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Doesn't deleting a ton of fake profiles have implications for FB valuation and revenue?



I doubt it. User growth is used as a metric to measure future ad revenue. Fake profiles aren't going to generate a lot of revenue from those ads. Facebook would simply need to make a statement about deleting a bunch of fake profiles, but they don't expect revenue to dip.

However, that is not the case for a pre-revenue or pre-profitable business. Those startups are dependent on VC funding, they might lie about users and usage to get more funding (see Silicon Valley Season 3). *This is 100% inappropriate and should not be done. You will burn credibility with investors, for your current venture and any future ventures. It's better to shut down a venture and move on, than to lie about your metrics.


Also, if they are knowingly sold ad impressions to bots' eyeballs (seems like they did), they committed fraud.


They can always go the Twitter way and say they were miscounting user growth during a call where they deliver good revenue:

https://www.recode.net/2017/10/26/16527682/twitter-earnings-...




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