Facebook Tests Even More Intrusive Ads

Facebook has announced that it is starting a very small test for promoted news feed posts. These ads will allow brands to advertise to “non-fans” in their news feed. This may apply to both the desktop and mobile.

The ads will be elegantly masked as typical page post ads with a small “sponsored” label in the bottom right corner. The recipient of the ad will also have the option to “like” the brand’s Facebook page directly from the ad.

Mashable provides the following example of what the news feed ads will look like:

As an advertiser, this could be an awesome advantage for your brand to reach a larger audience. You will no longer be limited to advertising to just your fans, but your entire target market in Facebook.

For the user, it’s a completely different story. This could be even more intrusive than all of the ads you are currently bombarded with. It will just be another addition to the already cluttered news feed.

But, we must keep in mind that Facebook is a free service and at the end of the day, it’s still a business.

Tell us your initial thoughts about news feed ads in the comments below.

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Image credit: Horia Varlan