Facebook does the right thing...and admits it's not perfect

In yesterday’s WSJ article Facebook explained yesterday it will be issuing refunds to some advertisers after discovering an issue in its system that led it to overstate the number of clicks on marketers’ websites, an omission that comes as ad firms are demanding better and more transparent measurement from the social networks.

In their blog post published Tuesday, the social network said “the discrepancy was minor. It occurred when users visited the site on mobile browsers—not in the Facebook app or on desktops—and clicked on its “video carousel” ad formats to expand them in size. Those clicks were inadvertently registered as website clicks. The carousels allow advertisers to place multiple images, videos and text within one ad unit, which users can swipe across to view”. Facebook says “the bug affected advertisers specifically paying for ads that resulted in clicks to their websites. Over the period Facebook was monitoring, 0.04% of all impressions on the social network were impacted”. Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s vice president of global marketing solutions, said “the bug was uncovered as part of a recently introduced review process and the company is committed to transparency with its partners”.

Facebook’s disclosure comes during this week’s annual U.S. television “upfront” season,” when the biggest TV networks throw glitzy events and parties showcasing their programming in the hopes of securing billions of dollars in advertising commitments from marketers. It will play into the narrative among media executives that TV offers a safer and more predictable environment for marketers than digital platforms. Facebook has now acknowledged on five separate occasions since September that it has either overstated or understated the metrics advertisers and publishers use to get a sense of the effectiveness of their posts and ads on the platform”. Until now, there have been no instances of billing credits based on publicly confirmed metrics. Facebook in the past has issued some refunds to individual advertisers in the past for reported bugs. Unilever PLC, the consumer packaged-goods giant that owns brands such as Dove and Hellmann’s, was one of the advertisers affected by the latest error and is receiving a full, but small, refund, they also reported their company will be reducing advertising by 30% in the future. . Keith Weed, Unilever’s chief marketing and communications officer, said “Facebook had been proactive to address the bug as quickly as possible, but that it nonetheless highlights the need for more transparency and third-party verification in the digital space to track both advertising effectiveness and whether advertising transactions are working as agreed”. Mr. Weed added: “It highlights once again that while there has been progress, there is still further improvement needed.”

Facebook in November launched a blog to provide updates on errors and bugs it comes across, as part of its commitment to transparency.  The company also announced a measurement council, “consisting of marketers and ad agency executives who provide feedback on how it is performing on the metrics front”. In addition, Facebook has brought on board several new independent measurement partners since making the disclosures about the mistakes in its metrics. This past February, Facebook committed to an independent audit by the Media Rating Council, “an industry body that oversees measurement standards”.

It’s reassuring to see Facebook is taking significant steps to be transparent about errors, and has actively resolved overbilling promptly. I wish this was the tact other media and technology companies would take. Usually these issues are revealed after consumer complaints, and a government regulatory body gets involved. Facebook has spent resources wisely in my opinion to be proactive about this metric system’s accountability.