Down with Facebook Ads!

Three weeks ago, I wrote a blog post lamenting the fact that I was being bombarded with Gayborhood.tv ads on facebook. I commented that prior to my 40-day Lenten fast from facebook, I didn't see any of those types of ads, but when I came back, it was literally being thrown in my face. I suggested that facebook was getting desperate for advertising revenue and thus allowed these new types of ads in the name of money.

Well I am pleased to say that since then the Gayborhood.tv ads have stopped, but rather unpleased to report that they have been replaced by many, many more ugly stepchildren. It's as if 100 gay website owners were on facebook and were like "oh snap, we can advertise like this on facebook now?!?! Let's go, let's go!"

I came across this blog post that talks about why we are seeing "these" types of facebook ads. It pretty much is inline with what I had guessed. Basically these ads are part of Facebook Social Ads that let individual users set up advertisements targeted at a specific audience. Social Ads lets the advertiser target based on location, gender, age, education, work history, relationship status, and keywords in descriptive fields like interests, music, movies, etc. What you'll notice missing is the ability to target on "Interested In." Since there is no way for the advertisers to target men interested in other men, they just target all men. I guess it allows them to also market to those closet or curious dudes, but it seriously annoys guys like me, which is definitely not cool.

So how do you get those ads to stop? Well you can change your facebook profile so that your gender is no longer listed. All of my female friends have told me that they haven't seen any of these ads. But that's whack and I shouldn't have to do that. My boy Tijani (a.k.a. "Dr. Hoops") has actually started reporting the ads as offensive or containing pornography. At first I thought this was just funny, but he actually might have a case for doing so. Rule #6 in facebook's Advertising Guidelines says:

Language and image content

• Provocative images will not be accepted.
• Ads may not contain, facilitate or promote adult content, including nudity, sexual terms and/or images of people in positions or activities that are excessively suggestive or sexual.
• Ads may not contain, facilitate or promote offensive, profane, vulgar, obscene, or inappropriate language.
• Ads may not contain, facilitate or promote defamatory, libelous, slanderous and/or unlawful content.

Seems to me that two topless dudes hugged up on each other with one's chin on the other's shoulder is a position that is "excessively suggestive or sexual." It seems that facebook has gone lax in adhering to its guidelines. A few months ago, my boy Sol wanted to advertise a shirt that he had created on ZAZZLE that featured a female model wearing his design on a spaghetti strap shirt with her finger in her mouth. If facebook's gonna reject that ad as being "too suggestive," then these new ads definitely need to be taken down as well.

So until facebook improves its advertising system and/or removes "those" types of ads, you can click on "More Ads" to go to the Facebook Ad Board and report the inappropriate ads. Maybe if they get enough reports, they'll get the message. Honestly, I really don't want to see those "Hot & Sexy Single Ladies are waiting for you!" ads either, but at least those have women in them. It's getting to the point where I don't even pay attention to the ads at all.

Single-ish
by Solamente