Facebook officially launched ad and tracking network Atlas yesterday. The launch, reported to be on its way by AdNews last week, is an effort to link up online and offline behaviours and help advertisers implement attribution modelling across all channels – particularly mobile.
Following its acquisition of Atlas from Microsoft in February last year, the social site says it has rebuilt the ad network “from the ground up to tackle today’s marketing challenges, like reaching people across devices and bridging the gap between online impressions and offline purchases”.
The aim is to better track people across digital devices and in real life, while attempting to replace what it calls “flawed” cookies which don’t work on mobile. Cookies, says Facebook, are getting “less accurate” in demographic targeting and attribution modelling as they struggle to trace the journey customers take across multiple channels.
Atlas has built in targeting and measurement capabilities, and offers ways to evaluate media performance across devices by centering on people. The aim is to help media agencies and marketers make better decisions about where to spend budgets.
Facebook claims the launch of Atlas is a shift towards “people-based marketing”, but there has been concern in the market around tracking software linked to a Facebook ID rather than cookies.
Globally, Omnicom will be the first media agency network to take up Atlas, while Pepsi and Intel are the first brands to be using the platform in the US.
Leigh Terry, CEO of Omnicom, said that when it does eventually launch in this market, there's likely to be interest from all quarters.
Terry is in talks with the global Omnicom team about how to bring Atlas to the Australian market for clients here. It is still unclear as to when Atlas will launch here.
“As mobile becomes more prevalent, as an industry we've been waiting for something like this. Cookies are device specific, there can be multiple cookies across devices, so reach can be overstated. But this is about people and makes tracking them across the purchase funnel more accurate.”
In a blog posted yesterday, Erik Johnson, head of Atlas, said: “Atlas delivers people-based marketing, helping marketers reach real people across devices, platforms and publishers. By doing this, marketers can easily solve the cross-device problem through targeting, serving and measuring across devices. And, Atlas can now connect online campaigns to actual offline sales, ultimately proving the real impact that digital campaigns have in driving incremental reach and new sales.”
Facebook is also working with a number of partners across search, social, creative management and publishing to develop “seamless integration” across channels and devices. Partners include Kenshoo, Marin Software, Social.com and InMobi.
Facebook photosharing app Instagram is also adopting Atlas giving advertisers on the platform the opportunity to access its reporting. Ads on Instagram are set to launch in Australia imminently.
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