chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

yuregininsesi — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:18:45 -0000

Sadly, that is how all marketing works. It is a targeted ad that is placed somewhere where it may or may not get seen, have some sort of effect on someone, or even offend someone. In my eyes, online banners of this sort are pretty old school anyway. No one really looks at them, clicks on them, etc. They are just a waste of money basically.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

colon — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 17:37:28 -0000

I've seen a lot of junk ads on face book lately too. A lot of those scam diet offers mostly. Not sure if FaceBook is trying to tell me I'm too fat or something.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

krissy knox — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:20:14 -0000

How disgusting.

Krissy :)
my main blog: Sometimes I Think
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamkrissy

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Laura Bergells — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:05:27 -0000

Since an actual human being reviews FB ads before they go live, adding "tasteful" to the list of requirements is simple. It's also courteous and more socially acceptable -- important criterion for a social media site that wants to maintain an aura of respectability.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Ria Sharon — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:17:39 -0000

And I was upset because I was getting every celebrity diet ad! What is Facebook trying to tell me, Chris?! :)

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Misty Lackie — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:27:43 -0000

I have seen some pretty bad ads on FB too and this example is right up there in the “bad” category. Larger companies with solid products/services will think twice about advertising on FB because they won't want to be associated with this type of stuff.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Cynthia — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:29:40 -0000

Sadly, it's up to the person paying for the ad to be on FB to decide who they target. For example, my Prospere Magazine ads target pretty much ALL WOMEN in their 20s and 30s who have a university education. This means that Jane Facebook User, age 29 and a graduate of Big City U will likely have seen my ad at one point. Maybe someone needs to create some sort of app which can be used to turn off certain ads...

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

MzPritteful — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:30:20 -0000

You can't get upset about banners on your page or even when Facebook looks at your information. If you look at it from Facebooks side of things, they believe they are helping the situation I'm sure by attaching ads to your interests because you are more likely not to get ads that do not apply to you or aren't to your liking. Their system is not fool proof yet being that it is a new thing they are doing.

I guess you just have to either not advertise there until they work out their kinks or, if their banners are really bothering you either delete your profile or ignore them. Talking about them and not looking at things from all angles is like beating a dead horse. Nothing in advertising is perfect and innocent and if you are in marketing/advertising you should have figured that out by now.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Rich Glass — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:39:25 -0000

This is a big problem when it comes to convincing a client to use FB as a marketing tool. I am also wondering how many users actually pay attention to the ads in FB, as you can see in this thread there are a few that don't. Time to look for a Case Study.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Bill Cammack — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:04:09 -0000

That's pretty foul. I agree with CC. Facebook incorrectly riffed off of something on your page. Facebook's nosey like that with their "targeted advertising".

I did a post about overweight women and posted the link to my blog on my Facebook page. All of a sudden, they started sending me ads for dating sites that cater specifically to the overweight female fetish.

I guess it's the same way that google ads try to figure out what your page is about and serve text and images that are in-line with the content on your page, but that's out of hand. They need to start putting ratings on those ads so you can choose which ones you're willing to accept. You don't need your kids looking at your Facebook page and seeing EITHER of those. :/

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

MzPritteful — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:48:13 -0000

I have a bit of a different view on all of this. I love Facebook and I have been a member since it's start. They used to not have any ads at all, but they have to make money right? Their advertising platform is actually quite ingenious on their end. My company does market on the site quite often for our clients. They do a few things that make them much better then your average site with banners. #1 is that they allow you to choose the demographic that you would like to market to and #2 is that they charge you per click and not per view and this can constantly be re-evaluated. Ads on Facebook are placed using a bidding system. So, if I want to advertise to people in their 40s in Chicago it will show me how many people are in that category. From there I am asked how much I am willing to pay per click and how much I want to spend total. Now if someone else is trying to put out ads to the same group and has placed a hirer bid than I have their ads will be first priority. Unfortunately this is good and bad. While mostly good...you happen to be seeing the bad end. My guess is because there aren't as many people using Facebook that are your age demographic yet (although that is quickly changing) and so what happens is that people aren't bothering to advertise things here that would be more to your liking. So these tasteless ads that are probably bidding $.01 per click are getting priority on your page. My advice is to stick it out. Facebook is one of the best social media platforms out there in my eyes and they will only continue to grow. They are already ten steps ahead of any other social marketing site out there and twenty steps ahead with how they handle this type of media. But, like I said...for your demographic it might not be there yet.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Bill Murray — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:58:53 -0000

Chris -- I agree with you; the Facebook ads you're getting a really tasteless.
I'm not the biggest fan of Facebook either.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Lee Frank — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:28:30 -0000

I constantly get things about single girls. I wonder if facebook thinks I'm more desperate than I think my profile is saying.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Laura "Pistachio" Fitton — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:09:26 -0000

Facenook's just getting so goddamned MySpacey. i've preemptively opted out of Facenook Friend Connect all together because after disasters like Beacon and Social Ads, there is just NO way i trust them to "not be evil" with something as potentially pervertable as my "social graph" data on other sites.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

leanne — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:32:48 -0000

Well, maybe it shows Facebook is finally trying to target with their ads, as opposed to spamming you with their usual random items. Possibly, the P'ssy Fairy is cheating, or perhaps she can tell you the signs.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Mari Smith — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:27:37 -0000

Wow, Chris - this is really laughable. Yep, I've had to click on the thumbs down several times on the Facebook ads. Many of them are downright awful. I must say, however, with the social ad component, I do tend to keep my eye out on what I can interact with... especially on the sponsored ads on the home page.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

mfauscette — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:46:55 -0000

Depending on my mood the FB ads are entertaining or they drive me crazy, but I mostly just ignore them. I suppose I'll have to start trying the thumbs down feature and see if the ads get better. If FB wants to be a real ad platform it has to figure out the targeting, the random assortment of ads I see does not build confidence in its ability to serve ads effectively.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Angela MacIsaac — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:37:57 -0000

Strange ... I thought all Facebook ads had to be vetted and approved first?

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

igorthetroll — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:10:06 -0000

I am sure Face Book will mature when Google buys it. But do we really want Face Book to mature or we like it to be the Western Town like Twittervile?

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

marshal sandler — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:05:49 -0000

Obviously this is the best they can do ! I am still under the assumption Facebook will never be a vehicle for the Serious Advertiser and won't make any money , but the kids will have a another playground. We don't like to see anyone fail but they obviously have no skiiled managers ! The site in it's entirety has no order and is not very navigable !

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

igorthetroll — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:57:18 -0000

You should join my Face Book group to Stop Internet Censorship
http://www.facebook.com/gro...

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Ari Herzog — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:19:50 -0000

Weird.

Like Rick Heil, I also use AdBlock Plus which runs on my Firefox browser. I sometimes see FB ads, but I don't see anything that would be located on an adult page.

See adblockplus.org.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Kevin Saunders - KGS Bikes — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:14:20 -0000

I think this is just more internet noise now entering Facebook. What I don't like is this kind of noise showing up on my work computer. I have tons of people looking over my shoulder and I am so eager to show them the p'ssy pages. not.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Rick Heil — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:54:53 -0000

Hence why I use AdBlock and don't see any of that garbage on Facebook. Or any other site for that matter.

Re: Dear Facebook- Please Attempt to be Tasteful

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:49:20 -0000

That really is awful! Ugh...