Facebook is rolling out a service for mobile that can recognize which devices and wireless carriers are being used to access its site and determine when those users have made a switch. The service is targeting telecom advertisers who can use it to measure direct ROI on their Facebook campaigns, basically recognizing when they’ve attracted new customers after those users were exposed to their ads. Facebook says the measurement tool, called Telco Outcome Measurement, keeps users’ personal data private.
Facebook stated in a blog post about the new service: “We can provide our partners with insights regarding ROI, differences in adoption rates of devices or carriers segmented by demographic groups, and the types of ads and frequency of placements that yield the best ROI for carriers and operators.”
For now, Facebook is aiming the new service squarely at telecom companies. It’s a huge category – MediaPost points out telecom advertisers are the third highest spenders after consumer packaged goods and retail. But the service has other benefits and obvious potential applications outside of telecom. Facebook says it can use the tool to optimize its other services for users based on their device and carrier. And advertisers outside of the telecommunications industry will surely find upside in being able to target users based on their smartphone or carrier of choice. Mobile game and app makers can certainly leverage that functionality.
Source: MediaPost
