Facebook is to start serving ads to third-party mobile apps via a new advertising network.
It announced the move at the start of its F8 developers conference, which is being held in San Francisco.
The decision to launch the Audience Network has the potential to disrupt the ad sector thanks to the depth of knowledge the firm has about its users.
But one company watcher said the social network would need to be wary of privacy concerns.
"Facebook will have to make sure from the outset that it sets some stringent guidelines as to exactly the type of data that it shares with advertisers," Lara O'Reilly, senior reporter at MarketingWeek magazine, told the BBC.
"This is moving away from the Facebook platform, where people feel a little bit more comfortable with targeted advertising, onto mobile app screens, which people can feel are very personal."
Facebook's software can be used to place ads at the top of the screen or within the apps
The platform could become a huge money spinner. An industry study suggested more than £1bn was spent on mobile ads in the UK alone in 2013, a rise of 93% on the previous year.
Facebook suggested it would deliver better click-through rates than its rivals because it had a better chance of delivering "relevant and interesting" material to the public.
"The mobile ecosystem needs a way to deliver these kind of native, personalised ads to people, and I'm glad that we can deliver more than one million active advertisers to your apps," said Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg at the conference.
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