Facebook confirms LiveRail purchase

Facebook has expanded its service for users with the purchase of video advertising technology firm LiveRail.

The move will allow companies to place more relevant ads in videos that appear on their websites and apps. Facebook believes that a move like this will allow firms to produce more effective marketing strategies as online video advertising becomes more and more popular across the world.

Neither Facebook or LiveRail disclosed financial details of the deal but reports indicate that the social media giant paid between $400 million and $500 million (£233 million and £291 million) to purchase the technology company. The partnership will allow Facebook to utilise the over seven billion video ads LiveRail produces every month and provide businesses with a much improved service.

Brian Boland, vice president of ads product marketing and atlas at Facebook, wrote in a blog post: "We believe that LiveRail, Facebook and the premium publishers it serves have an opportunity to make video ads better and more relevant for the hundreds of millions of people who watch digital video every month.

"More relevant ads will be more interesting and engaging to people watching online video, and more effective for marketers too."

Facebook's purchase of LiveRail is just one in a number of acquisitions the social media company has been involved with of late. In February, it announced the capture of messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and shares. It represented the biggest acquisition in Facebook's history and allowed it to utilise the 450 million monthly users already signed up to WhatsApp.

Buying LiveRail enables Facebook to tap into the online and mobile ad sector which has been growing rapidly in recent years. Over £1 billion was spent on mobile ads in the UK during 2013, representing a 93 per cent on 2012, according to figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau UK.

Facebook's share price stood at 66.45 as July 3rd 08:51 BST.

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