Facebook's Latest Challenge Is a Gift for Pinterest and Snap

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has already seen a partial exodus of large companies this year. The #StopHateforProfit boycott that began in July and attracted big-name brands like Clorox, Verizon, and Coca-Cola put a dent in Facebook's revenue growth in the third quarter. It also delivered a noticeable lift for rivals like Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) and Snap (NYSE: SNAP).

Now, it seems like a similar movement is afoot among small businesses.

Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which make up the bulk of ad spending on Facebook, aren't moving away from Facebook as a political statement (as many of those who signed on to the boycott have). Instead, they're fleeing because of clunky execution by Facebook's artificial intelligence screeners. These algorithms are too often banning advertisers that haven't actually done anything wrong (flagging an ordinary image as nudity, for instance) and effectively locking them out of advertising on Facebook and preventing them from running their businesses.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com