"This is not the sword I'd die on": expert on Meta scam ad findings

The advertising industry received striking revelations about Meta's relationship with fraudulent advertising when internal documents reviewed by Reuters showed projections that 10% of the company's 2024 revenue would come from running ads for scams and banned goods. The documents indicated Meta's platforms show users an estimated 15 billion higher-risk scam advertisements daily.

Nicole Pruess, a freelance presenter and educator for U of Digital with more than 26 years of experience in advertising technology, offered measured perspective during an appearance on the MadTech podcast from Exchange Wire on November 21. "The thing that stands out to me right away is that we're looking at numbers and not percentages," Pruess said in response to host Aimee Newell Tarín's questions about the findings.

Meta generated approximately $200 billion in advertising revenue during 2024. The Reuters documents suggest $7 billion in annual earnings from higher-risk scam advertisements represents between 3% and 4% of total advertising revenue. Currently, Meta bans ads only when its automated systems reach at least 95% certainty that a marketer commits fraud, according to the documents.

The scale of Meta's platforms complicates enforcement. The company serves approximately 15 billion ads daily across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and its other properties. Determining which fraction represents fraudulent content remains challenging when assessing tens of billions of daily impressions through automated detection systems.

Pruess questioned whether the 95% certainty threshold could be lowered without capturing legitimate businesses in overzealous fraud detection. "You don't want a small mom-and-pop business that maybe isn't very savvy, who does have kind of janky looking ads but is a legitimate business, being blocked and then of course having no recourse to action because there is no way to get in touch with Meta," she noted.

Meta's lack of accessible customer support infrastructure for advertisers wrongly flagged as fraudulent creates additional complications. Pruess mentioned knowing "a number of people who have their legitimate Facebook accounts closed and banned and locked down because they were mistakenly flagged as fraudulent and then they can't even get them back because there's no infrastructure in place."

The discussion occurred against broader scrutiny of Meta's advertising measurement practices. A former Meta product manager filed a whistleblower complaint alleging the company artificially inflated return on ad spend metrics for its Shops ads by counting shipping fees and taxes as revenue, according to documents viewed by ADWEEK on August 20, 2025.

Industry professionals have warned that inflated ROAS metrics mislead advertisers about campaign performance, with figures of 10 or higher often indicating worse actual performance than modest returns of 2 due to attribution problems.

Pruess distinguished between different types of fraudulent content challenges platforms face. "I spent a number of years running supply quality and brand safety at Criteo," she explained. "A lot of it comes back to the protections that they provide to victims. Take the $7 billion and invest it in initiatives to help the victims of these crimes."

Despite the concerning numbers, Pruess maintained perspective on the broader landscape of platform safety issues. "I'm not sure that this is the sword I'd die on in terms of the ills of social media," she said, suggesting other concerns like impact on young people regarding body dysmorphia and mental health represent more pressing platform issues.

Exchange Wire COO Lindsay Rowntree raised questions about whether Meta's ability to estimate fraudulent advertising revenue suggests the company possesses sufficient control to address the problem more effectively. The leaked documents show Meta executives presented CEO Mark Zuckerberg with what they termed a moderate approach to scam enforcement in October 2024, focusing efforts on countries facing near-term regulatory action.

Meta announced comprehensive measures to combat romance scams across its platforms on February 12, 2025, releasing data showing the company took down more than 408,000 accounts engaged in romance scams during 2024.

Rowntree noted comparisons between Meta and other technology companies facing similar challenges. "Every single one of them has it incorporated into their business model," she said, referencing the broader pattern of platforms balancing fraud prevention against revenue generation.

Microsoft Advertising removed over one billion policy-violating advertisements and suspended 475,000 accounts throughout 2024, according to an annual review published June 26, 2025. The company implemented AI-powered detection systems targeting deepfake scams and financial fraud, with policy revisions in October 2024 specifically addressing deepfake technology.

Google's AI-powered defense suspended 39.2 million advertiser accounts in 2024, marking a 208% increase compared to 12.7 million accounts suspended in 2023, according to the company's Ads Safety Report released April 16, 2025. Google blocked or removed over 415 million ads and suspended more than 5 million accounts for violating policies associated with various types of scams.

The conversation shifted to podcast industry consolidation when examining iHeartMedia and TikTok's partnership announcement. The companies announced on November 10, 2025, the creation of the TikTok Podcast Network featuring up to 25 podcasts hosted by TikTok creators, a national TikTok Radio channel pairing creators with iHeartRadio personalities, and live event integrations.

Pruess suggested the partnership represents a strategic data consolidation play. "Having authenticated logged-in users across multiple different screens and platforms is the future," she said. "If you're not a Netflix watcher, maybe you're going to go ahead and sign into the Netflix podcast and then you still have that logged-in experience and your database of user data grows."

She raised questions about TikTok's motivations given ongoing regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. government. "Their partnership with iHeart — they basically get to anchor their data in a company that's not being investigated by the U.S. government," Pruess observed.

Netflix and Spotify announced a distribution partnership on October 14, 2025, bringing video versions of select podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer to Netflix's streaming platform. The arrangement covers sports, culture, lifestyle, and true crime content, with availability scheduled for early 2026 in the United States followed by international markets.

Rowntree identified YouTube as the significant competitive factor both partnerships address. "YouTube is the big kind of elephant in the room that everyone just doesn't know how to handle," she said. "No one knows what to do and how to compete against YouTube."

