• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, August 8, 2017

Facebook on Tuesday made a move to eliminate unintentional clicks, noting that it will stop charging advertisers in its Facebook Audience Network (FAN) if someone clicks on a mobile ad but backtracks within two seconds.

Facebook announced the new guidelines in a blog post. It also said it’s creating new requirements on ad formats in FAN.

Also in the blog, the company said it's changing the ways it reports metrics to advertisers. For example, Facebook now offers a "gross impression" benchmark to advertisers that will show them how many total views an ad received, including impressions that don't typically turn up on their bills, such as those caused by bots.

These moves appear to demonstrate the extent to which Facebook has been trying to improve transparency.

Pixalate data from July 2017 found that nearly 6% of clicks within smartphone apps, and over 7% of clicks within tablet apps, were likely accidental. "These are significant rates, and the problem is much larger within mobile app environments, which is particularly noteworthy as it relates to Facebook's announcement," Jalal Nasir, Founder and CEO, Pixalate, shared with Digital News Daily. Nasir said that accidental clicks represent just one form of invalid clicks.

"We applaud Facebook for taking this step in a bid to improve quality, trust, and transparency, but it's important to put this announcement in the context of the ad industry's overall fight against invalid traffic. This is certainly a step in the right direction, especially given Facebook's scale, but the industry must not get complacent," Nasir said.