Most business owners assume that if an ad is approved by Google or Meta, it is safe. The thinking is simple: trillion-dollar platforms with sophisticated compliance systems would not allow ads that expose advertisers to legal risk. That assumption is wrong, and it is one of the most dangerous mistakes an advertiser can make. The digital advertising market operates on a legal double standard. A federal law known as Section 230 shields platforms from liability for third-party content, while strict liability places responsibility squarely on the advertiser. Even agencies have a built-in defense. They can argue that they relied on your data or instructions. You can’t. In this system, you are operating in a hostile environment. The landlord (the platform) is immune. Bad tenants (scammers) inflate the cost of participation. And when something goes wrong, regulators come after you, the responsible advertiser, not the platform, and often not even the agency that built the ad. Here is what you need to know to protect your business. Note: This article was sparked by a recent LinkedIn post from Vanessa Otero regarding Meta’s revenue from “high-risk” ads. Her insights and comments in the post about the misalignment between platform profit and user safety prompted this in-depth examination of the legal and economic mechanisms that enable such a system. The core danger: Strict liability explained While the strict liability standard is specific to U.S. law (FTC), the economic fallout of this system affects anyone buying ads on U.S.-based platforms.Before we discuss the platforms,…