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How is clicking a facebook like button not actively using facebook? I would think that's kind of the definition of being active (as opposed to passive). And t

How is clicking a facebook like button not actively using facebook? I would think that's kind of the definition of being active (as opposed to passive). And they don't count non-logged-in users. You have to be logged in and either visit facebook.com, or click a like button.

jetti 14y ago
It is deceiving when using it as a metric to sell more ads. Yes, people may be liking stuff, but you can like thousands of things a day and not even open the facebook page, thus not seeing any ads. If they were able to break down like clicks based on whether somebody is on the site or not, that would be a more honest approach (not sure if they do this or not already) as you can see if marketing dollars spent there would be worth it. If many people are liking stuff that is related to your product/market but never go to Facebook.com to see ads, then why waste the money?
- csallen 14y ago
  If I'm not mistaken, you buy ads on a cost-per-click or a cost-per-thousand-views basis. In other words, you only pay when people see or click your ad. You also choose exactly what audience you'd like to target on FB -- very few companies are rich enough and broad enough that they want to target the entire FB userbase. Long-story short, Facebook's total monthly active user count is largely irrelevant to individuals purchasing ads.
  - Aloisius 14y ago
    You don't need to have more views or clicks. If you claim you have 2 or 3x the number of monthlies, you charge more per click or view. You'll attract more advertisers to your site which further drives up the cost of each advertisement. In this way, inflating monthlies has a direct effect on ad revenue.
    - craffert 14y ago
      This doesn't even make sense. If you are charging per click (or view), you don't charge more because of number of visitors, you make more because Revenue=CPCCTRViews (and Views is getting larger).
      - papsosouid 14y ago
        Yes they do. The post you are replying to even explained that. If you tell the world "we have a billion users", more companies will decide to purchase advertising on your site than if you tell the truth and say "we have 400 million users". More advertisers competing for the same number of page views means they drive the price per view up, just as any other increase in demand without an increase in supply will drive up prices.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
tsycho 14y ago
For the same reason as clicking a +1 somewhere doesn't make you an active G+ user.
- whatusername 14y ago
  To my mind it does. I'm contributing something to G+ But I think that to Google - the fact I log into GMAIL makes me an active G+ user.

jetti 14y ago

It is deceiving when using it as a metric to sell more ads. Yes, people may be liking stuff, but you can like thousands of things a day and not even open the facebook page, thus not seeing any ads. If they were able to break down like clicks based on whether somebody is on the site or not, that would be a more honest approach (not sure if they do this or not already) as you can see if marketing dollars spent there would be worth it. If many people are liking stuff that is related to your product/market but never go to Facebook.com to see ads, then why waste the money?

csallen 14y ago
If I'm not mistaken, you buy ads on a cost-per-click or a cost-per-thousand-views basis. In other words, you only pay when people see or click your ad. You also choose exactly what audience you'd like to target on FB -- very few companies are rich enough and broad enough that they want to target the entire FB userbase. Long-story short, Facebook's total monthly active user count is largely irrelevant to individuals purchasing ads.
- Aloisius 14y ago
  You don't need to have more views or clicks. If you claim you have 2 or 3x the number of monthlies, you charge more per click or view. You'll attract more advertisers to your site which further drives up the cost of each advertisement. In this way, inflating monthlies has a direct effect on ad revenue.
  - craffert 14y ago
    This doesn't even make sense. If you are charging per click (or view), you don't charge more because of number of visitors, you make more because Revenue=CPCCTRViews (and Views is getting larger).
    - papsosouid 14y ago
      Yes they do. The post you are replying to even explained that. If you tell the world "we have a billion users", more companies will decide to purchase advertising on your site than if you tell the truth and say "we have 400 million users". More advertisers competing for the same number of page views means they drive the price per view up, just as any other increase in demand without an increase in supply will drive up prices.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

tsycho 14y ago

For the same reason as clicking a +1 somewhere doesn't make you an active G+ user.

whatusername 14y ago
To my mind it does. I'm contributing something to G+ But I think that to Google - the fact I log into GMAIL makes me an active G+ user.