Temu's $962M Fake Influencer Network Unravels
A investigation by Online Risk Labs, a Czech research group, revealed that Temu, the Chinese e-commerce platform, spent approximately €830 million ($962 million) on partnership ads on Instagram and Facebook over a 16-month period, largely through fake creator accounts. Of the top 100 influencer partners, 73 were likely not genuine, with many based in Russia and China. After Fortune reported the findings, Temu shut down most of the network within days, halving the volume of such ads. The practice may violate EU and UK rules on misleading advertising and AI content labeling. Meta also faces pressure for running the ads. The European Commission is already examining Temu under the Digital Services Act.
- •Temu spent €830 million ($962 million) on partnership ads on Meta platforms over 16 months.
- •73 of the top 100 creator accounts were likely fake, according to Online Risk Labs.
- •The fake influencer network ran over 1.4 million campaigns with 17 billion impressions.
