Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) might be employing a new method of tracking that users might not be involved in at all. Allegations that Facebook has been prominent in the ad tracking so as to give audiences better-related ads to what they want have been rife since the company started.
They are not allegations anymore. The company wrote in an announcement that they were extending the so-called Audience Network program which would help their publishers and developers to target better users, even those who are not in any way connected to Facebook.
The Audience Network program is what Facebook uses to target audiences on the mobile platform. The program makes use of the same data that targets power ads inside the Facebook app itself which therefore makes it easy for it to deliver products to Facebook and into mobile apps.
Audience Network started two years ago, and back then the program would target only Facebook account owners. The program is now the second biggest mobile ad network after Google’s program, which shows tremendous growth. Now the company has lifted any limitations on who it can target with its ads, and now anyone, even without an account can be targeted by the program.
Which begs the question, how will they know about what non-Facebook account owners want? How do they show ads targeted to them? Well, thanks to the launch of the Like button on the web since 2009. The Like button on any website shows that the browser and the website are communicating with the social media giant. This tells the company what browser you are using, what you are searching for and since the communication also stretches to cookies and many other components of the browser system, Facebook ends up getting a lot of information even if you are not into it.
The new announcement shows that the company was tracking us all along. If anything it is something to smooth things over with the EU, after having some brushes with some of the European countries over its tracking of non-Facebook users.
Tracking non-Facebook users will not be anything bad or illegal from the company, especially since many other ad networks and companies are also doing the same thing. And for those who are into the web and mobile advertising, this might be a good opportunity for you because the Facebook Audience Network system has excellent data on people’s needs.
This is because of the great magnitude of the company that the announcement is of huge significance. The company is widely respected and used around the world. Over a billion people use Facebook and even if one decides not to use it, their friends will throw it in their face as they mention likes, tags, and mentions on the social media network.
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