Lately, tech giants have been getting increasingly aggressive with ad placements to attract advertisers or nudge users into their ecosystem – and in this latest example, Meta is pushing ads into Facebook notifications “to help brands reach more customers”.

Alert, You’ve Got A New Facebook Ad

PCMag’s Rob Pegoraro spotted ads showing up in his Facebook Android app on four occasions in the last two weeks, all of which has a “Sponsored” label and sits in line with other (actual) notifications in the list. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t allow him to opt out of the “notifications”, only the option to hide that particular advertiser. Notably, this only applies to the social media platform’s Android app, whereas iPadOS or desktop versions have yet to serve ads in the notification menu based on observations.

Since then, Meta has confirmed to the publication that the notification ads are part of a small-scale test. “We’re always working to help brands reach more customers and make it easier for people to discover businesses and products most relevant to them,” Meta’s spokesperson, Tom Channick, said in a statement. “We are running some early, limited tests of ad features in notifications, and we hope to share more as we learn.”

From what we can tell, this certainly sounds like a more valuable offering for advertisers to put their ads on, which can be another source of ad revenue for the social media giant. It might need that money just in case – as EU is threatening to fine up to 10% of the company’s global revenue should it find noncompliance of the region’s strict DMA rules.

Pokdepinion: It’s starting to look like a rat race of who can put up the most ads possible without angering regulators or users.