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Facebook Says a 'Technical Issue' Caused Drugs, Animals and Other Illegal Listings To Flood Its New Craigslist Competitor (businessinsider.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tech-is-hard dept.

On Monday, Facebook launched Marketplace, its own take on eBay and Craigslist to offer users a platform to buy and sell things. Less than a day later, the company said there was a "technical issue" that caused drugs, animals, adult services, and other illegal items to appear in Marketplace. Business Insider reports: In a statement to Business Insider, Facebook director of product management Mary Ku said the company is "working to fix the problem" and "closely monitoring our systems to ensure we are properly identifying and removing violations before giving more people access to Marketplace." To police what is sold in Marketplace, a Facebook spokesperson previously told us that the social network will rely on its employees proactively looking for offensive listings as well as users reporting posts they think should be removed.

42 comments

  1. Technical glitch by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or attempt at providing an authentic Craiglist experience?

    1. Re:Technical glitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well if they take out all the good stuff, this is an experiment that is doomed to fail.

    2. Re:Technical glitch by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      PHB1: "Hey, let's be Craigslist without the blackjack and hookers!"

      PHB2: "Excellent idea, I'll get on it! ... By the way, what's Craigslist?"

      PHB1: "Uh, blackjack and hookers."

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    3. Re:Technical glitch by sims+2 · · Score: 2

      Is it possible to browse without a FB account?

      --
      Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    4. Re:Technical glitch by LifesABeach · · Score: 0

      H1B zombies will do what ever you tell them to do; but Machiavelli has said, "don't bet your life on it." So no one died, and we all got a good chuckle from this experience. Maybe next time, FaceBook will hire people that don't lie on their job application?

    5. Re:Technical glitch by omnichad · · Score: 1

      PHBender: I’m going to build my own classified ad site with blackjack and hookers.
      PHPBender: In fact, forget the classified ads.

      Still can't make it work with Facebook's version of events, even when I tried really hard.

  2. Hubris by Comboman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's the height of hubris for Facebook to assume that can rely on the network effect from their huge membership to quickly and easily reproduce what took eBay, Amazon and Craigslist decades to develop (and even they still mess it up on a fairly frequent basis). In a year this mess will join the likes of Facebook Deals, Facebook Credits & Facebook Gifts on the scrapheap of Facebook's attempts to expand beyond social networking by creating a poor implementation of someone else's idea.

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
    1. Re:Hubris by segedunum · · Score: 1

      Hey, they need to generate actual revenue and find a purpose to their existence somehow!

    2. Re:Hubris by bobbied · · Score: 2

      Where I get your perspective, why mess with success? I think there is good to be had here.

      Who knows that E-Bay has the most optimal solution for online auctions sites? Maybe there is something else to be learned? The only way you kick the huge guys like E-Bay off center is to innovate around them. The problem is that innovation is not always successful, often it isn't, but that's what makes this whole thing keep working.

      So what if somebody thinks they can make money on Craig's list idea? Or somebody thinks they can compete with E-Bay? I say, power to them, wish you luck. Come up with something unique, do it better, cheaper, faster than the big guys and you can win a big payday. Heck, just show yourself able to compete even on a small scale and the big guys are likely to just buy you out instead of risking it....

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    3. Re:Hubris by i.r.id10t · · Score: 2

      As both a buyer and seller I think gunbroker's auction system is much better than ebays. Just the 15 minute rule alone (any bids in the last 15 minutes sets the clock back to 15 minutes) turns a GB auction into an actual auction as opposed to a sealed envelope bid that closes at a specific time. Cheaper rates, no forced payment methods, etc. are all great for sellers as well.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    4. Re:Hubris by GrumpySteen · · Score: 1

      Facebook is surprisingly profitable.

    5. Re:Hubris by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a buyer and a collector with finite cash, time and no bidding assistant to keep watch while I'm at work/asleep, I'll stick with eBay's system.
      I'm not interested in spending a lifetime following an auction only to lose to somebody with more of all of that.

    6. Re:Hubris by Comboman · · Score: 1

      Who knows that E-Bay has the most optimal solution for online auctions sites? Maybe there is something else to be learned? The only way you kick the huge guys like E-Bay off center is to innovate around them. The problem is that innovation is not always successful, often it isn't, but that's what makes this whole thing keep working.

      No argument here. I'm sure some scrappy little startup with a great idea will innovate eBay into obsolescence. However, Facebook is NOT a scrappy little startup and leveraging your success in one area to try and force your way into another area is NOT innovation, it's desperation. It's the same reason why Google will never have a successful social network (unless they buy one and even then, they risk destroying it by "integrating" it into the Google "ecosystem"), and Microsoft will never have a successful search engine.

      --
      Support Right To Repair Legislation.
    7. Re: Hubris by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use Bing on a daily basis.

      This is going to sound like a troll, but it isn't...

      Their porn search is orders of magnitude better than Google, ever since Google decided to remove porn. I would never have looked at Bing if they hadn't, but now I find it to be a better experience with more accurate results. (not just for porn)

  3. OMG; people're actually using it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You would think with the attempt back in '07 for this kind of platform they would've anticipated this user case.

