Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

lerner.co.il

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 514 posts

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

#411

Post by skywhopper »

miki123211 wrote: post #344

Other similar cases I'm aware of. * The Scunthorpe problem, AOL didn't let users set their hometown to Scunthorpe because of the "cunt" substring. This is a classic. * Amazon banning sales of Guns N' Roses merch (because guns). * People named Miranda having issues with bank transfers (because of the substring "Iran"). * Some games displaying the nickname "Nasser" as "N* er", suggesting that it is the n word. Alexa no…

Pretty sure I ran into this problem trying to use my American credit card to pay a bill from the University of Sussex in the UK. (Note the substring of "sex".) No matter how many humans we got involved, every attempt would immediately lock down our credit card beyond the usual fraud alert locks that I can personally revoke by responding to a text message, and would require a manual unlocking by bank support staff. Finally we just tried the PayPal option and it worked fine.

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

#412

Post by londons_explore »

Xixi wrote: post #44

AIs and other opaque processes making decisions are incredibly frustrating. I'm still wondering why my tea-of-the-month business [0] got turned down by Stripe when I incorporated an LLC (technically a Godo Kaisha, as it is incorporated in Japan). It came as a surprise as it was perfectly fine by them for as long as it was a sole proprietorship. Which is why I strongly suspect the rejection came from an AI. At the tim…

> AIs and other opaque processes making decisions are incredibly frustrating.

Simply better messaging would fix most of this.

One approach is to be upfront and say:

Our automated AI systems have decided that it probably isn't in our best interests to do business with you. We can't elaborate on why, because that would give clues to spammers to help evade our detection of them. However, if you are willing to pay us $15, we will have a human look at your case and make the decision instead. You will be able to send evidence to the human (for example evidence of legitimate sales, a registered company, etc.). The human will be able to ask for further information, but will not be able to tell you the reason for any rejection. Your $15 will not be refunded if your case is rejected. Before you do, double check that your use isn't borderline on our rules and T&C's - human review isn't an opportunity to push the boundaries of what is allowed.

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

#413

Post by kayxspre »

I will never understand why Facebook isn't willing to take action against known phishing pages/advertisers, and even let them boost post with advertising, while legitimate advertisers get much less impression. At one point, a scam about high-return investment targeting elders are very common. The same applies to online gambling (it may be legal in many countries like the Philippines, but not in my country) and 419 scam (known in my country as "call center scam")

Another annoying things is the use of affiliate links to online marketplace (Lazada is a notable example; sometimes it can lead to a more sinister destination, such as malware-dropping site) masquerading as a link to news site, which was often spammed in a comment below the news post. They even typed in my language even though the account appears to be based in Indonesia or the Philippines. I have heard numerous people reporting this, but so far the situation isn't improving at all (and can even get worse)

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

#414

Post by johnnyanmac »

SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #376
bombcar wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can put review on a system requiring additional ID/information/escrow payment. A genuine business will be willing to put down some information and a cash payment for a review; spammers won’t have the time or resources. You run the risk of a perverse incentive to trigger it for revenue but make the fee refundable or something.

Can you? I don't know that I've seen anyone try, but I would expect the PR blowback for "pay us $1 to appeal" to be worse than "you're just not allowed to appeal".

This is b2b, so it probably wouldn't really have that much PR.

Besides, I think for modern society, paying $1 rather than presenting your government ID is an easier ask.

There's a few easy checks to prevent perverse incentives:

1. promise (yeah, an impossible task already) a human will review your appeal

2. if the strike was a false positive, refund that appeal cost.

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

#415

Post by msie »

Xixi wrote: post #44

AIs and other opaque processes making decisions are incredibly frustrating. I'm still wondering why my tea-of-the-month business [0] got turned down by Stripe when I incorporated an LLC (technically a Godo Kaisha, as it is incorporated in Japan). It came as a surprise as it was perfectly fine by them for as long as it was a sole proprietorship. Which is why I strongly suspect the rejection came from an AI. At the tim…

It may not be the sexy AI robots that get us in the end but this.

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

#416

Post by joncrocks »

ndriscoll wrote: post #361
alphager wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they don't. The banks know perfectly well that this doesn't catch terrorists. But by law they are liable if a terrorist uses their services if they don't have a program to detect terrorists. A key-word match on Iran, bomb, ISIS, etc. is enough in the eyes of the regulator.

No it isn't (at least in the US). Banks have to adhere to Know Your Customer laws, and have to refuse services related to any person or group that's been sanctioned. OFAC has a search tool for such persons[0], but notably says that even using their tool isn't enough to avoid liability. Just saying "we looked for 'bomb supplies' in the memo" isn't going to cut it. You might see dumb things because banks will do anythi…

Person, group or Country. e.g. Iran.

Yes, you're meant to do KYC checks, but also be on the look out for things that your non-sanctioned customers might be doing (post KYC checks) that involves interacting with Sanctioned entities.

Hence lots of pattern matching on names of sanctioned countries/organisations/people.

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

#418

Post by johnnyanmac »

raincole wrote: post #127
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…

When we submitted our game's store page for Steam to review, they told us exactly which rule we broke and how we needed to fix it. That's how you tell companies who care about their users and those don't. (Not saying Steam never did shady stuff)

> Not saying Steam never did shady stuff

They seem very opaque on rules broken whenever you submit VN's. Which is odd given the... variety of VN steam offers. You can have stuff rated by the ESRB rejected, you can have sequels to games that are still being sold on Steam rejected. some SFW VN's are also rejected, so it's not as simple as sexual content not being allowed.

Then you go on the page and are recommended "Sex with Furry Hitler 3" and can't help but wonder if you simply got the wrong reviewer.

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

#419

Post by ahazred8ta »

miki123211 wrote: post #344

Other similar cases I'm aware of. * The Scunthorpe problem, AOL didn't let users set their hometown to Scunthorpe because of the "cunt" substring. This is a classic. * Amazon banning sales of Guns N' Roses merch (because guns). * People named Miranda having issues with bank transfers (because of the substring "Iran"). * Some games displaying the nickname "Nasser" as "N* er", suggesting that it is the n word. Alexa no…

There have also been problems with Plymouth Hoe, Clitheroe, and Penistone.

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

#420

Post by guidoism »

miki123211 wrote: post #344

Other similar cases I'm aware of. * The Scunthorpe problem, AOL didn't let users set their hometown to Scunthorpe because of the "cunt" substring. This is a classic. * Amazon banning sales of Guns N' Roses merch (because guns). * People named Miranda having issues with bank transfers (because of the substring "Iran"). * Some games displaying the nickname "Nasser" as "N* er", suggesting that it is the n word. Alexa no…

People named Guido not being able to create an account because apparently my name is also a racial slur in some part of the world where I do not live.
Post reply on HN