(Originally posted on AdExchanger, July 31 2012: http://www.adexchanger.com/social-media/sell-side-facebook/ )
There’s been a lot of talk about about how a Facebook Exchange or a Facebook ad network will benefit buy-side interests looking for reach, frequency and better performance. But, what about publishers other than Facebook? – where will they stand as Facebook rolls out these new ad strategies? AdExchanger reached out to a selection of ad ecosystem executives for their opinions. We started with the following questions:
“What effect will the Facebook Exchange have on publishers? And, what if there’s a Facebook ad network – what’s the impact on publishers?”
“The Facebook Exchange is a separate ocean from the current world of RTB exchanges, and as such, will likely have very little effect on most publishers. One way to think of it is as a really big private exchange, with a good underlying DMP. While it is possible that the sheer size of this pool will siphon off significant dollars from the rest of the RTB universe, my personal opinion is that marketers will use this as a way to increase their budgets. If so, the rising tide will lift all boats, and the actual effect will be minimal.
A Facebook ad network would likely affect publishers the same way Google AdSense does – as a source to get somewhat higher yield for remnant inventory. Publishers who traditionally get most of their revenue from ad networks and exchanges will find this a welcome addition. Marketers will likely put the FB ad network in the same bucket as the other large reach ad networks and exchanges, so I would think Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and AOL would be the most worried about losing budget dollars. Conversely, publishers who rely primarily on direct sales will probably feel little short-term impact.
One other area Facebook could make a significant impact is in ad effectiveness measurement, one of the most-cited problems of brand advertising. Facebook’s unique reach could enable it to compete aggressively with ComScore and Nielsen while deepening its relationships with brand advertisers.
The more interesting question is what publishers can do to prepare for the possibility of a Facebook ad network. Facebook could be a new source of high-quality data, and publishers should be prepared to take advantage by finding solutions, people, and processes to sell audiences and not just context. And if Facebook does start doing brand attribution measurement, publishers will need to incorporate that data into their yield optimization strategies.”