Meta’s Personalized Ads Are Great But The FTC Doesn’t Think So! Why?

Social networking sites have become an integral part of our lives, for personal use and professional gain. Personally, they offer entertainment, shopping, information, and multimedia connectivity.

On the professional front, companies use such platforms to sell their products, advertise, acquire new customers and conduct engagement activities for existing ones. According to SCORE, 77% of small businesses use such platforms to gain and cater to customers.

According to Abdul Muhammad, Former Chief Digital Officer and Partner at RBB Communications, “Social media provides targeting capability, as well as reach and scale, at a lower cost than almost all other marketing channels. … People are on social media all day, every day. Brands must go where the people are.”

Platforms like Instagram and Facebook allow companies to identify their target markets and create highly personalized ads, especially with the infusion of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Meta’s Instagram and Facebook are leading social networking platforms used by companies to connect with customers, especially teens, who are more likely to shop on the platforms. Reportedly, 72% of teens use Instagram, while 83% of users discover new brands while using the platform. Further data shows that around 9% of the platform’s users are 13 to 17 years old and 30.2% are 18 to 24.
 
However, the FTC isn’t happy with Meta as Meta has once again violated a previous order in addition to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule, which could affect impressionable teenagers and children.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Meta has engaged in repeated violations of privacy rules. The FTC also suggested a 2020 order against Meta should be tightened to completely bar them from monetizing data from anyone under the age of 18 in any way, across all of Meta’s businesses (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus) as well as other new restrictions.

The 2020 order being referred to was created in 2019 as a part of Meta’s (called Facebook in 2019) $5 billion settlement after they violated a previous order.

Additionally, it’s alleged that Meta “misrepresented that parents could control whom their children communicated with through its Messenger Kids product.” However, children were allowed to communicate with unapproved contacts via group video calls and chats.

Speaking in a news release, Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said, “The company’s recklessness has put young users at risk, and Facebook needs to answer for its failures.”
 
Already, Meta’s Facebook teenage user base has fallen from 71% (in 2014-15) to 32% today due to various controversies.

What do you think of Meta’s alleged repeated privacy rules violations? Do you think there needs to be more transparency in their targeting? Let us know in the comments below!