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Inside Facebook

Facebook’s New Ads Power Editor Replaces the Bulk Uploader with a Streamlined GUI

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 12:41 PM PDT

This week, Facebook launched its new Ads Power Editor desktop software for buyers who work directly with a Facebook ads representatives. The new multi-pane graphical user interface presents a streamlined way to create and manage multiple Facebook ads simultaneously. It also integrates with Excel, and replaces the Facebook’s bulk uploader ads tool which will be deprecated on June 30th, 2011.

Here we’ll provide a functionality overview of the Facebook Ads Power Editor and present some questions regarding how the enhanced native tool impacts third-party tool provider working off of the Facebook Ads API.

Until now, Facebook provided four main ways of purchasing and managing ads. The public self-serve graphical user interface ads tool, the bulk uploader for managing ads through Excel, the Facebook Ads API for programmatically managing ads, and a direct relationship with Facebook ad sales representatives for the site’s biggest advertisers. Now, those working with ads reps have access to the Power Editor that combines and strengthens the features of the self-serve and bulk uploader tool.

While Facebook has continued to augment the self-serve ads purchasing tool and Ads Manager with more conversion and reach metrics, new ad units such as Sponsored Stories, and new targeting options such as broad category targeting, the design of the graphical user interface has for most part remained stable over the past few years. For those that needed to create and manage large scale optimized ad campaigns, the self-serve tool and bulk uploader were a bit too clumsy.

While the Power Editor doesn’t support Sponsored Stories, it makes generating and editing multiple ads at once much simpler.

New Features

Downloading the Power Editor

For now, the bookmark for the Power Editor only appears in the ads accounts of ad buyers who work with Facebook ad sales representatives and are running the Google Chrome internet browser. Those who qualify can download and run the software locally from their Windows, Mac, or Linux machine. Users then download their existing ad account and campaigns into the software from Facebook.

Multi-Pane Interface

Power Editor users are shown three panes shown in the image above:

Left pane (A)- Select between ads accounts and their campaigns
Main pane (C) – Use tabs (B) to view all the campaigns or ads from the account or campaign selected in the left pane
Bottom pane (D) – View editable fields for the campaigns or ads selected in the main pane

This tiered interface makes it easy to navigate between and edit a huge number of ads from different accounts and campaigns. The old Ad Manager required many more clicks and page loads to access all of this information.

Performance Metrics Settings

Users can check boxes to select which metrics will appear in the main pane. These include standard metrics such as clicks, impressions, and bid, as well as new metrics such as Facebook content and errors, and basic targeting attributes such as age and sex. Users must set a date range with the stats drop-down to load the new metrics.

Creating New Campaigns

Users can create a new campaigns in three ways:

‘Create Campaign” flow – Fill out various fields inline
Duplicate – Clone an existing campaign and then edit fields
Copy from Excel – Copy a campaign from the Power Editor into Excel, edit it, and paste it back into the Power Editor

Creating New Ads

Users can create new ads in four different ways:

‘Create’ Ad flow – While in the ‘Ads’ tab in the main pane of the desired campaign, click ‘Create Ad”. Fill out fields inline using typeahead functionality, and select an image from the image library or upload a new one
Duplicate – Select an ad in the ‘Ads’ tab of the main pane and click ’Duplicate’, then edit fields
Copy from Excel – Copy an ad from the Power Editor into Excel, edit it, and paste it back into the Power Editor
Import from Excel – Create multiple new ads or new campaigns in Excel, import the spreadsheet by copying it into the Power Editor or clicking the ‘Bulk Import’ button, and upload a zip file of images

The Power Editor is backwards compatible with the Bulk Uploader, so spreadsheets from the Bulk Uploader can be imported the same way as they are from Excel. Whenever edits are made in the Power Editor, the ‘Upload’ button must be clicked to sync the changes with a Facebook Ads account. Changes since the last Facebook account upload or download can be undone using the Revert Changes button.

Power Editor and the Facebook Ads API

The Power Editor provides some of the basic functionality offered by tools built by third-party developers on the Facebook Ads API. Specifically, the ability to create and manage multiple ad variants for A/B testing can now be accomplished through Facebook’s native tools. This to some degree commodifies a core selling point of third-party tools — namely that a significantly level of efficient A/B testing could not be achieved without an Ads API tool.

