Facebook reportedly planning ad network for mobile devices

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Facebook is finally following the likes of Google and Yahoo and will launch an advertising network with a focus on mobile platforms, according to Recode.

Facebook hasn’t publicly acknowledged its plans, but the publication says Facebook will take the wraps off its mobile ad network at its F8 developer conference in San Francisco at the end of April.

An ad network from Facebook essentially means you’ll see Facebook ads even when you’re not on Facebook – think any app on the App Store. In a way, Facebook’s solution could go after Apple’s iAd network, which has failed to catch wind with the industry.

Until now, Facebook has relied on selling ads for its web properties. When it saw the $1.24 billion in mobile ads generated in the last quarter of 2013 from its own app, Facebook saw the opportunity to take ads further to other companies’ properties, Recode reports.

It makes sense why companies who are looking to advertise to as many people as possible might choose Facebook. The company has one the most vast databases of user information it can provide to potential advertisers for better ad targeting. Yay, us.

Twitter beat Facebook by launching its own mobile ad network last week. The 140 character social network branded it as the “Publisher Network”, powered by MoPub, the mobile ad exchange it purchased for $350 million in September 2013.

Initial advertisers on Twitter’s network included Spotify, HotelTonight, and ticket search engine SeatGeek. It’s not clear who has signed up for Facebook’s network.

Facebook’s F8 2014 takes place on April 30 in San Francisco, where we’ll potentially hear all the official details.