

On Facebook, ‘Likes’ Become Ads - libria
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/facebook-likes-become-ads-101815773.html

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qeorge
Here's what one looks like, for the curious:

Mobile: <http://i.imgur.com/kQlmh.png>

Desktop: <http://i.imgur.com/ZiOqX.png>

This appeared in my news feed last night, and is still there now. It moves
like a normal item (i.e., its not 'sitckied' to the top or anything like
that).

On mobile its pretty jarring. Bigger than any other posts.

~~~
roshangry
Wow @ the mobile version. How many posts typically fit on a screen these days?

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cmelbye
I took a quick look at my news feed, and found that non-sponsored "full
screen" posts are very common. A few recent examples:

<http://i.imgur.com/zcHoH.png>

<http://i.imgur.com/khR3W.png>

<http://i.imgur.com/zFdyv.png>

<http://i.imgur.com/fF8EM.png>

Obviously, it's very popular to share photos and videos on Facebook, and it's
understandable that those forms of media will take up a large percentage of
small mobile screens. Not really an issue specific to advertisements.

~~~
roshangry
Thanks!

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earbitscom
I had to email a friend the other day and let him know that Match.com ads were
being displayed with his "endorsement" as a user.

~~~
cmelbye
If he's worried about being associated with Match.com, he probably shouldn't
voluntarily associate himself with Match.com (which is what this is).
Obviously, a user won't be associated with the company unless they explicitly
"like" the company.

This is not new. Facebook has always published news feed stories stating that
a friend has "liked" a page. This simply attaches a recent post from the page
to that story.

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tshtf
To (somewhat) opt-out:

Account Settings -> Facebook Ads -> Edit Social Ad Settings

~~~
earbitscom
Thank you. Problem solved (until they change it).

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adamio
This means like is a misnomer. It should be the opt-in & endorse button. This
should make the like button very valuable, as users discover their likes are
used as endorsements to their friends. But its still an ad disguised as
mechanically facilitated word of mouth.

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bcl
IIRC this kind of ad is optional and you can turn it off in the privacy
settings.

~~~
its_so_on
Dude, mentioning privacy options is funny. These options get set and unset
whenever Facebook feels like it; I've made a throwaway account a couple of
times, and after deleting it (Facebook at that time had no delete
functionality whatsoever) not only did Facebook beg for reinstatement for
months and years, they actually went ahead and revived the account lately and
are spamming me with whatever people I once friended say there.

I won't log back in to really delete it, since the last time I deleted it it
told me that if I ever log in again - which I totally, totally can, no hard
feelings at all! - it will just reinstate it for me.

So the idea of "privacy settings" is pretty silly of you to mention.

~~~
Karunamon
Meanwhile I've never had any of these problems. I block games that I feel my
friends are spamming me with, or are just annoying and that I won't ever play.
Mafia Wars is a good one, I blocked that at least 4 years ago, and it's still
gone as of today.

So one of two things is true. First is that I am somehow special and Facebook
works differently for me than anyone else. Short answer: No.

Secondly is that Facebook's privacy settings is a mess and confusing to the
public at large. You could make a very, very good case for that.

Also, just because your friends are trying to get you to re-sign-up doesn't
somehow indicate that Facebook is doing something untoward.

~~~
tobtoh
Sorry Karunamon, you are wrong - you are special (or at least lucky).

I concur with the original post that Facebook sets and unsets options, or in
my case ignores them as it sees fit. In one example, I have a friend who no
matter how many times I 'unsubscribed from her game feeds', or blocked her
game apps, still appeared in my news feed. I had to unfriend her to stop the
spam appearing.

~~~
taligent
Add me to the special list.

Have never had problems with Facebook privacy settings.

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RexRollman
Facebook users should beware. As a publicly traded company, the pressure to
monetize their "users" will only increase, which I suspect will lead them to
make even more questionable decisions.

