Facebook Inc. announced Thursday plans to begin using advertisements on its desktop News Feed to sell virtual products.
The social networking giant is using its new effort as a way to help developers sell virtual goods. Developers will be able to create ads that sell such products, and users will be able to buy them without leaving their feed.
The ads can also be found in the advertising section on the right-hand column of Facebook's website, according to CNET.
The company said it is focusing specifically on video game developers with its new ads. A study by App Annie and IHS states that almost $16 billion was spent on mobile apps last year by consumers, and over 70 percent of this amount was spent on video games. Facebook's new advertising effort has grown to the point where it represented 59 percent of its overall ad revenue in its first quarter, while also representing almost a third of that revenue from the same period a year earlier.
The effectiveness of the effort was proven when Facebook had it tested by different video game developers. One of these video game companies, Kixeye, tested the system with the game Battle Pirates and found that the ad was clicked on by 10 percent of customers who saw it, and that 50 percent of them bought virtual goods, The Next Web reported.
Facebook Engineer Pin Lu said the company designed the new features to make it easier for customers to transition from other Facebook activities, such as reading about friends, to playing games, CNET reported.
"A developer with a desktop game on Facebook can now promote the sale of the virtual good, such as an extra booster pack, and gamers can purchase the virtual good directly from the ad and start playing the game," Lu said.
