UK government stops Facebook ads

The British government has halted its advertising on the social networking Web site Facebook over concerns about how its ads are displayed, its communication arm said in a statement.

Six major British companies, including mobile phone giant Vodafone , pulled their ads from Facebook last week because they were appearing on the profile page of the far-right British National Party.

Ads pop up on Facebook pages on a rotating basis, giving companies limited say over where they are displayed.

The Central Office of Information (COI) said it was seeking assurances that ads on social networking Web sites would reach desired audiences. It said it would not resume advertising until better safeguards were in place.

COI, which has one of the biggest advertising budgets in Britain, said on Tuesday it was still waiting for guarantees from Facebook but that it was satisfied with the safeguards in place on the rival MySpace and Bebo Web sites.

"Advertising has been paused temporarily on any Web sites that have not provided COI and i-level (COI's online media-buying agency) with the further assurances our bookings require," Jamie Galloway, COI director of digital media said late on Monday.

Facebook, which has seen membership spike to more than 30 million and is rapidly becoming one of the most popular sites on the Internet, was not immediately available for comment.

CNN

More companies in BNP Facebook pullout

Internet adverts for several companies have been taken off social networking website Facebook because it emerged they were being displayed off material relating to the British National party (BNP). Telecoms company Vodafone and bank First Direct were swiftly followed by fellow telecoms firm Virgin Media and motoring organisation AA after the four realised they were being promoted next to material on the far-right political party.

Facebook is unable to control where its adverts appear and some companies, like Orange, have criticised the move as a "knee-jerk reaction". But Vodafone said it had made the move to "avoid misunderstandings", adding that it did not support any particular political party.

A FirstDirect spokesperson said: "We have got to make sure that the places we advertise are consistent with our own values and identity."

A spokesperson for the BNP, which exists to "secure a future for the indigenous people" of Britain, insisted there was "nothing wrong" with his party.

"Unfortunately the media have created a bogeyman and really the fault lies with the media, who for some reason have vilified the BNP, and it has scared these people off," he said.

View London

Facebook dumped over BNP links

Vodafone and First Direct have pulled advertising from Facebook to stop their brands appearing near British National Party details. Their adverts were among several which flashed up on a rotating basis on the same page as the right-wing group. Advertisers cannot control where on Facebook their brands appear.

Vodafone wants to carry on working with the social networking site while "staying true" to its policies, a spokeswoman said. The two advertisers were alerted to their brands' proximity to BNP information on Facebook by New Media Age magazine. A Vodafone spokeswoman said the mobile phone firm bought bundles of advertising space across a number of websites.

"As a result we were not aware that a Vodafone advertisement would appear next to a British National Party group on Facebook," she said "Our public policy principles state that we do not make political donations or support particular party political interests and therefore to avoid misunderstandings we immediately withdrew our advertising as soon as this was brought to our attention."

Vodafone is working with its media buyer to ensure more "robust controls" are in place before it re-invests, she added. First Direct spokesman Rob Skinner said: "We are obviously concerned about where our advertising appears. We have got to make sure that the places we advertise are consistent with our own values and identity."

The BNP has its own page in Facebook's political organisations section.

New Media Age editor Justin Pearse said: "On the internet you often have little control of where your ads are shown, something that's been highlighted by the unwitting association of some of the UK's favourite brands with a highly controversial political cause."

The BNP's Facebook page contains a link to its own website and an introductory paragraph which says the group exists: ".. to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia."

BNP spokesman Phill Edwards said: "There is no reason at all why anyone should avoid the BNP. There's nothing wrong with the BNP. Unfortunately the media have created a bogeyman and really the fault lies with the media, who for some reason have vilified the BNP, and it has scared these people off."

Metro