What  are  Sponsored  Stories?

• Sponsored  Stories  enable  businesses  and  organizations  to  increase  the  distribution  of  organic  stories  about  their  Page,  Place(s)  and  Applications  that  show  up  in  News  Feed.  Here’s  how  it  works:

i. A  user  likes  your  Page,  uses  your  application  or  checks-­‐in  to  one  of  your  store  locations

ii. Normally,  a  story  about  this  activity  can  be  generated  on  their  friends’  News  Feeds,  which  their  friends  may  or  may  not  see

iii. If  you  have  included  Sponsored  Stories  in  your  Facebook  Ads  campaign,  then  this  user’s  friends  can  also  see  the  story  appear  in  the  right-­‐hand  column  on  Facebook  pages  where  Facebook  Ads  appear.  Premium  locations  (Home  Page  &  Profile  with  100%  share  of  voice)  for  Premium  Sponsored  Stories  and  Marketplace  locations  (Profile,  Photos  and  other  pages  on  Facebook)  on  top  of  the  area  in  the  right  hand  column  where  Marketplace  Ads  appear.

Are  Sponsored  Stories  ads?

• Sponsored  Stories  are  an  extension  of  News  Feed  and  complementary  to  ads,  but  they  aren't  ads.  We  see  them  as  part  of  our  broader  suite  of  marketing  products  -­‐  Facebook  Ads,  Pages,  Applications,  Deals

• We’ve  positioned  Sponsored  Stories  as  a  brand  new  type  of  product,  different  from  Facebook  Ads  units  for  a  few  reasons:

1. It  is  truly  a  new  product  because  it’s  an  extension  of  News  Feed,  which  only  Facebook  has.

2. Ads  have  creative,  supplied  by  the  advertiser.  Sponsored  Stories  do  not  have  creative.  Advertisers  don’t  control  the  content  that  show  up  in  Sponsored  Stories;  our  users  do.

3. The  Social  Ads  opt-­‐out  does  not  apply  to  Sponsored  Stories.  This  product  is  an  extension  of  the  Facebook  News  Feed  and  no  one  can  opt-­‐out  of  News  Feed.

Will  these  units  completely  replace  traditional  News  Feed  stories?

• No,  the  traditional  News  Feed  stories  will  still  occur  and  be  unaffected.  Sponsored  Stories  is  purely  additive  and  boosts  the  distribution  of  the  stories.  

What  News  Feed  stories  will  get  boosted  into  Sponsored  Stories?

• User  stories  that  fall  within  the  selected  use  case  will  be  boosted.  Advertisers  can  currently  select  1  of  4  use  cases:    Page  Like  stories,  Application  interaction  stories,  Place  check-­‐in  stories  and  Page  posts.  

Which  users  will  be  shown  Sponsored  Stories?

• The  same  friends  that  would  see  the  story  in  their  News  Feed  will  also  be  eligible  to  see  the  Sponsored  Story.    Users  who  are  not  friends  of  the  user  who  took  the  action  will  not  be  eligible  to  see  the  story.  

• For  Page  posts,  only  fans  of  a  Page  can  see  the  Sponsored  Stories  

Doesn’t  this  mean  you’re  selling  people’s  actions  on  Facebook?

• Sponsored  Stories  reflect  the  way  that  people  use  Facebook  every  day—they  share  things  and  see  what  their  friends  are  doing.  Sponsored  Stories  are  just  a  new  way  for  us  to  surface  content  that  already  exists  on  the  site  and  show  it  to  your  friends.    Sponsored  Stories  respect  people’s  existing  privacy  settings  so  they  remain  in  control  of  who  sees  content  they  share.  We  don’t  sell  anyone’s  personal  information  to  advertisers.  

Can  a  user  opt  out  of  having  their  name  included  in  Sponsored  Stories?

• Facebook  is  about  sharing.  Our  privacy  controls  give  you  the  power  to  decide  what  and  how  much  you  share.    Sponsored  Stories  respect  existing  privacy  settings  for  content  you  post.  

• Sponsored  Stories  feature  news  about  the  actions  that  a  user’s  friends  have  taken  on  Facebook  respect  applicable  privacy  settings.    

