Facebook has made its Ads API available to application developers that can prove they are able to provide something of value. Until now, the company has been testing the API with select partners.
“To gain access to our ad creation and management systems, you have to demonstrate the ability to build significant value for our users and our marketers,” Facebook says.
Josh Constine at InsideFacebook, who first reported this, says that we may see many new Ads API tools and service providers, and that “The influx might create new small acquisition targets for Page management companies, or commodify ads management, with an economy tier of tools and services emerging to serve smaller advertisers. Alternatively it might lead Page management companies to build ads products and services in-house, slowing the recent wave of consolidation between the two industries.”
“Over a million developers have already built socially focused applications on Facebook platform,” the company says. “Our marketing API program supports developers who are building applications for marketers – tools that make it easier, for instance, for marketers to build and engage their communities on Facebook Pages, to amplify word of mouth via marketplace advertising and sponsored stories, and to effectively measure social engagement via custom dashboards.”
“These apps are built on one or more of our marketing APIs: Open Graph, Pages, Ads, or Insights APIs. It’s important to note that these APIs are available directly to marketers who are building in-house tools for their own use, and also to third-party developers or agencies who want to license their tools to marketers.”
At its Marketing APIs site, Facebook provides three case studies showing how three vendors have used the Ads API. One shows how a tool from Keybroker helped Beauty Planet reach a new audience and increase order volume. Another shows how a tool from AdParlor helped Funzio acquire new users for a game. The other shows how a tool from 77Agency helped Vionnet build an online community.
Beauty Planet saw significant growth in order volume, high clickthrough rates on ads, good cost-per-acquisition, more traffic to its website, and a new customer base. Funzio got about 4.5 million more monthly active users in just a few months, high ratings from users, and and high clickthrough rates.
“Out of all channels to acquire game users, Facebook Ads is the most effective,” said Funzio President and COO Anil Dharni. “There is no other place where you can get the kind of targeting that you can get with Facebook Ads. AdParlor has been instrumental in helping us identify and target those positive ROI users.”
The Vionnet example resulted in 15,000 new likes in less than two months.
The application for the Ads API can be found here.