Facebook was right to Shun GM over advertising

Today’s post is from one of our creatives at blur Marketing: Liam O’Dowd.

This week the news broke that GM had pulled their Facebook Advertising not due to the official line of “ineffective” performance but because Facebook refused to allow a full page take over of its own Facebook page. It’s long been Facebook policy to protect a users experience. By protecting the Facebook platform from suffering a similar face to the once mighty Myspace.

While neither side has given an official response, reading between the lines it seems GM used their influence and size to threaten Facebook at a critical time, shortly before the IPO and flotation on NASDAQ. News of GM’s withdraw from Facebook’s paid advertising is said to have been partly responsible for the initial poor offering. It seems Facebook refused to be blackmailed, and on the surface they seem to have paid the price.

However in the long run they may have made the right choice. To survive Facebook has to create revenue through advertising. No business is going to spend on advertising if the audience isn’t there. By protecting the experience of that audience, Facebook have cemented their position as an important means of communicating with a target audience and have ensured that Facebook advertising will remain a steady source of revenue for the business.

They could have easily given into GMs bullying, and taken a quick buck from advertisers in the short term, but by sticking to Zuckerberg’s principles they have made sure that they are in this for the long haul.

If you are looking for an innovative social media campaign accross all networks, submit a brief now!

Liam

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