Is Facebook Testing New Ads On Users News Feeds?

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is currently testing a new strategy to increase its advertising revenue by inserting ad displays on users news feeds.

Is Facebook Testing New Ads On Users News Feeds?
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According to an article from TechCrunch, which cited an e-mail from Raghav Saxena, a reader from New Zealand, who works for an online company, which contained screen shots of his Facebook page, containing ad display units of Air New Zealand (NZX:AIR) and Travian games on his news feed. A skyscraper advertisement was also displayed on the left hand side of his user page.

Saxena claimed the ad displays were popping out as straight advertisements in his news feeds, whether he clicked “like” on a particular company’s FB page or not. According to him, some of the ad displays were annoying, such as the “get a green card” and “who will you marry.” The New Zealander also commented, “The ads also interfere with FB’s ability to free scroll down.”

The New Zealanders’ Facebook account was locked out for a short period, and when he was able to access his account, the advertisements popped out. He said some other users in New Zealand have had the experience.

The author of the article opined that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) maybe using the users pages on a limited number of individuals in New Zealand as “guinea pigs” for its new advertising strategy.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) had cited in a previous statement that New Zealand is a key market outside the United States to get feedback on its improvements. The statement reads:

“As a global company, we need to gain perspective and insights from outside the US. New Zealand is a good place to start because it’s English speaking, so we can read the feedback and make improvements quickly.”

Cheraag Sabzeh, a risk operations analyst at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) commented on the ad displays on the users’ news feed or left hand side are adware. He said, “This is adware for sure. Facebook would never have banner ads placed in between newsfeed, or on the left hand side. Uninstalling sketchy add-ons or extensions gets these ads off your Facebook pages.”

The social network giant previously announced the introduction of an aggressive advertising program for its users’ news feeds. The company said the number of advertisements that will run on users news feeds will be limited.

We also reported a complaint from Limited Pressing, a start-up company, who alleged that Facebook had faked ad clicks through bots. Limited Pressing said the social networking giant is charging them with unreal ad clicks. The company cited using multiple analytics software to verify the ad clicks, and found that only 20% were real.

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