Nikki Gilliland says, “For most companies, forward planning might mean thinking about what is going to happen in the next 12 months. For Facebook, it means the next 10 years. These were the opening words of Mike Schroepfer, CTO of Facebook, in his kick-off talk at Web Summit in Lisbon. I was sat in the audience, pastei de nata in hand, ready to hear what he had to say. Here is a summary of his talk. 1. Connectivity Facebook’s mission has always been to make the world a more open and connected place. However, when it comes to the next decade, this involves solving three important issues... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “A class-action lawsuit is accusing Facebook of breaking housing and job ad discrimination laws. A Pro Publica investigation last week revealed that the social network lets marketers exclude users by “ethnic affinity.” The lawsuit, first reported by Business Insider, alleges that such targeting tools are a breach of federal housing and civil right laws. The law states that advertisements can’t show obvious preference to specific groups of home or job-seekers. Facebook has argued that its “ethnic affinity” tag doesn’t count as an actual... [...]

Nick Hammond says, “Although it is nearly seven years since Time Magazine observed that Facebook was ‘the site that ate the internet’, in the intervening years the social network has only increased its influence in the digital space and beyond.  In the 2016 Interbrand ranking of world’s most valuable brands, Facebook climbed eight places up the list to 15th, and is the fastest grower, with its brand value up almost half (48%) to $32.6bn. On a daily basis, developments at Facebook take up a large amount of digital news column inches; but what do all the recent changes mean for... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Advertisers keep increasing investment in Facebook, third-quarter reports from Kenshoo and Merkle both found. According to Kenshoo data released this week, advertisers on the campaign management platform increased spending on Facebook (including Instagram and Facebook Audience Network) by 45 percent year over year in Q3. Click-through rates across the Facebook ecosystem have steadily risen over the past three quarters, increasing by 14 percent year over year in Q3. Kenshoo attributes the higher engagement rates to more specialized ad types and better targeting. The growth... [...]

Matt McGee says, “Facebook’s efforts to make News Feed more accessible to all users regardless of the speed or reliability of their internet connections has led to a change in how stories are ranked. For brands, publishers and marketers using Facebook, it means that speed is more important than ever. To understand the change, it helps to first know how News Feed stories used to be ranked. In the past, when a user visited Facebook, the ranking for all possible News Feed stories was calculated on Facebook’s servers and sent to the user in the exact order that Facebook’s algorithm decided... [...]

Matt McGee says, “Remember that thing earlier this year when a Facebook executive predicted that the News Feed will be “probably all video” in five years? That’s still a long way from happening, but the company most certainly wants its users posting more video — particularly using Facebook Live. To that end, Facebook is launching an ad campaign this weekend in both the US and UK to promote Facebook Live. It’s a two-phase effort beginning with ads focusing on increasing awareness of the Live video platform, followed by a second phase focused on showing users how to use Facebook... [...]

Greg Finn says, “More than 1,000 organizations are currently using Workplace by Facebook, and now you’ll be able to, as well. Workplace (formerly Facebook at Work) is currently used around the world as an internal communication and collaboration tool to bring teams together. To date, more than 100,000 groups have been created within Workplace, and companies such as Starbucks, Danone and Campbell’s have embraced the platform. Workplace is positioned as a global connectivity solution that can harness some of the best technology from the social network. Pricing will depend on how many... [...]

Entrepreneur team says, “Facebook Inc. launched a workplace version of its mobile app and website on Monday, marking the social networking company’s first foray into the hotly competitive and crowded enterprise software arena. The product, called Workplace by Facebook, has been in testing for more than a year and is now available to all businesses. It is designed for workplace communication and collaboration, putting Facebook in direct competition with the fast-growing startup Slack. Workplace is a subscription product — a departure for advertising-driven Facebook — with... [...]

Tim Peterson says, “Facebook Messenger bots can now serve as standalone storefronts. On Monday, Facebook Messenger made it easier for companies to sell products through their Messenger bots by adding a buy button, the ability to people to buy products from a bot without needing to leave Messenger and a way for brands to direct people from their Facebook ads to their Messenger bots. Previously, to buy something like a bouquet through 1-800-Flowers’ Messenger bot, you had to click a button that took you out of Messenger to a web page where you had to type in your credit card and shipping... [...]

Zak Stambor says, “The social network says it is factoring load time into its decision as to which ads users see. It is also beginning to load mobile content in the Facebook in-app browser before a link is tapped. Facebook Inc. is pushing online retailers and other advertisers to speed up their mobile websites by factoring how long it takes an advertiser’s linked-to mobile web page to load into its ad auction calculation as to which ad it presents to users. How fast a mobile website loads is important, Facebook argues, citing a recent Aberdeen Group report that found up to 40% of website... [...]