Facebook Punishes Users For Liking Pages — Inserts Ads In News Feed

Facebook has done the unthinkable — at least from the users’ point of view — by introducing ads in News feed. First revealed by the company back in December, the feature has now gone into effect.

On the face of it, it appears Facebook is finally opening the door for advertisers to tap into its unadulterated News Feed section. But, keeping the users’ experience intact is still its highest priority, and while this may sound like yet another way to advertise, it does change the dynamics of how brands and users engage on the platform.

So How Does It Work?

There are various factors that decide how and when a Sponsored story appears in your News feed. Here are three scenarios:

1. If you Like the Page of the advertiser and the advertiser promotes one of its Page posts as a featured ad then in all likelihood, you are going to see the advertisement in your feed.

2. If any of your friends’ perform some sort of action on the advertisers’ post (like commenting or Liking), and if the advertiser is promoting to users who have liked its Page then you would see the advertisement in your News Feed. In this case, the advertiser would be given no option to customize the ad once it’s live.

3. If any of your friends’ checks in somewhere, plays a game or uses an app,  you’ll see the ad in your News feed.

The only difference between the Sponsored story that you see on the right side of your Homepage — and the second option above is that Facebook would be labeling them as “Featured” instead of “Sponsored”.

Facebook believes that because users are always connected with their friends on Facebook, similar sounding name allows them to keep things consistent. Or as I like to believe, “Sponsored” is an Anti-User-Pro-Marketer word which may compel users to take evasive actions like hide them.

As seen in the screenshot captured by InsideFacebook, when you hover on the “Featured link”, a black box opens up saying “A sponsor paid to feature it here”. Engagement rates also appear to be higher than what’s considered as a standard in the industry. On Ben & Jerry’s Page, a post like this receives anywhere between 500 to 2000 Likes. Sponsored story on the other hand appears to have performed two-three times better.

The reason why Facebook is pushing for Sponsored stories is because it’s increasingly being used by brands. As TBGDigital recently found, the engagement rates are 46% higher than regular ad units. And now that they appear in News feed, expect the rates to go a notch higher.

Facebook is likely to charge a premium for these ads considering the fact that they appear where users are focusing most of the times. Advertisers are most likely to see better returns on their investments and it should also have some positive effects on other posts that haven’t been promoted (because of the EdgeRank).

Marketers are often frustrated by the fact that their posts don’t appear in news feeds. By restricting posts, Facebook has managed to create a revenue stream whereby marketers would have to pay to appear.

What Does It Mean For The Users?

It means a lot. First, as a user, your Facebook experience is likely to depend on how many Pages you have Liked, the number of friends you have and the number of Pages your friends have Liked. This is perhaps the best opportunity for you to get rid of Pages and friends you no longer care.

Like any other post, you can hide to remove stories or just unfriend the person or unlike the Page to reduce the number of sponsored stories.

Second, your News feed is about to be diluted by sponsored stories making it hard for you to negotiate through the posts. In December, Facebook spokesperson had said that no more than one Sponsored Story would appear in the News Feeds per day. It seems the company had now backtracked on its statement and the number now may vary depending on how frequently you visit News Feed.

The problem with having ads in News feed is that it feels as if users are being punished for Liking a Page. If the user doesn’t hit the Like button on a Page at the first place, he  never sees the ad in his feed.

As you look back at the past year, Facebook has adopted an aggressive approach towards advertising. As has always been the case, there’ll be a huge backlash from the community, followed by “F**k you Facebook” or “I’m quitting Facebook, Goodbye” tweets on Twitter.

Sooner or later, users will settle down and appreciate what’s been served. Facebook understands you better than you think, and if they are rolling out a feature, they are almost certain that you won’t be abandoning them anytime soon.

As for marketers, it’s time to get back to your drawing boards and decide where this new format sits in your advertising budget.