Facebook has launched a campaign to inform its users about how the social networking giant makes money. As you can see in the screenshot above, the service’s members are seeing the following message at the top of their Facebook homepage: “About Ads: Ever wonder how Facebook makes money? Get the Details. Both links take you to facebook.com/about/ads.
On a regular basis, scammers try to convince Facebook users that the company will start charging to use the social network. The truth is that will never happen. Facebook is trying to quash this constant rumor by saying the website will always be free while also making a point to say that ads are what makes this possible.
“From the beginning, the people who built Facebook wanted it to be free for everyone,” the webpage reads. “It now costs over a billion dollars a year to run Facebook, and delivering ads is how Facebook pays for this.”
Facebook has explained the process of how it makes money into just three steps:
- A business creates an ad: Let’s say a gym opens in your neighborhood. The owner creates an ad to get people to come in for a free workout.
- Facebook gets paid to deliver the ad: The owner sends the ad to Facebook and describes who should see it: people who live nearby and like running.
- The right people see the ad: Facebook only shows you the ad if you live in town and like to run. That’s how advertisers reach you without knowing who you are.
If you prefer the visual version of the campaign, here’s the video Facebook put together:
Facebook makes the larger majority of its revenue from ads, details of which you can see in the articles linked below.
See also:
- Facebook to tackle mobile advertising next year (rumor)
- Over half of Facebook users respond to social media marketing
- Women more likely than men to click on Facebook ads
- Facebook doubled its advertising market share from 2009 to 2010
- Facebook made $1.86 billion from your content in 2010
- Facebook testing coupons as premium ads
