Meta is making $16 billion a year from fake ads

One of the world’s largest technology companies, Meta Platforms. Under their umbrella, all popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, controversial information has recently been revealed. According to a report by the international news agency Reuters, a large part of Meta’s total annual revenue comes from fake and fraudulent ads.
According to Reuters, about 10 percent of Meta’s total revenue in 2024 (which is about $16 billion) came from such ads. According to internal company documents, Meta has not taken any effective measures to prevent the promotion of illegal gambling, fake investment schemes and banned drugs for the past three years. These ads usually promote products or services that do not actually exist and many users are deceived by them.
Meta has an automated ad detection system, but the company only closes an advertiser’s account when they are 95 percent sure that the ad is fraudulent. Previously, Meta would collect additional money from those advertisers and keep the ads running. As a result, Meta’s revenue continued to grow.
In this context, Meta spokesman Andy Stone told Reuters that the report misinterpreted Meta’s policies. He claimed that Meta had managed to reduce user complaints about deceptive ads by 58 percent in the past 18 months and removed 134 million fake ads.
According to experts, if Meta had prioritized the safety and interests of users, they would have implemented a more stringent ad verification process. But the current situation shows that revenue has become a big problem for Meta and this could erode user trust.
Technology experts have warned that if Meta does not take strict action now, it could lose user trust in the future and the company’s brand value could be damaged.