????社交網站Facebook靠在自己網站內銷售移動廣告已經賺得幾十億美元。如今，這家公司希望將移動廣告生意擴展到自己網站以外，借此再賺幾十億美元。

????上周三，Facebook發布了一個移動廣告網絡，旨在協調、幫助其他移動應用發布者銷售廣告。這個移動廣告網絡利用Facebook收集的海量用戶數據，幫助營銷人員更加精準地投放廣告。

????Facebook創始人兼首席執行官馬克?扎克伯格在舊金山舉行F8大會上向與會的開發者們表示：“這確實是我們第一次幫助大家從移動平臺上賺錢。”

????Facebook這次推出的移動廣告網絡叫做Audience Network。有了它，即便人們不使用Facebook的應用，這家公司也能從中賺錢，有望借此開創一個潛力巨大的新業務。此舉直指谷歌（Google），后者推出類似的廣告網絡已經有五年了，目前主導著移動廣告領域。

????Facebook已經證明，它能在自己的社交網站上銷售移動廣告。短短幾年內，移動業務收入已經從微不足道變成Facebook的主要業務。最近一個季度，Facebook的移動廣告收入達到了13億美元，占公司總收入的近60％。而就在一年前，移動業務收入還只有3.77億美元，在總收入中的占比也只有30％。

????長期以來，谷歌一直是移動廣告領域的老大。但隨著Facebook的興起，谷歌的統治地位開始動搖。據市場研究公司eMarketer稱，今年，在市值310億美元的移動廣告市場上，谷歌的市場份額將從兩年前的52％下降到47％。與此同時，Facebook的市場份額將接近22％，比2012年增加近三倍。

????本月早些時候，Twitter也開始幫助移動應用發布者銷售廣告。另外，還有一些規模較小的公司也在這個領域競爭，比如移動廣告平臺Millennial Media。不過，要想從谷歌、Facebook、Twitter等巨頭的虎口中奪食，著實不易。

????移動廣告的成功極為關鍵，因為人們花在臺式機上的時間正在減少，而使用智能手機和平板電腦購物、玩游戲、瀏覽新聞的時間越來越長。eMarketer稱，今年，美國成年人平均每天花在移動設備上的時間將達到三小時左右；而就在2013年，這個數字還只有半小時左右；與此同時，人們花在臺式機和筆記本電腦上的時間將減少到2小時12分鐘，比去年減少7分鐘。

????人們早就料到Facebook會決定幫助其它公司銷售移動廣告，不過，它會采取漸進式策略，還是會迅速推進，目前尚不清楚。Facebook表示，它初期將只銷售鼓勵人們下載或更頻繁的使用某款應用的移動廣告。未來，營銷人員將可以購買其他種類的廣告（比如橫幅廣告）。衡量這類廣告的成敗更困難。

????扎克伯格的宏偉計劃并不總是能成功。這些年來，扎克伯克登臺推銷過不少最終失敗的新產品。比如，預置了社交網絡服務的智能手機Facebook Home目前為止還沒有激起人們的熱情。這家公司于2010年推出的Facebook電子郵件服務也乏人問津。最近，Facebook已經決定關閉這項服務。

????不過，這次可能不一樣。在本次F8大會上，扎克伯格的重點放在了營收上，這與他一貫的做派大相徑庭。在往屆F8大會上，扎克伯格曾宣布大舉收購營收微薄或者根本沒有營收的新創企業（比如斥資190億美元收購移動通訊公司WhatsApp；再比如斥資20億美元收購虛擬現實領域的先鋒企業Oculus VR）。

????扎克伯格在F8大會上登臺現身的時間較短，其間他對大舉收購的事閉口不談。相反，扎克伯格和他的團隊盡全力傳遞的信息是，Facebook希望更好地服務于圍繞它的社交網絡進行產品開發的開發者們，同時為用戶提供更好的整體體驗。為了打消人們對隱私問題的顧慮，Facebook透露，正在測試“匿名登錄”形式，幫助人們不留痕跡地嘗試第三方應用程序。

????扎克伯格說：“人們希望對如何分享自身信息擁有更大的控制權，特別是在應用程序上。”換言之，不讓用戶對他們所認為的半私人數據享有足夠的控制權不利于Facebook的業務發展。

????正如Facebook宣布的許多項目一樣，這個項目也還處在進行的過程之中。（財富中文網）

????譯者：項航

????Facebook has made billions of dollars selling mobile ads within its social network. Now, it hopes to make billions more by selling mobile ads elsewhere, too.

????On Wednesday, Facebook (FB) unveiled a mobile ad network that coordinates and places ads for publishers of other mobile applications. The system taps the vast trove of data that Facebook collects about its users to help to help marketers better target their messages.

????"This is really the first time that we're going to help you monetize seriously on mobile," founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg told the audience of developers at his company's F8 conference in San Francisco.

????Facebook's mobile ad network, called Audience Network, opens a potentially huge new business for the company by letting it make money even when people use applications other than its own. The push also directly challenges Google (GOOG), which has had a similar ad network for five years and currently dominates mobile advertising.

????Facebook has proven that it can sell mobile ads on its own social network. In just a few years, mobile revenue has gone from being an insignificant part of its business to being the cornerstone. In the latest quarter, Facebook took in $1.3 billion in revenue from mobile advertising, or nearly 60% of the company's overall revenue. A year ago, mobile accounted for $377 million, or 30% of total revenue.

????The iron grip of Google, long the largest player in mobile advertising, is slipping as Facebook ramps up. Google will grab a 47% share of the $31 billion mobile ad market this year, down from 52% two years ago, according to eMarketer. Facebook's share is expected to approach 22%, or nearly four times greater than in 2012.

????Earlier this month, Twitter (TWTR) also started selling ads on behalf of mobile publishers. A number of smaller companies also compete in the space, such as Millennial Media, which faces a tough challenge competing against such giants.

????Success in mobile ads is critical because people are spending less time on their desktop computers and more time staring at their smartphones and tablets to shop, play games, and follow the latest news headlines. U.S. adults will spend close to three hours daily on their mobile devices this year, up close to half an hour from 2013, according to eMarketer. Time spent on desktop and laptop computers will drop to two hours and 12 minutes, seven minutes less than last year.

????Facebook's decision to sell mobile ads for others had been expected for some time, but questions remained about whether the company would take a gradual approach or move in quickly. Facebook says it first will only sell mobile ads that encourage people to install an app or to use an app more frequently. In the future, marketers will be able to buy other kinds of marketing messages (such as banner ads) that are more difficult to measure in terms of a campaign's success.

????Zuckerberg's grandiose plans haven't always panned out, and over the years, he has appeared onstage to pitch a number of new products that, in the end, turned out to be duds. For example, people have yet to warm up to Facebook Home, a smartphone larded with social networking services. Nor did they flock to Facebook e-mail, which the company introduced in 2010 and then recently decided to shut down.

????This time may be different. Zuckerberg's focus on revenue at F8 is a big departure from his previous outings, in which he announced immense purchases of startups that make little or no money (the mobile messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion; the virtual reality pioneer Oculus VR for $2 billion).

????During his relatively brief appearance on the F8 stage, Zuckerberg never mentioned the spending spree. Instead, he and his colleagues tried to hammer home the message that Facebook wants to better serve the developers who build products around its social network and to create a better overall experience for users. To counter concerns about privacy, Facebook revealed that it is testing a form of "anonymous login" for people to try out third-party apps without leaving a trail.

????"People want more control over how they share their information, especially with apps," Zuckerberg said. In other words, not giving people sufficient control over data they consider to be semi-private is bad for business.

????Like many of its announcements, it's all still a work in progress.