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back to article Facebook pays half a billion dollars for firm that slaps ads on videos

Facebook has paid an estimated half a billion dollars to buy a video advertising firm called LiveRail. Facebook has not officially announced how much it paid for Liverail, but estimates have ranged between $400m and $500m - a huge chunk of change by anyone's standards. There was no word on the cash to stock mix that FB coughed …

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  1. MrWibble

    "We believe that LiveRail, Facebook ... make video ads better and more relevant for the hundreds of millions of people who watch digital video every month. More relevant ads will be more interesting and engaging to people watching online video...."

    How can he keep a straight face when saying that?

    17 0 Reply
    1. Tenacal
      Reply Icon

      Note he's not saying that the adverts will suddenly become interesting/engaging, just more-so than current pre-video adverts. He may even turn out to be correct.

      Nothing will change in the grand scheme of things though - users will still click the 'Skip Ad' button as soon as they're able (or continue to use AdBlock, if they're sensible).

      9 0 Reply
  2. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Mushroom

    And once again...

    The assumption that people like watching adverts, relevant or not!

    9 0 Reply
  3. Seanmon

    Grr!

    The phrase "Better and more relevant ads" is fast becoming this years "superfast broadband." - i.e. makes you want to use your fist as a dental drill on the person uttering.

    13 0 Reply
  4. NotWorkAdmin

    Maybe I missed it...

    but I don't see any mention of who's being paid, so presumably only Facebook gets paid. Monetising other people's content and keeping the cash to yourself sounds pretty repugnant. Guess that's inline with FB's attitude to it's users. Glad I "left".

    7 0 Reply
    1. Steve Graham
      Reply Icon

      Re: Maybe I missed it...

      "Monetising other people's content and keeping the cash to yourself sounds pretty repugnant."

      It's worked well for Google though.

      0 0 Reply
    2. Buster
      Reply Icon

      Re: Maybe I missed it...

      Apparently you did. or did you imagine that the internet was for you/us. If you go back to the early day of broadcasting Radio stations saw the entertainment (content) saw their way to make money was to "sell families to advertisers". Here in Europe we had a public broadcast ethos that carried into the TV age that did not have adverts.

      The only reason that anything like Facebook starts free/without advertising is to build a hooked user base and because they are US based in order to be able to shrug off copyright challenges historically internet businesses built on user generated content could use the fact that they were providing "public benefit" out of the goodness of their collective expressly non-evil hearts for leverage in such challenges. That is also why they want to graft a fair use doctrine on every ones copyright system.

      Eventually all the nice free stuff ends and people squeal "no fair". Well actual it was never free because users were already generating the all important content with their time, interaction and their intellectual property.

      0 0 Reply
    3. RegGuy1 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Maybe I missed it...

      Just for the record, I never joined.

      (And will NEVER join.)

      0 0 Reply
  5. samlebon2306

    Just half an Instagram, that's a cheap purchase.

    0 0 Reply
  6. Khaptain Silver badge
    Coat

    It's all in the name

    An ailing liver is never a good sign..

    5 0 Reply
  7. Nathan 13

    Honestly

    I dont think I would ever want to watch, or enjoy watching an Ad during a video, even if it was pornographic!

    They actually make me mad at the company being advertised!!

    Maybe a new business model would be for Tesco to pay Facebook to show me Morrsions Ads!!

    8 0 Reply
  8. HappyChappy

    Something else then for me to work out how to block. Cool.

    2 0 Reply
    1. NotWorkAdmin
      Reply Icon

      Good idea

      I'd recommend adding this line to your hosts file:

      127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com

      4 0 Reply
  9. BobM54

    Why do advertisers TRUST Zuckerberg and his BS claims.... Advertisers have got to be the dumbest fools going. Like Toyota thinks I'm going to buy one of their Sh!tboxes after writing or looking at something with 4 wheels on it?

    3 0 Reply
  10. ItsNotMe
    Devil

    Well, if you don't use Farcebook in the first place...

    ...then this isn't really a problem. Now is it?

    5 0 Reply
  11. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    Trollface

    I think this is a brilliant move

    Pissing off half a billion people, give or take a million or so who will actually enjoy it, is simply a brilliant move.

    Now Facebook's demise is all but assured.

    <evil cackling><strokes cat>

    0 0 Reply
  12. HKmk23

    Ah, but........

    You are forgetting that the average F@ckbook addict has not got a life as such and so will regard the adverts as a). educational. b). truthful. c). informative.

    When your IQ is in the low 70's you need to show pictures of what you ate/drank/saw every half hour to prove to your self that you are alive.

    0 0 Reply
  13. Pope

    I guess that's $5.96 billion in the US, not million.

    0 0 Reply

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