Facebook launches Marketing API Program

Advertisers have so far had limited options when it comes to scaling ad campaigns on Facebook. That could soon change as the social network has officially launched its Marketing API Program.

The program gives companies access to Facebook’s advertising platform, enabling the creation of tools that make it possible to build and manage campaigns in bulk, track ad performance, and execute different bidding strategies. Previously, only a handful of companies had access to the social network’s advertising platform, and some would add additional fees of their own, or take a piece of total spending.

Since Facebook had given access to just a few select partners, major advertisers and their agencies had to cut them in one way or another. Now, hundreds of companies that meet certain requirements and pass a screening conducted by Facebook will be given access to the advertising platform.

The Pages API and Insights API are open to the public and do not require an application, meaning you can immediately start building applications that help marketers with their Page management and Insights measurement activities. To gain access to the Ads API, however, you must submit an online application that shows how you will build value for both users and marketers (you should get a response within two weeks).

The Ads API had been in limited private beta since late 2009, according to Inside Facebook, but now it’s finally opening up. To get started, read the “Getting started on the Marketing APIs” (PDF) and make sure you excel at the following acceptance criteria:

• Your understanding of the digital marketing space and Facebook’s Marketing Solutions in particular.
• The creativity of your proposed implementation or tool, and how it provides differentiated value from Facebook’s native apps and existing tools.
• Your ability to allocate dedicated development resources to your Marketing API implementation.
• Your focus on serving a specific segment of the market with a customized Facebook Marketing Solutions experience.

Opening up the Marketing APIs to a broader audience should result in the release of many new tools that will, in the end, make advertising on Facebook a more efficient process. The concrete results of Facebook advertising is still unclear, but that hasn’t stopped brands from pouring money into ads on the world’s largest social network: 750 million users and counting.

“Over a million developers have already built socially focused applications on Facebook platform,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “Our marketing API program supports developers who are building applications for marketers – tools that make it easier, for instance, for marketers to build and engage their communities on Facebook Pages, to amplify word of mouth via marketplace advertising and sponsored stories, and to effectively measure social engagement via custom dashboards. These apps are built on one or more of our marketing APIs: Open Graph, Pages, Ads, or Insights APIs. It’s important to note that these APIs are available directly to marketers who are building in-house tools for their own use, and also to third-party developers or agencies who want to license their tools to marketers.”

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Facebook acquires interactive iPad book maker Push Pop Press

Facebook has acquired Push Pop Press for an undisclosed amount. Founded by former Apple employees Kimon Tsinteris and Mike Matas, Push Pop Press helps authors and publishers convert physical books into interactive versions for Apple’s iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch devices.

Push Pop Press is most famously known for creating the iPad app Our Choice,
based on the book by Al Gore that is meant to be the sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. Matas, who worked as a designer for Apple between 2005 and 2009 before co-founding Push Pop Press, demoed the iPad app at the 2011 TED conference (video embedded above). The app went on to win a 2011 Apple Design Award.

Facebook does not plan to release digital books any time soon. In other words, this appears to be purely a talent acquisition. Push Pop Press employees will end up working on the overall Facebook experience. That may include Facebook’s rumored iPad app, but they will certainly not be limited to one project.

“We’re thrilled to confirm that we’ve acquired Push Pop Press, a startup whose groundbreaking software changes the way people publish and consume digital content,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “We can’t wait for co-founders Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris to get started, and for some of the technology, ideas and inspiration behind Push Pop Press to become part of how millions of people connect and share with each other on Facebook.”

Here’s the full acquisition announcement letter from Push Pop Press:

Last year Push Pop Press set off to re-imagine the book. We created a new way of publishing and exploring text, images, audio, video and interactive graphics, then teamed up with Melcher Media and Al Gore to create a new kind of book.

The result is Al Gore’s Our Choice, which was released earlier this year. The response has been incredible. Tech columnist David Pogue of The New York Times summed it up by saying:

“this is one of the most elegant, fluid, impressive apps you’ve ever seen. It’s a showpiece for the new world of touch-screen gadgets.”

Now we’re taking our publishing technology and everything we’ve learned and are setting off to help design the world’s largest book, Facebook.

Although Facebook isn’t planning to start publishing digital books, the ideas and technology behind Push Pop Press will be integrated with Facebook, giving people even richer ways to share their stories. With millions of people publishing to Facebook each day, we think it’s going to be a great home for Push Pop Press.

Al Gore’s Our Choice will remain available for purchase, and we’ve decided that our future profits from the book will be donated to The Climate Reality Project. There are no plans to continue publishing new titles or building out our publishing platform that was in private beta. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported and expressed interest in Push Pop Press.

Both Push Pop Press and Facebook share a passion for improving the way we share and explore ideas and we couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds.

Mike Matas
Kimon Tsinteris
Co-founders, Push Pop Press

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