Facebook have announced last week that as of November 5th this year, all attempts at like gating will be banned. Like gating has been one of the biggest motivations for page owners to install tabs on their Facebook pages for the last four years. So what does it mean for your business?

First things first, let’s be clear on what we mean by like gating. Facebook currently allow third party applications to access the Facebook API and allow brands to device contests etc that require a user to like a Facebook page as condition for entry. Imagine a like gate as a door of sorts – it is essentially  any barrier of entry that requires a Facebook user to like a page in order to access something else, be it a competition, incentive, reward etc. In their latest changes to platform policy, released last week, Facebook are now stating:

You must not incentivize people to use social plugins or to like a Page. This includes offering rewards, or gating apps or app content based on whether or not a person has liked a Page. It remains acceptable to incentivize people to login to your app, checkin at a place or enter a promotion on your app’s Page. To ensure quality connections and help businesses reach the people who matter to them, we want people to like Pages because they want to connect and hear from the business, not because of artificial incentives. We believe this update will benefit people and advertisers alike.

It’s no surprise that Facebook want you to pay for their advertising services instead and like gating was one of the last, unpaid-for methods of increasing the number of fans on a page. Most of us would agree that we want fans to like a page because they’re genuinely interested in its content, but for those companies that have been reliant on like gating it will be a sharp blow. Ultimately, it’s a useful reminder of the importance of strong content. Keep your fans engaged and your organic reach will continue to do well, with or without a like gate.

Have you been using like gates? What do you think about the changes? Let us know in the comments below.

By Kate Tyler

Kate is a social media marketing expert, published writer and Managing Director of Shake Social Ltd. Struggling to maintain your own blog? We can help!