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Facebook (FB) Estimates Russia Backed Ads Viewed by 10M Users
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Per Facebook Inc , about 10 million users have watched the Russian backed ads, allegedly aimed at influencing the 2016 Presidential elections outcome. The revelation was made a few hours after the social media giant furnished extensive details about 3K plus Russian backed ads (not made public yet) on its platform to the Congress.
In the blog post, Facebook’s vice president of Policy and Communications, Elliot Schrage stated that these ads were mostly targeted at divisions on grounds of politics and social norms and often touched upon on sensitive topics like immigration and racial issues, gun rights as well as LGBT matters.
Schrage also said that nearly 44% of the total ad impressions were before the U.S. election whereas the same spiked to 56% post elections.
Also, notably, the company said that there are chances that nearly 25% of the ads were never seen by anyone because the advertising auctions are designed to "reach people based on relevance."
The company also added that there could be more such undetected ads. “We’re still looking for abuse and bad actors on our platform — our internal investigation continues. We hope that by cooperating with Congress, the Special Counsel and our industry partners, we will help keep bad actors off our platform” stated Facebook.
Nonetheless, Schrage in his blog post has underscored that “We understand more about how our service was abused and we will continue to investigate to learn all we can. We know that our experience is only a small piece of a much larger puzzle. Congress and the Special Counsel are best placed to put these pieces together because they have much broader investigative power to obtain information from other sources.”
Facebook is in the eye of the storm ever since it revealed to the Congress that it has identified Russian accounts spending nearly $100,000 in ads (over 3K), which coincided with the U.S. election (from June 2015 to May 2017). This has caused a massive uproar.
The recent disclosures are now particularly concerning as it reflects that the Russian meddling continued after the elections as well. With an investment of just $100,000, the alleged Russian factors could reach an audience this huge, adds CNN.
However, Schrage added that Facebook is now upping it ante to ward off such incidents in the future. Facebook will employ about 1000 people to review ads. Plus, it will authenticate the background of advertisers and make ad details more transparent.
Since the elections, social media companies, especially Facebook and Twitter , have been under fire for dissemination of fake news that allegedly influenced elections. Twitter recently revealed that it had found over 200 accounts related to Russian factors/bot network.
These companies are battling extensive PR damage. Moreover, pressure from governments of various countries including France, Germany (which goes into election a few days from now) and Britain to curb the spread of fake ads/news and extremist activities on their platform is mounting.
In the past few months, Facebook has been tightening control over what is displayed on its platform by enabling third party verification. Facebook said it will also scrutinize ads that promote bogus stories for monetary gains. The company said that it will work with the entire news industry to improve its fact checking systems. Facebook made the “Trending” feature more automated to minimize human intervention. The company has done away with the need to write description for trending topics that required news curators to do the job. It has also deployed artificial intelligence to tackle terrorism.
Zacks Rank and Share Price Movement
Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Notably, the company has outperformed the industry in the past year. Shares of Facebook have surged 31.6% compared with the industry’s 17.7% increase.
Long-term earnings growth rate for Applied Materials and Activision is currently projected to be 17.1% and 13.6% respectively.
Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars?
Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge.
With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.
Image: Bigstock
Facebook (FB) Estimates Russia Backed Ads Viewed by 10M Users
Per Facebook Inc , about 10 million users have watched the Russian backed ads, allegedly aimed at influencing the 2016 Presidential elections outcome. The revelation was made a few hours after the social media giant furnished extensive details about 3K plus Russian backed ads (not made public yet) on its platform to the Congress.
In the blog post, Facebook’s vice president of Policy and Communications, Elliot Schrage stated that these ads were mostly targeted at divisions on grounds of politics and social norms and often touched upon on sensitive topics like immigration and racial issues, gun rights as well as LGBT matters.
Schrage also said that nearly 44% of the total ad impressions were before the U.S. election whereas the same spiked to 56% post elections.
Also, notably, the company said that there are chances that nearly 25% of the ads were never seen by anyone because the advertising auctions are designed to "reach people based on relevance."
Facebook, Inc. Price
Facebook, Inc. Price | Facebook, Inc. Quote
The company also added that there could be more such undetected ads. “We’re still looking for abuse and bad actors on our platform — our internal investigation continues. We hope that by cooperating with Congress, the Special Counsel and our industry partners, we will help keep bad actors off our platform” stated Facebook.
Nonetheless, Schrage in his blog post has underscored that “We understand more about how our service was abused and we will continue to investigate to learn all we can. We know that our experience is only a small piece of a much larger puzzle. Congress and the Special Counsel are best placed to put these pieces together because they have much broader investigative power to obtain information from other sources.”
Facebook is in the eye of the storm ever since it revealed to the Congress that it has identified Russian accounts spending nearly $100,000 in ads (over 3K), which coincided with the U.S. election (from June 2015 to May 2017). This has caused a massive uproar.
The recent disclosures are now particularly concerning as it reflects that the Russian meddling continued after the elections as well. With an investment of just $100,000, the alleged Russian factors could reach an audience this huge, adds CNN.
However, Schrage added that Facebook is now upping it ante to ward off such incidents in the future. Facebook will employ about 1000 people to review ads. Plus, it will authenticate the background of advertisers and make ad details more transparent.
Since the elections, social media companies, especially Facebook and Twitter , have been under fire for dissemination of fake news that allegedly influenced elections. Twitter recently revealed that it had found over 200 accounts related to Russian factors/bot network.
These companies are battling extensive PR damage. Moreover, pressure from governments of various countries including France, Germany (which goes into election a few days from now) and Britain to curb the spread of fake ads/news and extremist activities on their platform is mounting.
In the past few months, Facebook has been tightening control over what is displayed on its platform by enabling third party verification. Facebook said it will also scrutinize ads that promote bogus stories for monetary gains. The company said that it will work with the entire news industry to improve its fact checking systems. Facebook made the “Trending” feature more automated to minimize human intervention. The company has done away with the need to write description for trending topics that required news curators to do the job. It has also deployed artificial intelligence to tackle terrorism.
Zacks Rank and Share Price Movement
Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Notably, the company has outperformed the industry in the past year. Shares of Facebook have surged 31.6% compared with the industry’s 17.7% increase.
Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) , and Activision Blizzard . Both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Long-term earnings growth rate for Applied Materials and Activision is currently projected to be 17.1% and 13.6% respectively.
Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars?
Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge.
With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.
It's not the one you think.
See This Ticker Free >>