Meta made millions off of scam ads specifically targeting seniors, according to a new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). The tech watchdog found that Meta was failing to curb malicious Medicare-related advertisements, which earned the platform $14.3 million in ad revenue in 2025. Such advertisements included false promises of "free benefits" for Medicare recipients, AI-generated celebrity deepfakes, and fake enrollment deadlines. They predominantly targeted Facebook users aged 65 or older, primarily in Texas and Florida.
Recently, I rewatched Minority Report, which now takes place in the not-so-distant future of 2054, and one prediction from the 2002 film really stuck with me: a world flooded constantly with hyper-personalized ads. That part made me pause, because, well, that's more and more every day the world we're becoming. Ads on social media, websites, YouTube, and free streaming platforms are common, and probably not ones we think twice about, particularly since advertising has always gone hand in hand with media.
Google announced a shiny new search spam penalty that targets back button hijacking. Google even sent out notices for sites that will see action taken if they don't make changes.
"When you're getting 4% cash back on your third-largest expense in the business, ads, you can live off of that. You can pay an extra person a salary. You can invest more in the business."