Facebook and the advertisers
by hazel from LinuxQuestions.org on (#556NA)
We all know the Facebook business model: encourage the formation of bubbles and echo chambers within which people will be shown only what they already want to believe, because that means they will view the pages for longer and click more often on the ads. More clicks on ads mean more money paid by the advertisers to FB.
For the companies advertising, it's a bit of a mixed deal. More clicks on ads mean more sales, but if the clicks come from pages containing racist or terrorist material, there could be reputational damage done. So recently a few big companies such as Reebock and Microsoft have been withdrawing their custom. Some people have been hoping that this might lead to a cleanup of social media.
But not according to one of the BBC's economic correspondents on the news this morning. It is not such a problem for FB as you might think because most of their advertising income actually comes, not from giants like Microsoft, but from a huge number of small companies who don't have any reputation to lose.
For the companies advertising, it's a bit of a mixed deal. More clicks on ads mean more sales, but if the clicks come from pages containing racist or terrorist material, there could be reputational damage done. So recently a few big companies such as Reebock and Microsoft have been withdrawing their custom. Some people have been hoping that this might lead to a cleanup of social media.
But not according to one of the BBC's economic correspondents on the news this morning. It is not such a problem for FB as you might think because most of their advertising income actually comes, not from giants like Microsoft, but from a huge number of small companies who don't have any reputation to lose.