"Meta earns billions of dollars every year from running online advertising for scams and banned goods across Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, new documents have revealed. The tech giant internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10 per cent of its overall annual revenue - or $16 billion - through fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and the sale of banned medical products, Reuters reported."
"On average, one December 2024 document notes, the company shows its platforms' users an estimated 15 billion "higher risk" scam advertisements - those that show clear signs of being fraudulent - every day. Much of the fraud came from marketers acting suspiciously enough to be flagged by Meta's internal warning systems."
Meta projected late last year that around 10% of annual revenue, about $16 billion, derives from fraudulent e-commerce and investment schemes, illegal online casinos, and banned medical products. Platforms display an estimated 15 billion "higher risk" scam advertisements daily, generating about $7 billion in annualized revenue from that category. Much fraud originates from marketers flagged by internal warning systems, but advertisers are banned only when automated systems are at least 95% certain of fraud. Advertisers judged likely but not certain to be scammers are charged higher ad rates as penalties. Users who click scam ads are shown more due to ad-personalization algorithms. The information covers operations across finance, lobbying, engineering, and safety divisions between 2021 and 2024.
Read at The Independent
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