For a majority of Facebook users, the idea that someone is making money by clicking on the “Like” button will be strange, but it is true. There are ways and means to buy fake “Likes” on Facebook.
This might not affect the average user but it could potentially harm Facebook in a major way. Brand names would stop advertising on Facebook, if they thought that the social interaction they were getting from the site was not genuine or fake.
Facebook has announced it will remove such fake “Likes” from various brand pages. This will apparently impact less that %1 of the total number of “Likes”.
Facebook is also quoted as making it clear that they had no hand in permitting such fake social interaction on pages.
To be clear, we do not and have never permitted the purchase or sale of Facebook Likes as we only want people connecting to the Pages and brands with whom they have chosen to connect.
Read the full text here.
Who exactly are behind fake “Likes”?
That is going to be a tough question to answer. It will be difficult to decide which interaction is fake and which is real. For instance, someone with a fake account could choose his/her location as Australia but follow brand pages which are available only in the US. The account might have fake information but the interaction and connection with the brand could be real.
On the other hand, there are many services which sell “Likes” in bulk for brand pages. Some even have apps which generate automated “Likes” by enticing innocent users.
How successful Facebook will be at tackling fake “Likes” is anyone’s guess but it better act fast. Looking at how it’s stock is struggling and with many investors still having doubts over its revenues from mobile platforms, having a reputation for fake interaction itself, might do it even more harm.
What are your views on fake “Likes” on Facebook? Do drop in your comments.