Facebook Like gate is no more

Finally, Facebook wants you to really like a page in order to press the button like..

According to developers.facebook.com:

The liked field will no longer be returned in the page property of the signed_request object for Page Tab apps created from today onwards. For apps created before today, from November 5, 2014 (90 days from today), the liked property will always return true regardless of whether or not the person has liked the page.

What does this mean

This means that when you use a custom page app, for example a contest or a sweepstake you can't anymore force your audience to like your page prior to use your app.

This is actually a good thing. "Like hunting"  was never good for a business.  Facebook now wants Pages to collect more genuine fans, and not those who became fans for a random sweepstakes prize.

Here is what they say:

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, check-in at a place or enter a promotion on your app’s Page.

and they continue:

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.

So now what?

As we said, this new update to remove the “Like Gate” is a great move by Facebook. Businesses will now be able to attract more quality fans using Facebook apps instead of attracting those who only like for the incentive. Of course you can still ask people to like your Page through an app, like “Please like us to receive updates!”