Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is setting new milestones in the ad world, but not every brand partner is getting the same treatment, says a report from Adweek. Some are worried that they will not get access to Facebook Inc’s developed platform and that a only few will reap the benefits.
Does Facebook Inc (FB) have a priority list?
The largest social networking site is developing its mobile advertising infrastructure in a similar way as done by search engine giant Google over a decade ago. Facebook recently launched an ad server following its ad network, along with developing a video-ad platform from its purchase of Live Rail. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s ads offering are primarily popular due to its massive user base of 1.3 billion, which helps the company collect huge amounts of knowledge and data.
However, the company allowed only a few marketing partners to use the information during the September launch of the Atlas ad server. Some significant names were Omnicom Media Group, SalesForce and Shift, while many longtime partners of Facebook were missing on the list. To the privileged ones, the company revealed firsthand information on connecting to the new Atlas ad server, enabling them to use Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s data to target and measure their ad campaigns. Other advertising technology partners were given details about Atlas only after the launch.
Is it all about money?
An industry source familiar with the Atlas launch told Adweek that a special recognition to these big marketing partners was given due to their budget size. It said, “Of course there’s a hierarchy,” and added, “It’s about money.” This might be the probable reason for including a company like Omnicom, which is capable of driving millions of dollars for Facebook.
Those partners that did not get an invitation to the Atlas party are starting to feel that they could be abandoned. Also they have no idea how long this will continue.
“There’s trepidation around the fact that this reinforces Facebook’s walled garden,” one marketing partner said. “You can’t get data out on a user level.”
According to James Borow, CEO of Shift (the company in Facebook’s first list for the Atlas server), the company is just selecting partners with similar interests. Shift partners with almost every social network, like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter inc (NYSE:TWTR) and LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), and uses data to target ads for brand clients.
As of now, there has not been an announcement from Facebook over the probable launch of Atlas for other partners.
