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Tag: meta

  • Tech giants pay $220 million in taxes

    Tech giants pay $220 million in taxes

    Cross-borders platforms like Facebook and Google have paid VND5.1 trillion ($220 million) in taxes for the period between 2018 and 2021, says Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc.

    He informed lawmakers in a report that by April 2021, Facebook had been taxed VND1.97 trillion; Google, VND1.9 trillion; and Microsoft, VND651 billion.

    The figures were 15 percent higher than Phoc’s report in March.

    Vietnamese authorities also collected VND735 billion from handling violations and tax avoidance by individuals and organizations providing cross-border digital and e-commerce services, the report said.

    Last year, Vietnam earned VND1.32 trillion from taxing cross-border platforms, up 15 percent from 2020.

    The General Department of Taxation said last year that Facebook, Google, Netflix, YouTube and other cross-border platforms were not fulfilling their tax obligations in Vietnam.

    Vietnam is also looking to tax online sellers, both on e-commerce platforms and social media, as e-commerce sales have been surging by double-digits in recent years.

    Phoc called for tightening regulations and upgrading the capacity of collectors in order to tackle tax evasion more effectively.

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  • Meta announces cuts in its RealityLabs division

    Meta announces cuts in its RealityLabs division

    Facebook parent company, Meta, has announced cutbacks in its RealityLabs division. This branch of the company focuses on Meta’s hardware efforts, develops the tech giant’s virtual and augmented reality products and is instrumental in the tech giant’s long-term strategy of establishing the “metaverse”.

    A spokesperson for Meta confirmed that some RealityLabs projects will be postponed, while others would be canceled altogether. For the time being, there are no concrete details on which ventures are going to be affected.

    For the most part, this news come as no surprise. Earlier in May, Meta announced that they will be cutting back on new hirings. The company has ruled out layoffs, at least for now.

    Meta’s earning reports published in past months indicate that the financial growth of the company is stagnating. The RealityLabs division in particular is operating at a loss. Some steps to address the concerns of investments were imminent.

    What is interesting, however, is that no one in Meta truly expected RealityLabs to reap financial success in the short-term. Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, has always made it clear that RealityLabs could take the better part of a decade? to start paying off.

    Hence, Meta is currently relying on revenue from their social media platforms to fund their long-term ambitions. This has been the financial strategy of the company, in theory, at least. Following the fluctuating number of daily Facebook users, some doubt has been cast on the viability of this business model in the long run.

    If anything, these cutbacks indicate a certain degree of hesitation on Meta’s part with regards to the company’s direction. When Facebook originally rebranded itself to reflect their newfound emphasis on the metaverse, its confidence in the project, however adventurous, seemed unwavering. It now seems that Meta is having second thoughts.

  • Facebook pulls the plug on some services leading to less geolocation tracking

    Facebook pulls the plug on some services leading to less geolocation tracking

    Facebook will no longer be collecting data from a number of its geolocation services. Hence, features that previously tracked your real-time location, including Nearby Friends and weather alerts among others, will soon be discontinued (after May 31st, 2022).

    In a statement for The Verge, a representative from Meta – Facebook’s parent company – confirmed the “deprecation of some location-based services”. Nearby Friends and weather alerts will be the first to go, with location history and background location expected to follow suit in the immediate future.

    Originally, the information regarding the decision to terminate geolocation data collection was disclosed to users that utilize the aforementioned services through a notification. The official justification for the discontinuation is “low usage” on the users’ part.

    Not only will data no longer be gathered, but Facebook will delete any and all stored data on August 1st, 2022. Users will be able to download and view the data collected by the platform before that cut-off point via the Setting and Privacy menu.

    It should be noted that this does not mean Facebook will stop collecting geolocation data altogether. In line with the company’s data policy, said information will continue being gathered and processed, albeit for other “experiences”.

    This naturally raises some questions, but anyone hardly expected for Facebook to voluntarily give up on collecting so much valuable user data. Meta has come under fire in recent years for the way in which sensitive user information is being handled.

    This has led companies like Apple and governments alike to start implementing measures to safeguard user data, much to the distaste of Meta. For example, iOS enables users to both distort their geolocation and withhold it from Facebook altogether.

    In the end, Facebook will be Facebook and will always treat user data as an invaluable commodity. Whether they will continue to get away with it remains to be seen.

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  • EU could start enforcing Digital Markets Act rules on Apple, Google, Meta in Spring 2023

    EU could start enforcing Digital Markets Act rules on Apple, Google, Meta in Spring 2023

    You may have heard so far that the European Union has been preparing to have a say in how big tech companies like Apple, Google, and Meta operate. We are talking about a legislation dubbed the DMA (Digital Markets Act) which the European Commission has been rigorously preparing for a while. The European Commission’s

    executive vice president Margrethe Vestager has set her eyes on controlling (or at least, fining if uncontrollable) tech giants such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta, and others with the DMA. Previously, she expected the battle to begin in October, but it seems we are more likely to see some action in the Spring of next year.

    The waiting game depends on when the DMA will get implemented. The legislation is currently waiting for approval from the Council and Parliament.

