Facebook lets advertisers 'sponsor' user updates

Afp
Wednesday 26 January 2011 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Facebook is rolling out options for advertisers to pay to "sponsor" comments people make about businesses, places or products at the world's largest online social network.

A Sponsored Stories tool allows advertisers to take "word of mouth recommendations and promote them" to eye-catching notices on Facebook user pages, engineers at the firm said in an online video Wednesday.

"It's not a message saying you should buy this thing or you should come to this website," an engineer said in the Facebook Marketing Solutions video. "It's your friend saying 'Look, I did this and I want to tell you about it.'"

Sponsored Stories are updates or location check-ins that Facebook members post to be seen by friends and are only shared with those in a person's chosen circle of contacts at the online community.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in