Back in April of last year Facebook began testing a new ad format, but not until the latest design screenshots did we begin to see the new format reappear. Also interestingly enough, Facebook is currently displaying automatically generated “Suggestions” above the advertisements. The reason I call it “interesting” is that we would expect this to detract from the ads which are generating revenue for Facebook.
Alternatively, the new placement for “Suggestions” (seen in screenshot below) may drive more users to view the ads area, something that they previously avoided. While Facebook is still in the process of testing the new design, it’s pretty clear that they’ll opt for this new ad format in which the image is displayed to the left of the advertisement text.
Previously, Facebook had tested a format in which 5 advertisements were displayed on each page. With the new “Suggestions” area, the number of ads has been cut down to 3, the same number which has traditionally appeared in the sidebar. Limiting the advertising real estate seems a bit counter intuitive for a company which relies heavily on ad revenue to survive.
As I already mentioned though, perhaps Facebook has shown that the presence of “Suggestions” actually increases clicks on the advertisements. Do you like the new Facebook design? As an advertiser, are you concerned that it may decrease the performance of ads?
New design screenshots via Matthew Sanders
My “suggestions” have been there since…. I don’t know when, but for quite some time. I don’t know anything about the ads though, as I use ad-block.
THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! CHANGE IT BACK!!!!!!! LET US CHOOSE WHAT FEED WE SEE!!!!!!!!!
Can we be honest with these redesigns? Every redesign has more to do with ad revenue then user experience.
Five ads on the side bar would have been overkill. They have so much inventory right now, they can afford to keep the ads per page to a minimum, which will in affect, drive higher performance.
Firefox + AdblockPro = No More Ads
Nuff Said!
The new Facebook redesign has removed the ability to reorder and customize the left menu items
You can no longer set a group of Pages in a filtered newsfeed to appear on the left menu (without multiple clicks to drill down through friend lists)
why i don’t have this new designe umtill nw ????????
my facebook hasn’t change yet? i don’t know why.
anyone?
Bye
Hi, when did this design start to be available for users?
some people said that they use this design since December,2009
Facebook just screwed all the people who play games on this site with the elimination of the live feed. Everything is all jumbled up. It keeps reshuffling old feeds with new or they disappear altogether. This may just move me back over to Myspace or to another site altogether. Thanks Facebook.
This new layout S-T-I-N-K-S! They have turned it from fun chatting with friends, to waste of time looking for what someone might have posted without looking directly at there page. Might as well have put a box around everyone. Don’t you think if someone didn’t want something seen, T-H-E-Y W-O-U-L-D N-O-T P-O-S-T I-T!!!!