It was only a matter of time.
Facebook, the world’s largest social networking platform — by a lot — launched a Craigslist-like classifieds service in 2016. Shortly after letting users sell used bikes and old couches, Facebook introduced the ability for companies to post jobs on the platform, which now tout 800 million monthly users, and continues to update the service.
Anyone watching this space knew Facebook monetizing Marketplace was a foregone conclusion. Exactly when was the only question, but it looks like that time is coming quickly. So get those budgets ready.
Reported by The Verge, Facebook is currently testing sponsored listings within Marketplace. Most notably, listings on Marketplace that get boosted will show up in the News Feed, which means even those who never go to Marketplace will see ads. According to the story, this is a small, U.S.-based test with no immediate plans for a wide rollout. Advertisers will be able to set a budget and timeframe, and ads will be pulled immediately once an item is sold.
“There isn’t a set price for an ad,” wrote Verge reporter Ashley Carman. “Instead, all submitted ads are entered into Facebook’s ad auction where they will be considered alongside other ads trying to target the same people in the same area.
“The auction doesn’t reward the highest bidder with an ad but attempts to instead figure out what ad delivers the highest value to both the user trying to advertise and the ad viewer.”
There is currently no example or commentary on boosting job postings specifically, but it’s probably a foregone conclusion. Businesses, however, are being targeted to promote listings en masse.
Companies, for example, can extend their existing News Feed, video, Instagram, Messenger, and other ad campaigns to Marketplace. Also, more types of objective-based campaigns will reportedly open to the classifieds section soon, which could include job postings.
Facebook told TechCrunch that ads will be auto-optimized for engagement, so once users start to click ads, Facebook will gradually start showing them to users of similar demographics, as well as targeted locations. Sponsored ads get published alongside traditional ads in Facebook’s platform. Facebook will display what it thinks will be the most attractive ads.
Remember that Facebook partnered with companies like ZipRecruiter, Jobscore, and Recruitology to get more job postings on its platform a year ago. These kinds of relationships make launching an advertising program on a broad scale much easier. Hoping small businesses understand and use boosted job postings is tough, but getting ZipRecruiter to write a big check and have all its listings become sponsored is much easier.
It’s safe to say sponsored job postings will be coming to a News Feed near you sooner rather than later.