• Only  people  who  are  eligible  to  see  a  News  Feed  story  are  eligible  to  see  it  as  as  Sponsored  Story.  

• While  there  is  no  way  to  opt  out  of  seeing  all  or  being  featured  in  any  Sponsored  Stories,  people  can  remove  specific  stories  by  clicking  the  “X”  displayed  in  the  upper  right  side  of  a  story  and  choosing  the  appropriate  option  when  prompted.    

This  sounds  similar  to  “Promoted  Tweets”  by  twitter.  How  is  Sponsored  Stories  different?

• We  can’t  speak  to  other  company’s  products,  but  Sponsored  Stories  are  different  from  ads  and  enhance  distribution  of  News  Feed  stories  on  Facebook.  Ads  like  Promoted  Tweets  have  content  that  was  created  by  an  advertiser.  

How  soon  after  launch  will  we  be  able  to  go  live  with  Sponsored  Stories  publicly?

• Any  Premium/IO  advertiser  worldwide  can  start  including  Sponsored  Stories  in  their  Facebook  Premium  Ads  campaign  starting  January  26,  2011.  

How  much  do  these  Sponsored  Stories  cost?

• Sponsored  Stories  are  subject  to  the  same  pricing  as  Facebook  Ads.  

Could  a  user  technically  see  the  Page  post  in  their  News  Feed  and  the  Sponsored  Story  showcasing  the  same  story  at  the  same  time?

• Technically,  yes,  but  it’s  unlikely.

Can  a  non-­‐fan  see  a  Sponsored  Story  Page  post?

• No,  only  fans  will  see

Can  an  advertiser  run  Sponsored  Stories  as  part  of  a  Reach  Block?

• No,  Sponsored  Stories  are  not  compatible  with  Reach  Blocks  at  this  time.  It  has  to  do  with  not  being  able  to  guarantee  reach  and  delivery  of  impressions  since  Sponsored  Stories  are  completely  dependent  on  the  number  of  organic  News  Feed  stories  that  are  generated  from  peoples’  actions.  

• Advertisers  can  run  Sponsored  Stories  in  a  Target  Block  (formerly  known  as  “Heavy  Up”)  or  sustained  media.  

• You  can  recommend  that  an  advertiser  run  a  Reach  Block,  then  run  sustained  media  using  Sponsored  Stories  the  week  following  the  Reach  Block.  Reach  your  

target  audience  with  a  message  (Facebook  Ads),  then  tell  all  their  friends  how  they  engaged  with  your  brand  (Sponsored  Stories).  

  In  an  Advertiser’s  ad  report,  will  we  add  a  line  item  to  show  where  this  engagement  or  acquisition  (of  a  new  fan)  came  from?

• No,  at  this  time  we  aren’t  breaking  out  engagement  or  fan  acquisition  separately  from  Facebook  Ads  within  the  same  campaign.

Will  I  be  able  to  see  Sponsored  Stories  in  my  metrics  and  reporting  separate  from  Facebook  Ads?

• Yes,  Sponsored  Stories  will  be  visible  in  reporting  at  the  individual  level  with  the  same  reported  metrics  as  normal  ad  units,  i.e  Premium  Poll  Ad  is  one  line,  Sponsored  Stories  is  another  line.  

How  will  frequency  of  Sponsored  Stories  be  controlled?  

• Sponsored  Stories  within  a  Target  Block  or  sustained  media  campaign  are  subject  to  the  same  frequency  caps  of  Facebook  Ads.  For  example,  if  a  user  has  a  lot  of  stories  in  their  News  Feed  that  qualifies  for  Sponsored  Stories,  they  won’t  see  a  ton  of  Sponsored  Stories.  They’ll  see  the  same  number  of  impressions  as  they  would  have  seen  if  they  were  targeted  with  a  regular  Facebook  Ads  campaign.  

Will  they  have  all  the  same  targeting  options  as  Facebook  Ads?

• No.  The  story  can  only  be  shown  to  users  that  are  also  eligible  to  see  the  story  in  their  News  Feeds,  however  they  can  narrow  that  down  further  with  the  same  targeting  options  that  are  available  for  ads.  Please  note  that  Sponsored  Stories  do  not  support  targeted  Page  Posts.  

