ZeroHedge reports that Facebook advertisers have threatened to abandon the platform in the wake of a massive data harvesting scandal which began after it was revealed that an app created by two psychologists - one of whom Facebook employs - gathered data on over 50 million Americans and then sold it to political data firm Cambridge Analytics and several others, who used it without consent.
The scandal is pushing some Facebook advertisers to consider dropping the platform, reports The Times.
"ISBA, a British group of advertisers that spend hundreds of millions of pounds a year on Facebook, demanded answers. It is understood that some of its 3,000 brands, which include those of the consumer goods companies Unilever and P&G, will not tolerate association with Facebook if it emerges that users’ data has found its way into the hands of brokers and political campaigners without authorisation. Sources close to the trade body said that if the company’s answers were not satisfactory, advertisers might spend their money elsewhere. ISBA will meet Facebook executives this week."
Others, such as Mozilla, have already pulled out, or as it said have "pressed pause" on Facebook advertising.
In a scathing post, Mozilla said that "when Facebook takes stronger action in how it shares customer data, specifically strengthening its default privacy settings for third party apps, we’ll consider returning." Until then, "Mozilla will advertise elsewhere".
Facebook stock currently trades at around $169, down from $183 five days ago.