Hacked How Much of Facebook’s Revenue Is Scam Ads—And Other Chat Worthy Questions
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Nov 16, 2025 This engaging talk explores the surprising fact that Meta might earn about $16 billion a year from scam ads. The hosts dive into the recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and the implications of his return. They also discuss the critical role of AWS in the internet economy and what happens when it faces outages. Plus, they tackle the ethical concerns surrounding AI voice licensing and the potential risks of always-on cameras in AR glasses. It's a lively mix of tech, ethics, and market insights!
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Meta Profited From Scam Ads
- Reuters reported Meta knowingly earned about $16B/year from paid scam ads, ~10% of total revenue in 2024.
- Meta used a "penalty bid" pricing to charge suspected scammers more rather than immediately banning them.
Slow Phase-Out To Protect Revenue
- Meta planned to slowly reduce scam-ad revenue over years to avoid a sudden hit to earnings.
- Their risk slider only bans ads at extremely high certainty, creating a window where suspected scammers are charged more.
Celebrity-Backed Voice Deepfakes Arrive
- Eleven Labs now licenses famous voices (e.g., Michael Caine, Matthew McConaughey) with a request/approval system.
- Celebrity investment and licensing normalize voice deepfakes while adding paid gating.