Nanigans is one of Facebook’s largest ad buyers specifically focusing on retail advertising. According to the company (via VentureBeat), iOS-based ads have shown a surprisingly high click through rate:

“Retailers are realizing significantly greater return from audiences on iOS than audiences on Android,” the report says. “For the first three quarters of 2013, RPC [revenue per click] on iOS averaged 6.1 times higher than Android and ROI [return on investment] on iOS averaged 17.9 times higher than Android.”

“Audiences cost more on iPhone, and the reason is that it’s worth it,” Slagen said. “Typically, we’re not looking to acquire one-time customers, we’re looking to invest over time … so we pay more up front for better long-term results.”

The graph above shows retailers’ return on investment for Facebook mobile advertising. It’s definitely an interesting study considering that Facebook seems to be deeply integrated with Android. It’s also important to note that these results will vary across different industries.

According to VentureBeat, Nanigans SVP Dan Slagen said that this data is very different when looking at the gaming or e-commerce industries, but when it comes to retail, iOS is the clear winner. Apparently, iOS users click on ads and buy more merchandise than Android users. Could it be that the mobile shopping experience across various sites caters to iOS devices over Android devices?

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Flickr, Simon Q

The post Facebook Ads Are 1,790% More Profitable on iOS Than Android appeared first on Digitrock.

Nanigans is one of Facebook’s largest ad buyers specifically focusing on retail advertising. According to the company (via VentureBeat), iOS-based ads have shown a surprisingly high click through rate:

“Retailers are realizing significantly greater return from audiences on iOS than audiences on Android,” the report says. “For the first three quarters of 2013, RPC [revenue per click] on iOS averaged 6.1 times higher than Android and ROI [return on investment] on iOS averaged 17.9 times higher than Android.”

“Audiences cost more on iPhone, and the reason is that it’s worth it,” Slagen said. “Typically, we’re not looking to acquire one-time customers, we’re looking to invest over time … so we pay more up front for better long-term results.”

The graph above shows retailers’ return on investment for Facebook mobile advertising. It’s definitely an interesting study considering that Facebook seems to be deeply integrated with Android. It’s also important to note that these results will vary across different industries.

According to VentureBeat, Nanigans SVP Dan Slagen said that this data is very different when looking at the gaming or e-commerce industries, but when it comes to retail, iOS is the clear winner. Apparently, iOS users click on ads and buy more merchandise than Android users. Could it be that the mobile shopping experience across various sites caters to iOS devices over Android devices?

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Flickr, Simon Q

The post Facebook Ads Are 1,790% More Profitable on iOS Than Android appeared first on Digitrock.

The decision (.PDF) to consider a Facebook “Like” as protected speech may set a precedent of how courts apply freedom of speech rules to users’ online activities.

For the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va,, Liking a candidate on Facebook should have the same protections as real-life actions that show political support.

“Liking a political candidate’s campaign page communicates the user’s approval of the candidate and supports the campaign by associating the user with it,” wrote Judge William Traxler, who authored the opinion. “It is the Internet equivalent of displaying a political sign in one’s front yard, which the Supreme Court has held is substantive speech.”

The case hinged over whether B.J. Roberts, the sheriff of Hampton, Va., illegally fired six of his employees who supported Jim Adams, his opponent in the sheriff’s elections. One of the employees, Former Deputy Sheriff Daniel Ray Carter, had Liked the Facebook page of his boss’ political opponent.

Facebook, the fired employees and the American Civil Liberties Union argued that a Facebook Like must be considered free speech. This would mean that an employer cannot legally fire his or her employees for expressing opinions on the social network. an employer cannot legally fire his or her employees for expressing opinions on the social network.

The federal district judge who first ruled on the issue decided that a Facebook Like was “insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection.” For the judge, a Facebook Like didn’t involve an “actual statement,” unlike Facebook posts, which have been granted constitutional protection in other legal cases.

Today, Judge Traxler disagreed.

“On the most basic level, clicking on the ‘like’ button literally causes to be published the statement that the User ‘likes’ something, which is itself a substantive statement,” he wrote.

“We are pleased the court recognized that a Facebook ‘Like’ is protected by the First Amendment,” read an emailed statement by Pankaj Venugopal, Facebook’s associate general counsel.

The ACLU applauded the decision as well. “This ruling rightly recognizes that the First Amendment protects free speech regardless of the venue, whether a sentiment is expressed in the physical world or online. The Constitution doesn’t distinguish between ‘liking’ a candidate on Facebook and supporting him in a town meeting or public rally,” said Ben Wizner, director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project in an emailed statement.

The ruling reinstated the claims of Carter and two other fired employees. If they win the case, they may get their jobs back.

Do you agree with this decision? Should the First Amendment protect Facebook Likes?

Image: Photo by Stephen Lam/Getty Images

The post Your Facebook ‘Like’ Is Now Protected by the U.S. Constitution appeared first on Digitrock.

When users sign in to an app like Lyft or Words With Friends using their Facebook login credentials, they can now specify exactly what they would like to share with Facebook in a two-step process. The first step asks for “read permissions,” which dictate the information from the app accessible to Facebook. The second step presents “write permissions,” which if accepted, allow the user to post directly back to his news feed through the app.

Previously, the two permissions were a package deal, meaning you couldn’t agree to one without also green-lighting the other. The update in April granted users more control and enabled them to accept just one or the other if they weren’t comfortable accepting both, according to Chris Daniels, director of business development at Facebook. The update is now fully available to all users, and a recent study of certain “high quality” apps by the social network found that 80% of users accepted the permissions when prompted.

