For those of you who have considered the “buying fans” approach [or are interested in the discussion of it] Facebook has been removing accounts and revoking page & app likes that come from fake profiles, malware, hacks and other illegitimate approaches. We’re not talking small numbers here or there either; the impact to busy apps has been near six-figures [you didn’t really think 15 bucks was getting you 25,000 real people, did you?].
These newly improved automated efforts will remove those Likes gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes. While we have always had dedicated protections against each of these threats on Facebook, these improved systems have been specifically configured to identify and take action against suspicious Likes.
Combine this with the negative impact from inactivity to EdgeRank and I think you’d be hard pressed to find a reason to grow be buying another fan. Agree, disagree or think you were unfairly hit? Chime in.
Glad they’re cracking down, but surprised it’s taken facebook this long. I expect bad quarterly results for them next time around reflecting decreasing advertiser confidence in the platform and a further drop in value. How twitter cannot get on top of link spam is awful as well, they should pretty much sack developers and management responsible by the dozen.
Good points and while I’d hate to think result was about helping ad returns first if that’s what it takes… Much like Google in search I suspect Facebook started with some rules in place but not enough and will now spend years levying what feels like “restrictions” to go back and clean it all up.