With the emergence of the Internet within the last decade, marketing experts have been able to expand their circle of customers beyond the reach of simple ink and paper. Online ads already defy the traditional idea of advertising, but Facebook has especially unique ads. As many users know, Facebook’s ad system is directly installed into the Facebook news feed. This stream serves as an information platform for online social activity. This ad system is designed to attract your attention with posts from your friends, family, and even mutual acquaintances; it is part of the reason why you may find yourself on Facebook for hours on end. Just one funny cat video can lead to many others, and soon, you are tagging friends in the comments. The interactions you have online are known as “organic content”. Whether you know it or not, the line between ads and organic content have continued to blur, and Facebook itself was the start of a slow change in online advertising as seen with other social media networks, such as Instagram and Twitter following closely behind.

Mobile phones have further encouraged this change, offering less room on screens for traditional ads. As seen on Facebook, there is a single stream of information. Ads and content are forced together, and ads are moved to the most visible and effective positions. Facebook took this concept one step further, integrating the ads into the News Feed.

Facebook pages built by businesses and organizations actually operate as advertisement platforms. Businesses and other advertisers are allowed to insert their pages into the feeds of ordinary people, targeting personal interests according to their behavior on the internet. If you “like” or comment on the photo, it will continue to appear on the feeds of your friends and family. So how does Facebook collect the information in order to target you? Their ad system targets not only geographical location, but your interests, behavior, and activity on other social media platforms. Facebook also runs a digital auction to consider prices for ad placement. Unlike other services, Facebook also considers how relevant an ad is next to other content and chooses ads based on how well they compete for attention with organic posts. In addition, Instagram has incorporated these ads since it had been acquired by Facebook.

However, if you like an ad, posts from the same account may show up on your feed without a note labeling it as a paid promotion. So, Facebook, with its specialized ad system, gains itself more credibility. It is because of the company’s ingenuity that, today, Facebook leads the way in both advertising and social media interaction.

Graphic by ELAINE VUONG