The definition of video podcasts generated disagreement among the podcast participants. Pruess emphasized her preference for audio-only consumption. "Audio for podcasts," she stated definitively. "I think I'm going to start a campaign."

The discussion reflected broader industry trends documented in recent data. Spotify's video podcast revenue jumped 300% in January 2025 following the launch of the Partner Program, which introduced dual revenue streams combining audience-driven payouts with advertising monetization, according to the company's announcement on February 13, 2025.

iHeartMedia's podcast revenue reached $134.3 million in the second quarter of 2025, growing 28.5% year over year, according to the company's August 11, 2025 earnings announcement. The audio giant reported that approximately 50% of podcasting revenue was generated by its local sales force in Q2 2025, up from about 14% in 2020.

Connected television advertising transparency formed the final major discussion topic. The conversation referenced an opinion piece by Clare Birdsel, sales director at Publica by IAS, examining transparency in CTV advertising with focus on what buyers currently request.

Pruess emphasized that transparency requirements vary significantly based on advertiser size and sophistication. "Is it a global brand? Probably. Is it a regional brand? Almost certainly. Is it a local mom and pop shop? Probably not," she said when discussing which advertisers demand detailed CTV transparency.

She referenced Google's Performance Max campaigns as an example of successful set-and-forget automation. "There's a reason why PMAX does well, right? Because it's set and forget and they're getting the performance that they want and their level of brand identity if they're a smaller advertiser is not going to be as precious as a global or regional advertiser."

The conversation highlighted questions advertisers commonly ask about CTV placements: what content did advertisements run on, which other brands appeared in the advertisement pod, and whether competitive brands appeared in proximity to their campaigns. These concerns mirror control expectations from linear television buying, where advertisers historically exercised greater placement control.

Rowntree noted the transition from linear to programmatic television creates expectation mismatches. "If you're an advertiser investing in CTV where you have also invested in linear or used to and you're switching or shifting budget from one to the other versus if you're a digitally native brand who has only invested in CTV and never invested in linear, the questions you have are going to be different," she explained.

Industry data shows 73% of advertisers view measurement and attribution as top challenges in CTV advertising, while 68% require transparency into advertisement placements, according to research cited in PPC Land coverage.

Pruess expressed sympathy for publishers facing transparency demands. "Publishers are really trying to figure out how to promote the value in their content and get people to pay the price for that," she said. "I have a soft spot and I feel very badly for publishers because they get the brunt of it all the time."

The discussion concluded with speculation about how AI agents might facilitate better communication between buyers and publishers regarding transparency requirements. "Every campaign, if you can instruct an agent in natural language based on the actual desires of the advertiser, that can get translated better into what the publisher is able to offer in response to that," Rowntree suggested.

A Gracenote report published October 1, 2025, showed 32% of media executives find CTV advertising ineffective despite rising spend, with 80% prioritizing audience targeting over content-based strategies. The survey of 600 brand and agency executives revealed a strategic misalignment between campaign objectives and execution tactics.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released a comprehensive guide on October 30, 2025, urging industrywide implementation of server-to-server Conversion APIs to transform CTV into an outcome-driven advertising channel. The 26-page report indicated two-thirds of advertisers report improved return on ad spend after implementing Conversion APIs.

Timeline:

• November 6, 2025: Reuters reports Meta earned billions from scam ads through internal documents showing 10% of 2024 revenue projections from fraudulent advertising
• November 10, 2025: iHeartMedia and TikTok announce creator podcast network with up to 25 shows launching in 2026
• November 21, 2025: Nicole Pruess discusses Meta scam advertising, podcast consolidation, and CTV transparency on MadTech podcast
• August 20, 2025: Former Meta employee alleges artificial ROAS inflation for Shops ads in whistleblower complaint
• October 14, 2025: Netflix and Spotify announce video podcast distribution partnership for early 2026 launch
• February 13, 2025: Spotify announces 300% increase in video podcast creator payouts following Partner Program launch
• October 30, 2025: IAB releases guide urging CTV publishers to adopt Conversion APIs to improve measurement transparency
• October 1, 2025: Gracenote report reveals 32% of executives find CTV advertising ineffective despite increasing investment

Five Ws Summary:

Who: Nicole Pruess, freelance presenter and educator for U of Digital with 26 years of advertising technology experience, appeared alongside Exchange Wire editor Aimee Newell Tarín and COO Lindsay Rowntree on the MadTech podcast to discuss major industry developments.

What: The discussion examined Reuters findings showing Meta's internal documents projected 10% of 2024 revenue from fraudulent advertising, analyzed the strategic implications of iHeartMedia and TikTok's podcast network partnership, evaluated Netflix's entrance into podcast distribution, and assessed buyer demands for transparency in connected television advertising campaigns.

When: The podcast episode was recorded and published on November 21, 2025, addressing recent industry developments including the November 6 Reuters report on Meta's scam advertising revenue and the November 10 announcement of the TikTok Podcast Network partnership with iHeartMedia.

Where: The conversation examined advertising platforms operating globally, with specific focus on Meta's Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp properties; podcast distribution through iHeartMedia, TikTok, Netflix, and Spotify; and connected television advertising across streaming platforms requiring enhanced measurement and transparency capabilities.

Why: The marketing community should care because these developments reveal ongoing tensions between platform revenue optimization and advertiser protection, demonstrate accelerating consolidation in podcast distribution that concentrates data and audience access, and highlight persistent measurement gaps in connected television advertising that affect budget allocation decisions and campaign effectiveness across the fastest-growing digital advertising channels.