Facebook To Take Action On Bad Reviews

“Don’t read the comments… don’t read the comments…”

By and large, the comments section of most news, videos, or social media posts can easily devolve into a cesspool of anti-humanity. However, one aspect to leaving an opinion online can actually serve a purpose for other users: online reviews.

All reported fraud and comment-padding aside, sites like Yelp and Amazon have been very helpful to other consumers. They give the public the option to remain informed before making a purchase or giving a business their patronage. Unfortunately, too often, the only comments come from those who’ve had a bad experience, as far too many people don’t take the time to leave a positive note.

Facebook, which makes a lot of money selling advertising space to third-parties and injecting those ads into your news feed, has announced a new plan to curb some companies who fail to live up to standards. Third-parties that pay for ads on Facebook can have their ads removed if consumers who’ve clicked through and made a purchase then go on to leave a negative complaint.

So how do you leave feedback?

Unfortunately, the process is far from simple, which means it will once again most likely attract only those consumers who’ve had a significantly bad experience, one that prompts them to take action. In many ways, though, that could be even better for consumers in the long run.

According to the announcement by Facebook on how to raise a complaint, “To find the tool, go to your Ads Activity tab. There you can view ads you’ve recently clicked, and hit the ‘Leave Feedback’ button. This will prompt you to complete a brief questionnaire to tell us about your experience. We’ll use this tool to get feedback from the community to help better understand potentially low quality goods or services…We share feedback directly with businesses that receive high volumes of negative feedback and give them a chance to improve before taking further action. We give them guidance on how to improve customer satisfaction and better meet customer expectations.”

More bad news for Facebook?

However, not all of the companies are on board with Facebook’s advertising opportunities. One company, MoneySavingExpert.com, has initiated a defamation lawsuit against Facebook due to the founder’s likeness being used in fraudulent ads. Despite multiple requests for the ads to be banned and taken down, Facebook has yet to comply, presumably because advertisers pay money for that space.