Facebook doubles advertising bug bounty

NEW YORK: Facebook has doubled the reward for developers who point out flaws in the social networking giant's advertising code.

The bounty was raised after the US-based firm completed a comprehensive security audit.

Market analysts suggest the move is part of the social networking giant's strategy to expand its share of the online advertising pie and to counter its close rival Google.

The company had found and fixed a number of security bugs through audit but said it would "like to encourage additional scrutiny from Whitehats to see what we might have missed."

"...we hope to encourage researchers to become more familiar with the surface area of ads to better protect the businesses that use them," Facebook Security Engineer Collin Greene said in a blogpost.

The company had found bugs in areas like redeeming the same ads coupon multiple times without expiry and retrieving name of an unpublished Page via the Ads Create Flow by guessing its Page ID, it said.

Greene said the pay-out levels will last until the end of the year.

Earlier this week, Facebook has also launched a new tool -- Safety Check -- that allows users to check in and say they are safe in case of a natural disaster.

"During crises the Internet can be a powerful tool for sharing vital information and connecting people with their loved ones. The Safety Check tool is designed to serve the Facebook community when it matters most," Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.