The History of Advertising on Facebook [Infographic]

The History of Advertising on Facebook – [Infographic]

Ever wondered how Facebook has risen to become one of the largest advertising networks in the world? If so, great! Here is an illustrated history of Facebook’s advertising development that starts in the humble beginnings of February 2004 and brings us to as recently as May 2011. Enjoy!

The History of Advertising on Facebook Infographic transcript

• February 2004: Mark Zuckerberg and co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin launch ‘the’ Facebook
• August 2005: The company changes its name from thefacebook.com to Facebook
• September 2005: Facebook expands to add high school networks
• October 2005: Photos are added
• May 2006: Facebook adds work networks
• August 2006: Facebook development platform launches
• August 2006: Facebook announces a partnership with J.P. Morgan Chase to promote the Chase credit card. In a one-year marketing agreement, Facebook members see banner ads inviting them to join a special Chase network – members of that group then earn reward points for their actions, like paying their bills on time
• Septebmer 2006: Facebook allows anyone to join
• Septebmer 2006: Facebook and Microsoft form a strategic relationship for banner ad syndication. Microsoft’s adCenter becomes the exclusive provider of banner ads and sponsored links on the site
• September 2006: Facebook announces “election 2006” which allows anyone to search for and interact with office candidates for the Senate, House, and Governorship.
• September 2006: News feed is introduced
• November 2006: Share feature added
• February 2007: Virtual gift shop launched
• May 2007: Facebook launches Marketplace app for classified listings
• May 2007: Facebook platform launches with about 85 applications
• August 2007: In response to Vodafone and other British companies pulling their ads from Facebook after appearing alongside the far-right British National Party group. Facebook offers an opt-out feature that lets advertisers prevent their ads from showing up.
• November 2007: Facebook introduces “Facebook Ads”, Pages for brands and businesses, Facebook Insights and a controversial ad system called “Beacon” that encourages the viral spread of brand messages.
• April 2008: Facebook launches chat
• August 2008: Facebook introduces Engagement Ads.
• December 2008: Facebook Connect becomes generally available
• February 2009: Facebook adds the Like button
• February 2009: Facebook transfers ownership of the Marketplace classified listings app to Oodle
• March 2009: Facebook introduces language and radius-based ad targeting
• June 2009: Facebook launches self-serve Ads for Pages and Events, giving them engagement capability
• July 2009: Facebook launches connections targeting, multiple country targeting and birthday targeting
• September 2009: Facebook begins testing Ads API
• September 2009: Facebook shuts down ad platform “Beacon,” which posted updates to Facebook profiles when their owners interacted with its partner sites. The feature inspired a class action lawsuit after privacy advocates rallied against having their actions on sites like Blockbuser, Gamefly and Overstock.com posted on their profiles
• September 2009: Nielsen launches Brand Lift with Facebook at Advertising Week. The product measures the effectiveness of ads on Facebook by polling users.
• April 2010: David Fischer, VP of Advertising and Global Operations, joins Facebook
• August 2010: Facebook launches Places.
• September 2010: Facebook adds social context metrics to its performance advertising analytics
• November 2010: Facebook rolls out beta-version of check-in Deals ausing Facebook Places (now part of the overall Deals offering
• November 2010: Facebook adds social context metrics to its performance advertising analytics
• February 2011: Facebook launches Sponsored Stories. Companies can choose to take certain user actions – such as checkins or actions within Facebook apps – and feature them in the column on the right side of the News Feed.
• March 2011: Facebook launches Questions for Pages
• April 2011: In an effort to court advertisers, Facebook reveals Facebook Studio, which highlights interesting work from advertisers
• April 2011: Facebook officially launches Deals, a Groupon competitor
• May 2011: Facebook introduces a test program that gives Facebook credits to users who watch certain ads from third-party ad networks in games
• Active users graph: shows the growth of Facebook’s active users starting at 1 user in December 2004 to 500 million active users in July 2010. The graph visually looks like a consistent upward linear slant.

Discovered via Mashable

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