Facebook has officially relaunched the advertising platform Atlas in a new incarnation that will allow marketers to track users in new dimensions, according to a blog post from the company. Atlas will offer the ability to not only synthesize information about where users are seeing ads, but also to see how and whether those ad views play out into a purchase, even if it’s offline.
Facebook’s long-awaited Google AdSense competitor is finally here. It’s called Atlas, and it will allow brands to use the social network’s massive trove of data to target ads on sites across the web. Facebook announced the news late Sunday night to coincide with the start of Advertising Week in New York City. For other brands hoping to make headlines at Advertising Week, Facebook’s news will be a tough act to follow. Investors and the media have been waiting for an announcement like this for years. In January, Facebook took its first steps in this direction launching a network that could serve up ads within mobile apps. But the launch of Atlas symbolizes a deeper commitment to controlling the web’s ads—and an even fiercer fight with Google for that control.
