Facebook Notifications Hijacked by Ads! Meta's Latest Revenue Scheme Leaves Users Outraged
It appears Meta is not sparing any chance to make money through clever marketing maneuvers.
The social media giant was seen carrying out a new test that turned on ads across Facebook’s notifications, giving the company another means to generate revenue.
The test is rolled out to a small number of users and those who were a part of it were shocked to see the ordeal as that’s not the ideal place anyone would want to witness an ad.
Image: Rob Pegoraro / PCMag
The paid promotional activity comes with a tag that says Sponsored and would be cleverly placed within the user’s normal alerts on the app. Moreover, the first time that it was spotted was nearly two weeks back on the mobile app for Android users but it seems to be slowly but surely expanding as we speak.
Those witnessing the ad spoke about a menu located nearby that gives users the chance to hide it but no option for blocking was present.
Furthermore, the menu also entails the usual statement, ‘why this ad’ link but those experiencing the ad feel it fails at targeting their interests and therefore needs a lot of work in that regard.
While the ads are yet to be seen across the iPads or the app’s desktop version, it is involving a minority of users in this new test to see what sort of feedback it gets from the rollout.
What is interesting is how the app’s ad guide does not mention any reference for firms looking for marketing potential clients on the app nor does it mention this particular kind of advertising format either.
But from what we can guess, Facebook and its corporate parent certainly do have a long history that goes back to testing ads in different locations like the famous VR platform Oculus.
Ads continue to be a major component of generating revenue for Facebook which currently operate on a free-for-all-to-use basis. This is even though EU users can also attain a new ad-free version that starts at 10 Euros a month, which Meta was forced to roll out thanks to the latest guidelines from the EU for compliance with its DMA.
While Meta is slowly but surely confirming that what people are seeing is a small-scale experiment, it’s yet to provide any more details on this front.
They released a statement on this feature that included how the rollout would assist brands in getting their desired reach to clients and also make it simpler for users to explore different businesses that they find are relevant to them.
Meta’s spokesperson also vowed to share more details as they come forward but it was too early right now to mention anything as the experiment was only in its initial stages.
The trial featuring sponsored ads might look a lot like the app’s regular newsfeed that features so many ads as it is, not to mention the hundreds of suggestion pages and groups amid actual news from your list of friends on the app.
Also, the presence of ads that cannot be skipped across notifications means taking a break from the app’s age-old tradition of keeping your phones buzzing with news of all kinds as now, the goal is to only alert users about news that’s seemingly important to them.
Now the real question worth pondering is if this new ordeal is going to be worth it for the tech giant or not. The firm doesn’t seem to be running low on money by any means as mentioned in its latest earnings report where a massive $12.4 billion was delineated for Q1 earnings. But the fact that a lot of billions are spent on its metaverse and enthusiastic AI projects might not be in line with user demand.
So yes, a little extra cash never hurt anybody and we feel Meta is using that mindset to earn more revenue through profits made via ads seen across Facebook notifications. So whether you like it or not, be prepared for a little surprise soon.
For now, we’ll just enjoy our ad-free Facebook notifications, till it lasts!
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