Facebook spam from ThirdLove

[ncat]

How can I stop this? I selected "hide all ads from ThirdLove" on Facebook around the beginning of this year, at the same time I requested removal from their email list. This worked until Memorial Day weekend when I got about a dozen ThirdLove ads in my Facebook feed within the span of a about an hour. Each was from a different lifestyle blogger who had partnered with ThirdLove. Apparently these partnerships are a workaround to reach customers who have opted to hide ads from a given advertiser? When I clicked to see "Why am I seeing this", Facebook indicates that ThirdLove uploaded my information in a hashed list to create a targeted audience for their ads.

I've emailed ThirdLove's customer service about this and they claim they can't fix this and I need to change my Facebook advertising preferences so I receive random ads not based on my interests.

I can't find any way to contact Facebook about this loophole, but have reported each and every ad as spam.

This all started when I bought two ThirdLove bras. One fit OK and looked pretty, bu the other had stupidly short straps, even when adjusted to its longest possible length. I tried to leave a review, thinking that if I had seen any reviews describing this problem, I would have avoided that style. ThirdLove didn't publish my negative review. They also refused to provide me information about strap length of other styles so I could make an informed exchange for a bra more likely to fit. Apparently this is proprietary information! I did end up with a replacement bra that fit, but in a color and style I didn't like, because of lack of options. It has poor support and the straps slip like crazy every time I wear it. To sum up, I hate the company and their products. I would NEVER purchase from them again. It is DISHONEST to moderate/curate reviews to boost product ratings and unhelpful to suppress fit information like strap length. I don't want to see their ads. Every time I see another ad - and I generally get a new blogger Facebook ad every week, more on long weekends - I get angry all over again.

Edited to add - by "how do I stop this?" I mean how can I escalate this (to Facebook, ThirdLove, the Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, etc) so that it will stop. I should not have to change my search habits to avoid these ads. I should be able to search for underwear from other companies. A simple "hide all from ThirdLove" should have been sufficient. This is as bad as the "Rachel from card services" scam calls that have stopped me from answering my phone unless I recognize the number. It is not the strategy of a reputable company! It is harassment.

[westwoodmom04]

I don’t even bother with Facebook anymore, almost all my friends are on Instagram.

[Melaine]

Thanks for sharing your experience....I had momentarily been interested in the company.

Targeted Facebook ads (and Instagram IMO) are becoming more and more intrusive and are causing consumers to become hostile towards products and the people who sell them, sometimes unfairly I've noticed. I would continue to report every ad that comes up but not sure what else you can do.

[AnnieW625]

I have gotten them on both FB and Instagram and it seems to go in cycles for me. I just ignore the ads. I can’t give up FB because I belong to a few groups there that are active but usually just look at my feed occasion but more often than not go straight to the active groups.

Melaine, FWIW I love my Third Love bras. I have the plunge and t shirt brad, but actually prefer the plunge bra so I won’t be buying anymore t shirt bras. I have had mine for 18 months and they are still going strong. I have a few Natori feathers bras as well but still mostly reach for my Third Love bras.


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[ncat]

Melaine, yes I was upset at ThirdLove because they suppressed my negative review and the CS agent refused to provide me info about strap length so I could find a style that fit.

The onslaught of Facebook spam in May has made me hostile. They added my email - which I had removed from their mailing list months earlier - to a list they uploaded to Facebook to create a targeted audience for their advertising. This is really bad and should never have happened. Then, because each ad comes from a different lifestyle blogger, there is no effective way to opt out. I have to hide ads from each source individually. I understand that Facebook is free to me because they make their money off of advertising, but this goes far beyond acceptable.

I have tried commenting on the ads and leaving reviews for the bloggers when possible. If I was partnering with a brand, I'd want to know if they were specifically targeting people with my ads that had opted out of their advertising. But the few I've heard from seem to think they hold no responsibility and it is Facebook doing the targeting. Honestly, I'm not sure these bloggers are even real people.

This experience has extended my hostility to EVERY brand that I see ads for on Facebook that come from a partner.

This may push me off of Facebook entirely. And Instagram doesn't seem like a viable replacement.

[ncat]

And another ThirdLove ad just came in! So infuriating.

[AnnieW625]

Are you searching for bras online? That could be why Third Love keeps coming up. I think your commenting to bloggers and whoever you get ads from just ads fuel to the fire as the ad metrics probably just notice that you post in a bra post or respond to a blogger not that you find the posts offensive and therefore don’t show you bra ads. I honestly don’t think larger bloggers read all of their posts.

The ad problem is also on Instagram. Facebook has owned Instagram for the last few years.


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[khm]

I don't think there is much you can do about it! By merely posting about it here, you are probably inviting it more and more as an "interest".

I always see ugly women's shirts. They are all photos are croppsed collarbone to waist. The left pane of the image shows the shirt from the front, the left shows the shirt from the back. They are universally ugly and cheap looking, and you get the vibe they'd look even uglier and cheaper in person. I feel like there are a few "company" names attached to this exact same images. I see them incessantly on facebook. I went in to look at my ad preferences, blew everything away, and it persists.

[ncat]

Annie - you may be right about the bloggers, but I have tried ignoring and just reporting and that didn't work either. I have not been searching for bras and don't really get bra ads for other companies.

I also don't get ads from other companies that resulted from that company uploading a list with my information on it. I have been looking at the ads I see - both unwanted and less unwanted - to try to better understand what I am seeing and why. ThirdLove appears to be especially bad with regards to spam in my Facebook feed. Everything else I don't want to see I have been able to get rid of.

[LBW]

Did you go into Settings > Ads and change preferences there? Doing so might help. Under "Your Interests" and "Advertisers and Businesses", see if ThirdLove is listed. If they are, you can remove them. You can also change settings in some of the other areas of the Ads section that might help.