The acquisition of pre-existing profiles on a prominent social media platform for the purpose of running advertising campaigns constitutes a practice with significant implications. This action involves obtaining access to an account that was previously created and utilized by another individual, with the explicit intention of leveraging it to disseminate promotional content to a targeted audience through paid placements on the platform. For example, an individual might seek to acquire a profile that has already established a substantial number of connections or has a history of engagement within a specific demographic to enhance the reach and perceived credibility of their advertising efforts.
This practice is undertaken primarily to circumvent the typical processes involved in building a new presence on the platform and to potentially gain an immediate advantage in terms of audience reach or perceived authenticity. The perceived benefits include expediting advertising campaign deployment, leveraging the existing network and engagement of the acquired account, and potentially mitigating the limitations or restrictions placed on newly created accounts. Historically, this strategy has emerged as a response to increasingly stringent platform policies aimed at combating fraudulent activities and ensuring ad transparency, leading some to explore alternative methods to initiate or scale their advertising operations.
