No doubt you will have heard about the Facebook Data scandal. Images, videos and GIFs of a slightly embarrassed and nervous Mark Zuckerberg have been everywhere:
But what does it all mean? Let our Facebook advertising agency experts give you the low down:
What happened?
After an in-depth investigation by the Guardian, it was revealed that British political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica had access to 50 million Facebook users’ information. Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg was quiet for 5 days before speaking about the issue and the plans to improve Facebook’s data privacy policies. We have been assured he will follow up on this…
What’s next?
Investigations will continue into apps which had access to all the user information before the change to Facebook’s privacy settings in 2014. Facebook are also reducing the amount of information it will give to third-parties. This will be limited to the user’s name, email address and profile picture. Any app will now have to receive approval and complete a contract if they require any more information. If you would like advice on your company’s data privacy or GDPR, call our digital marketing services team to learn more.
What does this mean for social media advertising?
Some companies, including Mozilla, have already pulled their Facebook advertising. Many companies feel that Facebook policies are still not strong enough to securely protect their customer’s data and do not want further association with the brand.
But what about the users? According to a recent study, 34% of Facebook users have since updated their privacy setting and 7.6% have deleted their accounts. We can see from Google Trends that the average daily searches for the phrase ‘delete facebook’ increased by 107% after the story broke on the 17th March 2017:
Source: Google Trends
A strongly negative consumer response may impact the total potential audience size on the social media platform. However, with an estimated 39 million Facebook users in the UK, and predictions for a steady increase by 2022, a 7% decrease may only be a small drop in the ocean. We are confident that social media advertising on Facebook is still one of the most effective digital channels.
Want to know more about Upperdog’s social media services from our Facebook advertising agency team? Or perhaps you’d like to learn how our SEO services could help your company? Call our digital agency in Bournemouth today on 01202 798 820 or email hello@upperdog.co.uk.