If there is one thing I am certain, it is that we have all accidentally clicked on a post, an account or an ad on Facebook at some point in our lives. What is the first thing we do when this happens? Immediately hit the back button without even looking at the site we accidentally clicked to. Up until now, an advertiser would have been charged even though that click was not significant for them. Facebook is cracking down on these accidental clicks with new terms.
The details of these new terms include a two-second rule. If a person accidentally clicks on something and backtracks within two seconds then they will not be charged. “It is a telltale sign of an accidental click”, according to Brett Vogel, Facebook’s product marketing manager. Accidental clicks are way more prevalent than one would think. According to GigaOM, approximately 22% of clicks on mobile are accidental. 
Facebook is also working on setting new requirements and ad formats in the audience network so they are less quick to registering a click and sending people to a new page. These changes will only affect the audience network and not the mobile app because Facebook doesn’t run the same kinds of ad units as the audience network. The ads in the audience network are the ones that people are known to accidentally click on more so than other platforms or apps associated with Facebook.
Along with these changes, Facebook has announced it will now be offering new stats, like “gross impressions”. This will show people how many total views an ad received, even the ones that are run by bots and not charged on a bill. The goal for Facebook and many other social networks it to be more transparent. They say that not charging advertisers for users accidental clicks is not too significant of a factor as it won’t save that much money for advertisers. However, it is still nice to know that there is less spent on waste.
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