Media Buyers Say Facebook Video Ads Cost $2 Million Daily

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PRICEY: Media buyers sources are telling the Wall Street Journal that Facebook video ads are being priced at $2 million daily to reach Facebook's 140 million users in the U.S. aged 15 to 54. "Some media buyers said they found the price surprisingly high," reports the paper. Plus, the targeting isn't completely there: " ... Facebook currently allows advertisers to target video ads by gender and age, but not by interests, as it does for traditional ads." (Wall Street Journal)

SOCIAL MEDIA FINALLY RESGISTERING FOR E-COMMERCE: Social media has finally surpassed a 1% conversation rate for e-commerce transactions.

• According to the most recent report from Monetate, 1.09% of people referred to an e-commerce site by social media turned into paying customers in the third quarter.
• For comparison, search has hovered around a 1.79% conversation rate during the past two quarters.
• Email remains the most effective referral channel for e-commerce, with a 2.95% conversation rate in the third quarter.

Although social media still has a ways to go before it becomes a dependable referral source for e-commerce sales, it is improving. During the third quarter last year, social media's conversation rate for e-commerce sites was just .69%. (Monetate)

In Other News ...

STYLE FINDER: An image recognition algorithm being developed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, can identify a person's fashion style by analyzing his or her picture on social media. The development of such technology has huge implications for retailers who want to target consumers with particular tastes. However, more generally, there are all sorts of use cases for image recognition, and it will likely become the next frontier in how ads target people. (The Conversation via Business Insider)

Facebook acquired a startup called SportStream, to help help media partners (such as ESPN) analyze the conversation on Facebook around sporting events. (Facebook Blog)

The Social Web invests in infrastructure and hardware: In an effort to grow their own businesses, companies such as Google and Facebook have been investing heavily in fiber-optic cables and networking hardware. "Executives at the tech companies say they are aiming to reduce costs, improve the performance of their Internet services, and guarantee they have enough capacity to support the growing traffic in online video, photos, games, and other services generated by their businesses," reports The Wall Street Journal. (WSJ)

Jesse Redniss, who is the chief strategy officer at Mass Relevance, shared his predictions for how social TV will evolve in 2014. Among them, he says that we will see more consolidation in the space, as big data will help advertisers better understand the correlation between TV viewing and social media. As a result of that development, Redniss predicts that "agencies will make more strategic buys, focusing on a balance of mass reach and networks with the most energized fans or the largest social footprint." (AdAge)

Microsoft will select its next CEO in "early 2014." Microsoft executive John Thompson, who is leading the search, says there are approximately 20 individuals who are being seriously considered for the position. (AllThingsD)

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