Facebook to offer insights on what users are talking about
Facebook is pulling the curtain back even further for advertisers who are hoping to figure out what's popular among its customers.The social-networking giant said it struck a deal with a company called DataSift that will make it easier for advertisers and other companies to find out what users are talking about on the network. Facebook said DataSift will also be able to find out what types of things are talked about by different demographics of people.The result could allow a fashion company, for example, to see what clothing items its customer base is talking about on Facebook.The move is the latest in a series of steps Facebook has taken to help advertisers and companies better understand how people use its service. Facebook has expanded efforts to help companies study the effectiveness of their ads on the social network. The social network has also created new services to help companies send ads to its users both while they're using the social network, as well as when they're using some apps or outside websites.Facebook isn't the only social network doing this. Numerous analytics companies already parse through data coming from Twitter, in hopes of learning what its users are saying. But Facebook has been measured in the type of access it gives, partially out of concern for users' privacy.Though Facebook says the information being sent to DataSift is aggregated, anonymous and can't be used for specific ad targeting, the data will help companies better understand how customers are talking about their products on the social network.