Facebook Tastes the Consequences

Facebook has had a bad experience with its advertising tracking program. The Facebook users were not impressed with the violation of privacy. Although Facebook backed away and tried to rectify its error, additional consequences are surfacing:

“It only took a few weeks for Facebook to squander the good will of its users on a poorly planned advertising platform. Now Facebook has also reportedly blown it with a few key advertisers, including Overstock.com, Coca Cola and Travelocity.”

link: Advertisers Snub Facebook

The Facebook audience made it abundantly clear that, even in this internet age, people value privacy and do not want to be tracked. Some key advertisers may have left, if even temporarily. Facebook has some major public relations repairs to do - and their remaining advertisers will be watching the click traffic very guardedly. Perhaps the Facebook members will have a short collective memory. Facebook is hoping so.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: facebook, advertising, privacy, tracking, public relations, consequences, click traffic