41: Meta earned how much revenue from Fraud?

Summary

In this episode, Stacy Covitz discusses the implications of Meta's recent revelations about revenue loss due to fraudulent ads, which has led to stricter ad policies affecting legitimate businesses. She explores the common topics that get flagged in advertising on Meta, including health, beauty, personal transformation, and financial claims. The conversation emphasizes the challenges business owners face in navigating these restrictions and offers strategies for creating compliant ads without diluting their message.

Takeaways

• 10% of Meta's revenue is impacted by ad scams.
• Meta's ad policies are cautious due to fraud.
• Health and wellness ads are frequently flagged.
• Personal transformation topics can trigger ad restrictions.
• Income claims in ads are heavily scrutinized by Meta.
• Bots misinterpret ad content, leading to unnecessary flags.
• Using general language can help avoid ad restrictions.
• Meta's system aims to protect users but can over-correct.
• Understanding Meta's ad categories is crucial for compliance.

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Transcript

So I wasn't planning to start this episode this way, but...


Meta's leaked documents hit the news and apparently, get ready, 10 % of Meta's entire 2024 revenue came from fake ad scams. $16 billion from scammers. So let's sit with that for a second.

Honestly, the moment I saw that number, everything about why meta cracks down so aggressively makes a whole lot more sense.


When a platform is dealing with that level of fraud behind the scenes, guess who pays the price? We do, the actual business owners who are trying to run legitimate ads. And as someone who's online constantly, I see many, many ads that should be flagged. And I just, it drives me crazy.

So, if you've been wondering why your totally normal, harmless ad is getting flagged, restricted, or denied, you're not imagining it. Meta's jumpy. They're overly cautious, overly sensitive. They rely heavily on bots.


And yes They did all of these things before, but let's just say going forward, we can all expect that it's going to be a lot worse since this bad press came out from Reuters.

And that's exactly why I thought it'd be important to do this two part series. This is part one.


Now to be fair, a statement Metta spokesman Andy Stone said the document seen by Reuters present a selective view that distorts Metta's approach to fraud and scams. That was a quote.

So today we're going to talk about the everyday topics and phrases that get flagged even when you're not doing anything wrong. And then next time we will get into official special ad categories and how those work. So let's get into it.


 Let's start with the big ones. And one category that is very touchy and gets flagged a lot is the health and wellness space. Right now it is a little, right now it could be a little bit tricky how to advertise on Meta if you're in this niche. For example, anything related to

weight loss, menopause, hormones, stress, anxiety, before after photos, feel younger, skincare with promises, supplements. Not to say those aren't legitimate things to use meta ads for, but those are those categories tend to get flagged a lot more.

They're basically policing anything that implies a person is broken, less than, needs fixing. Even if your copy feels nice, gentle, empowering. Okay, here's another one. Beauty, med spa, and anti-aging that kind of is the same as health and wellness. It goes under that category, right? But...

As med spas and anti-aging and fillers and all of that becomes so mainstream, I think it's important that if you have that type of business, you're at least aware, especially if you're doing your ads yourself, that these are some touchy topics and just make sure that you are following the proper

policies and don't be surprised if you do get dinged or one of your ads gets rejected or flagged or something like that. It's not a time for panic. There's definitely, if you're not wrong, then there's so many

So under the beauty Med spa anti-aging, Botox, fillers, lasers, hair regrowth, skin tightening, and they're not special categories, but they do get flagged because Metis sees them as personal attributes. Again, you look old, so you must need this product.


So, you know, even if your copy is hinting that you're unhappy or you struggle with wrinkles or you want to look younger, those are all very prone to get flagged. Okay, here's another one, personal transformation

And coaches feel this one the most. your message is and talks about confidence and emotional healing, trauma, identity, relationships, self-worth, personal growth, Metta sometimes reads that as targeting vulnerable groups or making unverifiable claims, even if your intention is nothing but pure because

You're listening to this. You're a good person. You're not doing anything wrong. They're just touchy-feely and we need to know how to phrase things and

be so compliant and just be cautious. 
Here's another topic that's touchy. Money and business and income claims.

Online space, this is huge. If your copy includes, you know, make 10k every month or hit six figures, make money fast, guaranteed results, anything like that, or anything that's promising that you are going to make a lot of money or any money, Metta will either restrict it or they'll ask for more documentation. know, nobody wants that kind of red tape.




So why is meta misinterpreting our copy and our images? And honestly, this is what I tell my clients and anyone I talk to. They're reading your ads like a robot. They're bots. They're scanning for words and phrases and they're not human. so things that wouldn't get

flagged by a human or getting flagged by bots. So if it feels warm and empathetic to us, it might sound like discrimination or medical advice to Meta's review systems.


So for example, women over 40 are exhausted. Meta thinks you're targeting a protected group. You're saying that if you're over 40, you're exhausted. Lose weight without dieting. Meta hears a health claim. Or you're tired of feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Meta thinks you're diagnosing someone.

So that's why even the nicest copy can get flagged.
 The good news is you can write strong, compelling ads without getting flagged. And just a few guidelines. Talk about the solution, not about the person. Instead of you're exhausted and need support, try stress is a normal part of life. And more people are looking for ways to reset.

 avoid diagnosing anything or medically evaluating. Skip the income promises. Talk about outcomes. Don't ever imply that someone has a flaw. Not fix your aging skin. Keep it general, not personal. They don't like the word you. Shift from you to people, business owners, women.

 So let's end this with some encouragement. Here's the thing. Most of the businesses I talk to are not doing anything wrong. Their ads are getting flagged because MetaSystem is trying to protect people and that's a good thing

So just remember to breathe, have another cup of coffee, reach out if you want some help, and make sure you come back next week. I'm going to talk about part two. Part two is going to be about Meta's official special ad categories. These are the official special ad categories, the big ones, like housing, credit, employment.

and how if you are in one of these categories there's a certain way you have to do your ads. 

So again, I thank you so much for being here. I know this is not a sexy topic and I will see you next time.