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Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

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Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#41

Post by probdist »

vntok wrote: post #9
lolc wrote: post #5

So they're modifying URL? Facebook is breaking things. But sure, they've run the numbers and decided they don't care. Browsers will now have to resort to removing query parameters to prevent tracking. And websites should really use click-to-enable sharing buttons to prevent Facebook from snooping on everything.

My guesstimate is that the number of URLs that are shared on Facebook AND that already have a completely orthogonal "fbclid" parameter is infinitesimal. Maybe among the URLs shared on Facebook there are a few whose servers only respond to a fixed amount of parameters, changing their behaviour when additional unused parameters are appended to the query string, but I imagine that the number of such cases is so low it's…

I've seen a broken link from this url parameter already.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#42

Post by kposehn »

itsjustjoe wrote: post #37
reimertz wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sarcastic?

Absolutely not, adwords already does this with gclid, and Bing with... mkclid I believe, fbclid will be nice to have and be a convenience for those who data warehouse their own ad data. If this wasn't Facebook this wouldn't be news, gclid has been around for years.

Totally. It’s really just feature parity - about time.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#43

Post by EpicEng »

teaneedz wrote: post #18
kposehn wrote: post #13

This is actually fantastic news for advertisers that have their own data warehouses and need to create a better 1-to-1 click tracking to internal user data. This allows much better attribution and testing of incrementality so businesses can tell where their value is truly coming from. I’m pretty excited to see this roll out more broadly.

And another reason for me to avoid FB links. I'm sure blockers will begin stripping that out. FB just doesn't understand the optics they create.

>FB just doesn't understand the optics they create.

Sure they do; they just also know that the vast (VAST) majority of people don't understand the implications and/or don't care.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#44

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

pipermerriam wrote: post #40

There are a number of comments here who seem genuinely happy about this. This is a perspective that is hard for me to understand, largely because I'm strongly in the pro-privacy, anti-tracking ideology. So if you are part of the group who sees this as a good thing, I'm genuinely interested to understand why you see this as a good thing and whether you view the mass surveillance of the general public by advertising co…

Engineer here: I used to be completely anti-tracking.

Then, I started needing analytics for my own business. Without analytics, I wouldn't be able to sell with efficiency, and therefore, I wouldn't have a business. Granted, the anti-consumerist in me thinks maybe as a society we shouldn't be so concerned with our efficiency to sell. But, we live in a capitalist world, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

The way I see it now, I'm less concerned about tracking than I am about how big some businesses are -- especially in this space.

At every start up I know, they use analytics, and no one is doing anything spooky. But, I'm sure there's plenty of spooky stuff going on at the FAANGAMUs.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#45

Post by r_singh »

pipermerriam wrote: post #40

There are a number of comments here who seem genuinely happy about this. This is a perspective that is hard for me to understand, largely because I'm strongly in the pro-privacy, anti-tracking ideology. So if you are part of the group who sees this as a good thing, I'm genuinely interested to understand why you see this as a good thing and whether you view the mass surveillance of the general public by advertising co…

I understand your stance from an end users perspective completely.

However, it's not hard to reason why people whose livelihoods depend on being able to track users and increase the value of their ad inventory would be happy about this.

People are unusually good at separating their personal interests from consumer interests. I've observed this emotion arise in many entrepreneurs first hand, be they in the brick retail, or conventional energy or obsolete auto parts, it's common for people to be happy about events that benefit their livelihood even when it has a negative impact on humanity or that ecosystem.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#46

Post by welly »

rock_hard wrote: post #35
teaneedz wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True enough, even though there is nothing but negative sentiment these days toward the Facebook brand. I suppose there is someone even thinking that Portal will be good for their home.

I actually ordered a Portal device for each of my family households (parents, grand parents, siblings and in-laws) for Christmas. I think it’s a great product and can’t wait to have mine at home. All the fuss about tracking is non-sense. Ads are a great way to monetize products that you want to make available to a large audience. And obviously as a user you want meaningful ads and not just a bunch of garbage. To do t…

Nice try, Zuckerberg.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#47

Post by yurishimo »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #44
pipermerriam wrote: post #40

There are a number of comments here who seem genuinely happy about this. This is a perspective that is hard for me to understand, largely because I'm strongly in the pro-privacy, anti-tracking ideology. So if you are part of the group who sees this as a good thing, I'm genuinely interested to understand why you see this as a good thing and whether you view the mass surveillance of the general public by advertising co…

Engineer here: I used to be completely anti-tracking. Then, I started needing analytics for my own business. Without analytics, I wouldn't be able to sell with efficiency, and therefore, I wouldn't have a business. Granted, the anti-consumerist in me thinks maybe as a society we shouldn't be so concerned with our efficiency to sell. But, we live in a capitalist world, and I don't see that changing any time soon. The…

> FAANGAMU

Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google, AirBnb, Microsoft, Uber

?

Edit: M for Microsoft, derp

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#48

Post by askafriend »

pipermerriam wrote: post #40

There are a number of comments here who seem genuinely happy about this. This is a perspective that is hard for me to understand, largely because I'm strongly in the pro-privacy, anti-tracking ideology. So if you are part of the group who sees this as a good thing, I'm genuinely interested to understand why you see this as a good thing and whether you view the mass surveillance of the general public by advertising co…

Targeted ads have helped small businesses and indie brands thrive.

Previously, only large brands and national/multi-national corporations could afford to advertise at scale and reach customers through TV/Radio/Newspapers (that too with a high minimum spend).

Now your local mom and pop bakery could have a spend as low as $100 a month to reach their customers and help drive their business.

The world is not black and white, and neither is the morality of advertising.

I hope this perspective was useful to you.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#49

Post by eveningcoffee »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #44
pipermerriam wrote: post #40

There are a number of comments here who seem genuinely happy about this. This is a perspective that is hard for me to understand, largely because I'm strongly in the pro-privacy, anti-tracking ideology. So if you are part of the group who sees this as a good thing, I'm genuinely interested to understand why you see this as a good thing and whether you view the mass surveillance of the general public by advertising co…

Engineer here: I used to be completely anti-tracking. Then, I started needing analytics for my own business. Without analytics, I wouldn't be able to sell with efficiency, and therefore, I wouldn't have a business. Granted, the anti-consumerist in me thinks maybe as a society we shouldn't be so concerned with our efficiency to sell. But, we live in a capitalist world, and I don't see that changing any time soon. The…

TL;DR version: I like tracking now because it now makes money for me.

Re: Facebook adding “fbclid” parameter to outbound links

#50

Post by TeMPOraL »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #44
pipermerriam wrote: post #40

There are a number of comments here who seem genuinely happy about this. This is a perspective that is hard for me to understand, largely because I'm strongly in the pro-privacy, anti-tracking ideology. So if you are part of the group who sees this as a good thing, I'm genuinely interested to understand why you see this as a good thing and whether you view the mass surveillance of the general public by advertising co…

Engineer here: I used to be completely anti-tracking. Then, I started needing analytics for my own business. Without analytics, I wouldn't be able to sell with efficiency, and therefore, I wouldn't have a business. Granted, the anti-consumerist in me thinks maybe as a society we shouldn't be so concerned with our efficiency to sell. But, we live in a capitalist world, and I don't see that changing any time soon. The…

How extensive analytics did you need? Do you believe it's possible to make enough money with respectful and privacy-friendly attitude?
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