Facebook Preparing Native Ads for Other Apps

facebook ad network native templatesFacebook is looking to expand its Audience Network, the platform that enables the social network to place ads on other, non-Facebook-owned apps, introducing native ads onto apps and growing the business substantially.

The Audience Network, which has been running for a little over a year, extends the reach of existing Facebook campaigns beyond the existing network, enabling developers and publishers who have signed up to monetise their apps with targeted ads.

The platform has seen impressive adoption, with the number of apps on the network increasing five fold since October 2014, but so far has relied more on banner ads than rich media or native ads that see higher engagement and CPM.

The new native ad tools being introduced aim to address that, and include native ad templates that will aid publishers in ensuring ads look more in line with the rest of the consumer experience on the app, management tools that automatically optimise ads based on performance, and a horizontal scroll format enabled users to swipe across to view additional ads and branded content.

While publishers could already utilise the Facebook Audience Network to create native ads, the new tools provide off-the-shelf formats which should encourage uptake and lead to more advertisers making the move from banner to native advertising.