    The EU is, however, gearing up for enforcement of the new laws. The legislation focuses on the so-called gatekeeper companies, that, if you’ve been attentive so far in this article, you might presume refers to those big tech companies we mentioned earlier.

    And you would be correct. If you’re curious, here’s the definition of what companies are considered gatekeepers: the company needs to have a market capitalization (a fancy way of saying the total of its stocks value) of over €75 billion ($82 billion) and own a social platform or app with at least 45 million monthly users.

    These companies could face fines of up to 10 percent of their total worldwide turnover (for the preceding year) if they fail to comply with the legislation. For the repeated offenders, the fine can grow to 20 percent, which could help the EU drive its point home.

    So, big tech companies will have three months to declare their status to the Commission, and then they’ll have to wait for up to two months to receive confirmation from the EU. Indeed, it seems like it could take quite a while for the giant mechanism to start working (you can’t expect tech giants and government commissions to fight a fierce Marvel-like battle that’s so quick it’s hard to see).

    And as you might imagine, the EU has a lot more work it needs to do beforehand. Hiring heroes (we mean, staff), preparing the hundreds of monitors and computers to analyze data (and possibly, the 007 coffee for the employees that are working there)… joking aside, it will indeed take some tremendous work to prepare such legislation to be executed. Vestager also mentions that they will need to prepare legal text on various procedures.

    However, when the DMA passes, it will possibly mark an end of an era. In case you haven’t heard of it yet, this is the legislation that could force Apple to allow users to download apps from outside the App Store (a possibility that freaks Tim Cook out and has him worried about the iPhone security), as well as require WhatsApp and iMessage to become interoperable with smaller chat apps.

    Sideloading (the process of downloading apps on iPhone from outside the App Store) is arguably the biggest change the DMA will force for Apple. Previously, Apple has raised concerns that this will weaken the iPhone’s security. By the way, Android users have been able to sideload apps for quite a while now.

    On the other hand, an even bigger cause of headache for Apple is that the DMA would make Cupertino allow App Store customers to make in-app payments through alternative payment platforms (you may have heard about the infamous Apple Tax, 30% cut, which Apple takes from developers when payments are made via the App Store).

    With all this being said, it will be quite interesting to see the DMA in action and what changes will big tech giants have to implement (and whether they will comply).

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  • Coca-Cola names new regional marketing VP

    Coca-Cola names new regional marketing VP

    Coca-Cola has appointed Matthias Blume as its new VP of marketing, ASEAN and South Pacific. Based in Singapore, Blume will lead the company’s marketing and brand initiatives across Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands and serve on the company’s senior leadership team in the region.

    He was most recently the frontline director for Coca-Cola’s ASEAN and South Pacific operating unit, based in Singapore. Previously, he was sparkling director for the company’s ASEAN business unit. According to the company, Blume has a detailed knowledge of the company’s business across the region and has driven growth and innovation across the company’s stills and sparkling beverage brands.

    He is also a strong supporter of integrating sustainability into the company’s portfolio of brands. Coca-Cola said Blume was “at the forefront” of the company’s introduction of a prominent “Recycle Me” call-out across all its packs as well as the move across Southeast Asia to switch its iconic Sprite brand to clear, transparent bottles which are easier to recycle. He has 24 years of international marketing experience including 21 years at Coca-Cola and three years at Danone. Blume has also held local, regional, and global roles in a range of markets across Asia, North America and Europe.

    “Blume brings a tremendous passion for marketing and people plus a superb knowledge of our bottling system,” said Claudia Lorenzo, president, Coca-Cola ASEAN and South Pacific, said. According to her, Blume also brings a combination of consumer centricity, marketing curiosity and business acumen – strengths that Coca-Cola needs and values deeply in our marketing organisation.

    Separately, on the public affairs and communications front, the company named Russell Mahoney its VP, public affairs, communications and sustainability in March. He now leads the team across ASEAN, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific and looks to address “some big sustainability issues” in the company. Mahoney said in a LinkedIn post that he will be moving to Singapore in the coming months.

    With the metaverse being all the rage these days, Coca-Cola also launched a pixel-flavoured drink, the limited-edition Zero Sugar Byte, which will rolle out first in the metaverse before making its way into physical retail. Coca-Cola describes the Zero Sugar Byte as the first Coca-Cola flavour to be born in the metaverse, which will bring the flavour of pixels to life in a limited-edition beverage that transcends the digital and physical worlds. The Zero Sugar Byte is the company’s second release from its Coca-Cola creations hub, following its release of its Starlight “space-flavoured” Coke in March this year.

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  • Facebook to abandon podcasts in favor of the metaverse

    Facebook to abandon podcasts in favor of the metaverse

    Starting June 3rd, Facebook will cease to offer support for podcasts on its platform. As soon as this week, users will no longer be able to upload new content, while Soundbites and the central audio hub will be fully discontinued shortly afterwards.

    As Bloomberg reports, this decision has come to light through a note Facebook shared with its partners. The same document also states that Facebook has no intention of officially alerting users of this move, leaving it up to content creators to do so in its stead.

