Facebook ad glitch being called one of the worst in over a decade
Advertisers are seeking refunds from Facebook after a glitch caused companies to fund ineffective campaigns, including one where most of the daily ad budget was spent by 9 a.m.
Facebook (META) recently experienced an advertising campaign glitch that’s being called one of the worst in over a decade by experts like Intensify CEO, Alex Golick. In reporting from outlets like CNBC, Golick mentions that the glitch took place over the weekend and was one he first noticed when checking in on one of his client’s accounts.
While doing this, Golick noticed that Facebook had spent 90 percent of the daily advertising budget by 9:00 a.m., leaving only 10 percent for the remaining 15 hours of the day. Digging deeper, Golick found that the problem wasn’t limited to that Intensify client, but was one impacting his entire customer base to where Facebook was wasting most of their money for the day, and even spending “roughly triple the amount they normally would to acquire a customer.”
“The results were horrendous,” Golick told CNBC. “It’s the biggest malfunction I’ve ever seen on Facebook ads.” After reaching out, a spokesperson for Facebook (META) confirmed to CNBC that an advertising glitch had indeed taken place, though they declined to provide further details on the matter outside of asserting that the issue has been resolved. “A technical issue that has now been resolved caused ad delivery issues for some advertisers,” the spokesperson told CNBC.
Given the direct confirmation from Facebook of ad delivery issues having taken place, and how widespread the glitch seems to have been, it makes sense that a number of advertisers have proceeded to seek out refunds for the money that was spent on these ineffective campaigns. The spokesperson for Facebook told CNBC that it’s currently “conducting a detailed analysis that assesses opportunities for refunds” before providing a link with additional information on the refund process.
The spokesperson didn’t specify whether refunds will actually be issued, what criteria is being looked at assessment wise, or how quickly refunds will be rolled out if they are approved. Performance marketing consultant Barry Hott told CNBC that the glitch was similar to one seen prior to Black Friday back in 2020, along with another similar bug that summer.
Hott went on to urge advertisers seeking refunds to be persistent, noting that, “no one at the company is going to care about this problem if nobody’s saying anything about it, so they kind of count on advertisers to forget about this in a week or two weeks. I tell everyone — I’ve had to do this myself — when these issues happen, you know, make a big stink about it.”
For more on the advertising campaign glitch that Facebook experienced this past weekend, be sure to read through the full reporting from CNBC. And if you’re looking to get up-to-date on some of our previous Facebook coverage, check out news including the previous launch of Meta’s paid verification program in the US, and how Ready at Dawn and Downpour Interactive VR studios were among those impacted by the latest Meta job cuts.
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replyMorgan Shaver posted a new article, Facebook ad glitch being called one of the worst in over a decade
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