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Inside Facebook

Inside Facebook

Facebook Tests Replacing Keyword Ad Targeting With Broad Category Targeting

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 05:51 PM PST

Facebook is testing a major functionality change for its self-serve performance ad tool that would replace the specific Like keyword targeting with broad category targeting. If implemented, this change would make somewhat accurate targeting more accessible to novice advertisers, but severely limit A/B testing and eliminate many advanced strategies used by expert advertisers to attain high click-through rates.

Facebook might decide not to implement the test, or it could add broad category targeting as an additional option. But in the meantime, those in the beta test are stuck without keyword targeting, as Facebook has confirmed that no one can opt out of it.

Normally, advertisers can type the name of a Facebook Page into the Likes & Interests targeting field in the ad creator, and may then select from a drop down menu as well as a number of suggestions to decide who the ad will appear to. This allows advertisers to hone in on a very specific niche of users with whom their ad will resonate.

In the tested interface, users see a tree of two columns with very broad categories in the left pane, such as Activities, Business/Technology, and Sports, that open up into slightly more precise sub-categories in the right pane, such as Cooking, Literature/Reading, and Food & Dining.

Instead of being able to target users who Like the popular console video game Call of Duty: Black Ops, advertisers would have to target the broad category of Activities and the sub-category of Gaming (Console). In this case, an ad for a first-person shooter war-themed game similar to Call of Duty would be shown to users who Like a much wider range of games from puzzlers such as Tetris, to family-friendly platform games such as Super Mario Bros. This would probably lead to a much lower CTR for the ad than if it could be targeted to those who Like especially similar games.

Presumably the goal of the test is to make it easier for those without knowledge of the specific Facebook Pages that relate to their ad’s topic to create somewhat accurate advertising campaigns. In the case of advertising for something with broad appeal, such as a physical book store, being able to target users who Like a wide variety of books, authors, and words related to reading with a single ad targeted to the broad category Literature/Reading could be useful.

Instead of long keyword brainstorming sessions, advertisers could leave it up to Facebook to decide who will see their ads. In August Facebook tested and later implemented a feature that lets advertisers broaden their age targeting to reach a larger audience than they initially specified. However, many advertisers would be outraged and potentially shift ad spend away from Facebook if they could no longer choose their own keywords.

Facebook’s largest advertisers have been slowly moving to use third-party tools built on the Facebook Ads API, which allows advertisers to programmatically run huge, efficient advertising campaigns. Facebook could decide that expert advertisers should use one of these advanced tools while simplifying its own self-serve tool.

Still, the best option would be to offer both, perhaps showing the broad category targeting tool by default to cater to novices, and placing keyword targeting below a fold for experts to find.

Facebook Adds Websites, Social Plugins, and Demographic Analytics to Insights

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 04:35 PM PST

Facebook today announced a major improvement to its analytics tool Insights. Page and Open Graph website admins will now be able to see real-time data about the performance of their Like button and Comments Box social plugins; the age, gender, language, and country demographics of their visitors, and which pages of their website are most popular. Admins of websites that aren’t integrated into the Open Graph can now claim their site and receive analytics about organic sharing of their content on Facebook.

The expansion of Open Graph analytics will allow web publishers to gain more actionable data about how to optimize their Facebook integrations, and will draw more sites to add Facebook functionality. Facebook will migrate all admins to this new version of Insights in two months, so all admins should export their existing data to retain access.

At the end of February, Facebook began generating a full news feed story whenever a Like button representing a real-world object is clicked instead of only generating a one-line Recent Activity feed story in some cases. By rolling the share button functionality into the Like button, Facebook paved the way for this update.

Facebook has also been steadily improving Insights, migrating users to a new version and adding real-time performance data on Facebook posts in January. However, these improvements were all for Page and application admins, and didn’t help the 2.5 million third-party websites that feature Facebook’s social plugins. Now Facebook has widened the scope of Insights to include all kinds of websites — both those with and without Open Graph integrations.

