Facebook Inc. is adding new standards that will keep advertising off fake news videos and objectionable content, moves that have become essential as the company starts to put ads inside videos and articles, instead of separately on the news feed.
Carolyn Everson, the company's vice president of marketing solutions, said the moves are in reaction to advertiser fears about being paired with content that wouldn't reflect well on their brands. Facebook's 5 million advertisers are increasingly sensitive to their product pitches showing up next to offensive content after a controversy at Google's YouTube earlier this year. Facebook wants to avoid that so-called brand safety problem.
The moves, which will be enforced through a combination of human and automated review, address advertiser concerns about another Facebook problem, too: fake news and fictitious accounts. The company has been dealing with the spread of misinformation on its platform, reporting last week that fake accounts, likely linked to Russia, spent $100,000 in ads ahead of the U.S. election. Russia's effort to influence U.S. voters through Facebook and other social media is a "red-hot" focus of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 election and links between President Donald Trump's associates and the country.