ATLAS:FACEBOOK’S NEXT-GENERATIONADVERTISING PLATFORM

OCTOBER / 2014

Atlas is an advertising platform that Facebook is

re-releasing after having acquired it from Microsoft

in 2013. The platform, which dynamically serves

ads to Facebook users based on their Facebook

behavior, had previously been functioning on

the industry standard, cookie-based model. This

model has largely proved ineffective in the age of

smartphones, as cookies cannot track between

devices and, therefore, do not reflect how user

behavior has evolved from single devices to

multiple, complementary usage occasions.

Over the past year, though, Facebooks’ and

Atlas’ engineers have rebuilt the platform using

Facebook’s advanced tracking and measurement

capabilities as the backbone. This revamping could,

in theory, give Facebook and Atlas the capacity to

challenge Google as a go-to platform for advertisers

and media buyers.

overview

TWO RECENT CHANGES HAVE

ADDED TO ATLAS’S STRENGTH

IT NOW INCORPORATES FACEBOOK’S PERSISTENT ID

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Instead of using cookies, Atlas now works by tracking Facebook’s persistent ID, which Facebook collects when users log in to the service via any given device. This ID can be tracked as a user moves from their desktop onto their mobile device, allowing advertisers to serve ads to mobile users based on information that their ID accrued while they were on their desktop computer.

IT IS PLATFORM AGONISTICThis means that the information that is accrued via Facebook ID can be used to serve ads across multiple media platforms, and not just Facebook.

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WHAT ATLAS MEANS FOR

BRANDS

MAPPING THE CONSUMER JOURNEY HAS NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANTFor media and creative agencies, Atlas’s revamp means that mapping individual consumer journeys can now take on a much higher degree of relevance in the planning process. Detailed consumer journeys – including the journey from desktop to mobile – can be expected to apply with more detail and with a more realistic vision of the actual implementation.

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2THERE IS NO LIMIT TO HIGHLY TARGETED, CUSTOMIZED CONTENTWith more advanced targeting capabilities comes an increased ability to serve custom content. In the past, if a brand was hoping to target unique subsets of consumers within two general population spheres, it would still have to create generalized content in the hopes that it would, additionally, appeal across the subset groups as well. With Atlas – coupled with emerging dynamic video technology – the possibilities for custom video content are finally becoming a reality. Theoretically, this means that multiple versions of the same ad, each targeting different user profiles, could be produced and then served accurately via Atlas.

A GREATER ABILITY TO TRACK THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIAAtlas has the ability to determine if a product was purchased on a desktop after viewing an ad on a mobile device.

Atlas can also follow relationships between online advertising and offline sales. For example, if a consumer purchases a product and discloses their email address at the time of checkout, Facebook could let the store know if and when that person viewed its ad on the Web.

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Facebook’s Atlas shows considerable promise, and its shift away from cookie-based tracking is almost sure to be a harbinger of bigger industry shifts to come. If anything, Atlas is a serious challenge to Google’s DoubleClick platform, and it positions Facebook to become a dominant player in the ad serving industry. What we do not know is whether the cookie model is truly ready to be abandoned, or if it can indeed be replaced with more accuracy by the unique ID from one particular social network – in this case, that of Facebook’s.

At the very least, Atlas’s cross-device capability is recognition of the extent to which advertisers must now be making mobile — and planning for mobile — a priority.

For more information, contact your Engagement Planner or reach out to Daniel Charness (daniel.charness@bbdo.com) or Bec Nadilo (rebecca.nadilo@bbdo.com).

key takeaway

ATLAS: FACEBOOK’S NEXT GENERATION ADVERTISING PLATFORM

by

DANIEL CHARNESSREBECCA NADILO

designed by

NICK (NINJ) SUEMURA

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