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>Facebook had to Facebook was started in some kid's dorm room, and I'm still not entirely clear on what they're selling.
by omgsean 17y ago
>Facebook had to
Facebook was started in some kid's dorm room, and I'm still not entirely clear on what they're selling.
- zackattack 17y agoFacebook sells highly targeted ad inventory. They may become the most effective advertising platform on the planet.
- philwelch 17y agoDo they profit? Or is Zuckerberg still buying his ramen with VC money?
- whopa 17y agoBeing able to target ads well doesn't do you any good if you don't have the ad inventory to make use of that advantage. That's Facebook's problem: their users aren't apt to click on ads while on the site, so they don't convert very well, hence a lot of advertisers don't bother and their inventory sucks. I've never seen an ad on Facebook that highly targeted me. I think that beyond a few niches (like engagement rings) Facebook's targeting works out to be a wash. That's why despite having 300 million users and billions of page views they are only barely profitable.
- fallentimes 17y agoNot sure why you're being downvoted. I've read estimates that Facebook now shows 10% (!) of all U.S. display ad inventory on the internet.