Facebook is being rocked by a data leak scandal, but most advertisers are not planning to reduce their spend, according to conversations with seven people involved in the advertising and media industry who work with Facebook. Some of these people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about their relationship with the company. Advertising agencies and companies are keeping a close eye and growing cautiously wary of the social network, which has been mired in controversy over the past 12 months, from misreporting key advertising metrics to serving as an avenue for Russian nationals to influence the 2016 presidential election. One source said the Cambridge Analytica issue was just another major situation on a list of problems Facebook is dealing with. While alone it was not concerning, everything combined is making Facebook more vulnerable to digital advertising competitors.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. Source: Facebook

In particular, companies are monitoring for two possible moves tied to the Cambridge Analytica story: * Whether privacy concerns will spark a mass exodus of users. * Whether the stricter data safeguards Facebook is planning will limit advertisers' ability to target users effectively. "If the changes that Facebook does make impact for the legitimate apps from brands consuming their platform and using it ethically, that's when you're going to see people start to pull ads," said Parker Ray, chief digital strategist at agency MWWPR. "At the end of the day, it's another marketing platform."

'It was only a matter of time before that data was misused'

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