Google will soon ban fake news sites from using its ad network
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/14/13630722/google-fake-news-advertising-ban-2016-us-election
This article discusses Facebook’s ad and news programs and how their algorithms have affected their publicity. The main event noted in the article is the outcry from Republicans over reported censorship of Republican news sources in Facebook’s “trending news” section. This burst of negative publicity paralyzed upper management at Facebook. This combination of events took a toll on Facebook. Who would want to advertise with a site that is receiving highly negative publicity? Won’t consumers associate their product with the bad things they hear about the site? Now, in the wake of the election, Facebook has finally taken action. They have released a new algorithm that they claim will block fake sites from advertising or reaching the “trending news” section. This will be a major hit to these sites, as they rely on other advertisers to make a profit. In short, they buy advertising from Facebook and the like while selling advertising for less to other pages.
The relation to class is very complex, incorporating many ideas. On of the most topical is strength in a network. Facebook was weaker than the plethora of sites that called them out for censorship, and there was little they could do about it. On the flip side, Facebook is much more powerful than the sites that buy advertising from them, so releasing a new algorithm to save face will receive little push back. This also represents a trading network. The public, Facebook, and these fake news sites are all part of a much larger web of other parties. But Facebook had to decide between these two. They could take the public appeal of banning fake news, or the money from fake news advertisers. Their decision was affected by the relative power of the other two parties. Now, moving forward, this will affect Google’s advertising methods. Their cost models will change as some sites are removed from the bidding pool. If other advertisers see this, they may feel that the ad slots are worth less and, collectively, submit lower bids. This would hurt Google’s income and reputation, possibly leading to lower advertising revenues for a long time to come.