Temu's $962M Meta Ad Blitz Under Fire: 73% of Top Creators Likely Fake, 47 Based in Russia and China

Temu spent up to $962 million on Meta partnership advertising across the UK and European Union even as 73 of its top 100 creators were assessed as likely fake accounts, according to research by Online Risk Labs (ORL).

The Czech non-profit analysed Meta's public advertising data covering Temu campaigns in the UK and 27 EU countries from January 2025 to April 2026. Its spending estimate was calculated from advertising reach and average costs for reaching users.

Only eight of the 100 highest-volume creators had verified identities, ORL said. It listed 28 as based in Russia and 19 in China, despite the campaigns being aimed at European audiences.

The location findings do not establish government control or an influence operation. ORL assessed the accounts using available signals, while the $962 million figure is a research estimate rather than a disclosed Temu spending figure.

Partnership Ads Drove the Campaign

Meta partnership ads allow advertisers to pay to distribute content published through a creator's account. The advertising can appear under the creator's identity while being funded by a brand.

ORL found that partnership ads accounted for 65.8% of Temu's Meta advertising during the study period, compared with about 2% for typical advertisers.

The researchers tracked 31 official Temu pages that ran more than 9 million ads across the UK and EU. The campaigns generated about 134 billion in cumulative reach, according to ORL.

From January through April 2026, the top 100 creators accounted for 74% of Temu's partnership advertising in the region. They were responsible for more than 1.4 million ads with a combined reach of 16.9 billion, ORL said.

One Account Ran More Than 100,000 Campaigns

One of the accounts highlighted by ORL was 'Ya Lily', known on Instagram as @findgadgetswithme. The account had about 183,000 Instagram followers and 129,000 Facebook followers. ORL found that its content appeared in about 109,541 Temu advertising campaigns over 16 months, equivalent to roughly 225 campaigns a day.

The campaigns generated more than 1 billion views across Facebook and Instagram, according to the research.

The account primarily posted short videos promoting Temu products. Some of the material appeared to use AI-generated imagery and video, Fortune reported.

ORL also found that 73 of the top 100 accounts had changed their handles at least once during the study period. One account changed its name 15 times.

Vendula Prokůpková, an ORL manager, estimated that genuine creators made up no more than 15% to 20% of the group. The organisation described some accounts as possible 'burner creators', while acknowledging that some could belong to real people.

Temu and Meta Face Questions

Fortune reported that two social-media advertising experts reviewed ORL's methodology and considered its estimates plausible. Temu did not respond to Fortune's requests for comment, while Meta declined to comment. The creator highlighted in the report also did not respond.

The research does not establish that Temu created the accounts or knowingly used accounts that were inauthentic. It also does not establish that accounts listed as being in Russia or China were controlled by authorities in either country.

ORL has submitted material to the EU regulator responsible for enforcing the Digital Services Act, asking it to examine the risks associated with Temu's creator network.

EU Already Fined Temu $232M

The findings come after the European Commission fined Temu $232 million in May for breaches of the Digital Services Act. The Commission said Temu had failed to properly assess systemic risks linked to illegal products on its platform.

Its investigation also examined risks associated with Temu's recommender systems and product-promotion programmes involving affiliated influencers. The Commission's action and the ORL research are separate. The May fine did not establish that Temu used fake creator accounts.

The new research instead puts the focus on the scale of paid creator advertising and the identity signals attached to accounts distributing commercial content to European users.

ORL's findings are based on analysis of Meta's public advertising data and its own assessment of account behaviour and metadata. They have not been presented as a finding by Meta that the accounts were fake.