Facebook Announced Gambling Advertisers are Banned
Facebook is a popular social media website that has gained popularity quickly. It has millions of members who post their pictures, profiles and contact information. They can search for people they know and locate them. They can post comments to people’s profiles, called “walls.” Overall it’s a great tool to keep up with friends and network for business. More and more businesses are using Facebook as a means to promote and recruit. In 2010, the internet is the way to go in terms of bringing in employees and meeting new people.
Because of its hefty membership, Facebook also has a wide variety of advertisers who pay top dollar to post their product on the website. Facebook charges a good amount of money for a small ad and more recently it has been getting requests to advertise gambling. In a surprise move, the website announced recently that it would be eliminating online gambling advertisements on the website. By making the move to ban online gambling advertisers, the website is basically saying that online gambling is the same as tobacco and firearms—both of which are also not allowed on the website. The main reason the website is banning gambling advertisers is because of its customer base. Most of its customers are young and the website is arguing that with such a young customer base, it needs to draw a line when it comes to who advertises and what products are promoted.
Facebook listed gambling under its “prohibited content” and the definition of that according to the website is, “gambling, including without limitation, any online casino, sports books, bingo or poker.” It’s a bold move for the website to make since online gambling is so popular and only showing signs of a greater acceptance due to moves to legalize and regulate the industry. In addition, gambling has gained a new mainstream acceptance throughout the world in past years. And thanks to events like the WSOP, gambling has only increased in popularity. Interestingly, the WSOP has mainstream corporate sponsorship. That’s why the move by Facebook to ban gambling advertisers was a surprise to most industry insiders. Only time will tell of operators of the social networking website will change its mind, but for now, gambling is prohibited.
