Facebook Ads Brainwashing Online Gambling Players?

Social media giant Facebook is considering legal action against a U.K.-based startup that provides targeted online gambling social media advertising. The Spinner had claimed that it was able to use Facebook (and other social media sites) to help gambling companies manipulate players into dropping more cash at online casinos.

In the past, The Spinner has offered its help to people who’ve wanted to “brainwash” their wives into having sex more regularly with them, or who’ve wanted to convince relatives to quit smoking, for instance. They’ve done this by sending cookies to the targeted individuals, which when downloaded by said individual (usually via an email link) ensure that she or he ends up seeing articles on their Facebook and social media feeds with titles such as “Why you should initiate sex with your husband” or “Why quitting smoking could be the best decision you ever make.”

A company spokesperson says that now the company has been receiving inquiries from a number of online gambling firms that want to surreptitiously manipulate their customers. You can read more about this activity at Forbes.