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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 07:07 PM Oct 2017

Facebook: About 10 Million People Saw Ads Purchased By Russian Firm

Source: Talking Points Memo




By ESME CRIBB Published OCTOBER 2, 2017 6:47 PM

Facebook on Monday said an “estimated 10 million people” saw advertisements a Kremlin-linked Russian troll firm bought on the website over the course of the 2016 campaign.

“An estimated 10 million people saw the ads. We were able to approximate the number of unique people (“reach”) who saw at least one of these ads, with our best modeling,” Elliot Schrage, vice president of policy and communications, said in a blog post.

Schrage said that 44 percent of the ads “were seen before the US election” in November, while 56 percent were seen afterward.

“Roughly 25% of the ads were never shown to anyone,” Schrage said. “That’s because advertising auctions are designed so that ads reach people based on relevance, and certain ads may not reach anyone as a result.”

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/facebook-ten-million-people-saw-ads-russian-firm-bought

13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Willie Pep

(841 posts)
2. Just another reason to be wary about what you read online.
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 07:11 PM
Oct 2017

I have been trying to cut down on my Internet use partially due to the prevalence of nonsense I see even when I am not looking for it. DU is one of the few decent communities out there.

samnsara

(17,636 posts)
3. same here.. i only post on FB i never read the comments of anything i posted..
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 07:25 PM
Oct 2017

..my goal is for everyone to block me I use twitter a lot but I belong to several groups so mostly just chatting with friends. I am on DU off and on all day

byronius

(7,401 posts)
4. Some of us are compliant, empty vessels who cannot think critically.
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 07:34 PM
Oct 2017

And the blame, I think, lies squarely with the conservative ideology that strives desperately to keep them that way.

Dopers_Greed

(2,640 posts)
5. I didn't see these specific ads per se
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 07:56 PM
Oct 2017

But I did see fake accounts pushing Breitbart articles to the top of "Trending News" every single goddamn day

Dopers_Greed

(2,640 posts)
12. Haven't see Facebook mention them
Tue Oct 3, 2017, 01:43 AM
Oct 2017

But they were everywhere, especially during the election.

They had either a pro-Sanders or anti-Clinton cover photo (usually one of those two), zero friends, and 100% of the posts would be political news articles. Usually Breitbart, Greenwald, or various other specious sources.

The poster's comments included with each article were usually copy/pasted, and identical from account to account.

msongs

(67,441 posts)
6. depends on what the meaning of "saw" is. a link that was on the page but ignored or not noticed,
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 08:10 PM
Oct 2017

is that "saw"? a link clicked and opened and watched in its entirety, is that "saw"

SergeStorms

(19,204 posts)
10. Which means you can about double that number.
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 10:24 PM
Oct 2017

Because Facebook isn't about to own-up to sticking us with that illegal asshole Trump!

TexasBushwhacker

(20,214 posts)
11. And the vote margin of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin
Mon Oct 2, 2017, 11:02 PM
Oct 2017

Was about 77K. So yes, 4.4 Million could make a difference.

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