[greg]

I worked on Facebook ads for the past year so I know that some of the claims in this article are just wrong, but I think the average reader can figure that out for themselves.

> People go to Facebook to interact with their friends. It is fundamentally different from the ad platform that is Google.

All true, all what Facebook tells its advertisers. www.facebook.com/ads

> They spend hundreds or thousands or more on Facebook ads. At the end of the first run, they see bad ROIs.

Because advertising on Facebook is not typically about buying something, it is often difficult to measure direct ROI in $. In this, it is like the majority of all advertising.

> ...Facebook ads are worthless. Everyone I've talked to who has actually bought Facebook ads knows this

Have you talked to Zynga? They make Facebook games. It is speculated they are making $300M+ a year. You can see their ads all the time on Facebook. Either they are incredibly incompetent, or FB Ads delivers positive ROI for them. Search google for "zynga revenue estimate".

[seregine]

I always hear Zynga mentioned as the success story for Facebook Ads. If you had to name an example other than Zynga, who would it be?

[swivelmaster]

As a PM at a company that uses Facebook ads extensively to attract users, I can tell you with absolute certainty that Facebook ads are worth it and the author of the article doesn't know what he's talking about. At all. End of the story.

[seregine]

That's not quite what I was asking. I generally believe that Facebook ads can be successful. I'm curious about what companies are effectively using them now at a large scale.

I also suspect that the effectiveness of Facebook ads has a lot to do with the nature of the product/service being advertised, and the ad itself (just like any advertising).

Your comment applies your specific experience (unknown to me) as evidence for an absurdly general statement ("Facebook ads are worth it") and an ad hominem attack on the author of the article. Classy.

[FluidDjango]

In one of your other HN comments you say:

> Klicknation Inc, for which I am a product manager, is hiring.

>Our flagship product is Superhero City, a Facebook game. You may wonder if a Facebook game can support a whole (small) company, and my answer would be a resounding 'yes'.

So the (non-quantitative) data described by most of the posters here seems to say that there is one type of ad that does seem worthwhile of FB: those advertising FB games (e.g., Zynga, and your Klicknation games).

Of interest would be: who has found FB ads useful for non-FB-dependent products/services?

[jfarmer]

Groupon and other deal-a-day coupon sites spend tons of money on Facebook ads.

Since Greg (hi Greg!) works at Facebook, it'd be a gross breach of trust for him to reveal who Facebook's ad clients are. Zynga is a well-known example, often mentioned because they spend a ridiculous amount of cash on FB ads.