Facebook's Atlas ad serving platform scores two new partners

Facebook’s Atlas ad serving and measurement network has confirmed two new partnerships as it looks to build out its targeted digital advertising offering.

The social media giant announced partnerships with CRM agency, Merkle, as well as campaign workflow management company, Mediaocean. Both are aimed at helping create a “new advertising reality” for brands, head of Atlas, Erik Johnson, said in a statement.

“Partnerships provide us with the scale to reach agencies and advertisers, and as a result real people, to truly help marketers achieve real business results,” he said.

Facebook acquired Atlas from Microsoft in 2013 and relaunched the platform last September. Described as a people-based marketing approach, the platform is designed to help advertisers target specific audiences across devices by tapping into Facebook’s detailed knowledge about its users.

Its first partner was Omnicom, with key clients, Intel and Pepsi, the first to test the new platform. Other partnerships in recent months include Havas Media Group and VivaKi.

In a blog post on the deals with Merkle and Mediaocean, Atlas marketing manager, Nicole Maraschky, said additional partnerships will be announced over coming months.

Atlas is already being positioned as a threat by industry to Google’s DoubleClick ad serving platform. But the as consumer organisations protested against the practice of tracking individuals across the Web.