Advertisers given more control by Facebook

Following a large-scale boycott by many of Facebook’s advertisers over their ads appearing next to the BNP’s profile, the site has introduced tighter controls.

In the past two weeks many of Facebook’s advertisers staged a mass walkout over the appearance of their adverts on the British National Party’s profile page. Facebook has now taken swift action to rectify the situation, developing the technology to give advertisers more control over where their adverts are placed. Advertisers will also have the option to specify that their adverts do not appear with group profiles in order to avoid unwelcome associations. The companies who removed their accounts from Facebook include Vodafone, the Central Office of Information (COI) government body, First Direct, Virgin Media and the AA, and all have said that they are willing to enter in to discussions over reinstating their accounts following the introduction of the new controls.

The UK Internet Advertising Bureau have said that these new measures are fundamentally necessary for social networking sites, if they are to retain their advertising contracts with the big-name companies. The chief operating officer for Facebook presented a confident stance this week when he said he expected most if not all of the advertisers who had left the site to return. It looks like these controls have been a long time coming, and that they are indeed pivotal for companies who want to tap in to the huge market on social networking sites, but are worried about where their ads may appear. It seems that their fears are well founded as apart from the BNP profile, other group profiles on Facebook include 'A call for Jihad', 'Boycott Zionist/Israeli goods' and 'Thumbs up for Leprosy', which most big-name companies would certainly not want to be associated with. With groups like these on the site, it seems these controls have come not a moment too soon for advertisers.

Source:

Times Online