftenindicatesauserprofile. Profile Newsletters FAQs Subscription Logout USMarketsLoading... H M S Inthenews Closeicon Twocrossedlinesthatforman'X'.Itindicatesawaytocloseaninteraction,ordismissanotification. Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. HOMEPAGE Subscribe Subscribe Home Chevronicon Itindicatesanexpandablesectionormenu,orsometimesprevious/nextnavigationoptions. Tech Howan'oddball'teamcreatedoneofFacebook'sbiggestthreatstoGoogle JillianD'Onfro 2016-02-28T20:57:35Z FacebookIcon TheletterF. Emailicon Anenvelope.Itindicatestheabilitytosendanemail. Twittericon Astylizedbirdwithanopenmouth,tweeting. Twitter LinkedInicon Theword"in". LinkedIn Fliboardicon AstylizedletterF. Flipboard Linkicon Animageofachainlink.Itsymobilizesawebsitelinkurl. CopyLink FacebookCEOMarkZuckerberg. RobertGalbraith/Reuters Facebookisamobileadvertisingmachine.Lastquarter,80%ofcompany's$5.63 billioninadrevenuecamefrominjecting awidevarietyofdifferentadtypesamidthevacationpics,BuzzFeedquizzes,andpoliticalrantsyouseeonyoursmartphoneNewsFeed.  Butthe adsthatFacebookmakesmoneyfromdon'tjustappear onFacebook(or Instagram, andperhaps,soon, itsMessengerchatapp).Thesocialnetworkalsofeeds adstoabunchofotherapps andmobilewebsites throughwhatitcallsthe "FacebookAudienceNetwork." "FAN" letsbrandsextendtheirFacebookadcampaigns offofFacebook,usingthesame targetingdataastheyuseon it.Foradvertisers,thismeansmoreavailableadunitsand lowercosts.For appandmobileweb publishers,it means aFacebook-poweredwaytomakemoney.Forusers,itmeansthatthekindof adsyouseeonFacebook followyouaroundtheweb. Meanwhile, Facebookgetsanother revenuestreamoutsideofitsownedpropertieswith ahugeopportunityforgrowth.InsteadofpumpingyourNewsFeedfullofmoreads,itcanplacethemonabunchofdifferentappsandmobilewebsites.Forexample,Facebook-poweredadsshowupinShazam,TheHuffingtonPost,andtheKardashiangames(Kim'sandKendallandKylie's).Inthatway,theAudienceNetworkisanimportantbetonFacebook's ad-sustainedfuture.(We'llleaveinternetdronesandOculusvirtual-realityheadsetsoutofthisfornow.)AsFacebook'susergrowtheventuallyslows,theAudienceNetworkwillbeabigfactorinallowingittogrowitsrevenuewithoutoverstuffingadsonFacebookandInstagram.Andit'sabigthreatto Google,whichhaslongbeenthedominantplayer."Facebookiscominginanddisruptingthat,"saysBenTregoe,VPofbusinessdevelopmentatautomated-advertisingcompanyNanigans."It'sbecomingarealchallengerformonetizingthird-partypublishers." AlthoughGoogle'sDisplayNetworkstilltrumpsFAN(whichannounceda$1billionrevenuerunrateinQ4,versusGoogle's$4.14billionnetwork-sitesrevenue duringthesametime),FacebookcallstheAudienceNetworkthesecond-biggestmobile-adnetworkandthebiggest native-adnetworkoutthere. Anditlaunchedlessthantwoyearsago. BusinessInsidertalkedtoseveralmembersoftheearlyteamaswellasadvertisingexecBrianBolandtofindoutwhatthatreallymeans,howthenetworkgottowhereitisnow,and itsambitionsforthefuture. A'grassroots'effort   Fromtopleft:TanyaChen,SriramKrishnan,BrettVogel,andBrianBoland Facebook WhenFacebookadexecBrianBolandtalksabouttheAudienceNetwork,hedescribesitasbothinevitableandlikeGod'sgifttoadvertisers. "Foryears,peopleexternallywouldask,'Whyaren'tyoudoinganadnetwork?'"hesays."Weknewdeepdownthatitwasagood,importantthing,butwereallyneededtofigureouthowtodoitinawaythatwouldbringwhatwedidwelltotherestoftheinternet."  Backattheendof2013,Facebookwasjuststartingtohitthetippingpointwhereitmademoreofitsadrevenuefrommobileinsteadofdesktop.Meanwhile,Bolandsays, apppublisherswerestrugglingtofigureouthowtomonetizetheirproductsintheleastdisruptivewaypossible. AndFacebooksaysthatadvertisersittalkedtofeltthat existingmobile-adnetworks(thinkGoogle'sAdMob,Twitter-ownedMoPub,andMillennialMedia)didn'toffer advertisersenoughtargeting. Here'sanexampleofwhat"native"contentmeans. Shazam Solatethatsummer,Facebookstartedtogettheballrolling. "Therewasthistightteam—abunchofoddballsfromacrossthecompany—andwejuststartedbuilding,"FANproductmanagerSriramKrishnantellsBusinessInsider."Itwasareallygrassrootsthing,"addsfoundingproduct-marketingmanagerBrettVogel."Itwasafewofusfromverydifferentpartsofthecompany.Itwasn'tatop-downthingfromZuck,itwasjustthissmallgroupofuscomingtogetherandrunningwithanidea."   