Comm 101

When we go on Facebook from our phones, why is it that we come across so many ads? Recently, Facebook has expanded its efforts of mobile advertising apps in order to prove to the general public that they are able to provide a platform for businesses to grow their customer relationships. The company first introduced this new concept of “mobile app install ads” in August 2012. The concept of which is businesses would buy ad space and gain revenue through customers clicking into their ads, which would then lead them to the Apple App Store, or Play Store in the case of Androids, to download the advertised app. Seeing that this was an efficient mean of advertising, Facebook has added new features and focuses more on developing an advertising strategy that will help businesses retain their customers. The success of this mobile ad launch can be supported by looking at the number of advertisers who use these apps to advertise, with the numbers “almost tripl[ing] in the first half of 2013, from 3,000 in the first quarter to 8,400 in the second.” Although mobile ads generate significantly less revenue in comparison to Facebook’s main revenue streams such as digital video advertising, an analyst from Pivotal Research believes that mobile ads will be Facebook’s “key new source of ongoing revenue growth.” By introducing a new revenue channel, Facebook will be able to generate more revenue while simultaneously reaching out to more customers as businesses recognize the power of their brand and what they can accomplish through mobile advertising apps.