Meta’s ad platform experiences huge glitch wiping out some customers’ advertising budgets

Meta’s advertising system suffered a major glitch that wiped out some ad budgets in mere hours

The glitch affected mostly advertisers on Facebook although some Instagram advertisers were also affected. A Meta spokesman said, “A technical issue that has now been resolved caused ad delivery issues for some advertisers.” Last Sunday not only did advertisers notice that they were being charged more than Meta was supposed to charge them for ads, but they also spent more money that budgeted for specific campaigns.

Meta’s status page tells advertisers if the firm’s systems are up and running

Amazingly, complete advertising budgets were wiped out in just a few hours. And the ads were not being shown to any more users than usual and didn’t even drive more clicks despite all of the money that was being drained from advertisers’ accounts. And as we mentioned earlier, some advertisers said that their ads were not being viewed at all.

The advertisers affected by the glitch were forced to make a tough decision. They could temporarily pause their ad campaigns or keep the status quo and hope that Meta would straighten things out. For small companies that depend on these ads to generate business, the problem could be a major one. Advertisers don’t like to put up a big fuss and make noise because Meta and Google together own 50% of the digital advertising market.

Advertisers affected will get a refund from Meta, but it won’t be quick and it won’t be easy

Long-time advertising consultant Barry Holt, who has a decade’s experience managing Facebook advertising campaigns, said, “We shouldn’t have to take action when Facebook has a bug. But for the small business who don’t have an ear at Facebook, there aren’t a lot of options. Meta is just counting on advertisers to bend over and take it.” Holt adds, “Meta is extremely opaque, and it always has been. All we get is a generic explanation that ‘we are aware of an issue.’ That’s better than nothing, but it’s not enough.”

Meta has admitted that the events of last Sunday did happen and promised to initiate its “normal refund policies.” But as the ad consultant notes, this is not a quick, smooth, and painless process. “You can burn hours and resources complaining and begging them for refunds and credits. Sometimes it works, but it may not be worth the investment,” Holt said. “And when the restitution comes, it can be months later.”