  4. Technical Difficulties by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yeah. It was full of people.

    1. Re:Technical Difficulties by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

      Yes, that's a major design flaw. You should never get people involved. They might decide to actually do something.

  5. Standardized sharing [Re:Hubris] by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    hubris for Facebook to assume that can rely on the network effect from their huge membership

    Why doesn't somebody come up with a standard to share and control sharing of info so that one is not tied to a monopoly to house such info?

    Companies who "lost" the network effect fight or only sell generic hosting should be happy to support such a standard because it would level the playing field. Zuck would be zucked.

    It might require a non-profit "registry" of contacts, though.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Standardized sharing [Re:Hubris] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why doesn't somebody come up with a standard to share and control sharing of info so that one is not tied to a monopoly to house such info?

      We did, it's called HTML. People would rather click buttons on Facespace.

    2. Re:Standardized sharing [Re:Hubris] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Diaspora

  6. Technical Issue by avandesande · · Score: 1

    Following the same sort of logic one can claim the entire site is a 'technical issue'

    --
    love is just extroverted narcissism
  7. Smells like... by geekmux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "...the company said there was a "technical issue" that caused drugs, animals, adult services, and other illegal items to appear in Marketplace."

    Er, a technical issue?

    Smells more like simple supply and demand to me. One would think one of the largest for-profit corporations on the planet would recognize a revenue stream when they see it.

    And don't bother talking about morals or ethics. They sold your digital soul ten times over for far less.

    1. Re:Smells like... by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

      "Facebook Road", anyone?

    2. Re:Smells like... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you never heard of spam bots? That's the exact type of content they *automatically* clutter your site with if you fail to enforce human verification/allow open submissions.

    3. Re:Smells like... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which they wouldn't be using to attempt sales unless those sales were theoretically for products with demand. As much as most people would distrust any illegal sale the exclusivity of the product often tempts buyers to consider despite the risk.

    4. Re:Smells like... by chihowa · · Score: 1

      Smells more like simple supply and demand to me. One would think one of the largest for-profit corporations on the planet would recognize a revenue stream when they see it.

      Exactly! The next step is to launch Zuckerberg into orbit so that he's outside of any jurisdiction! Maybe sometime afterward somebody can send him a habitat and some oxygen... or not.

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
  8. No, it really isn't easy to copy eBay by macs4all · · Score: 1

    Did they REALLY think that WOULDN'T happen?!?

    As long as they've been in the Social Networking business???

    Hahahahahahahhahahahahaaaaa!!!!

    1. Re: No, it really isn't easy to copy eBay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously, there had to be some data mining that forecasted what people would do. What do FB users discuss and post about? I guess management doesn't understand the data they sell to everyone.

    2. Re:No, it really isn't easy to copy eBay by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      The problem is the internet has changed from the late 1990's and "everyone" now has accounts.
      So the more varied life experiences now have to be considered when creating open marketplaces on the once useful and pristine internet.
      Copy existing rule lists other online sites have and play catch up?
      Or rush out a beta experience, gather real raw data, build inner city mind share and then regulate as the brand builds.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    3. Re:No, it really isn't easy to copy eBay by macs4all · · Score: 1

      But, but, but...

      They've already BEEN compiling that data for YEARS; so I think they should have known to start with a stricter ruleset.

  9. More marketing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Technical issue or a way to get a new service in everyone's news feed? Sorry, I believe it was done on purpose.
    Run your successful service for a couple years then something odd happens I'll an accident On the day of "release" after extensive beta testing it just happens to have a glitch that gets it in the headlines? Quack Quack.

  10. Isn't this called CENSORSHIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "proactively looking for offensive listings as well as users reporting posts they think should be removed."
    Shouldn't it be illegal listings and not offensive that are removed? I find all of the listings to be offensive!

    1. Re:Isn't this called CENSORSHIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the 1,000,000th time: FB, not yet being an arm of the US Government, is under no obligation whatsoever to guarantee freedom of speech for users of the platform that it owns.

    2. Re:Isn't this called CENSORSHIP by Bob_Who · · Score: 1

      FB,... is under no obligation whatsoever to guarantee freedom of speech for users....

      Eventually we will all be Chinese....

  11. Grammer Correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Facebook Says a 'Technical Issue' Caused Drugs, Animals and Other Illegal Listings To Flood Its New Market Place."

    Just sounds more intelligent than making it sound like Craigslist was the culprit.

  12. Wetware by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    Just get the wetware out of the system and all your technical issues will be resolved.

  13. Re:Yo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not only that, people are downmodding you. You just can't catch a break.

    CAPTCHA: humility

  14. *TODO: Insert Subject* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why is selling an animal on Facebook Marketplace illegal? It's fine to do in the regular Facebook.

  15. Groups by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or just make specialized facebook groups for buy/sell. Offer some tools ect, it will keep th onus on the Op instead of the company.

  16. if (bMorallyAcceptable = true) {... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Assignment in conditional statements should be an error.

    (ducks)

    And outlaw tabs! And ban languages that depend on the amount of whitespace between tokens (excepting an all-whitespace language with a NSFW name)!