Patterns of Concealed Advertising in Social Network Websites

Abstract

Social network web sites can be divided into two categories: user based and group based. The topologies of the sites of both groups are succinctly different which leads to a completely different patterns of use, member influence and information exchange in the sites of both categories. Group based web sites are used as a source of information about the products and techniques especially when dedicated to the activities within created industries. They are viewed by the members of the industry as an independent source of information about products and services. Certain activities performed by the users of these sites form a certain patterns of concealed advertisement. They harm both revenue stream and reputation of the group based sites. This paper discusses several patterns of such activities of concealed advertisement and proposes the ways of detection and elimination of these activities based on the existing capabilities of today’s social media websites. The presented empirical study is the first step in defining the mechanisms of protection of social media web sites from free covert advertising.