BRISBANE, Australia (AP) Facebook has announced plans to spend $100m to buy companies that can help it manage its advertising network more efficiently.

The social network will buy about 2,000 companies that have a track record of improving ad performance in its online advertising network, the company said Thursday in a statement.

The deal will cover companies in North America, Europe and China, it said.

Facebook’s ad-management business is growing rapidly and has been beset by ad-network failures in recent years, which have hurt its brand and made it vulnerable to competitors.

Facebook has been spending billions to improve its ad-sales capabilities.

The company said its ad platform is among the most popular in the world and employs more than 15 million people worldwide.

Facebook is the second-largest U.S. social network behind Twitter.