Facebook wants to start a fight with Google for digital advertising. Facebook's plans could be great for the company, but its users could suffer.

The social media giant mentioned its plans for an ad network at New York's advertising week on Monday. Facebook's plans and applications for the ad network have come with its purchase of Microsoft's Atlas last year. There is a caveat to this company's plans for its users.

While Facebook does not call it an ad network in the traditional sense, in the long term it could be viewed as such. What it does is let advertisers buy ads, via Facebook, on items and properties not formally owned by Facebook, Re/code reported. 

Here are a two things to keep in mind that the ad network does do: Firstly, if you are worried that people could use your Facebook data to serve you commercials, Facebook says don't worry. A user's identity will remain anonymous to advertisers and publishers, Re/code reported. All they will know is some basic information about you.

Secondly, with Facebook's 2013 acquisition of Microsoft's Atlas, the social media giant can reintroduce it and really apply it to this so-called ad network. Atlas can be used to assist marketers track how well their commercials are doing around the web, Re/code reported. It will also allow those said marketers to buy ads that are not Facebook-related, such as websites and apps.

With this ad network, this could better position Facebook to compete directly with Google. The head of Atlas, Erik Johnson, says that this will help advertisers to solve the "problem of diversity of devices," El Dínamo reported. In other words, Atlas can connect advertisers directly with their customers in a way that is not necessarily on Facebook but outside as well. Johnson says that this is the "real impact of digital campaigns to drive incremental sales and new scope."

Atlas with Facebook could spread over the internet. Atlas could be better than the social media company's "Like" button strategy, CBS News reported. The "Like" strategy was to collect information on users preferences, even if they were not expressing any interest. Facebook also used a social graph for online searches; this tracked people's online behavior.

Should Google be worried about Facebook? For now, no. But Facebook has a long term goal with this ad network strategy.