Are  they  going  to  have  editing  capabilities  for  the  ads  or  will  it  just  pre-­‐populate  based  on  what  the  News  Feed  story  is?

• No  editing.  It  will  show  the  story  as  it  appears  in  the  News  Feed  (unless  it  needs  to  be  abridged  because  of  character  constraints,  in  which  case  ellipses  will  follow)  

Is  there  any  way  to  control  the  priority  of  stories  that  get  boosted?    For  example,  if  someone  downloads  an  app,  uses  the  app  to  research  a  fare,  and  then  purchases  something  through  the  app  (and  each  generates  a  story),  the  app  would  obviously  want  the  purchase  to  be  boosted  over  the  app  download.    

• No,  not  currently  

How  would  we  handle  those  types  of  stories  that  are  generated  by  the  same  user  over  a  short  period  of  time?  Can  they  selectively  prioritize  or  blacklist  certain  stories  that  are  generated  by  their  app?

• No,  not  currently  

Is  there  a  criteria  to  use  Sponsored  Stories?  X  amount  of  connections?

• No,  but  we  are  communicating  to  clients  that  if  they  have  a  limited  number  of  users  engaged  with  their  Page,  Place  or  Application  they  may  not  see  the  delivery  they  would  like.  

Do  you  have  to  have  a  lot  of  fans  to  use  Sponsored  Stories?

• No  matter  how  many  fans  you  have,  Sponsored  Stories  allows  you  to  increase  the  distribution  of  stories  your  fans  are  posting  about  your  Page.  

Are  we  able  to  quantify  the  number  of  impressions  that  will  be  available  to  an  advertiser  to  boost?  I'd  imagine  that  would  be  difficult  due  to  the  fact  that  the  stories  are  user  generated.

• No,  the  impressions  are  purely  based  on  the  number  of  organic  interactions  that  are  happening  in  the  News  Feed.  Sponsored  Stories  takes  those  interactions  and  surfaces  them  to  friends,  which  generates  further  engagement  with  the  brand.  

Can  you  use/change  targeting  for  the  Sponsored  Stories—change  from  the  original  ad  targeting  or  make  it  target  a  specific  audience?

• By  default,  Sponsored  Stories  are  targeted  to  users  who  are  eligible  to  see  the  story  in  their  News  Feed.  You  can  select  advanced  targeting  in  addition,  but  please  note  that  this  will  further  reduce  the  audience  reach.  

Are  there  any  safeguards  in  place  to  ensure  that  negative  comments/stories  aren't  boosted?  For  example,  if  someone  checks-­‐in  to  Starbucks  and  adds  a  comment  about  how  much  they  don't  like  the  new  30oz  Starbucks  cup,  will  this  potentially  be  boosted?

• No  there  is  no  way  to  filter  negative  comments.  Yes  the  story  will  be  boosted.  

If  someone  Likes  a  Page  using  the  Like  Box  widget  from  an  external  site,  will  that  be  included  in  Sponsored  Stories?

• If  it’s  the  Like  Box  widget  (not  an  object-­‐level  Like  via  Social-­‐Plugins  or  the  Graph  API),  then  the  person  is  liking  the  client’s  Page  on  Facebook.  This  can  generate  a  News  Feed  story,  which  means  it  qualifies  to  show  up  in  Sponsored  Stories.  

Can  I  track  conversions  from  Sponsored  Stories?

• Advertisers  cannot  change  the  tracking  url,  but  they  can  see  whether  a  click  came  from  a  Sponsored  Story  or  a  regular  stream  story  by  looking  at  the  referrer.  

Will  Sponsored  Stories  respect  the  ‘game  filter’,  which  doesn't  allow  app  stories  to  be  published  to  your  news  feed  if  you  aren’t  playing  that  game?

• No,  we  will  show  these  as  Sponsored  Stories  to  users  who  do  not  play  the  game  but  we  will  not  show  it  if  the  user  has  explicitly  hid  that  application.    This  should  be  valuable  for  application  developers,  but  could  be  touchy  for  users  so  we  will  play  this  one  by  ear.