Facebook Debuts Collection, Mobile Ads Aid Shopping

Facebook on Thursday began rolling out Collection -- a new mobile ad format designed to drive product discovery and sales in a more visual fashion.

Clicking on the new format should lead consumers to what Facebook promises will be a fast-loading and more engaging shopping experience. The new ads can also showcase up to 50 products at a time.

Within the ad unit, tapping on a particular product should take consumers to a purchase page on a business’ Web site or app.

Compared to other tech titans, Facebook owes its relative success to display ads and video.

“Facebook’s users are increasingly captivated by videos on the platform — not just on Facebook, but on Instagram as well,” eMarketer forecasting analyst Monica Peart noted in a recent report. “Video, both live and recorded, is a key driver of growing user engagement and advertiser enthusiasm.”

By eMarketer’s estimate, the social network’s domestic display business is poised to jump 32.1% to $16.33 billion — or 39.1% of the U.S. display market — this year.

Peart attributed Facebook’s revenue growth in both usage and time spent, which continues to draw advertisers in greater numbers.

Instagram is also helping to drive Facebook’s revenue growth. In fact, Instagram will make up 20% of Facebook’s domestic mobile revenue this year — up from 15% last year.

More broadly, domestic digital ad spending will reach $83.00 billion in 2017, representing an increase of 15.9%, eMarketer expects.

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