Comments on: Facebook Ads as good as AdWords in 2000? I don’t think so!

By: Facebook – The Final Frontier or Social Gaffe?! | R.O.EYE Blog

Facebook – The Final Frontier or Social Gaffe?! | R.O.EYE Blog — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:54:23 +0000

[...] ShopWindow API. Though advertising through Facebook applications has, historically, provoked many a cautious response, there is no doubt that engaging users, to the extent that they customise their own online space [...]

By: zowoco

zowoco — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:50:31 +0000

mm, let’s get some of that M&S belgian choc cheesecake down our faces!

By: FaceBook Ads - good example of targetting users via their profile

FaceBook Ads - good example of targetting users via their profile — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:23:29 +0000

[...] year I wrote about how I think FaceBook ads are rubbish, in terms of return on investment for advertisers. I still think they are but the ads themselves [...]

By: 2007 at Here.org.uk. The year in review

2007 at Here.org.uk. The year in review — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:04:56 +0000

[...] Some more people mistakingly think Facebook ads are good. [...]

By: Facebook marketing podcast | Retire Young and Wealthy

Facebook marketing podcast | Retire Young and Wealthy — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 19:49:58 +0000

[...] a great podcast on marketing with Facebook. I had read a couple of blog posts by people saying they weren’t impressed with Facebook’s new PPC offerings. Ed’s podcast sheds some light as to how Internet [...]

By: Chris K

Chris K — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:54:59 +0000

Great topic Kieron - I’ve been pretty excited by facebook ads over the past year.

While we’ve had some successes with them on very specific quirky campaigns, we’ve found it difficult to actually sell anything (at profitable ROI), even with extremely specific demographic targeting (resulting in low volumes of higher quality traffic).

I agree with your first point - people on facebook aren’t really looking to purchase anything (even now at Christmas time); people searching on Google are already half-sold before you’ve even done anything. So I also don’t think this is the next big opportunity, just yet.

Cheers,
Chris

By: safesurfer

safesurfer — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:39:34 +0000

In 2000, Google was already handling 200,000,000 search queries a day. I don’t have any facebook traffic stats but there is one thing I know: The quality of Google traffic in 2000 surely converted far better than the tr*sh traffic facebook generates nowadays.

By: links for 2007-11-30

links for 2007-11-30 — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:29:20 +0000

[...] Facebook Ads as good as AdWords in 2000? I don’t think so! “If a user is searching on Google for a keyword/keyphrase then by definition they are seeking information, they want to find something out. In other words they are actively looking for information/a product/whatever….But when you are messing about on Fa (tags: facebook advertising marketing google adwords) [...]

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:02:36 +0000

Kieron, Eloi and Kelvin,
Firstly, I like this thread…it’s nice to know what the “doers” in the field are up to and what the issues of advertising on Facebook bring up.
On my blog (one linked to from this blog), I posted my personal experience. I am not yet a very good advertiser but am working on it.
The major issue that I have with putting money in Facebook is that I don’t think the users (which in my opinion are mostly high school and college students) won’t click on something they have to buy. So, I (as an affiliate marketer) am having a horrendous time making any money off of FB because the users aren’t willing to spend money on a product. Regardless if they know they want it or not, in the long run I think FB will end up costing me money rather than making me money.
I believe that the FB ads system was designed for only one purpose: to make FB money so they can raise money by saying that they are on their way to being cash positive. That’s it. They’re a big deal now and carry a cloud of influence that brings them affluence. Their business is booming b/c of their user base but they haven’t figured out how to monetize and this is their attempt at getting some positive cash flow.
In the long run, I really hope that this experiment fails because only the “big guys” with freebies to promote will ever see the benefit and the little fish like me will spend a few (or not so few) bucks and give up.
Just my 2 cents.
Nick

By: Kieron

Kieron — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:08:02 +0000

Eloi, sure there are some very minor positives in the blog posts that I linked too, but not very many. The overall concensus of opinion in the “blogosphere” is that facebook ads just aren’t worth the bother.