“The vast majority of Meta’s ad spend comes from small and medium-like enterprises,” said Cummings. “They were never boycotting en masse.”

The mask is off at Meta

The concept of brands appearing next to and funding content advertisers deem unsavory is drawing increasing scrutiny. Last year, the Department of Justice and Naval Criminal Investigative Service began investigating ad verification firms Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify.

For performance advertisers, the issue of brand safety is compounded by the limitations of Meta and Google’s own brand-safety tools that use AI like Advantage+ and Performance Max. These tools offer advertisers limited visibility and control over where their ads appear.

The conversation is shifting towards control and what is actually being sold to advertisers. With the rise of Advantage+ campaigns and Performance Max, traditional brand safety tools and verification providers no longer work in the walled gardens of paid social. This means advertisers have even less control over what they buy.

“Brand safety … has a nebulous economic value that there is very limited opportunity to control,” Cummings said.

How brands can play it smart

Brands can’t afford to ignore Meta. At Wpromote, 65% to 70% of the agency’s social media spend goes to Meta, making it central to most strategies.

“De-prioritizing or boycotting what is arguably their top-performing channel would be a massive decision for advertisers,” said Darren D’Alorio, Wpromote’s vp of paid social.

We Are Rival’s Cummings recommended diversifying social spend but keeping Meta in the mix.

“Get the value, but be realistic about the game that you’re playing,” she said. For instance, Meta’s auto-optimized inventory like Facebook’s right-hand rail ads often leads to poor results. Some campaigns see 10% to 15% of spend directed towards this spend, which is known for fraudulent placements, Cummings said.

Cummings said that Meta’s CPMs, or the cost advertisers pay to reach 1,000 people, for feed-based ads have risen to cost between $30 and $50 since 2023, making it an expensive buy. Instead brands could buy comparable quality inventory through CTV for the same price.

“Many brands have this default position of Google and Meta are all I need. Not necessarily…there’s more than one way to skin a cat” Cummings said.