Working as a social media manager and Facebook page administrator for many years, I noticed a shift in how my colleagues in the industry are becoming more desperate to monetize their content. Due to algorithm changes, earning money from social media is becoming difficult compared to when Facebook is still in its infancy. Aside from monetizing directly from Facebook via Ad Breaks and Creator’s Bonus, which is challenging to qualify, some content creators resort to an easier alternative: posting affiliate links from E-Commerce Platforms like Lazada and Shopee.
Before, as long as you had an established Facebook page and some knowledge of creating a website, you could drive traffic to your articles and earn revenues from digital advertisements provided by ad networks like Adsense, Yahoo Native, Taboola, Outbrain, etc. However, everything changed when Facebook and other companies started to de-platform pages that were known for getting social media traffic. The algorithm change can be attributed to the abuse done by the people behind the Trending News Portal (TNP) website, which people near my circle owned.
If my memory is correct, TNP owners Fernando, Ken, and Mark Anthony Hicban started their social media careers selling baseball caps via their page, Ken Ballers – they noticed that renting multiple pages can boost their reach as there’s still no algorithmic restriction on duplicate content. They used the same concept when they established TNP, paying monthly rent to big pages and celebrities to drive traffic from their websites – they also used clickbaity titles to lure users to their articles. They reportedly earned almost a hundred million pesos in ad revenue from their short but successful stint, which ended with the investigation by Rappler and Facebook.
Some page admins use the same concept but are now using affiliate links. Some use attention-seeking photos to lure people into clicking the images to zoom in or read comments without knowing that the content is created by a technique called ‘carousel manipulation.’ This technique converts an image to a clickable thumbnail that redirects users from other websites, mostly from affiliate links.
One page admin who shared his income from promoting affiliate links said he gained $59.9 or P3,460 in today’s Philippine peso from 1,194 clicks. The data he provided is outdated, and earning that figure is possibly harder to earn now because of the competition. But if you ask me, I’d say that getting a thousand clicks for established pages even today is a walk in the park, especially if you intend to spread clickbait content on social media.
The problem is that affiliate marketing on Facebook is becoming unethical. Some pages are plagiarizing original content and using it in their carousel manipulation. Others even spread fake news, as we discussed on the third episode of Google Project ANNIE’s radio show, ‘Fact-Checked.’
Examples of disinformation being spread using affiliate links are fake pages pretending to be government agencies, promising financial aid or ayuda, and scholarships to social media users. Some fake news peddlers also create altered quote cards of celebrities. Since entertainment posts are now favored more by the algorithm, disinformation actors are now targeting this niche.
I also have a friend who is a victim of these pages. He is a blogger who creates original content on Facebook, but most of his posts are copied by other pages promoting affiliate links. The sad part is that the plagiarizers are getting more social media traction than my friend’s page and possibly earning more by milking his hard work.
He tried to file a complaint to Lazada, Shopee, and other affiliate marketing agencies, as the affiliate’s user ID of these pages can be easily seen on some of the links being posted on social media – the affiliate terms and conditions of these e-commerce websites forbid “misleading advertisements that result in misleading clicks that display expected content.” However, he never heard anything back from those e-commerce platforms, and the pages are still rampantly copying his content without repercussions – this is the same with those spreading fake news. I only advised him to file a copyright complaint on Facebook, which proved successful.
It’s no surprise that Lazada and Shopee are funding plagiarizers and fake news peddlers, as even those illegal porn websites are also benefiting from advertising revenue from these E-Commerce platforms. We hope government agencies will finally remind E-Commerce platforms to review their advertisers and partners. It’s already the right time to punish these companies and content creators for spreading cancer on the internet.
