Facebook says they have disabled two more offer and ad networks for repeated policy violations. These new removals are part of an effort launched in July to curb misleading, or outright false advertisements on the social networking portal.
Facebook stays tough on shady advertising
“Since introducing updated policies for third-party ads on Facebook Platform in July, we have disabled two entire ad networks and suspended or brought into compliance over 100 applications for ad-related violations in regions around the world, over half of which had more than one million monthly active users,” Facebook’s Nick Gianos wrote on the developer blog.
The battle over misleading or deceptive ads has been a long one. There were stimulus scams on the system earlier this year, where people were directed to fraudulent sites like PresidentObamaGrant.com or OfficialStimulusGrant.com, where they asked people to part with personal information in exchange for government grants that would never come.
Shortly after the stimulus scams came deceptive advertisements from third-party ad networks inside the countless numbers of Facebook applications.
“We recognize that monitoring ads isn't the first area of focus for an entrepreneur just getting started with social applications. That's why ad networks that don’t play by the rules should expect to be our first point of contact in our line of enforcement,” Gianos noted.
In addition to legal notices that have been sent to ad networks mandating ongoing compliance with Facebook regulations, Gianos said, just last week they disabled two additional offer and ad networks who repeatedly violated policies.
The idea of using less than honest advertisements is a lucrative business. In a post to TechCrunch, Dennis Yu, of BizLocal, explained one of the very ads Gianos is talking about.
“You see those ads saying “Inbox (5). Nick, someone in San Francisco has a crush on you!” (with your name, profile picture, and city in the ad). I generated millions of dollars from these offers on Facebook – I am not proud of it, but it was very lucrative.”
What helps the ad networks running the deceptive advertising stay successful is the sheer amount of information Facebook users willingly hand over. Of the 300 million users on Facebook, more than 70-percent of them interact with applications each month, the company said. Users may not realize it, but those applications are a true gold mine. [We covered applications and privacy in a Facebook Privacy Guide. You can read that here if you wish.]
Yu explained in detail an insider’s look at Spam on Facebook. His comments are here, and are worth a read. The bottom line however, is that Yu thinks that trusted advertisers will simply rise the price of traffic so high that the bottom feeding deceptive ad networks will be pushed aside.
As for Facebook, the war moves forward. “Our policies are clear. If you're an ad network and don’t comply with them, you are doing a disservice to your customers, and you should expect your business opportunities on Facebook to cease.”
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