What you need to know in advertising today

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference after BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit in Xiamen, China September 5, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

Facebook on Wednesday said it had found evidence that fake accounts "likely operated out of Russia" purchased thousands of ads during the US presidential election designed to amplify divisive political messages.

The company discovered roughly $100,000 in ad buys between June 2015 and May 2017 "associated with roughly 3,000 ads" and connected to nearly 500 affiliated fake accounts.

To read more about the discovery, click here.

In other news:

Speaking of Facebook, its sales chief says a Wall Street research note on data errors is being misconstrued. The company's vice president of global marketing solutions Carolyn Everson made the statement to Business Insider in response to a note by Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser distributed to clients on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Instagram has started letting some users share their Snapchat-like 'Stories' directly to Facebook. The Stories cross-posting feature is currently being tested with a small percentage of Instagram users, a company spokesperson told Business Insider on Wednesday.

Cole Haan is ditching the traditional fashion advertising playbook for its latest campaign. The premium fashion brand’s latest campaign is a departure from typical fashion ad campaigns, focusing on podcasts, native articles and digital streaming services instead of glossy magazine ads.

Honda's new CEO has created a 'skunkworks' to restore the company's history of innovation. Takahiro Hachigo wants to revive a culture that encourages engineers to take risks and return to a corporate structure that protects innovators from bureaucrats focused on cost-cutting.

Students can now get Spotify and Hulu together for $5 a month. The new deal marks the first TV-and-movie partnership for Spotify, with the company deeming it only the "first step" in its bid to target the broader market with a similar bundle deal.

Apple has reached a music deal with Warner Music Group, Bloomberg reports. The firm apparently plans to pay less than it originally did.

A walkie-talkie app called Zello is No. 1 in the US App Store because of Hurricane Irma. It lets you use your phone as a two-way radio.

Loomia is a Brooklyn-based startup that wants your clothes to be smarter — and it's using blockchain to do it. The 3-year-old startup partners with other companies to add its tech-enabled textile to products like apparel or shoes.

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