• Bloomberg Businessweek, Wednesday, July 6, 2011 10:41 AM

Calming concerns that ad rates would decline as inventory surged, Facebook tells Bloomberg Businessweek that prices have held up even after the addition of new ways for marketers to promote products on the social network. "Rates for so-called self-serve ads, which are sold through an automated auction system and account for most of sales, are unchanged since March, when the company completed a redesign to add promotions under photos and increase the number of spots on some pages to as many as five from three," according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

"We have hundreds of thousands of advertisers around the world -- that continues to grow," said David Fischer, vice president, advertising and global operations at Facebook. It is critical for Facebook to sustain ad prices amid competition from Google and Twitter, while avoid alienating users with a deluge of promotions, Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg tells Bloomberg Businessweek.

"There's a certain point where you get a backlash, like watching a TV show with too many commercials," Gartenberg said. "Right now we're not seeing any backlash."

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