However, many Ads API tools provide better ad creation than the Power Editor, with visual trees and the ability to cross several creative and targeting variables to instantly produce permutations. Third-party tools also provide deeper analytics, cost per fan and conversion-based optimization models, auto-optimization algorithms, and support for Sponsored Stories. This means that for now there should plenty of value for Ads API tool developers to offer big ad buyers.

We’re following up with Facebook about the direction of both the self-serve tools including the Power Editor, and the Ads API. We’ll return with insights into how advertisers should choose the solution that’s best for them, and how the tools of Ads API developers should look to differentiate themselves from Facebook’s native tools.

Strategies for taking advantage of the crucial Sponsored Stories ad unit, and the new conversion and reach analytics in the Facebook Ads Manager can be found in the Facebook Marketing Bible, Inside Network’s comprehensive guide to marketing and advertising through Facebook.

Profile Analyzers, Friends, Videos, Quizzes and Tabs on This Week’s Top 20 Emerging Facebook Apps

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 08:01 AM PDT

Most of the applications on our weekly list of the top emerging Facebook apps by monthly active users this week either analyzed a user's profile or offered users access to videos. A couple other apps, one for quiz creation and another for Page tab creation, made the list, too.

The apps on our list grew from between 117,700 and 678,500 MAU. The list of top 20 emerging apps was compiled based on AppData, our data tracking service covering traffic growth for apps on Facebook and covers apps that grew the most in the past week, ending at between 100,000 and 1 million monthly active users.

Top Gainers This Week

	Name	MAU	Gain	Gain,%
1.	Army Attack	839,642	+678,467	+421%
2.	Friend Matrix	772,705	+505,274	+189%
3.	My Report Card	376,760	+376,760	+0.0%
4.	Your World Rank	961,542	+363,496	+61%
5.	Video Forever	765,009	+355,893	+87%
6.	Static IFrame Tab	523,119	+255,743	+96%
7.	Video Anatolia	253,699	+252,104	+15,806%
8.	Planet Domo	241,664	+231,704	+2,326%
9.	askvideolari	240,891	+222,532	+1,212%
10.	Hero City	827,321	+214,828	+35%
11.	Görüntülü Sohbet	521,827	+200,303	+62%
12.	Deep Realms	724,631	+186,929	+35%
13.	Addicting Games	785,721	+149,899	+24%
14.	My All Statistics	235,165	+147,627	+169%
15.	Battle Cards	286,536	+142,806	+99%
16.	à¸¥à¸¹à¸à¸¡à¸"à¸ªà¸¹à¹‰à¹†	266,247	+142,039	+114%
17.	TinierCafe	406,663	+136,730	+51%
18.	Super Mario Bros	923,591	+128,479	+16%
19.	Akıllı Tv Video	675,812	+119,553	+21%
20.	Quiz Creator	616,418	+117,681	+24%

A good number of the apps on our list this week analyzed a user's profile to see which of their friends interacted the most, who was male and female, married or single, and other metrics. Friend Matrix is a Connect app that creates a collage of a user's friends; the app grew by 505,300 MAU. My Report Card grew by 376,800 MAU and My All Statistics which grew by 147,600 MAU both publish a photo album of your statistics to your feed while tagging your friends. Then, Your World Rank grew mostly in India by 363,500 MAU, compiling your profiles statistics then publishing a feed story.

Video apps were also popular. Video Forever with 355,900 new MAU, Video Anatolia with 252,100 MAU, askvideolari with 222,500 MAU and A kıllı Tv Video with 119,600 MAU allow users to view, share, Like and comment on videos. Then Görüntülü Sohbet grew by 200,300 MAU; this app is a sexually explicit one that publishes such a video to a user's feed upon use, but also seems to be a Connect app, taking the user to an external "dating" website.

Then there was Static iFrame tab with 255,700 MAU; the app allows users to add tabs to Pages with a variety of technologies. Then Quiz Creator with 117,700 MAU allows anyone to create quizzes with customized questions, answers, quiz language, photos and publishes a bunch of feed stories as a user makes their way through the quiz creation.

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Facebook Flow - Facebook News and Help

A Quick Look At “Facebook Deals”

Posted: 03 Jun 2011 06:06 PM PDT

If you are a fan at all of daily deal sites like Groupon and Livingsocial, Facebook is about to have complete control over where you eat and where you shop. Last Novemember, Facebook unveiled their mobile “check-in deals” program and their site-wide program was unleashed on 5 US cities in April. Check-In Deals With Facebook’s [...]

