Facebook said Wednesday it is halting a test of placing ads in "apps"
that synch to the leading social network, renewing questions on how it
will boost revenues from members using smartphones or tablets.
"We are pausing our mobile ads test off of Facebook," a company spokesman said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.
"While
the results we have seen and the feedback from partners have been
positive, our focus is on scaling ads in mobile news feed before ads off
of Facebook."
The test of placing ads in Facebook-linked apps
will be halted by the end of the year as the California-based firm makes
a priority of developing ways to profit from "news feeds" of posts
shared between friends at the social network.
Facebook shares were
down slightly on the news, slipping less than a percent to $27.60 in
late afternoon trading on the Nasdaq exchange.
Facebook stock
rallied in October after the company reported quarterly earnings that
showed gains in tapping the mobile advertising market.
During an
earnings call with analysts, founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg
said the company was "just getting started with our mobile product
development and monetization.
Facebook went public in May with a
resounding flop, its $38 initial public offering price immediately
plunging to eventually less than half that.
That angered many
investors who had built hopes that the company's huge popularity would
result in huge gains in the share price.
Analysts have questioned
the company's ability to earn money from smartphones, where Facebook is
finding its users more often now.