New research by SimilarTech has explored to what extent people are exposed to Facebook outside of the main domain itself.

Essentially, this means the various bits of software – things like apps, sharing widgets, comment boxes and retargeting pixels – that the brand has developed in order to extend its reach.

Here are some interesting findings taken from the report.

Facebook is used by nearly half of all top websites

Out of the 100,000 most-visited websites in the world, 47% now use one or more Facebook technologies.

Facebook Connect holds the biggest share, followed by the social plugin and like button. 

By capitalising on people’s trust and recognition of the Facebook brand, these features enable sites to collate valuable data about users.

Facebook reach extends tenfold through third party sites

So, just how many people does Facebook reach exactly?

Considering that there were over 300bn visits to third-party sites with integrated Facebook technology in September 2016 alone – that’s a pretty huge number.

When you look at it from this angle, it means that Facebook wasn’t only accessed by the 27bn who visited it directly throughout the month.

Billions more were exposed to the brand through in-direct contact elsewhere.

Influential websites are using Facebook Connect

The number of third-party sites using Facebook is quite staggering.

It’s also interesting to note that while Facebook Connect – the application that allows users to interact on other websites using their Facebook login – is used by fewer sites, many of those that do include hugely influential brands like Vice and Tech Crunch.

Consequently, when you consider the amount of traffic garnered by these sites, the scale of Facebook’s reach extends dramatically. 

Practice is more prevalent in the US

In terms of the web traffic to third party sites using Facebook technologies, over 50% is from the US.

This suggests that while global sites are not quite as familiar with the technology, using Facebook products such as social plugins has almost become an industry standard in the States.

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