As part of Facebook's continued effort to further crack down on clickbait and spammy posting tactics. Facebook has announced two updates that will limit the spread of stories in the News Feed that feature both fake video play buttons and videos of only a static image.
Fake Video Play Button:
It happens to the best of us. You’re browsing your News Feed and a video button pops out at you. The content looks intriguing so of course, you click on it for a quick watch. But then it happens, you wait, and wait, and then all of sudden you’re being re-routed to a website. Or, even worse, the video ends up just being a picture/meme with 20 or 30 seconds of music.
Fake Video Play Buttons have recently become all too common, and they can be really annoying. Especially when you’re routed to a spam site with the pop-up machine from hell.
“People want to see accurate information on Facebook, and so do we. When people click on an image in their News Feed featuring a play button, they expect a video to start playing. Spammers often use fake play buttons to trick people into clicking links to low-quality websites. Authentic communication is one of our core News Feed values, and we know our community values it.” - Facebook
With Facebook's recent push to emphasize and prioritize video on their platform we can expect more of these types of spammy tactics to surface in the near future. But, Facebook has shown time and time again that they are pretty quick to make the necessary changes to improve the overall experience, and we don’t expect anything less going forward.
This update is great news for all of us that are doing things the right way. If you’re going by the book then these new changes will not have any effect on your campaigns. If you’re not, well, here’s what Facebook had to say; “Publishers that rely on these intentionally deceptive practices should expect the distribution of those clickbait stories to markedly decrease.” - Facebook
How it Will Work:
Facebook will be using its newest artificial intelligence to classify and detect fake video play buttons in preview images. They will also demote clips using their new “motion scoring” system which has the ability to detect movement inside a post. This is the same technology that Facebook is currently utilizing to help curb fake news, spammy links, and other tactics deteriorating the user experience.
Conclusion:
One thing we know for sure, with each one of these updates, Facebook is taking significant steps towards improving the user’s experience. By eliminating the garbage they will only help improve the users trust in the platform and make it much more likely that users will watch more videos in their news feed.
Well, that’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon. If you happen to know of any upcoming stories or have any inside information regarding Facebook policy changes, updates, etc. please feel free to reach out; we would love to hear from you.
Also, let us know what you think of all the recent changes in the comments below!
Related Posts:
