Facebook Sponsored Ads -- Success, It's Fixed!

Is anyone else suddenly being inundated with these ads on their home pages?  I can't "hide" them, and when I click "why am I seeing this?" it does nothing.  I've made several complaints to Facebook but of course get no response.  I'm getting ads for every stupid game available, and I have to go to the other ads' Facebook pages to mark them as "blocked".  But doing this 20-30 times a day is wasting a lot of time.  Does anyone know how else to stop them?  (I do have an ad blocker installed -- is this Facebook's retaliation?)

Facebook and adblockplus are in a coding war as Facebook tries to get their ads through adblock's filters.  Some days Facebook wins, some days adblock does.

max_weisenfeld said:

Facebook and adblockplus are in a coding war as Facebook tries to get their ads through adblock's filters.  Some days Facebook wins, some days adblock does.

I had heard this, but these are all in the column where I get my friends' posts (sorry if I don't know the correct terminology), not to the right of those where I've always seen ads.

Facebook can do whatever they want to the webpages they serve you as long as it isn't illegal or harasses you.

There's computer nerd details that would explain exactly why the specific things are happening but knowing that wouldn't help you.

Better to just know that at any moment websites can change layouts, backend ad stuff, or whatever without telling you explicitly what.

In 2021, you will see a post from a close friend or relative generated by an ad service that's just using their name and account to serve you the ad. You and them will have agreed to the TOS so you're definitely on board whether you know it or not.

And what's even more fun is when you're scrolling on you phone and your fingers land on a "share" button and your friends wonder why you're sharing Fan Fiction horror stories or the latest celebrities who were once hot and are now not!

And what's even more fun is when you're scrolling on your phone and your fingers land on a "share" button and your friends wonder why you're sharing Fan Fiction horror stories or the latest celebrities who were once hot and are now not!

mumstheword said:

Is anyone else suddenly being inundated with these ads on their home pages?  I can't "hide" them, and when I click "why am I seeing this?" it does nothing.  I've made several complaints to Facebook but of course get no response.  I'm getting ads for every stupid game available, and I have to go to the other ads' Facebook pages to mark them as "blocked".  But doing this 20-30 times a day is wasting a lot of time.  Does anyone know how else to stop them?  (I do have an ad blocker installed -- is this Facebook's retaliation?)

You are actually encouraging more ads by going to the ads' pages to delete them.  I get almost no ads on FB feed because I just scroll past them without giving them a second thought.

Yes, be careful what you click on or like or share. It goes into the pile of big data. That can be good if you use your clicks wisely. I found I was reading too many extreme left wing posts from newspapers because I lean left, but not that far. I suppressed a few and resisted temptation to follow the rest. Life is better now. It's like walking a narrow path. Don't look to the sides too much or you'll veer off course.

joan_crystal said:

mumstheword said:

Is anyone else suddenly being inundated with these ads on their home pages?  I can't "hide" them, and when I click "why am I seeing this?" it does nothing.  I've made several complaints to Facebook but of course get no response.  I'm getting ads for every stupid game available, and I have to go to the other ads' Facebook pages to mark them as "blocked".  But doing this 20-30 times a day is wasting a lot of time.  Does anyone know how else to stop them?  (I do have an ad blocker installed -- is this Facebook's retaliation?)

You are actually encouraging more ads by going to the ads' pages to delete them.  I get almost no ads on FB feed because I just scroll past them without giving them a second thought.

You would have more than a second thought if you started suddenly receiving 30-40 unwanted ads in your newsfeed every day.  I am blocking their FB pages because Facebook suddenly will not let me hide the FB sponsored ads.  I haven't changed my FB habits at all, and this all started 3 days ago.  I am now seeing many other people complaining on FB about the same exact thing, so there's definitely something afoot with Facebook as the culprit, so I don't expect them to stop doing this.

Tom_Reingold said:

Yes, be careful what you click on or like or share. It goes into the pile of big data. That can be good if you use your clicks wisely. I found I was reading too many extreme left wing posts from newspapers because I lean left, but not that far. I suppressed a few and resisted temptation to follow the rest. Life is better now. It's like walking a narrow path. Don't look to the sides too much or you'll veer off course.

