Soon, Facebook to display ads based on your whereabouts

Washington, July 17 (ANI): Facebook is looking into a technology that uses location data to tailor advertisements on their mobile site.

This technology is similar to the smartphone app that predicts where a person is going.

Andrew Bosworth, a Facebook engineer said that the company's smartphone apps could potentially use audio sensors on top of location data to produce customized ads based on a user's surroundings.

"Maybe you're walking past somewhere we know you'll like and it tells you there's a deal you can get. Ads don't have to be a distraction," Discovery News quoted Bosworth as telling Technology Review .

Facebook has been making very little money off the mobile version of its site.

In fact, before its IPO launch in May, the company had warned that mobile services "may negatively affect our revenue and financial results."

Bosworth and his team have been trying to change that, since approximately half of all the active Facebook users access the site via their mobile devices.

He said that a phone's microphone could be used to identify nearby sounds, such as music or a person humming.

If the tune or the music was recognized, the system then could suggest a relevant advertising strategy via online content or media purchases.

Bosworth said that the company's current strategy for milking money from mobile content is through the use of sponsored stories, promotional messages for a brand or company that, say, one of the user's friends is connected with or mentioned on Facebook.

However, Bosworth is optimistic that ads based on a user's location could help Facebook more thoroughly take advantage of the local advertising market. (ANI)