Facebook Takes Aim at Video Clickbait

Accept you lot ever click on what looks similar a video in your Facebook News Feed but to observe that what you clicked was really an image bearded every bit a video? The social network is taking action to prevent this from happening in the time to come.

Facebook video clickbait

As part of its ongoing efforts to foster "authentic communication" on the platform, Facebook on Th announced ii updates that aim to limit the spread of "video clickbait." That includes stories featuring either simulated video play buttons embedded in their imagery, or videos of only a static paradigm.

"People desire to see accurate data on Facebook, and and then do we," Facebook Engineers Baraa Hamodi, Zahir Bokhari, and Yun Zhang wrote in a blog mail. "When people click on an image in their News Feed featuring a play push, they expect a video to start playing. Spammers ofttimes utilise fake play buttons to trick people into clicking links to low quality websites."

The trio went on to say that "deceptive spammers also use static images bearded as videos to flim-flam people into clicking on a low quality feel."

So, in the coming weeks, Facebook will start demoting stories that feature simulated video play buttons and static images masquerading as videos. Therefore you're less likely to encounter them as you scan your News Feed.

Most Pages won't come across whatever major changes to the distribution of their stories as a result of these updates. However, "publishers that rely on these intentionally deceptive practices should expect the distribution of those clickbait stories to markedly decrease," Hamodi, Bokhari, and Zhang wrote.

These updates follow a series of deportment Facebook has taken to limit clickbait. Last year, the company started identifying mutual clickbait phrases and suppressing links that either withhold information or create misleading expectations about the linked story. In May, Facebook intensified its anti-clickbait efforts when it started demoting individual posts with clickbait headlines, not merely domains and Pages spreading this type of content. The company at that fourth dimension also started cracking down on clickbait in languages other than English.

About Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag'south expert on fettle and smart habitation products. Teaching yoga for nigh 10 years has helped her in evaluating a range of continued health products including fitness trackers, heart rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength training machines, treadmills, and more than. Angela also tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, but to name a few.