Facebook launches Atlas

Facebook is rolling out its new Atlas service, which contains many tools including a video ad serving product, plus tools enabling brands to better understand their customers' paths to conversion across screens.

Atlas is the social platform's new publisher offering, which also includes Instant Articles and eLearning products. The video ad serving is intended to make it easier for brands to tell their stories across devices within the Atlas platform. 

Previous video experiments undertaken by Facebook demonstrated that native video ad formats are the best performing on its network, with mobile an increasingly important platform for advertisers.

In addition to Atlas is the launch of Offline Actions, a measurement tool which will help advertisers using Atlas to tie together offline sales to online ad spend. Advertisers who measure their ads with Atlas can now upload their point-of-sale data and understand how their online ads are influencing offline purchases. 

In a blog post announcing the launch, Dave Jakubowski, head of ad tech at Facebook, said: "Other path to conversion solutions rely on cookie-based reporting, but Atlas is based on real people - which allows advertisers to see the real path across desktop, tablet, and mobile prior to online conversion."