FOR a week in November, Facebook and Instagram featured ads that showed cash and cryptocurrency raining down on a man at his computer.
The ads asked viewers if they wanted to make a weekly return of 10 per cent on their money — an improbable annualised rate of more than 14,000 per cent.
The ads tested policies at Meta, owner of the social media platforms, against promotions for get-rich-quick schemes. But they ran anyway.
They appeared in the feeds of more than 20,000 users in the United States, Europe, India and Brazil, according to statistics Meta provided.
I know this because I created the ads. And I ran them with the help of advertising agencies listed publicly by Meta in its official “Partner Directory”.
Though described in the directory as “trusted experts” with status as a Meta “Badged Partner”, some of the agencies actively recruit businesses looking to run banned advertisements.
Some of the agencies promise customers an edge — access to special ad accounts given leeway by Meta’s enforcement systems.
Those accounts are rented out by big Chinese advertising agencies that are the foundation of Meta’s ad business in China. They enjoy special protections from the tech giant.
Beijing prohibits its citizens from using Facebook, Instagram and other Western social media but doesn’t prohibit businesses there from advertising on those platforms abroad.
The big agency partners often work with intermediaries, operating from China but also in other countries, that sometimes flout Meta’s stated rules.
Meta itself has internally acknowledged widespread abuse in this system and, in many instances, tolerated it — reaping billions of dollars in revenue each year as a result.
As part of my reporting into the phenomenon, I decided to see how difficult it would be for an advertiser to thwart Meta’s anti-fraud policies. I had no intention to take anyone’s money, or violate strict rules Reuters reporters must follow when they gather and report information. I would also be transparent, giving my true name and stating clearly that I wanted to run banned cryptocurrency ads.
To get started, I set up a flimsy website and Facebook pages for a crypto-themed entity: “Jeff Horwitz Research”.
Then I began searching for an agency to help me run the ads.
I wasn’t surprised to see agency accounts available on shady digital forums, where online marketers openly discuss ways to sell black-market products.
It was more of a shock to see them for sale in Meta’s own partner directory, a listing of companies that Meta said had been “vetted for their expertise”. I was also surprised that once I found agencies happy to run my fake ads, Meta’s systems offered to use artificial intelligence to improve them.
Within minutes of my search, I found Bluefocus Agency, a Vietnam-based Meta partner. It touts a trusted relationship with Meta but tells potential clients it knows how to get around Facebook and Instagram rules. A representative of Bluefocus, who identified themselves as Isabelle Tran, told Reuters by text that the company doesn’t run banned ads.
A day later, an unidentified person using Bluefocus’ WhatsApp account texted to offer me US$500 to help them create fake US-based accounts. I declined and didn’t hear further from Bluefocus.
Andy Stone, a Meta spokesperson, said company policy prohibits Meta’s Chinese partners, meant to serve only their home market, from working with foreign resellers. That’s because Meta generally works directly with locals in other countries.
After Reuters presented Meta with evidence the social media company had granted “Badged Partners” status to agencies that explicitly offered to break its advertising rules, Meta deleted its partner directory and said it was putting some of those partners and the programme itself under review, Stone added.
In addition to Bluefocus, I reached out to Green Orange, a Hong Kong company that is also a “Badged” second-tier reseller.
I also contacted Uproas, an Estonian firm not listed in Meta’s directory, but that prominently markets access to protected Meta ad accounts online.
Upon engaging with the resellers by text message — they preferred encrypted communications on Telegram or WhatsApp — all three began by asking if I intended to comply with Meta’s advertising rules.
I told them I didn’t and shared my ad copy. None of the agencies baulked.
Green Orange and Uproas didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The writer is from Reuters
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
