Facebook: Lie by the lie, die by the lie....mistake, really?

Facebook Stock Sinks As Social Network Admits Another Advertising Metric Error

By Tyler Durden

Created 12/16/2016 - 10:40

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by Tyler Durden [1]

Dec 16, 2016 10:40 AMTwitter

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Fool me once...
For the umpteenth time this year, Facebook has come clean with an error in its advertising metrics. In November, Facebook said that after discovering several mistakes in its reporting methods, it would be more transparent about errors in the future. And so they have [4]...

We've uncovered an issue for a small group of Instant Articles publishers that impacts reporting in comScore. comScore alerted us to the issue, and we’ve since identified this is a result of a recent Facebook update that impacted publishers using our legacy comScore integration who support HTTPS on their websites. This caused an underreporting of iPhone traffic from Facebook in comScore products between Sep 20 to Nov 30, 2016. iPad and Android traffic were not affected. We have fixed the issue and are working with comScore to produce updated estimates for the relevant time periods for the small group of partners affected. We have reached out to affected publishers.

We know how important it is to be open about meaningful updates we make to our metrics, so we’ve created this channel for regular information on metrics enhancements. 

As Bloomberg reports,

Facebook said it found another problem with metrics used by publishers and advertisers to gauge the reach of content posted on the world’s largest social network.

Facebook said in a blog post that it had been under-reporting traffic from publishers that participate in the company’s Instant Articles system. The mishap, which Facebook said was discovered by comScore, was traced to a recent software update. It resulted in some traffic not being counted properly from iPhone users from Sept. 20 to Nov. 30.

“We have fixed the issue and are working with comScore to produce updated estimates for the relevant time periods for the small group of partners affected,” Facebook said in the post.

Facebook has been trying to lure publishers into the Instant Articles program. It lets media companies publish content on the social network directly instead linking back to their own websites. Articles load faster for users, but some publishers have raised questions about ceding control to Facebook and diminishing their relationship with readers.

The disclosure is the latest in a string of problems Facebook has disclosed about metrics critical to business decisions made by advertisers and publishers working with the Menlo Park, California-based company.

The result, for now, is selling pressure...
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