Facebook to clamp down on promotional posts in order to sell
Source: Carly Page
THE SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has said that it will clamp down on 'promotional posts' showing in users' News Feeds, likely in a bid to sell more ads.
Facebook said that, beginning January 2015, users can expect to see less promotional posts. It claims this decision comes after users complained about seeing too many posts on their News Feed urging them to buy a product, install an app or to enter a competition or sweepstakes.
Facebook said in a blog post: "Our goal with News Feed has always been to show people the things they want to see. That's why we often look to people on Facebook to tell us how we can improve.
"As part of an ongoing survey we asked hundreds of thousands of people how they feel about the content in their News Feeds. People told us they wanted to see more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content."
In reality, however, this move likely comes as Facebook looks to increase its advertising revenue, as it warns that "Pages that post promotional creative should expect their organic distribution to fall significantly over time."
This means, that in order to get users onto their Page, companies will have to stump up and pay for Facebook adverts instead.
Even so, Facebook adds in its blog post that this shift will not push more adverts into users News Feeds.
"This change will not increase the number of ads people see in their News Feeds," the firm said. "The idea is to increase the relevance and quality of the overall stories �C including Page posts �C people see in their News Feed."
Facebook's latest announcement comes just days after it announced that it would be giving UK-based users more control over what adverts they see, on both desktop and mobile devices.
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