Facebook announces anonymous logins and new ad network at its f8 developers conference

Social media giant Facebook has announced a string of new features, including mobile like buttons, a redesigned app centre and anonymous logins at the company’s annual f8 developers conference.

The anonymous login feature will allow users to log in to a third-party app using their Facebook credentials, without sharing any additional information from their profile withy the app developers.

It is designed to be used by people trying a particular online service for the first time, with users having the option of opening up their personal information to app developers later. Facebook says it is trying Anonymous Login with some selected developers, and is planning to open up the service more broadly over the coming months.

Facebook will also now allow users to share how much information they share with third party app developers, in a manner similar to how users of mobile apps have to give permission for apps to access different kinds of data.

The social media giant also announced the creation of a mobile ad network, confirming speculation SmartCompany reported on last week.

The ad network, dubbed the Audience Network, means Facebook will compete with Google by selling ads on third-party websites as well as its own.

“The Audience Network uses the same targeting available for Facebook ads today, including Custom Audiences, core audiences and lookalike audiences. It features the same measurement tools marketers use for their Facebook ads, too,” Facebook says in a statement.

“For marketers already running News Feed ads on Facebook, using the Audience Network takes just one click. The Audience Network will be available in all ad interfaces, as well as the API. Once a campaign is running in the Audience Network, our system handles optimization and delivery.”

For developers, other major features include a two-year stability guarantee for the company’s core products, as well as the introduction of API version numbers to simplify third-party development.

Other new features for end users include the introduction of a mobile like button for iOS, the ability to access app content through Facebook Messenger on Android, and a redesign of the app centre.