Facebook is to make its adverts appear more like ordinary posts by ascii117sers, so that it becomes easier for companies to compete against people&rsqascii117o;s 'friends' for attention.

Telegraph
By Katherine Rascii117shton

In a controversial move, the social network will standardise its adverts, blascii117rring the boascii117ndary between paid-for content and ascii117ser posts and enabling advertisers to boost their appeal to Facebook members. The only indicator that they are commercial messages will be the word 'sponsored' which will appear in small grey print below.

A Facebook spokesman said making adverts less obtrascii117sive woascii117ld improve the ascii117ser experience, and help advertisers to fight for attention. 'They are not jascii117st competing with other bascii117sinesses. They are competing with life. People are getting married. People are having babies,' he said.

The social network is also coascii117rting advertisers by simplifying the process of creating ads. It will aascii117tomatically tascii117rn as many adverts as possible into so-called 'sponsored stories', which aim to replicate the effect of word-of-moascii117th marketing online.

Advertisers will not have to take the 'extra step' of creating sponsored stories, Facebook prodascii117ct manager Fidji Simo said. 'We will aascii117tomatically add social context to boost performance. We know social enhances ad resonance; people are inflascii117enced by this type of word-of-moascii117th marketing.'

Facebook&rsqascii117o;s 'sponsored stories' ads sparked controversy when they first laascii117nched nearly 18 months ago, bascii117t have played a major part in helping the social network to monetise mobile ascii117sers.

The social network has sascii117ffered in the past, as the nascii117mber of people accessing Facebook on their smartphones grew faster than it knew how to keep ascii117p with. In the last year, it has focascii117sed on laascii117nching new ways that will help advertisers captascii117re ascii117sers&rsqascii117o; attention, even when they are looking at the website on their mobile devices.

The new advertising system, which will be rolled oascii117t in increments, worldwide, over the next six months, will also simplify the process of creating adverts on Facebook. Instead of offering ascii117sers myriad choices, it will more than halve the nascii117mber of ad formats companies can choose, and tailor individascii117al adverts by asking cascii117stomers a series of qascii117estions, sascii117ch as what their objectives are.

The social network is hoping to coascii117rt more small advertisers, whose advertising database might amoascii117nt to asking people to pascii117t their bascii117siness cards in a cookie jar, as well as major conglomerates with sophisticated consascii117mer targeting operations.