Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas • Hacker News Board

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#321

Post by jerf » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:41 PM UTC

ggybdese wrote: post #317

Lio wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd prefer it if we legislated that organisations can't exclusively rely on closed systems like Facebook/Meta to run their services. I saw a sign last year for forestry service work happening locally to me. Apparently they're only going to provide safety announcements on Facebook. Shit like that grinds my gears. Meta's users aren't citizens, they're serfs. :(

> they're only going to provide safety announcements on Facebook. While I understand, what's the alternative you propose? I have seen HN threads ridiculing some govt website for being outdated or not fixing the latest vulnerability or not using the latest version etc. Or if they do allocate a bigger chunk of their budget for tech and there will be unreasonable HN threads about how one user feels he/she could build it…

"While I understand, what's the alternative you propose?"

Simple: Strike the word "only". It's not that hard to post to several sites and also your own. I'd like some RSS on the main site too. It's not that hard for an individual and it's even easier for an organization with thousands of employees.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#322

Post by nabla9 » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:41 PM UTC

eesmith wrote: post #274

nabla9 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and some of those 'friends' may be the one who got him canned. The evidence of their involvement is already destroyed (180 day retention). Check for friends who compete and work with Meta.

When are you going to option your movie script? That is, look at the benefit/risk. If someone does this and is caught, they could lose their job. The instigator must assume reuven wasn't going to notice this change within 180 days, and assume reuven doesn't have another contact at Meta who can figure things out. This only works because reuven does little advertising on Meta, but that means there isn't much benefit to…

I understand what you are saying.

On the other hand I think you don't get how common what I describe. People do this and get fired if found out, but rarely do. Meta fired only people who took bribes before doing nasty. If you mess with nobody users for personal gain, its seemingly non-issue for them.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#323

Post by ivanmontillam » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:43 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #297

weinzierl wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 90s I had heard about this software you needed to publish web pages called 'Apache' so I googled it on Altavista expecting it to be hard to find amongst all the content about the Native American tribes. To my big surprise it was the web server that was at the very top of the search results. Today I searched[1] for 'Kafka' on Google before I made the comment above and I got 'Apache Kafka' first and I'm still su…

> googled it on Altavista I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe I can bing it in Hotbot.

I sometimes find myself saying "maybe do the math in Google's Excel"

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#324

Post by RobotToaster » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:44 PM UTC

lbriner wrote: post #47

The whole issue around not telling you what rule you broke "because then you might work around it" is total BS. It's like a company I complained to the other day because they didn't label one of the inputs on their password reset form because "it would help a hacker know what to type in it" (it was the password reset password they expected but you wouldn't know). How much quicker would this be resolved if the first A…

>a company I complained to the other day because they didn't label one of the inputs on their password reset form

That sounds like an accessibility issue, if they're American it could be an ADA violation.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#325

Post by hoofhearted » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:48 PM UTC

I had the same issue a few months ago.

My Facebook account was the admin on a page for a business that we had for 10 years.

At some point in the last year, FB apparently flagged my advertising account and seeked request. I didn't respond in time, and that account is now permenantly banned from advertising with no way to request a review lol..

Whatever! I figured the universe was telling me that the good old days of advertising to real people on FB were gone.

I did however want to start gathering insights on potential audiences with the Meta pixel; so I just simply created a new Facebook account, and then a new page with 0 advetising history.

That seemed to work, and haven't had any issues.. Old account is still flagged; and I just have to flip between my accounts when I actually use FB.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#326

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:50 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #321

ggybdese wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they're only going to provide safety announcements on Facebook. While I understand, what's the alternative you propose? I have seen HN threads ridiculing some govt website for being outdated or not fixing the latest vulnerability or not using the latest version etc. Or if they do allocate a bigger chunk of their budget for tech and there will be unreasonable HN threads about how one user feels he/she could build it…

"While I understand, what's the alternative you propose?" Simple: Strike the word "only". It's not that hard to post to several sites and also your own. I'd like some RSS on the main site too. It's not that hard for an individual and it's even easier for an organization with thousands of employees.

[deleted]

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#327

Post by silent_cal » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:50 PM UTC

Similar story: I had an old account locked and I wanted to delete it. They asked me security questions about random Facebook friends to verify my identity, and I had no idea who they were. So I sent in my driver's license photo, which was rejected for an unknown reason.. and around and around it went.

I ended up finding a random Facebook corporate email address online and I just kept spamming it in hopes that a human would actually read it and do something about it. To my surprise, it actually worked.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#328

Post by vertis » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:50 PM UTC

doubled112 wrote: post #237

mysterydip wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything you do has been noted and recorded. We'll determine later if it's something we don't like in the future.

This concept scares me more than most.

The fact that is scares you has been noted. Someone will contact you shortly.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#329

Post by Lio » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:52 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #321

ggybdese wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they're only going to provide safety announcements on Facebook. While I understand, what's the alternative you propose? I have seen HN threads ridiculing some govt website for being outdated or not fixing the latest vulnerability or not using the latest version etc. Or if they do allocate a bigger chunk of their budget for tech and there will be unreasonable HN threads about how one user feels he/she could build it…

"While I understand, what's the alternative you propose?" Simple: Strike the word "only". It's not that hard to post to several sites and also your own. I'd like some RSS on the main site too. It's not that hard for an individual and it's even easier for an organization with thousands of employees.

Yep that's it exactly.

I'd prefer the government to host its own data.

I'd also like any site hosting public information to be compelled to serve that information to everyone.

Facebook may not know they're being used like this, and it would be fine for them to object, but if they do want to carry government alerts they should be open to non-users without tracking or shadow profiling.

Re: Meta is banning people from advertising after running ads for Python and Pandas

#330

Post by miki123211 » Thu, Oct 19, 2023, 1:53 PM UTC

weinzierl wrote: post #293

kmlx wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

every time someone mentions Kafka here i get reminded of his works and every time the comment is about Apache Kafka :)

In the 90s I had heard about this software you needed to publish web pages called 'Apache' so I googled it on Altavista expecting it to be hard to find amongst all the content about the Native American tribes. To my big surprise it was the web server that was at the very top of the search results. Today I searched[1] for 'Kafka' on Google before I made the comment above and I got 'Apache Kafka' first and I'm still su…

The fact that it's at the top now is not surprising, Google probably knows you're a programmer and is likely to show you programming-related results.

Even if you turn off all tracking and use a private window, there are ways. In my case, the combination of a Polish IP address, Safari on Mac OS and English as the browser language is enough to profile me as "tech-savvy, probably interested in science and edutainment, not in funny cute cat videos, Polish politics and sports." The Youtube home feed is a testament to this. If I change my location to the UK (with a VPN), that feed suddenly becomes a lot more generic.