A Quick Look At “Facebook Deals” is a post from: Facebook Tips and Tricks - FacebookFlow

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Inside Facebook

Facebook Recommends HTTPS Secure Browsing Via Home Page Prompts
Facebook for Blackberry v2.0 Beta 3 Adds Wi-Fi and Deletion Options for Professionals
Facebook Details Ceglia Fraud, Pushes for Expedited Discovery in Ownership Case
Facebook Hires and Departures: Antonio Garcia-Martinez, Interns, Recruiting, Games, Singapore and More
Facebook Careers Postings: Chinese, Mobile, Engineering, Construction and More

Facebook Recommends HTTPS Secure Browsing Via Home Page Prompts

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 02:53 PM PDT

Some users are seeing a prompt at the top of their Facebook home page that reads “Help Protect Your Account with Secure Browsing (https)”. Users can click a button in the prompt to switch to HTTPS and foil attempts by hackers to steal their data.

Following the recent exposure of several security threats, Facebook appears to be ramping up its preventative security measures. Developers should list an HTTPS address to make sure they don’t miss out on traffic from those who follow the prompt.

Facebook introduced HTTPS in January to allow users to browse the site over a secured connection. Though it causes pages to load a little slower, it can keep user data safe when they’re connecting over public networks, such as in coffee shops. Facebook says that as of May 10th, 9.6 million users had enabled secure browsing in their Account settings, showing demand for the option despite little promotion for it.

Alongside HTTPS, Facebook launched the ability for third-party application developers to list secure canvas and tab URLs. If they don’t provide them, users with HTTPS enabled are shown a roadblock that forces them to either switch to HTTP browsing or retreat to official Facebook content when approaching a canvas app, and users won’t see bookmarks of tab apps. Then in response to some data leaks by third-party apps, Facebook announced last month that by October 1st all apps must provide an SSL certificate to allow HTTP browsing.

Still, Facebook is combatting an image of flawed security, in part due to exaggerated risk assessments of leaks by the press. This new home page prompt should increase awareness of enhanced security options amongst those that might have heard of threats but not the protections against them that Facebook has released.

Displayed front and center above the news feed, the prompt explains that “To always view Facebook over a secure connection and help prevent hackers from accessing your info over public networks, turn on Secure Browsing now.” Users can click “Enable Secure Browsing” to reload the home page and continue browsing through HTTPS. They can also click to “Learn more” in the Help Center, and can always enable the option via Account Settings -> Settings -> Account Security. Oddly, the prompt is also being seen by users who have already enabled HTTPS.

The prompt will likely increase the percentage of users that do enable secure browsing, making it more important for apps to add secure canvas and tab URLs before the deadline. An increase in secure browsing should also discourage hackers, reduce the impact of security breaches, and improve Facebook’s public standing.

Update: The HTTPS prompts come at a time when those who access Facebook via public wi-fi networks over HTTP are at more risk than ever. A recently released Android app called FaceNiff allows hackers “to sniff out and use Facebook accounts of other users on the same open wireless network” similar to browser extension FireSheep. They can then view their private content and perform actions using the hacked account. The prompts are not likely a response to FaceNiff, though.

Facebook for Blackberry v2.0 Beta 3 Adds Wi-Fi and Deletion Options for Professionals

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 01:46 PM PDT

Blackberry just released the third beta update of version 2.0 of its Facebook for Blackberry Smartphones mobile app. It allows users to connect to Facebook over Wi-Fi, which will be especially handy for those without a data plan. Users can now also delete wall posts and comments, and have more options for deleting Messages.

The improvements cater to Blackberry’s business-minded customer base by allowing travelers to connect to Facebook while abroad without buying an expensive data plan, and preserve their reputation by deleting objectionable comments and posts.

Blackberry appears to have accelerated the update cycle for its Facebook app, though it still lags behind the more advanced Facebook for iPhone and Facebook for Android apps. The initial release of v2.0 in mid-March added a sleeker design, and the last beta update on May 5th strengthened the app’s integration with native Blackberry device apps including contacts, phone, and SMS. The app continues to grow, adding just under 1 million daily active users in May to reach 23.5 million DAU and 35.3 MAU according to AppData.

Beta 3 of Facebook for Blackberry v2.0 doesn’t add Groups, the last major feature it lacks that iPhone and Android users have — one also missing from the recently released Facebook for Blackberry Playbook tablet app which favored a flashy Chat interface over functionality. Instead, this update provides services that professionals need.

