• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 8, 2012

As part of its effort to ramp up mobile monetization, Facebook has launched a service in beta that will let app developers run ads in mobile news feeds. The company in May opened its App Center to help promote developers' wares, and says that in the last 30 days alone it has sent users to Apple's App Store and Google Play 146 million times to download titles.

“Mobile ads are an additional way to drive people to apps. When a person clicks on one of these ads, if they do not have the app installed they will be sent to the App Store or Google Play to get it,” stated a post on Facebook's developers blog Tuesday. Developers will be able to create and monitor mobile app ad campaigns with their App Dashboard, setting parameters like desired audience and budget.

In a research note today, Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research Group said the new ad tool for developers “reflects the continuation of efforts that will contribute to revenue acceleration this year.” He projects mobile advertising should generate more than $1 billion in revenue annually by 2016 for Facebook, up from zero last year and $100 million in 2012.