Meta's new system now allows advertisers to better separate ads from harmful content

Meta Platforms is finally rolling out a long-promised system that will help advertisers determine where their ads are shown and to help them better protect their campaigns from controversial posts on Facebook and Instagram, according to an announcement by Samantha Stetson, Meta's vice president for Client Council and Industry Trade Relations.

In her post, Stetson said that Meta was proud to roll out its new "inventory filters" to advertisers in its English and Spanish-speaking markets. She added that its third-party verification solution for Facebook Feed will also now be available through Zefr, a brand suitability platform. Additional Meta Business Partners who will be onboarding with the platform in the coming months. 

Don't miss: Meta looks to lay off 10,000 more staff and close 5,000 open roles in 'Year of Efficiency'

Under the new system, advertisers can now choose from three settings to control the type of monetisable content that can appear above or below an ad. 

These include 'expanded inventory', a default setting that shows ads next to content that adheres to Meta's community standards and that meets its monetisation eligibility criteria. 

The next level is 'moderate inventory' where advertisers who wish to take a more moderately conservative approach can use a filter to exclude content that may be considered "high risk". This filter utalises a suitability framework by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). 

Finally, there is 'limited inventory' for advertisers who wish to take the most conservative approach. This filter will exclude content that may be considered both high and medium risk, in alignment with the GARM Suitability Framework, according to Stetson.

She added that later this year, Meta has plans to expand these controls to support additional languages and so that they are available to more advertisers in other countries. 

"We’ll also start testing them on additional placements including Reels, Stories, Video Feeds and other surfaces across Facebook and Instagram as we learn more about advertiser preferences to improve and enhance this technology," she said in the statement.

Stetson added that Meta has also been working with Zefr to test and build an independent AI-powered solution to report the context in which ads appear on its Facebook Feed.

In early testing, we found through third party verification with Zefr, that less than one percent of content on Facebook Feed falls into the high risk GARM suitability category.

She added that Zefr’s AI product assesses video, image, text and audio to label Feed content based on the GARM suitability standards. This means that advertisers will be able to measure, verify and understand the suitability of content near their ads to help them make informed decisions in order to reach their marketing goals.

This verification and measurement solution will be rolled out to additional badged Meta Business Partners this year. 

"These solutions are important milestones in our ongoing brand safety and suitability efforts. We are committed to giving advertisers more control and transparency and will continue ensuring our work has independent oversight," she said.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Meta for more information. 

The news comes shortly after Meta revealed that it is looking to let go of around 10,000 more staff and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that the tech giant hasn't yet hired, following a massive layoff of 11,000 staff last November.

According to an official update on Meta's "Year of Efficiency", Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in order to improve the company's financial performance in a difficult environment and execute its long term vision, organisation leaders will announce restructuring plans focused on flattening its organisations, canceling lower priority projects, and reducing its hiring rates over the next couple of months. The recruitment team will also be reduced since the focus is to hire less, “We expect to announce restructuring and layoffs in our tech groups in late April and then our business groups in May. In a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes.”

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