New Options

Registered BlackBerry Beta Zone users who download Beta 3 can access all the features of the app through Wi-Fi. Helpful to domestic users who haven’t subscribed to a data plan, those who frequently travel abroad should be excited about the ability to access Facebook from hotels, airports, cafes or foreign offices. However, push notifications can only be received if users have a local web browsing data plan.

Users now have the option to delete wall posts and comments, and are shown a deletion confirmation prompt. This can assist users if they post something with typos, have second thoughts about a post, or want to scrub their profile of objectionable content posted by friends.

When users go to delete a Facebook Message from their inbox, they’ll be given the options to delete it from just the mobile app, their Facebook account, or both. Previously, any Message that was deleted was removed from both the mobile app and their account.

With devices that are in some ways less technically advanced and that have smaller screens, it might not be important to match the feature sets of the Facebook for iPhone and Android apps. Instead, Blackberry is making the wise choice to give its unique customer base the abilities that meet their use cases.

Facebook Details Ceglia Fraud, Pushes for Expedited Discovery in Ownership Case

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 01:46 PM PDT

Facebook has issued its most plainly-worded and specific attack yet against claims by Paul Ceglia that he owns part of the company. “The contract is a cut-and-paste job, the emails are complete fabrications,and this entire lawsuit is a fraud,” it declares as part of a court motion that would require Ceglia to quickly produce his still-scanty evidence.

The document then goes on to contradict specific parts of Ceglia’s story. While it openly acknowledges, as before, that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Ceglia had at one point entered in a business relationship, that’s where the similarities end.

Ceglia and Zuckerberg did exchange emails, and did sign an agreement, but their discussions and agreement concerned only some coding work that Zuckerberg performed for StreetFax.com,— a web site that posted photographs of traffic intersections for use by insurance adjustors. Zuckerberg and Ceglia never discussed Facebook and they never signed a contract concerning Facebook,— a fact that is not surprising given that Zuckerberg did not even conceive of Facebook until long after the purported contract was signed in April 2003.

Facebook then details where it believes Ceglia’s claims break down. Regarding the supposed contract that Ceglia and Zuckerberg signed:

The document is riddled with numerous tell-tale signs of fraud, such as the fact that page 1 (which purports to convey an interest in "The Face Book") has different margins and formatting from page 2 (which contains the signatures, yet does not mention "The Face Book"). Moreover, although the purported contract is dated April 2003, page 1 refers to "StreetFax LLC" — an entity that was not created until August 2003.

And regarding the batch of emails Ceglia produced recently:

Defendants engaged digital forensic examiners to review all of Zuckerberg's emails contained in the email account he used while a student at Harvard. That account contains emails from the 2003-2004 time period. The emails Ceglia quotes in his Amended Complaint do not exist in the account. They are complete fabrications.

It appears possible that Zuckerberg deleted the specific emails in question, but the onus is Ceglia to prove that the emails are real in the first place.

The rest of the document details Ceglia’s past issues with fraud, including new information about real estate scams he ran last decade, and explains the legal basis for the expedited discovery request.

One would expect Facebook to present evidence favoring its side of the case, and it’s for the court to decide how valid its claims are. More interesting is the company’s willingness to make all of these claims now, and for Zuckerberg to swear under oath that they’re true. The company wouldn’t do that if it thought Ceglia had any sort of case.

Ceglia and DLA Piper, the high-powered law firm that recently chose to represent him, haven’t yet commented on the latest claims.

Facebook Hires and Departures: Antonio Garcia-Martinez, Interns, Recruiting, Games, Singapore and More

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT

The top hire at Facebook this week, culled from Facebook’s LinkedIn feed and other sources, was Antonio Garcia-Martinez, who is leaving his job as CEO of AdGrok to be a Product Manager at Facebook. Among the other hires were lots of interns. As far as departures apparent from LinkedIn and posts removed from Facebook’s Careers Page (which strongly suggest that the positions had been filled) include: a handful of jobs in Singapore, a games position and operations positions around the company’s global offices.