I really don't look at the sides, and don't mind those ads because they don't interfere with posts I do want to see.  Because of my ad blocker, I can't see most of what I'd want to click on to -- like Colbert's videos -- CBS will not let me look at them without disabling my ad blocker.  Sorry, CBS....

mumstheword said:

joan_crystal said:

mumstheword said:

Is anyone else suddenly being inundated with these ads on their home pages?  I can't "hide" them, and when I click "why am I seeing this?" it does nothing.  I've made several complaints to Facebook but of course get no response.  I'm getting ads for every stupid game available, and I have to go to the other ads' Facebook pages to mark them as "blocked".  But doing this 20-30 times a day is wasting a lot of time.  Does anyone know how else to stop them?  (I do have an ad blocker installed -- is this Facebook's retaliation?)

You are actually encouraging more ads by going to the ads' pages to delete them.  I get almost no ads on FB feed because I just scroll past them without giving them a second thought.

You would have more than a second thought if you started suddenly receiving 30-40 unwanted ads in your newsfeed every day.  I am blocking their FB pages because Facebook suddenly will not let me hide the FB sponsored ads.  I haven't changed my FB habits at all, and this all started 3 days ago.  I am now seeing many other people complaining on FB about the same exact thing, so there's definitely something afoot with Facebook as the culprit, so I don't expect them to stop doing this.

Devil's advocate.

Can you really blame them? Facebook in in the business of making money. Through advertising. 

They are not providing a free service.

They are not a culprit.  

Nothing is afoot.

As I said, I don't mind the ads, in their proper place.  I've even found some websites that I was interested in for shopping.  But not in my news feed, every 2 posts is another ad (class action lawyers, insurance companies -- all stuff I have no interest in).  I have to spend an inordinate amount of time to see posts from my friends because of this.  And don't give me an option to "hide" the ad, or to change what ads I wish to see -- and then not have those options operational.   Also, as I said, there are a lot of people posting about this now on Facebook, so either there is one giant glitch or Facebook wants to force us to see ads for games or companies that have Facebook pages that wish to advertise.  Frankly, maybe they're doing me a favor -- I'm becoming disenchanted with a lot of stuff I see on Facebook, so this will be a good time to go cold turkey.

jimmurphy said:

mumstheword said:

joan_crystal said:

mumstheword said:

Is anyone else suddenly being inundated with these ads on their home pages?  I can't "hide" them, and when I click "why am I seeing this?" it does nothing.  I've made several complaints to Facebook but of course get no response.  I'm getting ads for every stupid game available, and I have to go to the other ads' Facebook pages to mark them as "blocked".  But doing this 20-30 times a day is wasting a lot of time.  Does anyone know how else to stop them?  (I do have an ad blocker installed -- is this Facebook's retaliation?)

You are actually encouraging more ads by going to the ads' pages to delete them.  I get almost no ads on FB feed because I just scroll past them without giving them a second thought.

You would have more than a second thought if you started suddenly receiving 30-40 unwanted ads in your newsfeed every day.  I am blocking their FB pages because Facebook suddenly will not let me hide the FB sponsored ads.  I haven't changed my FB habits at all, and this all started 3 days ago.  I am now seeing many other people complaining on FB about the same exact thing, so there's definitely something afoot with Facebook as the culprit, so I don't expect them to stop doing this.

Devil's advocate.

Can you really blame them? Facebook in in the business of making money. Through advertising. 

They are not providing a free service.

They are not a culprit.  

Nothing is afoot.

mumstheword said:

As I said, I don't mind the ads, in their proper place.  I've even found some websites that I was interested in for shopping.  But not in my news feed, every 2 posts is another ad (class action lawyers, insurance companies -- all stuff I have no interest in).  I have to spend an inordinate amount of time to see posts from my friends because of this.  And don't give me an option to "hide" the ad, or to change what ads I wish to see -- and then not have those options operational.   Also, as I said, there are a lot of people posting about this now on Facebook, so either there is one giant glitch or Facebook wants to force us to see ads for games or companies that have Facebook pages that wish to advertise.  Frankly, maybe they're doing me a favor -- I'm becoming disenchanted with a lot of stuff I see on Facebook, so this will be a good time to go cold turkey.

So you only want the ads placed where you can either block them or not look at them?

That wouldn't be very effective for someone selling ads, would it?

They seem to be moving to more of a broadcast tv model with the ads. And yes, they want to "force you to see ads for games or companies that have Facebook pages that they wish to advertise."

As you say, if people vote with their feet in large numbers, they may reconsider. 

But you can't blame them for trying to make money off you if you're using their service.

Can you?

So, Facebook fixed the glitch -- I, and everyone else affected, can now "hide" ads in their news feeds if they so wish.  Onwards!

mumstheword said:

So, Facebook fixed the glitch

I could see how it would seem that way. Carry on then.