Iftar Timings Mar 28 - Ramazan 17

Lahore
LHR
06:20 PM
Karachi
KHI
06:46 PM
Islamabad
ISB
06:26 PM
Peshawar
PWR
06:30 PM
Quetta
QTA
06:49 PM

News

Meta s profit slips as Facebook loses users

February 3, 2022 11:37 AM


Facebook's parent firm Meta on Wednesday delivered a gloomy mix of a sharper-than-expected drop in profit, a decrease in users and threats to its ad business that plunged shares some 22 percent in after-hours trading. 

Already jittery markets have punished pandemic-era darlings including Netflix for disappointing results, with Meta getting a taste of that after its $10.3-billion quarterly profit and daily user-growth fell short of expectations.

Yet the signature Facebook platform also reported losing roughly one million daily users globally between the last two quarters of 2021 -- a tiny number on an app with nearly two billion daily users, but a potentially worrying signal of stagnation.

CFO Dave Weiner told analysts that user growth was impacted by "headwinds" including disproportionate growth in the Asia-Pacific during the pandemic that has slowed and an increase in mobile data prices in India.

"In addition to these factors, we believe competitive services are negatively impacting growth, particularly with younger audiences," Weiner added.

The company's executives have repeatedly referred to competition from TikTok but also from other networks, while they face numerous probes and complaints of abuse of dominance.

Analysts expected 1.95 billion daily active users on Facebook, but Meta reported 1.93 billion -- a key indicator of the growth trajectory for a company fueled by the people who choose to interact with its platforms. 

On the financial side, Meta achieved a turnover of $33.67 billion, in line with its forecasts, but it made $10.3 billion in net profit in the fourth quarter, eight percent less than last year.

As an explanation for the disappointing performance, Meta noted competition and supply chain difficulties suffered by its customers, the advertisers.

Meta's share price was down about 22 percent to roughly $250 at 0010 GMT in after-hours trade.

At the same time, the company said the rules imposed by Apple last year on ad targeting had a negative impact on its financial results in the fourth quarter. 

In the update of iOS, its mobile operating system, Apple required application publishers to ask permission before collecting data, much to the regret of companies like Meta that rely on that information for ad targeting.

"Meta may only generate single-digit revenue growth. And that's before any further legal and regulatory developments and actions," Third Bridge analyst Scott Kessler said. 

"It seems that many are re-evaluating in real-time," he added.

As of December 31, 2021, 2.8 billion people were using one of its four platforms and messenger services at least once a day, and 3.6 billion at least once a month.

- Metaverse cost -
These are the first results released since the company's name change in late October, which was both a turn toward the metaverse vision and a turn away from its scandal-prone social media empire.

The Silicon Valley giant's whistleblower crisis last year highlighted accusations that executives prioritized growth over keeping their billions of users safe.

Scathing news reports based on internal documents leaked by ex-employee Frances Haugen rekindled long-deadlocked regulation efforts, but US lawmakers have made little progress since.

An activist group calling itself The Real Facebook Oversight Board seized on the results to warn of what may come next.

"Facebook appears to now be feeling the impact on ad revenues from Apple's new privacy first approach," the group's statement said. 

"This will no doubt make them more desperate to drive ad revenue by any means necessary," it added.

Meta is betting heavily on its belief that the metaverse is the next major evolution of how humans live with the internet.

In this future that evokes science fiction, the public will use augmented reality glasses and virtual reality headsets to find their way around, work or play. 

But its construction means tens of billions of dollars of investment in the Facebook Reality Labs branch, without any benefits for a long time.

"There's a lot of uncertainty about Meta's investments in the metaverse and if or when they will have a positive impact on the company's bottom line," said analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

Austria court orders Facebook to remove defamatory content

An Austrian court has ordered Facebook to remove content defaming a former lawmaker and post a banner on its home page announcing the decision, a court spokesman said Wednesday.

The Vienna commercial court on December 9 also ordered the internet giant to pay 4,000 euros ($4,500) in damages to former Greens party politician Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek, he told AFP.

The ruling was only made available to both the plaintiff and Facebook on Wednesday.

Glawischnig-Piesczek in 2016 requested the removal of Facebook posts that judges found defamed her and could be seen by users of the social network around the world.

The complaint also concerned messages from a fictitious account which, according to the Greens, were slanderous and which the social network refused to delete.

After a higher Austrian court referred the case to the European Union's top court for an opinion, the European body in 2019 ruled that national courts in Europe can order online platforms to remove defamatory content worldwide.

After the December ruling, "Facebook has to inform its users within 15 days of this ruling by publishing a banner visible at the top of its home page for six months," court spokesman Jurgen Exner said.

"Found guilty, it must immediately abstain from publishing photographs showing the plaintiff if the accompanying text" insults her.

"Facebook did not appeal," he said.

Glawischnig-Piesczek's lawyer Maria Windhager welcomed what she said was "progress" against hate speech, "because the platform had until now always refused to remove content".

The former lawmaker has been informed of the identity of a woman who set up a fictitious account that insulted her. She is now allowed to share this information publicly, or sue her.

Contacted by AFP, Facebook parent Meta said it would not "share any information beyond the publication of the judgement on our website at this point in time".



Most Read

  1. Aitchison College principal resigns over differences with Punjab governor Aitchison College principal resigns over differences with Punjab governor
  2. Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation Aitchison College students, parents stage protest against principal’s resignation
  3. Tribal firefight in Gotki, Motorways section shut down Tribal firefight in Gotki, Motorways section shut down
  4. Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing Five Chinese among six killed in Shangla suicide bombing
  5. Transferred: Lawman bears the brunt of flagging down lawmaker Transferred: Lawman bears the brunt of flagging down lawmaker
  6. Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba Maaz Safder regrets 4-year relationship with wife Saba

Opinion

  1. IMEC to sabotage CPEC
    IMEC to sabotage CPEC

    By Dr Asif Channer

  2. 1947 TO FORM 47
    1947 TO FORM 47

    By Dr Asif Channer

  3. Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....
    Beijing wants to further highlight industrial sector in its country and take scientific innovation to new heights....

    By Ali Ramay

  4. Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses
    Global race: China will reduce its unnecessary expenses

    By Ali Ramay

  5. Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan
    Channer Pir: The Great Saint of Cholistan

    By Dr Asif Channer

  6. Literate the Religious Illiterate
    Literate the Religious Illiterate

    By Dr Asif Channer