New hires per LinkedIn and Other Sources:

Antonio Garcia-Martinez – formerly co-founder of AdGrok and CEO, now Product Manager at Facebook.
Arman Boehm – now a Software Engineering Intern, previously was a Production Solution Intern at Bill Me Later, Inc.
Saurabh Chakradeo – now a Software Engineering Intern, formerly a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Matthew Cin – now a Securities Associate Intern, previously the Lead Teacher’s Assistant at Indiana University.
David Forster – now working in Recruiting at Facebook, formerly did similar work at RMS.
Mark Hatfield – working in Technical Operations, previously worked as a Network Engineer at Savvis Communications.
Aaron Kirchner – now working as the Lead Technical Recruiter, previously the Vice President of Recruiting at Two Sigma Investments.
Alamgir Mand – Product Management Intern, previously was a student at the Haas School of Business.
Eugenio Padilla – Software Engineer Intern, formerly an Intern at Softtek.
Aditya Pratap Singh – now a Software Engineer Intern.
Qingchun Ren – now an Engineering Intern.
Lea Tresca – now an Account Manager, previously a Digital Communication Manager at Zenith Optimedia.

Recent departures, per LinkedIn:

Roisin Lally – formerly worked in EMEA Recruitment, now a Graduate Recruiter at McKinsey & Company.
Matthew Niewczas – previously worked in International Growth, now in Electrical Engineering.
Isla O’Dowd – formerly a recruiter at Facebook in Dublin.
Irene Poltronieri – previously an Analyst in User Operations at Facebook, now a Global Customer Operations Representative at LinkedIn.

Prior listings now removed from the Facebook Careers Page:

Strategic Partner Development, Games
Partner Engineer – Mobile (Singapore)
Director, Online Sales & Operations, Asia Pacific (Singapore)
Quantitative Market Researcher
Administrative Assistant (Sao Paulo)
Corporate FP&A Associate
Commercial Transactions Counsel
Product Manager, Legal and Security
Security Operations
Account Executive (Sydney)
DSO Account Manager (Palo Alto)
Manager, Merchant Services (Austin)
Manager, Merchant Services (Palo Alto)
Ad Operations Associate, Japanese (Singapore)
Ad Operations Associate, Japanese (Singapore)
Ad Operations Manager (Dublin)
Associate, Ad Operations (New York)
Senior Inside Sales Manager (Dublin)
Online Sales Operations, Team Lead (Hyderabad)
Payment Operations Analyst (Austin)
Fraud Investigator (Palo Alto)
Manager, User Operations (Austin)

Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry.

Facebook Careers Postings: Chinese, Mobile, Engineering, Construction and More

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 08:20 AM PDT

Facebook added dozens of job postings to its LinkedIn feed and Careers Page this week, ranging from an analyst in Chinese user operations to a mobile researcher to a Deals writer to Corporate Counsel and construction manager, marketing, engineering and more.

Posts added this week on Facebook's Careers Page:

Analyst, User Operations – Chinese
Platform and Mobile Researcher
Executive Assistant D.C.
Writer, Local Deals (Austin) – Contractor
Corporate Counsel
Head of Sales Training
University Recruiting Lead
Advertiser Researcher
Office Manager/Facilities Support/Receptionist – Contractor (Austin)
Director, Accounting 1106001
Integration Engineer – HR Systems
Logistics and Inventory Manager
Technical Program Manager
Power Test Engineer
Global Construction Manager
International Account(s) Executive (Hamburg)
Partner Manager, Insights API
Manager, Merchant Services (Austin)
Sales Manager (Dublin)
Editor, Local Deals (Austin) – Contractor
Manager, Merchant Services (Austin)
Partner Manager, Insights API
Team Lead, Online Sales Operations (Austin)
Marketing Communications Program Manager
Software Engineers 1106M

Jobs posted by Facebook on LinkedIn:

Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry.

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Facebook Flow - Facebook News and Help

Facebook Approaching 700 Million Users Worldwide

Posted: 02 Jun 2011 09:32 AM PDT

As Facebook continues its conquest over the world they are quickly approaching yet another impressive milestone, 700 million users. It is the second most visited site in the world behind Google. Congratulations to Facebook on this incredible achievement. Here are the top growing countries on Facebook last month, according to SocialBakers: Also here is a nice [...]

Facebook Approaching 700 Million Users Worldwide is a post from: Facebook Tips and Tricks - FacebookFlow

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TheFacebookInsider: Today's Facebook News & Tips

FaceNiff Hacks Facebook: New App for Android Phones Takes Facebook Hacking Mobile

Posted:

FaceNiff, a new application for Android phones, allows users to intercept user's account credentials over public Wi-Fi connections. Never turn off your secure browsing while using public networks.