Meta is reportedly set to reveal its slowest quarterly ad revenue in nearly one decade this week.
According to data from Refinitiv, Meta’s ad revenue is predicted report a growth of 8.7% for the first quarter of 2022, which is its slowest rate since it went public in 2012.
The dip in revenue is likely being caused by companies decreasing their ad spending due to growing inflation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Apple’s recent privacy policies.
“The predictions by Meta for a slowdown could be read as a reduction in the Facebook’s brand potency as well,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Since February 2, when Facebook reported a huge dip in their daily active users, Meta’s market value has been slashed nearly in half.
Other companies have warned about similar trajectories. For instance, Alphabet, the parent company of Google, stated that the war in Ukraine may have led to decreased YouTube ad sales, while Snap Inc. stated that inflation and labor shortages may have impacted its ad revenue as well.
“The cost to acquire customers on digital channels like Facebook has increased while the ability to target customers has decreased,” said Mitchell Olsen, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Notre Dame.
