Meta's 'Community Notes' To Exempt Paid Ads, Marketers Left Puzzled About Organic Content Risks: Report

Meta Platforms, Inc. META will reportedly not apply its new “Community Notes” feature to paid advertisements.

What Happened: Earlier this month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would replace its fact-checking system with Community Notes.

Unlike the system on Elon Musk's X, which applies to both paid and unpaid posts, Meta’s version will focus solely on organic content.

Meta’s Community Notes will allow users to crowdsource annotations on posts they believe are misleading or lack context.

However, these notes will only apply to organic content, not paid ads, when the feature launches later this year, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

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Marketers are left in a state of confusion, trying to understand the impact on their strategies, said Darren D'Altorio of Wpromote.

The uncertainty has sparked discussions about the future of organic sponsored content on Meta’s platforms, the report noted.

A Meta spokesperson told the publication that the company will continue to evaluate and improve the Community Notes feature as it rolls out in the U.S. over the coming months.

Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments.

Why It Matters: Meta is set to announce its fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 29. Last year in October, the company reported its third-quarter revenue of $40.59 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $40.29 billion. Advertising accounted for 96% of this total revenue.

Price Action: Meta’s stock declined 0.94% on Thursday and dipped further by 0.016% in after-hours trading, settling at $611.20, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Image via Shutterstock

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