Facebook acts over ad boycott threat

Facebook has finally bowed to concerns over ads being placed next to inappropriate content – including violent, graphic and sexual posts – by saying ads will no longer run next to such pages.
The move, welcomed by client body ISBA, comes after BSkyB and Marks & Spencer threatened to boycott the site, after a Sky ad offering M&S vouchers was placed on a Facebook page called “cute and gay boys”. The page featured photographs of teenage boys.
M&S had asked BSkyB to remove the ad, and it suspended some of its own advertising campaigns on Facebook. BSkyB suspended all of its advertising on the social network.
Facebook has now said it will begin rewriting its Pages and Groups content and flagging those which may have content that would be inappropriate to associate with its advertisers. On such pages no ads will run.
The company said that in the short term, the process of blocking the ads will be done manually, though it is working on ways to automate the task and speed up the flagging process.
“We know that marketers work hard to promote their brands, and we take their objectives seriously,” the company said in announcing the new policy.
“While we already have rigorous review and removal policies for content against our terms, we recognise we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial Pages and Groups.”
According to one source who spoke to the BBC, Facebook will create a “gold standard” of around 10,000 pages that are deemed suitable for ads, and then inspect other pages to see if they can be added to the list. All ads will be removed from other pages.
A Facebook spokesman said this would be a labour-intensive process but added it takes this “very seriously”.
ISBA marketing services manager David Ellison said: “ISBA applauds Facebook’s decision to protect advertisers’ brand reputations by trying to ensure that their ads don’t appear against grossly offensive content.
“This episode proves how important advertisers take online brand safety and how decisive they are in taking action to protect their reputations. We acknowledge that this is an industry-wide problem and that it will be impossible to ensure that ads never appear against illegal or inappropriate content.
“In May, ISBA warned new media organisations that advertisers deserve reassurances from them that they will do their upmost to ensure that ads don’t appear against inappropriate, and in extreme circumstances, grossly offensive content.”