Facebook Tests Mobile Ads That Could Cure Lead-Generation Ills

Facebook is testing lead-generation-based mobile ads with a few dozen select brands, though it's not sharing the companies' names. If the ads actually work and become a regular marketing product, they will likely be popular with email marketers, financial brands, automakers, insurance companies and real estate players. The ads let consumers sign up for newsletters or complete forms—think credit card applications, test-drive appointments, price quotes and customer service follow-up calls—with just two taps of the screen.  "This helps avoid a lot of the pain points usually associated with filling out forms like having to leave one app and start a form in another app and having to enter all of their information from scratch. Just a few taps and people are done," Facebook said in a blog post on Thursday.  That type of streamlining becomes possible when users allow Facebook to pull contact information—names, email addresses, phone numbers—from their profiles.