The Latest: Facebook Putting Foot Down on “Fat-Finger” Ads

Here is our take on the most notable stories in Digital and Social Media Marketing from last week.

Facebook is adding two new features to their advertising repertoire: one that could bridge the gap between online and in-store, and another aimed at eliminating a deceptive advertising issue, accidental clicks. Meanwhile, Instagram is encouraging conversations in the comments section through their latest update. Last but not least, we take a look at Podcasts in our Stat of the Week!

Facebook moves to stop unintentional mobile ad clicks

Marketing Dive | August 9, 2017

If you’re hearing people talk about “fat fingers,” don’t take it as an insult: the term refers to cases where a user accidentally clicks on an ad, particularly on mobile devices. While some publishers use this phenomenon to “trick” audiences into clicking on ads, others who rely on data about intent and action worry their results are unreliable.

Facebook is taking steps to eliminate these fat-finger ads. First, on the Facebook Audience Network (FAN), a series of updates will prevent ad placements that are susceptible to accidental clicks. Next, on the data side, if someone clicks on an ad and remains on the landing page for less than 2 seconds, Facebook will not count it as a click.

Our Take

Considering that fat-finger ads are deceptive on all sides, it is great that Facebook is working to create a more accurate and trustworthy system for everyone. In our experience, FAN ads typically perform very well, so it is going to be interesting to see how many of these clicks are intentional.

In addition, we are excited about the possibility that eliminating fat-finger ads may undercut the popularity of ad-blocking software since it will improve the ad experience for users.

Facebook’s Testing a New Way to Target Ads to People Who’ve Visited Your Store

Social Media Today | August 12, 2017

If you are a company that operates in both the digital and brick-and-mortar realms, you may have found bridging the gap between those two entities a bit difficult. Facebook, though, seems to be making it possible for advertisers to target audiences who have already visited your location in-person.

Some Facebook advertisers are noticing a new addition to Custom Audiences: Store Visits. According to the description, this would allow advertisers to “create a list of people who’ve previously visited your business location.” While the details of how this would work are still unclear, Social Media Today presumes that the feature would rely on phones that have Location Services on, and match with the in-store wi-fi.

Our Take

We feel strongly that location-based advertising will be very important to the future of digital marketing as well as physical stores. Like the article says, we believe this new feature could be a great way for stores to retarget customers, or for restaurants to reward repeat customers with perks and promotions.

For advertisers, the hardest part is going to be marrying in-store sales to digital ads to measure the true success of the campaign.

Instagram Is Now Using Threads to Organize Comments, a Lot Like Facebook

Ad Week | August 15, 2017

Instagram has been making headlines in recent months for attempting to eliminate comments on posts that they deem to be hateful. This said, it was a surprise last week when the platform introduced a new feature that actually seems to encourage conversations in the comments section.

Much like Facebook, Instagram is now organizing comments under posts by threads, meaning that people can directly reply to one another’s’ comments rather than having to tag each other. This also means that comments will no longer appear chronologically.

Our Take

While this will have little effect on paid advertising on Instagram, it will definitely have an impact on any native posting you do on the platform. If anything, it should make it easier to conduct customer service in the comments, allowing you to reply directly to people’s questions and concerns.

Stat of the Week via Ad Week

Looking for a new way to reach new audiences? AdWeek has featured some interesting and insightful statistics on podcast listening in the last week, including who is listening to podcasts, and when and where they are listening to them. Check out a series of infographics we complied below.

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