So, 83 million users on Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook aren’t as they appear. (Getty Images)
Mark Zuckerberg has a lot of imaginary friends.
The Facebook CEO admitted that some 83 million of the social network’s 955 million total users are fakes — meaning duplicates, spam or silly pages for pets. That represents nearly 9 percent of profiles on the site.
The rash of fakes — equal to the population of Egypt — has shot up since Facebook’s rocky public debut in May, when it estimated “false” profiles accounted for 5 percent to 6 percent of its users.
“These estimates are based on an internal review of a limited sample of accounts, and we apply significant judgment in making this determination, such as identifying names that appear to be fake or other behavior that appears inauthentic,” the company said in a recent regulatory filing.
The spike is a major cause for concern, with advertisers and investors questioning Facebook’s effectiveness in reaching consumers. In particular, Facebook has been under scrutiny for slowing ad sales growth.
The false accounts issue surfaced almost simultaneously with a gripe from a music startup, Limited Run, which claimed 80 percent of traffic it received through ads bought on Facebook is from “bots” — computers clicking on ads.
“Bots were loading pages and driving up our advertising costs,” the company said in a sort of farewell letter on its Facebook page, which the company said it was closing.
Facebook did not return a request for comment.
The company has seen its value squeezed this week — and while fake accounts and ad bots shake confidence — Wall Street is most concerned with the flood of fresh Facebook shares being freed in two weeks.
On Aug. 16, the first lock-up expires, allowing insiders to unload their stock. Facebook arranged for staggered lock-up expirations through the end of the year, and up to 2 billion more shares will flood the market.
“The question for many investors is why not wait,” said Ken Sena, an analyst with Evercore Partners.
Facebook shares have fallen from their $38 initial offering price and closed at their lowest level yesterday, down 4 percent to $20.04.