AD Tech Watch #9: Meta’s Scam Crackdown, Bing AI Topics, Unreliable Rank Trackers

AD Tech Watch is our short, selected roundup of the AI, search and software news that matters to businesses in Nigeria, explained in plain English. In this issue: Meta removes more than 3.7 million West African scam accounts in a joint operation with police, including arrests in Delta State, Bing Webmaster Tools starts showing which AI topics cite your website, third-party rank trackers report unreliable Google data, and the Her Startup accelerator opens applications for women-led tech businesses.

Issue #9 · 14 October 2026 · By AD Technologies Limited, an AI technology company in Lagos

1. Meta Removes 3.7 Million West African Scam Accounts in Joint Police Operation

What happened: On 13 October, Meta said it had removed more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages and groups on Facebook and Instagram that were based in West Africa, as part of a joint operation with law enforcement and other tech companies including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Coinbase. Meta said most of the accounts appeared to target people in the US and UK by impersonating American and British users, and called it “the first joint disruption to broadly target criminal scam networks in the West Africa region.” The scams included investment, job, romance and impersonation fraud. The UK’s National Crime Agency, which hosted the operation in London from 6 to 9 October, said nearly 30 suspected scammers were arrested, mainly in Ghana and Nigeria, including nine people in Delta State, and that Nigeria’s EFCC supported the operation. Neither Meta nor the National Crime Agency said whether any legitimate business accounts were affected.

What this means for Nigerian businesses: Enforcement against accounts linked to West Africa is getting stricter, and honest Nigerian businesses share the same platforms and the same region in Meta’s systems. Make sure your Facebook and Instagram accounts look and behave like a real business: turn on two-factor authentication, remove old staff and agencies from Page admin access, and keep your name, address and contact details consistent with your website and Google listing. Watch for fake Pages copying your brand and report them, because impersonation is exactly what this crackdown targets. If you sell to customers abroad, expect them to be more cautious, so make it easy to verify you through a proper website and clear payment details.

Sources: Meta, National Crime Agency, PPC Land.

2. Bing Webmaster Tools Now Shows Which AI Topics Cite Your Website

What happened: On 13 October, Microsoft introduced Topics Portfolio, a beta feature inside the AI Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools. It groups the queries where AI answers cite your website into broad themes, and shows for each theme how many citations go to all sites (a sign of demand), roughly how many sites are cited (a sign of competition) and how many distinct queries it covers. A list of Top Opportunity Queries shows questions where other websites are cited but yours is not. You can look at one, two or three months of data. Microsoft says the feature only appears when there is enough data for your site, smaller sites may see few or no topics, the figures are approximate and should be treated as “directional signals for planning,” and click data is not yet available. Microsoft did not say which countries have access.

What this means for Nigerian businesses: Until now it has been hard to see whether AI search tools mention your business at all. This report gives you a direct, if rough, view of the topics where your website is already trusted and the questions where competitors are cited instead of you. Those opportunity queries make a practical to-do list: write clear pages that answer them, with your location, services and prices stated plainly. If your website is not yet in Bing Webmaster Tools, add it now so the data starts building. Our guide to generative engine optimisation in Nigeria explains how to earn more of these citations.

Sources: Bing Webmaster Blog, Search Engine Roundtable.

3. Rank Tracking Tools Are Reporting Unreliable Google Data

What happened: Search Engine Roundtable reported on 12 October that third-party rank tracking tools are struggling to collect reliable Google results, and that Google appears to be blocking scrapers more effectively than it has in a long time. Research from Nozzle, a rank tracking company, describes wide blocking of proxy networks, more captchas and, since September, Google serving swapped results to some suspected scrapers, with 8.0% of the result pages it checked affected. Sistrix, DataForSEO and SE Ranking posted support or status notes, and users reported mixed results from Ahrefs and Semrush, with tools showing different timings for the same drops and recoveries. Google did not comment in the report. The suggested approach is to check Google Search Console trends first, while noting that Search Console does not separate AI Overview or AI Mode data.

What this means for Nigerian businesses: If your SEO report or tool shows a sudden fall or jump in rankings this month, do not rush to rewrite your website or change suppliers. The movement may be a measurement error rather than a real change. Compare it with clicks and impressions in Google Search Console, which come from Google itself, and search for your most important terms in a private browser window. If you pay an agency for SEO, ask them to include Search Console figures in every report, not only rankings from a third-party tool. Our AI SEO team reports from first-party data for this reason.

Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, Nozzle.

4. Her Startup Opens Applications for Women-Led Tech Businesses, Closing 26 October

What happened: BusinessDay reported on 13 October that Her Startup, an accelerator backed by the KSH Foundation, Tomorrow Foundation and EHA Impact Ventures, with training delivered by Founder Institute, has opened applications for its second cohort of 10 early-stage women-led technology businesses. BusinessDay says applicants must be women founders or chief executives aged 18 to 35, running a technology-enabled business that has operated for at least six months with at least $500 in monthly revenue. The 12-week programme includes monthly stipends and mentorship, plus a chance to pitch for convertible, revenue-based financing. The stipend and funding amounts were not disclosed. The application page says selected founders must commit at least 20 hours a week and sign Founder Institute’s equity agreement. Applications close on 26 October 2026.

What this means for Nigerian businesses: If you are a woman running a tech-enabled business with steady revenue, this is a structured route to mentorship and possible funding, and the pilot’s pitch day was held in Lagos. Applications that miss any criterion are rejected automatically, so check the revenue and time requirements before you start. Read the equity agreement and financing terms carefully, ideally with a lawyer, because giving up equity and taking revenue-based finance both have a real cost. Have your revenue records for the last six months ready before you apply.

Sources: BusinessDay, Her Startup.

Also This Week: Lagos Tells Telcos to Verify Gaming Operator Licences

The Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority has given telecoms operators and value-added service providers 30 days from its 12 October notice to verify the state licences and tax compliance of every lottery, betting and gaming operator using their USSD, SMS, short codes, apps or carrier billing, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek reported on 13 October. Providers must stop onboarding unlicensed operators and suspend those that do not comply, and the authority says an NCC licence does not authorise gaming in Lagos. If your business runs or supports gaming services in Lagos, confirm your licence status now. Sources: Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.

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