Meta Platforms (Meta) makes its AI advertising engine exceed, and Wall Street eats it. The actions of the company have increased sharply after the CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the generative tools of AI, now integrated into its advertising systems, are beginning to “significantly” the growth of impact income. In a classic Zuck fashion, it painted a future where AI stimulates not only advertising performance, but becomes an essential part of the way people interact with Meta applications like Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp.
Zuckerberg did not mock the words during the recent call for results. “We see good results of the advertising tools led by AI, in particular our Advantage +campaigns,” he noted. For advertisers who have paid money into Meta's ecosystem, it probably looks like music to their ears – or at least the comforting buzz of ROAS (return to advertising expenses) again (1).
But unpack that. Meta is not new in AI – Himself. For years, he has been using automatic learning for content moderation, animal food classification and facial recognition (until it walks back). The new flavor, however, is a generative AI, which fuels features such as advertising copy generated by AI, automatic image variations and intelligent audience targeting. These are the kinds of things that allow small businesses to hit above their weight. Or at least, this is the promise.
In the last quarters, Meta deployed tools like Advantage + shopping campaignsWho use automatic learning to automatically generate and optimize announcements in their application family. According to Meta, these tools reduce the CPA (cost per share) while increasing conversion rates. The initiates of the industry say that this changes the situation, in particular for the brands of electronic commerce.
But here is the botter – Meta AI does not only help advertisers. He monetise youthe user, with increasing precision. Thanks to her Genai Ad Tech, Meta can predict what you will click, when you click on it, and even why. The data pool it draws is massive – billions of behavioral signals from its 3.8 billion monthly active users.
Some investors, of course, are stunned. Meta second trimester Géris Beat expectations, returning shares of almost 5%. And while the reality laboratories (Meta's bet on the metavese) are still Hemorragian money – losing $ 3.7 billion this quarter alone – the company's IA side begins to look like adults in the room.
However, there is a quiet tension behind the scenes. While Meta is more based on AI, criticisms increase flags on transparency and equity. Who audit algorithms? Do advertisers make a fair shake or are they stuck in a black box system that they can't really control? And for users, how is the form of AI engagement focused on AI what they see – and what they lack?
Adding another torsion to history, Meta began to use AI to automatically create whole advertising campaigns using some advertisers' entries. Although it seems smooth, it also raises philosophical questions: if the machine creates the announcement, organizes the public and delivers the results – what remains for humans? Do marketing specialists become intermediaries of the algorithm?
In addition, there is the imminent question of regulatory decline. The FTC is already growing around Big Tech AI practices, and Europe is not exactly on its hands either. Meta's advertising model could be found in a regulatory defect earlier than he thinks.
However, one cannot deny the momentum. Meta sets the tone for AI advertising, and others – Google, Amazon, Tiktok – run to follow. If you run an online company, in particular in electronic commerce or in content creation, understand how META AI tools are no longer optional – this is survival 101.
And here is the honest taking: The Meta AI advertising ecosystem is powerful, smooth and effective. But it is also opaque, automated in default and wavering on ethical gray areas. It's a bit like driving an automatic tesla – you are impressed, but you also enter the wheel in case.
While the company spreads even more automation, the real question is not whether it will work (it will probably do). It is if we will always recognize what Authentic marketing It seems that once everything is optimized by a machine.