Facebook opens search ads to all advertisers

After nearly a year of testing ads in News Feed and Marketplace search results, Facebook is rolling out search ad placement more broadly to all advertisers. The ads will appear in results for search terms that have commercial intent, such as searches for commercial products connected to the e-commerce, retail or auto vertical. Currently, search ad placement is available on mobile only.

“Testing shows that advertisers and people are finding value in ads in search results, so we’re rolling out these ads more broadly,” said Facebook Director of Product Management Nipoon Malhatra.

To have ads appear in search results, advertisers can either select “Automatic Placement” for their News Feed ads, or choose the “Facebook Search Results” placement in Ads Manager when creating a News Feed ad campaign. (Search ad placement is not a standalone option — advertisers must be running a News Feed ad to have the ad also show up in search results.)

Targeting for ads in search are based on the advertiser’s chosen people-based targeting options in addition to relevant search term keywords. The keywords are determined by Facebook, not the advertiser, and take into account a combination of ad features (ad text, product, category, title and description).

Why we should care

Facebook’s search ad placement is a boon for any advertiser running a product sales or conversion-focused campaign. By opening up this ad placement to more advertisers, Facebook is giving marketers direct access to users who are actively searching for their product or service on the platform.

As Facebook’s ad inventory becomes even more saturated, new ad placement options — such as search — give advertisers an upper hand by allowing them to run their ads in areas of the platform not yet overrun with competitor advertising.

More on the news

• Ads included in search results have the same layout as News Feed ads — same headline, image, copy text — and can be single image, carousel, video or a collection ad format.
• Supported campaign objectives include: Product Sales, Conversions and Traffic Objectives.
• Facebook first began testing ad placement in search last December and extended it to more accounts in July.

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About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.