Facebook to sunset FBX desktop retargeting in favor of mobile capabilities

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Facebook’s desktop retargeting solution, Facebook Exchange (FBX), will soon meet its end. Facebook’s decision not to expand FBX access to mobile inventory has led to the exchange’s declining influence. Instead, FBX has been overshadowed by the newer Custom Audiences and Dynamic Ads capabilities.

“Dynamic Ads and Custom Audiences have mobile at their core and are delivering excellent results for businesses, so Facebook Exchange spending has shifted towards those solutions,” said Matt Idema, VP monetization product marketing, Facebook in a statement.

FBX launched in 2012 with 16 partners. Having a seat on the Facebook Exchange once carried significant value and cachet when it was the only way to gain access to retargeting on Facebook. However, the ad tech partners that had made FBX a centerpiece of their businesses have had to adjust expectations as budgets have shifted away from the desktop inventory of FBX. In February 2015, Facebook cut more than 15 partners from FBX, cutting the list from more than 25 to 12. Among the current partners are AdRoll, AppNexus, Criteo, MediaMath and Turn.

“FBX has been a very successful platform for us, and over the past year, as we have seen consumers increasingly move to purchase and browse on mobile devices, Dynamic Ads have increased to become a more significant part of our mix” over the past year, said Eric Eichmann, CEO of Criteo in a statement — adding that 5,000 of Criteo’s customers are already using Dynamic Ads.

With Dynamic Ads, marketers can retarget site or app visitors with specific or multiple products relevant to their browsing behavior. Custom Audiences allows advertisers to upload their own data to target users on Facebook. Both products can target users across devices and are available to marketers directly through Facebook’s ad interface or Facebook’s APIs.

AdExchanger reported FBX will shutter on November 1, 2016. As questions arise about Facebook sealing access to its platform, Facebook is stressing the openness of the Facebook Ads API. “Our ads API is open to all developers so they can innovate on our platform and build great ad experiences for brands and their customers,” said Idema.

About The Author

Ginny Marvin

As Third Door Media's paid media reporter, Ginny Marvin writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She provides search marketing and demand generation advice for ecommerce companies and can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.