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Leaked Meta Documents Say Scam and Banned-Goods Ads Drove 10% of 2024 Sales

Internal records describe revenue-first enforcement thresholds that kept suspected fraud ads online, a portrayal Meta disputes.

Overview

  • Reuters-reviewed documents estimate roughly 15 billion higher-risk ads were shown each day across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
  • A 2024 analysis put about $7 billion in annualized revenue from higher‑risk ads tied to scams and banned goods.
  • Internal policies reportedly required 95% certainty to ban an advertiser and instructed managers to avoid actions costing more than 0.15% of revenue.
  • Repeat‑offender rules let small buyers be flagged at least eight times and allowed some big spenders to rack up more than 500 strikes before removal, with four axed campaigns representing $67 million in sales.
  • Meta said the figures are rough and overly inclusive and cited a 58% drop in user scam‑ad reports plus more than 134 million removals this year.