Facebook is getting rid of sponsored search results as it cuts down on the available number of ad units. Facebook has been giving news outlets the following statement:
In keeping with the goal of streamlining our ad products, starting in July advertisers will no longer be able to buy sponsored results. We’ve seen that most marketers were buying sponsored results to advertise their apps and games, and we already offer mobile app install ads and Page post link ads on desktop to achieve these same goals.
The move is particularly interesting given that Facebook’s huge search revamp – Graph Search – hasn’t even completed roll-out, or come even close to including all of the stuff Facebook intends for it to include. It has not yet gone mobile either. In other words, the product is in its infancy, and it seems somewhat odd that Facebook would kill the ad product that goes with it before it’s even completely rolled out.
It’s unclear whether Facebook will keep around the ads that appear in the middle of Graph Search results pages, which are a bit different, and essentially the same as the ads you see to the side of the news feed:
But Facebook is greatly reducing its ad offerings, as recently reported. In fact, the company plans on getting rid of over half of those available. The company says that many of its offerings accomplish the same goals, so they’re eliminating some redundancies.
Among the other ad products going away are Questions for Pages, Offers, and the need to create separate sponsored stories in addition to other ads.
More on Facebook’s plans here.
Sponsored search results went live last August.