Insights for your Domain

Now, when admins visit http://www.facebook.com/insights/ they’ll see their Pages, apps, social plugins, and claimed websites. The new Insights for your Domain allows admins of claimed sites to see performance and demographic data about their Comments Box, Like Buttons, and “shares” — links to a site shared on Facebook by users who post a URL to the news feed or their wall through the publisher.

To claim a website, click the green “Insights for your Domain”, add your domain’s URL, assign the site’s admin privileges to a specific user or all the admins of a specific Page or app, copy the returned meta tag code and place it in the <head> of the root webpage of your domain, and click Check Domain to cause the domain to appear in your list. Subdomains will need tags added to each of them. Since only those with access to the website could add the meta tags, Facebook doesn’t need an additional method of verifying the admin’s identity.

Admins can then view the Website Overview, which contains summaries of several data sets. Site Engagements shows counts for Likes, comments, and shares on and of the site. This gives a broad view of what plugins are performing the best, and what social actions are being taken most. For instance, if an admin sees they’re getting fewer Likes than comments, they might consider moving the Like button closer to their Comments Box social plugin.

Distribution on Facebook shows the total impressions on Facebook of content linking to your site, and the same data sliced into impressions on Like, comment, and share stories. Referral Traffic to Site shows the total clicks, and a breakdown of clicks generated by Like, comment and share stories on Facebook that direct back to a website.

Deep Analytics for Like Buttons, Comments Box plugins, and Shares

Admins can drill down into specific metrics about Likes, comments, and shares. The Like button overview shows total impressions, clicks, and click-through rates of the Like buttons on a site, and the total impressions clicks back to the site, and CTR of the stories generated by the Like buttons.

Admins can also see demographic information in aggregate form about those who clicked Liked buttons or their stories, and a list of the most popular pages on their site ranked by Likes. This data helps admins determine the optimal placement and style of their Like buttons, and refine their Like story for maximum CTR.

The Shares overview displays the number of times a site was shared on Facebook, impressions of those shares, CTR of shares, a list of the most shared webpages, and demographics of those who shared. This data can help admins learn which of their webpages resonate most with Facebook users.

The Comments Box overview displays Comments Box impressions, total comments made, the comment rate (comments divided by impressions), demographics of commenters, and the webpages receiving the most comments. These analytics let admins identify their most discussed webpages and what type of users are commenting.

 

Since this new version of Insights offers new data fields, developers who want to access this new Insights data programmatically can use the Insights FQL table or the Graph API. Many of the new Insights fields won’t display historical data, as it wasn’t being collected. In two months, Facebook will forcibly migrate all admins to this new version of Insights, and they may lose access to some historical data. Therefore, all admins should export their lifetime data. The migration may anger some admins and developers who prefer to see a data all the way back to the creation of their app or Page.

The data presented in these new fields will help turn succesful management of an Open Graph-integrated website into a more precise science. Larger companies who may have been weary to add social plugins such as the Like button without a clear way of determining their impact will now have real-time data they can use to support their decisions.

Expect the new Insights to further accelerate social plugin implementation. Also, by creating a stepping stone to Open Graph integration for webmasters curious about how their site is being shared, Facebook may be able to convert some hold-outs.

Facebook Helps Sell Digital Media with Credits: Challenges and Opportunities

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 01:09 PM PST

Today Warner Brothers announced that it will begin renting movies to users through Facebook applications, starting with The Dark Knight. By allowing users to pay for digital content, not just virtual goods, with its virtual currency Facebook Credits, Facebook is moving in a bold new direction that encroaches on the territory of iTunes and NetFlix.

However, Facebook users aren’t accustomed to consuming long-form content on the site, and Facebook historically hasn’t been optimized for this kind of user experience. Though Facebook’s enormous audience gives it some advantages, it will have to overcome numerous challenges to become a viable competitor to established content distributors and begin collecting its 30% fee on Credits spent on content sales.

The Warner Bros. promotion allows users in the US to visit The Dark Knight Page, use an application, and pay 30 Facebook Credits (USD $3.00) to gain access to the film for 48 hours. Users can watch full-screen, pause, resume, fast-forward, and rewind the film at their leisure. If they leave Facebook, they can return within the 48-hour period and resume watching by clicking the “Watch” tab on the film’s Page or the bookmark for the app in their home page’s left sidebar.

