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The NYT reports Facebook (FB -0.8%) is "working on a stand-alone mobile application that allows users to interact inside of it without having to use their real names," and plans to release it "in the coming weeks."
- The app's reported goal is to allow users to "use multiple pseudonyms to openly discuss the different things they talk about on the Internet; topics of discussion which they may not be comfortable connecting to their real names." It's unknown if the app will interact with Facebook's core site and apps, or whether it will support anonymous photo-sharing.
- At its spring f8 conference, Facebook introduced anonymous login support for 3rd-party apps. However, Zuck and other Facebook execs have defended requiring users of the company's core services to rely on their real-world identities.
- Facebook's real-identity requirement is "part of what made Facebook special in the first place," product chief Chris Cox recently asserted. However, the role pseudonym support has played in fueling the growth of Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms undoubtedly isn't lost on Facebook.
- Five months after launching, Facebook's mobile ad network (relies on Facebook data to deliver targeted ads on other sites/apps), has been opened up to all developers. Banner, interstitial, and native ads are supported. Millennial Media (MM -5.7%), among the companies in Facebook's crosshairs, is having a bad day.
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The Information reports major Web publishers such as Yahoo, Twitter, and Pinterest have balked at supporting Facebook's newly-launched Atlas ad-serving/measurement platform, due to wariness about sharing data with a perceived rival. Atlas, along with the mobile ad network and LiveRail, is pivotal to Facebook's efforts to challenge Google's display ad hegemony.
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Update: SA author Charles Moscoe argues Facebook's reported Atlas challenges highlight the value of Sizmek's (NASDAQ:SZMK) independent ad campaign management platform.