Libra Payments Can Boost Facebook’s Ads Business, Zuckerberg Says

Facebook can benefit from Libra, if its users tap the payments project to buy goods off the social media giant’s marketplaces, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

Speaking during an annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, Zuckerberg said Facebook’s commerce work, including Libra, should be viewed through the lens of its ads business, according to a transcript posted by Thomson Reuters. The company treats its ads business as an auction, meaning entities can bid for their best price.

“Because we don’t have to set a price, every business can just bid for themselves what an ad is worth to them in terms of what results they’re trying to get, which means that we can always offer any business the lowest possible price, which is great because that way, it’s very inclusive,” Zuckerberg said. “Millions of businesses around the world can participate, and the business can be very efficient.”

Combining ads with an effective payment tool for users can benefit businesses further, he said, citing both Facebook Pay and Libra.

“If we can make commerce be more effective for businesses if when they run an ad, somebody who clicks on that ad is now going to be more likely to buy something because they actually have a form of payment that works that’s on file,” Zuckerberg said. “Then it basically becomes worth it more for the businesses to bid higher in the ads than what we see are higher prices for the ads overall.”

He also reiterated past talking points about Libra, saying the infrastructure around payments “hasn’t been updated in a very long time.”

A tool like Libra, which currently envisions a number of different stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, could make it easier for individuals to transfer funds or pay for goods across national borders, which would further benefit businesses and Facebook.

“I think that, that’s going to be great for people around the world. I think it will be helpful for the economy overall,” Zuckerberg said.