Thatideawasgoallmobile,use Facebook'stargetingdata,andputan emphasison"native,"whichjustmeansmakingadsthatblendinwithorganiccontent—likethesponsoredposts youseeontheFacebookapp"CanyouimagineaworldwhereyouseeabanneradontopofyourFacebookapp'sNewsFeed?Itwouldseeminsanetodothat,"aproductmarketingmanager,EvanPiwowarski,says."Publishersdidn'thavetheoptiontonothave thatbeforeAudienceNetwork,andnowtheydo."Theteamstartedtalkingseriouslywithadvertisersandpartnersthatwinterandactuallybuildingtheproductinearly2014.Atinyteamofengineers,ledbyTanyaChen,hustledlikecrazytocreatesomethingthattheycouldstarttestinginthewild.Krishnan recalls someoftheteam'simportantmilestonesthroughquotesheposted inemailblasts. Hesentout"Game'sthesame.Justgotmorefierce"fromtheTVshow"TheWire"whenFacebookofficiallyannouncedAudienceNetworkatitsdevelopersconference,F8,afterseveralmonthsofearlytesting.  "There'snosecretingredient,"hewrote,quotingDisney'sKungFuPanda,astheteam celebratedFAN's stronggrowth. Andmostrecently: "I'mnotthrowingawaymyshot,"fromthehitmusical"Hamilton"whenFacebookopenedAudienceNetworkuptothemobileweb."Oneofthe themesof'Hamilton'isbeinganoutsiderandcominginandseizinganopportunitytomakeadifference,"Krishnansaid.That'swhathefeelsFANisdoing.ThemovetomobilewebputsFANinmoredirectcompetitionwith Google'sAdSenseandhugelybroadensitspotentialnumberofpublishers.(Thereare3.5timesmoresitesthanmobileapps,accordingtoBoland.) Alltold,80%ofthenetwork'sadsarenative,whichdrawseventimes greatercost-per-impressionand20%to40%higherrevenueper userthanitsbannerads.Appscansellsfewerads,butmakemoremoneyoffeachone,sincethey'rehighlytargeted.   Thea-hamomentsFacebooknowhaspublishersofallsizesusingAudienceNetwork, collectively accountingfor6%ofalltimespentinmobileapps.(Ifthatdoesn'tsoundlikemuch, considerthatSnapchatandTwittercombinedaccountfor~3%,accordingtoComscore). Asthenetworkhasgrown,therehave beenalotofimportantbut"tough"tweaksalongtheway,Vogelsays. Likenarrowingtheamountofclickableareaonitsadsafterstudyingheatmaps,forexample. Facebookknewthataccidentalclicksweren'tgoodforadvertisers,soittriedtoreducethem.Atfirstpublishersrevoltedatthelowerclick-throughratestheywereseeing,soFacebookhadtoconvincethemthattheywouldmakemoremoneywhentheyactuallyprovidedrealvaluetobrands.  "Somanypublishersareusedtothinkingintermsofclicks,andwe'reshiftingthatconversationtowardsbusinessresults,"Krishnansays.  Facebook Similarly,Facebooklaunchedthe "AdvertiserOutcomeScore"inOctobertohelppublishersfigureouthowtomaketheiradsmoreimpactful.Facebookshowspublishers howtheirinventoryisperformingascalculatedbyacombinationofROI-focusedmetrics.  Facebook Publisherscanlookattheirscoresandthentweaktheiradlocationsaccordingly.Althoughonlypublishersseetheirscores, advertiserspaymoreforplacementsthatdriveresults,whichmeansthatifapublisherhasagoodscore,theywill likelymakemoremoney. Goodscoresalsomeanthattheexperienceisbetterforusers.Bolanddescribesitasavirtuouscycle. "Whatwe'redoingintheadspaceissomethingthatIfeelreallyproudbecausewe'reactuallymakingthingsbetterforpeopleandforbusinesses,"Bolandsays. "Mostof[thead-networkspace] isfindingouthowtofunnelmoneythroughandtakemoneyoffthetop.Butwe'reactuallychangingthewaytheindustryworkstobearoundvalue." XinhuaLiu,chiefmarketingofficerofCheetahMobile,oneofFacebook'searlytestersfortheAudienceNetwork,tellsBusinessInsider thathiscompanypaysalotofattentiontotheOutcomeScore.ButhedoeswishthatFacebookwouldgive even more detailonhowadscangetbetterandrewardpublishers thatdrivehigher-qualitytraffic. "Theyneedtosharemorebestpractices,"Liusays. What'snextTheAudienceNetworkteamsaysitplanstotakeitstimeexpandingtheproduct,butthatitexpectstoeventuallyoffermoreadformatsandplatforms. BrianWieserfromPivotalResearchGroupsaysthateventhoughhedoesn'tgetthesensethatFANisterriblybigyet,itdoesn'tmatter.Thepotentialisthere,andFacebook'splanningaheadforitsfuture. "They'renotrunningoutoftheirowninventoryandtheydon'thaveareachproblemyet,butFacebook'spositioningitselfforthedaywhenit'sjustthemandGoogle,"hesays."Andthat'sagoodthingforthem.It'satremendousopportunity."  SignupfornotificationsfromInsider!Stayuptodatewithwhatyouwanttoknow. Subscribetopushnotifications Newsletter Getthelatesttechtrends&innovations—delivereddailytoyourinbox. Loading Somethingisloading. Emailaddress Byclicking‘Signup’,youagreetoreceivemarketingemailsfromInsider aswellasotherpartneroffersandacceptour TermsofServiceand PrivacyPolicy. SEEALSO: SherylSandbergexplainshowFacebookgotmoresmallbusinessestobuyads Dealicon Aniconintheshapeofalightningbolt. Foryou NOWWATCH:Columbialawprofessorarguesthat'privacyhasbeenprivatized' More: Facebook FacebookAudienceNetwork Dealicon Aniconintheshapeofalightningbolt. Foryou Closeicon Twocrossedlinesthatforman'X'.Itindicatesawaytocloseaninteraction,ordismissanotification. RecommendedVideo