When not in full-screen mode, users can use Facebook Chat, a Facebook Like button or a Twitter button to share news of their experience with friends. The viewing application is intuitive and the film buffers almost instantly when fast-forwarded. While it hasn’t been tested at large scale, if users want to sit down and watch a full film on Facebook, the current experience is smooth and enjoyable

Advantages and Challenges to Becoming a Content Distributor

Though Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg initially imagined that Facebook could allow users to access media, albeit illegally via his application Wirehog, the Facebook interface has evolved as a social network, not a content library.

Users are accustomed to frequent, short visits and rapid browsing, not staying on a single screen for any extended period of time. Therefore, it may be difficult to get them to sit still and watch a feature-length film, even in segments. The Facebook navigation bar present at the top of the window when not watching full-screen may make users restless, reminding them that compelling news about their friends is always just a click away.

Content management is also an issue. The Facebook application bookmark system is designed to surface your most frequently used apps, and hide the rest below a “more” fold. There’s no way to sort your apps, even alphabetically, so finding a specific film amongst an unruly list of games, apps, and content is a chore. Once a rental expires, its bookmark will likely remain, cluttering the menu.

To attract content producers, such as film studios and record labels, and increase sales, Facebook would also need to provide an effective content discovery system. It has great data to facilitate this, as it could employ the Likes and app usage of a user and their friends to power recommendations. Facebook released such a discovery engine for Pages this summer, though neither it nor its Apps Directory are especially well-designed nor drive much traffic.

Facebook does have some inherent advantages if it chooses to promote itself as a content store. Its nearly 600 million person audience, as well as the built in marketing and viral channels, are attractive to content creators, as evidenced by the large number of Facebook Like buttons and deeper Facebook integrations present across the web.

While Apple currently has a lot more user credit cards already on file, Facebook’s browser-based interface could one-up iTunes, which requires users to be on an Apple device or clumsily authorize another device that has the iTunes application installed to be able to access their content. Facebook users could easily log into a public computer or a friend’s device to begin interacting with or purchasing content.

For now, Facebook doesn’t seem to be taking an overtly active role in this early content distribution trial, simply allowing Warner Bros. to operate within the guidelines of the Platform. There’s nothing stopping other content producers from creating their own similar apps as an additional distribution channel to more established content stores. In fact, if content distribution on Facebook by third-parties became popular, and user were eager to consume content on the site, it could become a significant new revenue source for the site, the way social games have.

Facemoods: A Growing Facebook Chat Client

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 07:45 AM PST

Facemoods, an Israeli startup that offers emoticon and animation add-ons to Facebook chat, may now serve as a Facebook Chat client. This means users don’t need be signed onto the Facebook site to chat with Facebook friends upon installing the Facemoods browser add-on for Firefox. The service is also compatible with chat for Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and Windows Live.

We wrote about Facemoods in August when it had 4.4 million Likes on its Page and 1.5 million weekly active users. At the time the company saw most of its users between the ages of 13 to 34 divided up between the U.S., UK and Western Europe. Now the company's Page counts more than 9.7 million fans, there are more than 11 million users and these users are now spread across the globe, showing growth in Asia and South America. The company is also profitable.

Installing the browser add-on is simple and fast. Once installed, you can pop-out the Facemoods chat client, close your browser and chat using Facemoods' animations. If you are not signed into Facebook, you can sign in from the pop-out window. Users can add sound icons, miniature animated movies, animated emoticons, animated and colored text, as well as animations of pop icons like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga to their conversations.

One drawback is that unless you're chatting with people who also have Facemoods, they won't be able to see the animations. This could be a boon to the app, though, as it may prompt users to get their friends to install it.

Since Facemoods reduces the need for people to visit Facebook as often since they don't need to go there to chat with friends, the app could put a small dent in Facebook’s time-on-site and return visits.

onsdag den 9. marts 2011 at 07.48