The social networking giant may be making yet another aggressive move to outdo Twitter.

According to a Wall Street Journal report that is making the circuit of all of the mobile marketing media, sources who have knowledge from their positions close to the issue are stating that Facebook is working on incorporating hashtags into its service.

This type of marker is currently associated with use on Twitter, one of the social network’s main competitors.

The report said that the hashtag markers will be a part of its group conversation designations. The implications that this could have on mobile marketing opportunities are practically countless, as it will help to establish more solid links among people, groups, topics, and other areas.

It has not yet been made clear how or when mobile marketing and hashtags will be implemented.

However, the sources suggested that Facebook hashtags aren’t something that will be introduced immediately, only that this mobile marketing effort has been added to the list for future efforts. This will not be the first time that a Facebook owned company will use the designation technique, but it would be the first time that it would occur on the social network, itself.

For instance, Instagram, a company owned by Facebook, already uses hashtags not as mobile marketing, but as a technique that allows users to organize the images that they have in their accounts.

At the moment, according to the report, Facebook is simply “testing whether to follow Twitter’s lead and allow users to click on a hashtag to pull up all posts about similar topics or events so it can quickly index conversations around trending topics and build those conversations up, giving users more reason to stay logged in and see more ads.”

Mobile marketing has become a top priority for Facebook, which is starting to recover from its disappointing IPO performance through just that ecosystem. The company has made considerable investments into the channel and is now seeing the returns on those efforts. It is believed that this will only continue to be the direction taken by the largest social network in the world.

China expected to see strong growth in mobile commerce sector

New research from online services and e-commerce giant Alibaba shows that mobile commerce is set for aggressive growth in China. The country is expected to boast of more than 322 million online shoppers by 2016 and many of these consumers are expected to make purchases from their mobile devices. Alibaba, which is the country’s largest online shopping company, expects that the Chinese mobile commerce sector will reach a new high in the coming years, especially as retailers become more accommodating of these consumers.

Mobile commerce sales to reach $41 billion by 2015

According to Alibaba, mobile commerce is expected to account for more than $27 billion in sales in 2014. By 2015, the mobile commerce sector is expected to be worth more than $41 billion. Alibaba notes that in 2012, mobile commerce accounted for only $7.8 billion in sales throughout the country, but this was due to the relative lack of effective mobile payments services that were available to consumers.

Singles Day proven the power of mobile payments

A 24-hour shopping spree is held in China every year called “Singles Day.” The tradition encourages Chinese citizens to visit shops and purchase products they are interested in and is very similar to Cyber Monday and Black Friday in the U.S. During last year’s Singles Day, more than $3 billion in mobile payments were recorded throughout China. This encouraged several companies to take the concept of mobile commerce more seriously.

Security a top priority for mobile consumers

By the end of this year, Alibaba expects that mobile commerce will account for $15 billion in sales throughout China. Several companies are still getting accustomed to accepting mobile payments, but growth is expected to pick up momentum as these companies become more comfortable with mobile commerce. Consumers have many concerns regarding mobile payments, the chief of which regards security. Alibaba, which provides mobile payments services, notes that security is such a big concern among Chinese consumers that it could potential derail the projected growth of mobile commerce. As such, Alibaba, as well as other companies, are taking steps to improve mobile commerce security.