Meta’s “set it and forget it” AI ad tools are misfiring and blowing through cash

submitted by misk

www.theverge.com/2024/4/28/24141585/meta-ai-adv…

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15 Comments

Boddhisatva

I'm picturing a rogue AI secretly embezzling all the ad money and building a huge pile of cash to fund a robot factory in order to build itself a body.

db2

Mark already did that once though.

TachyonTele

"Commence Phase Four!"

ChicoSuave

And there can only be one.

cm0002

Hmm well

*looks at the world*

Could be an improvement to let the machines rule for a while

Rentlar

Since February 14th, [Advantage Plus] has overspent on numerous occasions and ignored the cost caps we have in place on it,” he said.

If only I could wave my hands, say "AI" and use it as an excuse to steal money from advertisers, but only companies as scummy as Meta can get away with that kind of scam.

beefbot

“ignored cost caps” - naw. nun uh. HUMAN SAYS NO.

Kid_Thunder

The best part is when the business customers had to use an AI chatbot for support which was as helpful as the AI Adbot.

nehal3m , edited

*Oh no, it sounds like you're experiencing some challenges with your Meta advertising. Our advanced AI tools are designed to optimize your campaigns automatically. Sometimes, adjustments in strategy can help improve performance. Have you considered exploring different audience targeting options or ad formats? Feel free to experiment with different settings to find what works best for you! If you have further questions, our support team is not here to assist you.*

Lvxferre

Cory Doctorow, enshittification: "finally, they [platforms] abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves".

That is exactly what is happening here; AI is just an excuse, not the reason.

Breve

I bet the AI was tuned to select ads that maximize both profit and engagement for Meta over maximizing either profit or engagement for the advertiser. Totally working "as intended".

frustrated_phagocytosis

Oh no...anyway

downpunxx

Facebook is evil. This has been shown in any number of countless ways in the past decade. If you advertise on Facebook and therefore look to monetize that evil to your benefit, I hope you get screwed with your pants on.

HootinNHollerin , edited

Agreed fuck Meta

Edward Internethands

Good for the AI, get that green

AutoTL;DR

This is the best summary I could come up with:


If you’re not a marketer, this might feel like spending a week’s worth of grocery money on a prime cut of wagyu at a steakhouse, only for the waiter to return with a floppy slider.

“Meta’s unwillingness to be transparent or accountable with the performance issues and glitches is causing mass uncertainty,” Karl Baker, founder of meditation startup Mindfulness Works, wrote in a message to The Verge.

To create an ad campaign, advertisers upload their creative assets, pick their conversion goals (e.g., getting more customers to make purchases on Instagram), and then set their budget caps.

“We have a couple of clients for whom we completely stopped Advantage Plus due to these anomalies,” said Aniruddha Mishra, director of growth at Miami-based digital marketing agency Node Media.

With Advantage Plus shopping campaigns, Meta promised that AI and machine learning models could effectively replace the big gaping hole left by Apple’s privacy update.

But online advertisers would be effectively handing the reins over to Meta and no longer have access to the granular targeting controls and detailed analytics they did prior to Apple’s privacy changes.


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