According to Kenshoo Social, budgets for advertising on Facebook continue to grow at a faster rate than paid search. Analysis of more than 100 billion ads served on Facebook worldwide through Kenshoo Social found digital marketing agency's clients spent 109% more on Facebook in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the prior quarter.

Facebook has started featuring ads within the home page’s main news feed. The ads are now marked as 'featured'. The social networking site is trying to distinguish these ads from sidebar ads that are marked as 'sponsored'. The new format has faced much criticism, as the new ads may confuse facebook users by leading them to believe that the ads are stories about their friends.