Facebook Demands $10,000 for Fan Pages

According to a story on Casino Affiliates, social media giant Facebook has set its pretty eyes on igaming companies.

Facebook removed the long-running fan page of a casino affiliate program owner. In the following correspondence, Facebook told the affiliate program that it should pay a fee of $10,000 per month just for having a “gambling-related” fan page. No, the 10k is not advertising money, it is just a fee for having the fan page.

Remember the ads appearing on the right side of FB, telling you to play online slots or put internet bets for sports? Might be a thing of the past soon. The social media giant also told the affiliate program that it should spend a minimum of $30,000 a month on advertising just to be able to run any “gambling-related” campaign on Facebook, clearly an amount of money few can afford.

According to legal experts, the above two actions are clearly a breach of contract from Facebook’s side, as its Ad Guidelines do not mention any cash limit on advertising. They do not even have a separate category for “gambling-related” advertising.

Also, having to pay for a fan page is mentioned nowhere in the Terms and Conditions. They do not even stipulate “gambling” specifically.

Other casino affiliates confirmed the story, saying they also received letters demanding up to GBP 10,000 for having a simple fan page. Many referred to Facebook’s actions as simple extortion.

So, why is all the fuss? Facebook’s shares are far down from their original IPO price. Eager to find a way out, the company had announced earlier its intentions to move towards real-money gambling. It is clear that they have started to put pressure on everybody they consider to be competition.

The stakes are high. With a favorable change in American gambling laws, real-money wagers on the internet might be a possibility all over the USA. Facebook wants a big slice of the pie. But until the laws are passed, the company wants to tell the stock market that it is ready for action.