Facebook will start cracking down on fake ‘Likes’ in an effort to reduce the amount of spam and malware used by black marketeers using the platform as a way to boost advertising opportunities.
The Age reports that a growing market for fake ‘Likes’ has developed to help various companies raise their social profile, purchasing thousands of ‘Likes’ at a time. The ‘Likes’ come from user accounts that have been compromised, or tricked into liking something via a fake video that gets posted on their wall.
Facebook announced on Friday via its official blog that “newly improved automated efforts will remove those Likes gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes.”
“While we have always had dedicated protections against each of these threats on Facebook, these improved systems have been specifically configured to identify and take action against suspicious Likes.”
Facebook depends on advertising revenue, especially from big business. With the recent drop in share prices since it was floated to the public in May, the company are striving to remain credible in the market with potential advertisers.
