Zynga changed their lead gen scam policy this morning (the whole Scamville background is here, see updates at bottom as well). And now RockYou is taking steps to clean up their act to, according to an email we’ve been forwarded.
In an email to RockYou’s publishers, they say that they will begin complying with Facebook’s rules on offer scams (and like you, we’re not sure why they haven’t been complying all along, but lax enforcement is likely the cause).
Two interesting nuggets from the email though. First, RockYou says that from now on you’ll only see “clean, safe surveys from top tier brands advertisers.” All of the surveys we’ve seen are mobile subscription scams, so I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a clean, safe survey.
Second, the email says “the Facebook compliance team will be keeping a very close eye on offer walls starting tonight.” We’d heard that Facebook is coming down hard on app developers around scams right now, but Facebook won’t comment about it other than to say that they have always been monitoring application offers and enforcing the rules. From what we’ve seen, that enforcement didn’t bring much in the way of results, but perhaps they’re more serious about the situation now.
The full email:
Subject: RockYou Offers: Facebook Offer Wall Compliance Update
Hi RockYou Publishers,
You may have heard the recent controversy around the types of offers that are being run by most offer wall providers (Offerpal, SuperRewards, etc.). If you haven’t heard, take a look at this post on TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/
The Facebook compliance team will be keeping a very close eye on offer walls starting tonight.
Since the RockYou Ad Network is the largest display network on the Facebook platform, we have a long history of working directly with the Facebook compliance team to ensure that we always maintain the highest standards of compliance and ad quality.
We will apply the same level of quality assurance to our RockYou Offers platform.
Some thing to keep in mind that set us apart from the other offer wall providers:
* 100% Facebook compliance starting this evening, and on an ongoing basis
* Clean, safe surveys from top tier brand advertisers
* High quality brand campaigns ranging from video ads to free sample offers
* Cost-per-install campaigns for other Facebook applications
We believe we will continue to outperform the competition based on our diverse advertiser base, and we will do so while always maintaining full compliance with Facebook policy.
Our technology provider for RockYou Offers, PeanutLabs, has also posted an interesting research study they ran over the weekend that clearly outlines how users feel about the scammy offers that have been so prevalent on offer walls:
http://peanutlabs.wordpress.com/2009/11/02/survey-finds-arrington-has-a-point-given-choice-users-overwhelmingly-prefer-direct-payments-and-research-surveys-to-cpa-offers/
We believe the new Facebook policy enforcement is in the best interest of Facebook users and the entire platform ecosystem, and we look forward to working with you as a safe and effective monetization partner.
If you have not yet switched over to RockYou Offers, all you have to do is:
1. Log in to your publisher account at ads.rockyou.com
2. Click on the RockYou Offers tab
3. Follow the 4-step integration process
If you have any questions or issues with integration, please contact Chris or Aaron:
Chris Akhavan
[redacted]
Aaron Choi
[redacted]
Thank you,
RockYou Offers Team
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