Facebook or Fakebook? In the last quarter of 2020 the US social media giant disabled 1.3bn fake accounts — a tally equal to almost half its real monthly active users. User accounts are the basis for advertising sales that make up almost all of Facebook's revenues. If a percentage of
Why advertisers may want to ask Facebook for a discount
Financial Times
2 mins to read
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Yet analysts and investors seemingly skim over the scale of inauthentic accounts. Large advertisers are funnelling more money to Facebook amid the general shift to online spending.
There are two potential repercussions from inauthentic accounts. Advertisers could use these to argue for lower rates, slowing revenue growth. Facebook could also decide to ramp up spending on fake-busting measures. That would hold back operating margins that have climbed from 34 per cent in 2019 to 38 per cent in 2020.
Pervasive fakery is just another aspect of big tech that undermines its credibility with politicians, regulators and the public.
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- Financial Times