"A special report by Reuters published Wednesday cited internal company documents that show how it adopted tactics that made it much more difficult for regulators to find scammy ads on its platforms. At the same time, it resisted implementing universal advertiser verification measures that could reduce scams, over fears that they would also impact its revenue. Reuters said the documents it collected were drawn from Meta's finance, legal, public policy and safety teams over a four-year period."
"One of the main tactics it employed involved its public Ad Library, which is a searchable database that aims to promote transparency in its ad platform. The library is often used by regulatory bodies to try and locate fraudulent ads, Reuters explained, but Meta was one step ahead. After identifying the keywords used by regulators to search the library, it ran them repeatedly to remove any ads flagged as fraudulent."
Meta developed an internal "playbook" to sidestep regulatory pressure and limit visibility of scammy ads on Facebook and Instagram while protecting advertising revenue. Internal documents from finance, legal, public policy and safety teams over four years detail tactics to make it harder for regulators to find fraudulent ads. The company identified keywords used by regulators in its public Ad Library and ran those searches repeatedly to remove flagged ads from search results, reducing visible problematic ads without materially reducing overall scam ads. Meta resisted universal advertiser verification due to revenue concerns; the company disputed characterizations of the tactic.
Read at SiliconANGLE
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