Enough of the Meta, Meta, Meta Stuff, Please
November 19, 2021
Facebook recently decided to rename itself Meta in an attempt to appeal to younger demographics. The move has not been met with positive results, but Facebook is hoping a new move with its ads will. Market Beat explains the new change with Facebook’s ads in, “Facebook Parent Meta To Remove Sensitive Ad Categories.” Meta wants Facebook to remove the its targeted ad option for health, ethnicity, political affiliations, religions, and sexual orientations.
The current ad system tracks user activity and sends users targeted ads on the platform based on topics that interest then. Meta will definitely lose profits:
“Meta Platforms Inc. said in a blog post Tuesday that the decision was ‘not easy and we know this change may negatively impact some businesses and organizations.’ Shares of the company closed at $335.37 Tuesday, down almost 1%. ‘Some of our advertising partners have expressed concerns about these targeting options going away because of their ability to help generate positive societal change, while others understand the decision to remove them,’ wrote Graham Mudd, vice president of marketing and ads. ‘Like many of our decisions, this was not a simple choice and required a balance of competing interests where there was advocacy in both directions.’”
Facebook’s ads have generated negative publicity in the past. Facebook ads notoriously upset the 2016 US presidential election and spread misinformation regarding vaccinations. Meta Platforms does not want Facebook’s targeted system to discriminate against all individuals.
Why is Meta being more responsible than Facebook? Was a name change the only thing required to overhaul a poor ad system? Meta might be rushing to fix problems now, but the company is already facing lots of lawsuits for its fast indiscretions.
Whitney Grace, November 19, 2021
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