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Here's your Tn B tech minute for Wednesday July 31st.

I'm Zoe Thomas for the Wall Street Journal.

Meta platforms said quarterly digital advertising grew rapidly,

though investments in artificial intelligence and the so-called

Metaverse weighed on profits. The company's sales increased to just

over $39 billion, a 22% increase compared to a year earlier.

Meta posted a net profit of 13.5 billion dollars for the second quarter.

That's up about 73% compared with the net profit for the same period in 2023.

In other meta news, ads on Facebook and Instagram still steer users to online marketplaces

for illegal drugs, months after we first reported

that the social media giant was facing a federal investigation for the practice.

A review by the Wall Street Journal in July found dozens of ads for substances such as cocaine and prescription opioids.

A separate analysis by the Industry Watchdog Tech Transparency Project over recent months found hundreds of such ads.

A meta spokesman said the company works with law enforcement to combat this type of activity.

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