Facebook adds video and digital metrics to Atlas platform

Facebook has added a new video ad serving feature to its people-based measurement and ad-serving Atlas platform. The new tool, called Video Ad Serving, will help marketers measure value across multiple devices and determine what influences a conversion. In addition, Atlas has introduced Offline Actions, which allows marketers to upload their own point-of-scale data and view it alongside their ad campaigns. This will enable advertisers to see if their Facebook Atlas campaigns are driving sales offline. Facebook is also offering a metric called "Path to Conversion", to help marketers understand if ads on desktop, smartphone or tablets drove a digital sale.

Facebook Atlas , the social platform's ad server that extends far beyond its own site and apps, is getting a few noteworthy updates today.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is announcing Offline Actions, which lets Atlas-using marketers upload their own point-of-sale data and view it alongside their ad campaigns. It's a move likely to appeal to brick-and-mortar retailers and packaged-goods brands.

The measurement-oriented product will, in theory, let advertisers know more clearly if their Facebook Atlas campaigns—which encompass ads via numerous publishers and websites—are driving offline sales.