If anyone worried that Facebook wouldn't make enough money when it went public, those fears are gone. Facebook is now selling logout ads for around $700,000 a day, according to a report.
Facebook's initial asking price for a marketer looking to buy all logout page inventory in the U.S. for a given day was north of $700,000, according to AdAge. However, one can't buy just a standalone logout ad ($160,000), a company has to buy it bundled with home-page ads ($550,000).
The new revenue is a departure from Facebook's usual advertising approach which centers on small display ads based on demographics, consumer likes and interests. The new lucrative ads mean Facebook is directly taking on search engines and taking cash away from Microsoft and Google.
The only negative for buyers is that many Facebook users never log out -- only 37 million U.S. users do so out of about 140 million, according to eMarketer. Still, a few marketers have jumped at the Facebook ads, including Bing (Microsoft also owns part of Facebook), Ford and Subway. Facebook declined to comment on the price structure of logout ads.
It's not surprising that Facebook started the logout ads in early March, just as its initial public offering was gathering steam. It also will make the company more revenue and make it a solid investment choice. So get used to seeing those ads when you log out.
