Facebook helps app makers hawk to Android, iOS audiences

Facebook today improved mobile app install ads -- its developer-friendly mobile advertising product -- to help iOS and Android applications reach smartphone owners based on their operating system or network connection.

The social network said that developers can now target their Facebook ads, which are designed to drive mobile application downloads, to people running specific versions of Android or iOS operating systems. They also can target devices on Wi-Fi connections.

"This is helpful if, for example, you are interested in connecting with iPad users that only have Wi-Fi access or prefer using Wi-Fi for data usage," software engineer Calvin Grunewald wrote on Facebook's developer blog.

Mobile app install ads were made available to all developers in October. The units turn Facebook's mobile News Feed into a recruiting zone, as developers can pay to promote their apps to the social network's mobile audience of more than 680 million people.

More than 20 percent of the top 100 iOS applications are using mobile app install ads, the company has said repeatedly. And Facebook is quick to point out that advertisers, such as Poshmark, a retail mobile app, are getting more bang for their buck.

Facebook also said today that it has made mobile app install ads easier to buy and create. The units are available for purchase through its ads center tool, which houses all of Facebook's other ads products.