tech
Bombshell report exposes how Meta relied on scam ad profits to fund AI
Meta goosed its revenue by targeting users likely to click on scam ads, docs show.
TL;DR
- Internal documents indicate Meta projected billions in revenue from scam ads, potentially around 10% of its total revenue.
- Meta's ad personalization system allegedly targeted users most likely to click on scam ads.
- The company reportedly prioritized AI investment, leading to hesitations in abruptly removing scam accounts and reduced resources for fraud prevention teams.
- Meta acknowledged in documents that its platforms were easier to advertise scams on compared to competitors like Google.
- A former Meta safety investigator suggested regulatory intervention, comparing Meta's practices to banks profiting from fraud.
- Meta spokesperson Andy Stone contested the documents' portrayal, calling them a selective view and the revenue estimates rough and overly-inclusive.
- Despite efforts, Meta's safety team estimated its platforms were involved in a third of all successful scams in the US.
- Meta reportedly laid off teams handling advertiser concerns about brand-rights issues and limited computing resources for safety staffers to focus on VR and AI.
- Internal documents suggested a 'moderate' approach to enforcement, aiming to reduce scam revenue gradually.
- Meta allegedly set revenue guardrails for teams vetting questionable advertisers, limiting actions that could cost more than 0.15% of total revenue.
- Meta appeared less likely to ramp up enforcement from police requests, with only a fraction of flagged scams violating policies 'by the letter'.
- Former Meta employees and researchers advocate for greater transparency and third-party access to ad data to assess platforms' effectiveness against scams.
- Recommendations include notifying users who click scam ads and donating ill-gotten gains to scam education nonprofits.