Facebook's Real-Time Ad Targeting Trials to Be Extended
Facebook is now extending its real-time ad trial to allow advertisers to target users based on words in their Likes category as well as Status updates.
The social network giant hopes that this will allow advertisers to create highly relevant ads by targeting users who post on certain subjects as opposed to basing their information on demographic data and Likes within profiles.
A Facebook spokeswoman commented: "Advertising on Facebook can be more useful for users because they've explicitly shared their interests. We use this information to show members ads they may be interested in. We're broadening a test that helps show relevant advertising more quickly to people based on the content they're sharing, such as status updates or the pages they Like."
For example, a user commenting about meeting friends for coffee could then be targeted by coffee chains with relevant offers and services.
It's not known if the current test is available as an option for all advertisers on the site, but the scheme, which has been running since March of this year, and is currently being rolled out to a wider group of test agencies.