Canadians love Facebook but Advertisers don't
Posted by Cameron Laker on Thu, Mar 12, 2009 @ 11:06 AM
A recent study shows that 3 out 5 Canadians have a Facebook profile.
Surprise! Facebook represents a tremendous opportunity for advertisers and companies alike. The problem is that the current Facebook advertising platform doesn't work.....
Why does Google make so much money through its advertising, simple, ads are relevant and their timing is perfect. It works! If I'm searching for widgets, widget ads come up.
Facebook users don't search for products or services on Facebook; they search for people or groups. Advertisers might be able to target individuals with specific interests, geographies, ages, schools, employers or job titles but the effectiveness of the timing of the advertisements is suspect.
Status updates are one way to target people at the very right second they might be interested in a new job, new car, a vacation, but this represents many challenges on the value of the dollars you are spending and you can't currently only advertise to words from individual's status updates.
For Facebook to capitalize on advertisers' desire to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, they need to find a way to allow for ads to be relevant and timely.
Comments and suggestions welcome!