Facebook monetizes logout page

Facebook users trying to escape the recent upscale in advertising on the social network will find that even logging off offers no relief as the log-out page is given over to advertising.

by Helen Leggatt

Logging out of Facebook has, up until now, returned the user to a sign-up and sign-in homepage. However, the advertising potential of this space has been realized and prominent ads are to be displayed where the 'register new account' form was once displayed.

With around 37 million log-outs occurring each day in the U.S. alone, that's a lot of eyeballs to be monetized.

And let's not forget all those PCs in public spaces that become billboards when users log-out and leave them free for the next user. Not only will passers-by notice the large ads but it's the first thing a new user will see.

First to take advantage of this new ad space is Bing who has created an ad that looks like a Facebook Timeline and is a fully operation Bing search page.

Log-out ads are one of four new "Premium" products for advertisers that were announced at the Facebook Marketing Conference in New York.

Tags: advertisers, advertising, Facebook, social ads, social marketing, social network