Facebook has a big problem when it comes to ads, and this problem is basically that there are a lot of fraudulent ads that are going up on the platform on a regular basis. This means that a lot of users are starting to wonder about whether or not they should even be clicking on any ads that they see on the platform, something that is quite understandable when you take into consideration the fact that so many of the ads that are being seen are causing problems for people that click on them.
One recent ad that was released by a couple of Chinese marketers representing ILikeAd Media International Company Ltd. ended up proving to be a prime example of how dangerous Facebook ads can be. These ads used a technique called cloaking that showed the Facebook server a different link than it was showing to the users that were viewing the ad. The link that users were seeing was actually quite dangerous because of the fact that when they clicked on it they would be taken to a webpage that would upload malware to their accounts, malware that could then be used to control these accounts.
Another technique that these ads used involved celeb baiting, which is basically when you use the image of a celebrity in order to make your ad seem more trustworthy than it actually is.
Facebook has taken legal action against the creators of this ad, filing a suit in California. This indicates that the social media platform is trying to be a bit more proactive when it comes to tackling ads of this nature, although since the perpetrators are in Asia it is currently unknown whether something can even be done about them in the first place which makes it even more important for Facebook to focus on prevention above all else.
Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash
Read next: Will Facebook’s Recently Announced Privacy Tool Actually Be Released?
One recent ad that was released by a couple of Chinese marketers representing ILikeAd Media International Company Ltd. ended up proving to be a prime example of how dangerous Facebook ads can be. These ads used a technique called cloaking that showed the Facebook server a different link than it was showing to the users that were viewing the ad. The link that users were seeing was actually quite dangerous because of the fact that when they clicked on it they would be taken to a webpage that would upload malware to their accounts, malware that could then be used to control these accounts.
Another technique that these ads used involved celeb baiting, which is basically when you use the image of a celebrity in order to make your ad seem more trustworthy than it actually is.
Facebook has taken legal action against the creators of this ad, filing a suit in California. This indicates that the social media platform is trying to be a bit more proactive when it comes to tackling ads of this nature, although since the perpetrators are in Asia it is currently unknown whether something can even be done about them in the first place which makes it even more important for Facebook to focus on prevention above all else.
Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash
Read next: Will Facebook’s Recently Announced Privacy Tool Actually Be Released?