Facebook benefits from users logging in to third-party apps using their Facebook profile. Those who log in with Facebook count as “active” users for the platform — more logins mean more content shared back to the site. Facebook has more than 850 million login events per month, and 81 of the 100 top-grossing iOS apps support Facebook login features, according to the company’s blog post. On Android, 62 of the 100 top-grossing apps support Facebook logins.

The new permission option was based on feedback from users and developers who felt they needed more control, Daniels said. Often, users timid about sharing back to Facebook saw the permissions page and simply elected to bypass logging in altogether.

“We understand people’s concerns about apps posting on their Timeline or to their friends,” Facebook posted on its blog. “The recent changes to Login are just the beginning of more improvements you’ll see as we continue working to provide useful services for developers that are easy for users to understand.”

Have you ever skipped logging into an app because of Facebook permissions? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

The post Facebook Now Gives More Control Over What You Share appeared first on Digitrock.

In an attempt to make it easier for businesses to create a Facebook ad, the company announced a deal with Shutterstock on Thursday that will provide free access to millions of images for use in ads. The photos will be available in Facebook’s ad creation tool.

“This is important especially for small businesses who may not have resources for sourcing quality images,” Facebook noted in a blog post.

In addition, businesses can use multiple images in different ads to test which ones work best and then place their buys accordingly. Ben Pavlovic, founding partner of VineSprout, a Chicago-based PR firm, says adding such functionality will help small businesses. “Before you had to take your own [photos] or find your own free service,” he says. “I also think you have companies out there that wouldn’t think twice about pulling a Google image.” Pavlovic says photos are an integral element. “Just in terms of engagement, finding the right image can make or break your ad,” he says.

As part of the announcement, Facebook also updated its Android and iOS Pages Manager apps. Users can now upload multiple images from their mobile phones and edit existing Page admins and add new Page admins to Pages they manage.

The upgrade comes after Facebook announced in June that more than 1 million advertisers are using the platform.

Image: Flickr, Orin Zebest

The post Facebook to Provide Free Photos for Businesses to Use in Ads appeared first on Digitrock.

In an attempt to make it easier for businesses to create a Facebook ad, the company announced a deal with Shutterstock on Thursday that will provide free access to millions of images for use in ads. The photos will be available in Facebook’s ad creation tool.

“This is important especially for small businesses who may not have resources for sourcing quality images,” Facebook noted in a blog post.

In addition, businesses can use multiple images in different ads to test which ones work best and then place their buys accordingly. Ben Pavlovic, founding partner of VineSprout, a Chicago-based PR firm, says adding such functionality will help small businesses. “Before you had to take your own [photos] or find your own free service,” he says. “I also think you have companies out there that wouldn’t think twice about pulling a Google image.” Pavlovic says photos are an integral element. “Just in terms of engagement, finding the right image can make or break your ad,” he says.

As part of the announcement, Facebook also updated its Android and iOS Pages Manager apps. Users can now upload multiple images from their mobile phones and edit existing Page admins and add new Page admins to Pages they manage.

The upgrade comes after Facebook announced in June that more than 1 million advertisers are using the platform.

Image: Flickr, Orin Zebest

The post Facebook to Provide Free Photos for Businesses to Use in Ads appeared first on Digitrock.

(Note, also, that this graphic was was put together using Piktochart, which was one of our first Startup Arena competitors).

The post Facebook Now Has 9 Million Users in Pakistan appeared first on Digitrock.

The new design is simpler, cleaner and more intelligible. Stats that were previously rolled in together (i.e., “People Talking About This”) have been broken down into separate charts that allow Page owners to individually measure the reach and engagement (likes, comments, clicks and shares) of individual posts. Additional charts make it easier for users to see what kinds of posts — say, those with videos, or ones targeted to certain groups — have better reach or more positive engagement than others. Owners can also now break down demographic behavior on individual posts to see, for example, if one was their Pages are better at engaging women ages 18 to 24, or men older than 65.

No changes are being made to the Page Insights export or API for now, Gayln Burke, a product marketing manager for Facebook, told Mashable in a phone interview Tuesday. Once Facebook has taken and incorporated feedback from the beta testing period, Insights will be rolled out to other Page owners, but Burke could not confirm whether that would happen before the end of the year.

For a visual overview of the changes, check out the before and after screenshots below

Old overview tab:

New overview tab:

Old post analysis:

New post analysis:

New “people engaged” tab (by demographic):

The post Facebook Insights Gets a Makeover – Facebook Fan Page Marketing appeared first on Digitrock.

Reps from the company confirmed that hashtags are off limits to marketers right now. However, there doesn’t appear to be any reason why Facebook would block hashtag buys in the future. Facebook is, however, encouraging marketers to use hashtags in advertising and arguing that Facebook will now amplify a hashtag’s influence. A rep stresses thought that “using them and buying them are different.”

For Twitter, hashtags can be hot properties, especially during big events like the Super Bowl, the Presidential Debates and various awards shows, when marketers like Oreo get to display their real-time marketing chops. However, Facebook’s use of hashtags is trickier since most posts on the network are private, not public.

Advertising Age speculates that hashtags might ultimately bolster Facebook’s Graph Search since hashtag mentions might provide a clearer expression of interest than Likes: “Likes are flawed signals, since users sometimes click on them arbitrarily or to satisfy a social obligation. But posting with a hashtag could be seen as a more tangible expression of affinity and could thus help to make graph search into a useful product.”

Image via iStockphoto, hh5800
Source : Mashable

The post Facebook Hashtags Not Open to Advertising Yet- Digitrock appeared first on Digitrock.