Facebook (FB) Stock Woes: FB Launches Real-Time Advertising Tool to Stop Decline

Culture

Facebook’s stock continued its decline on Thursday, falling 50 cents (1.9%) and closing at $26.31 (a decline of 31% from its initial offering price of $38).

That is why the social network is willing to try any marketing strategy that could produce enthusiasm among its weary investors who have suffered through an overpriced initial offering and a series of concerning news regarding Facebook’s ability to sustain a strong revenue model.

One of such strategies is Apple’s recent announcement that the upcoming version of its iOS software will have Facebook “built-in” as a feature. Previously, the social network tried to excite the market with its acquisition of photo-sharing mobile application Instagram as well as with the launch of its own filtering and photo-sharing app "Camera."

But so far, these announcements have failed to produce the same enthusiasm that Facebook’s early ventures produced; especially in the face of the dropping of the social network as an advertising vehicle by the likes of General Motors and JC Penney.

But Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not about to give up, Facebook is now talking about a “real-time bidding feature” for advertisers called “Facebook Exchange.” The new feature will provide advertisers with a more specific way of targeting ads to potential consumers.  

With Facebook Exchange, marketers will be able to direct time-sensitive advertisements toward users based on pieces of code that track web activities (cookies). In other words, if a travel site is interested in reaching a person who searched for a flight but did not complete the purchase, Facebook Exchange will allow the travel company to show the user a related ad, hoping to redirect the potential customer to other products or services.

However, since Facebook’s biggest challenge regarding advertisement has been avoiding to annoy its users and drive them away because of too many overly invasive ads, the success of Facebook Exchange is yet to be seen.