Facebook to Run Test Ads in Oculus VR Headsets

Facebook (FB) will start testing ads inside Oculus VR (virtual reality) headsets. It plans to initially show ads in the Blaston game from Resolution Games. Other developers will join the test at a later stage.

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Bringing ads to the headsets follows Facebook’s previous announcement that it would start testing ads in the Oculus app to offer developers a new way to showcase their products.

“Our primary focus at Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) is to bring more people into VR, advance the consumer experience, and make progress on our longer-term augmented reality initiatives,” Facebook said in a blog post.

In bringing ads to the Oculus platform, the company sees an opportunity to enable new revenue sources for Oculus developers. If developers are able to make money, Facebook hopes the Oculus platform could have a broader range of content and apps. That would contribute to consumer VR going mainstream. (See Facebook stock chart on TipRanks)

Facebook says it will not use people’s private information to target ads. Moreover, it will offer people tools to help them manage what they see. For example, people will have the option to hide specific ads or block specific advertisers.

Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth recently reiterated a Buy rating on Facebook stock and assigned it a price target of $430. The analyst’s price target implies 29.88% upside potential. Feinseth believes Facebook will continue to benefit from the growth in digital advertising and social commerce.

Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 29 Buys, 4 Holds, and 1 Sell. The Facebook average analyst price target of $387.03 implies 16.90% upside potential to current levels.

According to TipRanks’ Hedge Fund Trading Activity tool, confidence in FB is currently Very Positive. The cumulative change in holdings across all 61 funds that were active in the last quarter was an increase of 5 million shares.