Facebook has been on an active spam account crusade since June 2012 and the company is now reporting a 37% decrease in the number of spam related accounts on its network. In mid-2012 Facebook estimated that its network features 15.1 million account, based on its current spam estimates the site is now down to 9.5 million spam users.
Facebook estimates that spam accounts now account for 0.9 percent of its network, down from 1.5 percent in June 2012.
The spam fighting states were discovered on page 23 of the company’s Q4 2012 earnings release. Facebook refers to the spam accounts as “undesirable accounts” and says they “represent user profiles that we determine are intended to be used for purposes that violate our terms of service, such as spamming.”
Spam accounts have a tendency to create fake data on the social network by flooding accounts with spam photos, links and other information. Because Facebook relies on user behavior to tweak its advertising and sales platforms removing those accounts is critical to the company’s future successes.
Spam accounts are also a hindrance because they use phishing tactics to steal login information and ultimately user account info. By posing as a real person those phishers can then target a person’s Facebook friends with what appears to be legitimate links.
Facebook urges all of its users to report spam accounts when they are spotted. You can report those accounts by following the photo listed at the top of this post. Simply click on the pop down menu next to the message icon and choose “Report/Block…”
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