Over the past two days Facebook has removed millions of fake Likes for pages in an attempt to improve overall integrity. Facebook estimates that less that 1% of Likes on any given Page will be removed. The Like removals will target those Pages that violated Facebook Terms in order to gain Likes.

The official statement claims:

These newly improved automated efforts will remove those Likes gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes. While we have always had dedicated protections against each of these threats on Facebook, these improved systems have been specifically configured to identify and take action against suspicious Likes.

So who exactly are the winners & losers of this great Like removal? Well, Fan Page List has been keeping track and shared the results of the clean-up on top pages. The pages with the largest drops were:

1. Texas Holdem Poker: -198,344 Likes (0.30% decrease)
2. CityVille: -72,631 Likes (0.29% decrease)
3. Lady Gaga: -65,505 Likes (0.12% decrease)
4. Rihanna: -49,861 Likes (0.08% decrease)
5. Shakira: -48,359 Likes (0.09% decrease)
6. AKON: -47,937 Likes (0.11% decrease)
7. Justin Bieber: -45,274 Likes (0.10% decrease)
8. Mafia Wars: -39,708 Likes (0.21% decrease)
9. Michael Jackson: -35,271 Likes (0.21% decrease)
10. Enrique Iglesias: -35,271 Likes (0.12% decrease)

Of the top 500 Fan Pages three Pages saw a drop of more than 1%:

• #335 – Air New Zealand: -595 Likes (1.74% decrease)
• #452 – Santa Leja:-199 Likes (1.14% decrease)
• #202 – Breaking News: -2,082 Likes (-1.07% decrease)

Fan Page List also states that the Like removals have slowed as of today. Both Rihanna and Justin Bieber ( on the top 10 biggest drop list) are on the increase today gaining 1,182 Likes and 4,070 Likes respectively.

For more information see the official Facebook statement, or Fan Page List for full rankings.

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Facebook | Facebook: Pages | Social Media Marketing | Social Media Marketing: Spam | Top News

About The Author: Greg Finn is the Director of Marketing for Cypress North, a company that specializes in social media and search marketing services and web-based application development. He has been in the Internet marketing industry for 6+ years and specializes in Social Media Marketing. You can also find Greg on Twitter (@gregfinn) or LinkedIn. See more articles by Greg Finn

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