The entertainment industry was among the first to embrace the Silicon Valley phenomenon. Studio executives thought the giant social network held great promise in reaching moviegoers for less money than traditional advertising such as trailers and TV ads. Facebook’s origins even became fodder for the 2010 Academy Award-winning movie “The Social Network.”

These days, major studios are taking a hard look at the cost of winning friends on Facebook. Some industry executives are increasingly skeptical that Facebook ads and promotional campaigns that ask users to “like” a movie can deliver big box-office returns.

“For people who are actually looking at the research and are looking for return on investment, for metrics that indicate specifically what Facebook’s role is in the movie marketing equation, the jury’s still out,” said Jim Gallagher, a movie marketing consultant who formerly oversaw marketing for Walt Disney Studios.

Fred Leach, Facebook Inc.’s head of entertainment measurement, said the Menlo Park, Calif., company is working more closely than ever with Hollywood studios to help them target the right audience for a film, including giving studios more data showing the connection between ads and movie ticket sales and more tools to track the effectiveness of Facebook campaigns.

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Advertisers Are Complaining That Facebook Doesn't Follow Privacy Standards (Business Insider)

Facebook Ad Network Would Face Privacy Hurdle With Ad Agencies (AdAge.com)

Study: 20% Of Ad Spend On Facebook Now Goes To Mobile Ads (TechCrunch)

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