Meta, the parent company of Facebook, saw a steady decline in its shares as it faced growing competition from video streaming apps like TikTok and YouTube.
This prompted advertisers to cut back their ads budgets as well, giving the company a lethal blow.
Meta users dropped for the first time in history
As per the reports, the Daily Active Users (DAUs) of the social media giant fell by one million in the last three months of 2021.
Due to nosediving shares, Mark Zuckerburg lost $29.8 billion in a day on Thursday, marking the second-largest single-day loss in history.
The New York Times reported Facebook already hit the maximum number of users it could have, as a vast majority of the world uses it; thus, it can expect continuous decline this time.
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, saw its stock plunge after-hours Wednesday after reporting a rare decline in its fourth quarter profit due to a sharp increase in expenses. https://t.co/0Mx6uTWM3m
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 2, 2022
When this turbulence created panic in the market, the shares of other social media apps, including Pinterest, Twitter, and Snapchat, also dropped significantly.
According to Zuckerberg, the sales growth of the platform is facing challenges as many younger users are now migrating towards alternative platforms. Meta also claimed it faced a revenue decline after privacy changes on Apple’s operating system.
Dave Wehner, the chief financial officer of Meta, believed that Apple’s change made it harder for advertisers to track data on Facebook and Instagram, which is causing the damage.
The move of Apple to introduce “app tracking transparency” in its operating system has allowed its users to opt-out of tracking by Facebook and other companies, which is costing Meta big money.
Pretty wild that, beyond the metaverse stuff, Facebook is losing *$10 billion* this year from a single iOS iPhone update that allows users to opt out of some trackers that are placed on apps. https://t.co/XLVkqXCW1H
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) February 3, 2022
Reportedly, Meta is pouring in money to compete with a Chinese company TikTok; however, it is facing difficult times, as its primary focus remains Facebook and Instagram feeds.
Mark Zuckerberg expressed optimism that his investment in video and virtual reality would eventually pay off. The founder of the social media company acknowledged TikTok is already a big competitor and growing at a rapid pace.
Google is pulling advertisers towards itself
Most of the money which Meta is losing is going towards Google, as advertisers are moving to Google Ads to promote their products.
Wehner acknowledged that Google could have a broader set of data for measurement and optimization of ads, which is helping them to win at advertising.
He believed Google’s move to be the default search engine of Apple’s Safari browser has helped them get access to users’ data; this could be detrimental for the future of the social media giant if more advertisers continue moving towards Google ads.
The New York Times also reported the threat of antitrust is continuously looming against Meta. Congressional lawmakers grilled Zuckerberg for owning a monopoly.
While Zuckerberg stated his company was no longer a monopoly, calls for increasing competition are rising; this is urging shareholders not to invest too much in Meta.
