In recent weeks Facebook has repeatedly cancelled advertising for articles posted to a series called “Who Runs San Diego?” from the progressive blog and news site I am involved with. The stories running in the San Diego Free Press are well documented power structure research illustrating the role of money in politics locally.
These cancellations are not happening--as far as I can tell-- for political reasons, although it certainly “feels” political. Back in the early days of the alternative press we had to deal with print shops who refused to print our papers. Now we’re talking about corporate indifference and an algorithm that favors cartoons over facts.. The effect is much the same.
This is about a company that gone so far into the world of automation, they’ve lost sight of the human beings who happen to be customers. So I want to share our frustration today; we’re fighting the good fight and being punished for not producing info-graphics to tell a story.
The San Diego Free Press is an online only, all-volunteer, non-commercial undertaking. We adopted the name of a print publication from an earlier era out of respect for the moxie they showed in standing up to the city’s right-wing ruling class.
We began publishing in June 2012 and have build a respectable following, reaching out to activist groups involved in community organizing, labor and alt-labor, progressive Democratic clubs, environmentalism and Latino causes, among others.
In July of this year we began publishing a series of power structure research articles in cooperation with the San Diego Woman’s Democratic Club. Thus far a dozen weekly articles have appeared covering topics like media ownership, Sea World, and the influence of the tourism industry on city government.
We’re not talking crazy conspiracy theory stuff here. Assertions made in these articles are documented throughout with links, we don’t engage in name calling and several of the articles have been penned by individuals well-known and respected in the community.
SD Free Press has actively used social media to promote our efforts from day one. Each and every article is cross-posted on our Facebook page, which has a couple of thousand loyal fans.
When we post an article of Facebook, they offer up the opportunity to “boost” the story, either by giving it increased presence in our circles or by allowing it to show up on news feeds within designated areas.
This form of Facebook advertising costs money, which we don’t really have. Given the amount of traffic we get from social media, I’ve dabbled with the Facebook ad program in recent months (using personal funds) looking for insights on how this sort of thing might be used should I win the lottery someday. We’re talking $5 a shot, which would add another 500-900 “impressions.”
We never had a problem until I tried to “boost” readership for our Who Runs San Diegoseries. While I suspect a change in algorithms is the likely culprit, The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Here’s an example of a rejection email:
Your ad wasn't approved because it uses too much text in its image, which violates Facebook's ad guidelines. Ads aren't allowed to include more than 20% text. You'll still be charged for any impressions or clicks your ad received before it was disapproved.
I appealed this ruling because, after all, they’d
asked us to “boost” our news stories which, while illustrated, are largely text. It was the same kind of content text-wise they’d accepted money for in the past.
Several weeks later “Paige” from Facebook responded:
Hi Doug,
Thanks for following up on this. It appears your ads were mistakenly disapproved. However, they've now been re-reviewed and approved. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Please note that although we approved your ads, these ads may remain paused until you resume them. You can access your ads and change their status at any time by clicking the Ads Manager or "Ads" tab in the Applications menu when you are logged in to your account.
To reactivate your ad, please follow the steps below:...
I declined the “opportunity” to re-activate the ads. The moment had passed. The “news” was old. I expressed our unhappiness with Facebook and said I’d be declining further chances to do business with them if that was the best they could do.
Three weeks later, this email arrives:
Hi,
We are sorry for the delay in reverting to your response to our original correspondence about Ad disapprovals , as we were facing a technical glitch.
If you wish to reach out to us with any further queries or pending issues, we request
you to fill the following form for us to promptly revert to you:
https://www.facebook.com/...
We apologize for this inconvenience faced by you.
Thanks,
The Facebook Ads Team
The “Form” they asked me to fill out was the exact same one that started this conversation. And am I the only person who thinks the syntax and language in the letter reads like something from a foreign scammer asking me for my banking info?
Whatever. I filled out the friggin’ form.
So this week, despite saying we were through with Facebook, I’d tried again, since we had another chapter in our series focusing on SeaWorld’s hosing of San Diego taxpayers.
Facebook did it to us again:
Your ad wasn't approved because it uses too much text in its image, which violates Facebook's ad guidelines. Ads aren't allowed to include more than 20% text. You'll still be charged for any impressions or clicks your ad received before it was disapproved.
This, my friends, is not what I’d call customer service. Of course it's impossible to talk with or email anybody at Facebook.
Thank you letting me vent.