    Subsequently, a Meta spokesperson confirmed all of this information before Bloomberg and reaffirmed the company’s long-term plan to “focus on the most meaningful experience”. For the time being, this seems to be Reels (Meta’s answer to the success of TikTok) and the still rather cryptic metaverse.

    Almost one year ago, Facebook made the move to enter the (somewhat crowded) podcast market via a plethora of new audio services. It seems this ambition has been short-lived.

    After the initial lukewarm reception of the new services and the subsequent stagnation, Facebook has decided to give up on podcasts altogether.

    The truth is that Facebook simply could not compete with the likes of Spotify and Apple Podcasts without going the extra mile. Both of the latter services have made concrete efforts over the years to solidify their position in the market.

    For example, they have implemented new features, created new ways of exploring podcasts (like Apple Podcasts’s Spotlight editorial franchise) and encouraged creators to produce exclusive content for their respective platforms.

    In stark contrast to this, Facebook instead decided to merely rely on their already established brand name – by all means a huge asset, but, ultimately, not enough. With Facebook gone, Apple and Spotify will reign supreme and will be sure to consolidate their dominant position on the podcast market, this time for good.

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  • Facebook monthly users rise, as Meta’s growth stagnates

    Facebook monthly users rise, as Meta’s growth stagnates

    On April 27th, Meta released its first quarterly financial report for 2022. With it, the company manages to defy the gloomy expectations of consumers and investors alike. The key takeaway – more users, more revenue, less growth.

    One figure particularly stands out – 2.94 billion – the number of users that log into Facebook on a monthly basis. This is just one of the many indicators that Meta, despite ever stronger competition and the global challenges it is facing, is very much still holding on. The report also announced growth in other key areas like total revenue and ad prices.

    After a certain period of stagnation and loss of users, Facebook seems to be once again gaining some, albeit limited, traction. The number of daily users also showcases a 4% net increase on a yearly basis. This also comes in the aftermath of the suspension of the social media platform in Russia.

    Naturally, these revelations triggered a rise in Meta’s share prices, which rose by more than 15% following the announcement. This is no doubt a breath of fresh air for the company, especially after the rather disappointing financial report by Alphabet, the parent company of Google, for the same fiscal quarter. It should also be noted that Meta’s share prices had been steadily depreciating for some months now.

    Now would be a good time for a small disclaimer. The financial growth of Meta is indeed above analysts’ projections, but it is in fact slowing down. The roots of this stagnation run deeper than the war in Ukraine. Apple’s push for protecting the data of its users and increasingly more stringent data regulations (especially in the EU) are truly pushing the company’s business model to its limits.

    Reality Labs, the project that represents Meta’s grandest ambition – establishing the metaverse – still operates on a loss and contributed just 2.5% of the company’s revenue. All this calls into question whether Meta will have the means to sustain its own future, let alone pave the way for the one it aims to build for everyone else.

  • Facebook-owner Meta to open first physical store in metaverse bet

    Facebook-owner Meta to open first physical store in metaverse bet

    Meta Platforms is set to open its first physical store where shoppers can try out and buy virtual reality headsets and other gadgets as the company plots a course to take its highly touted metaverse mainstream.

    The 1550sqft Meta Store at the company’s Burlingame campus in California opens on May 9, and will feature demos for its Quest 2 VR headset and video calling device Portal as well as Ray-Ban’s augmented reality (AR) glasses, Meta said on Monday.

    The devices, except for the Ray-Ban glasses, will be available for purchase at the store. The products can also be bought online through a new shopping tab on meta.com, the company said.

    Meta is investing heavily in metaverse – a virtual space where people interact, work and play – by adding new features to hardware devices that serve as access points to the virtual world.

    Earlier this month, the Facebook owner said it would start testing tools for selling digital assets and experiences within its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds, a VR platform Meta launched late last year.

    Meta also said it would charge creators of digital experiences and assets a 47.5 per cent fee, a move that has attracted criticism from some app developers.

    Shoppers tracking the space are awaiting the next version of the Quest 2 VR headset, likely to be released in the second quarter and widely seen by analysts as critical to the company’s metaverse plans.

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  • Instagram to adjust its algorithm to give preference to original content

    Instagram to adjust its algorithm to give preference to original content

    Sick of seeing only TikToks on Reels? So is Instagram. On a more serious note, Instagram is tweaking its algorithm not only to crack down on reposts but also to incentivize creators to produce original content.

    Adam Mosseri, the current head of Instagram, announced yesterday some interesting changes coming to the social media platform. In addition to expanding the functionality of tags, Instagram is introducing a ranking for originality and implementing it in its algorithm.

    This is the next step in Instagram’s concrete efforts to encourage creators to produce original content for the app. The idea is pretty straightforward – more creativity, fewer reposts.

    If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you are resharing something that you found from someone else. We’re going to do more to try and value original content more.
    This is how Mosseri explains the rationale behind the recent changes in a video posted on Twitter.

    In a subsequent tweet, Mosseri expressed concerns over the long-term future of Instagram, if the platform does not stop to “overvalue aggregators”. The changes to the algorithm are a step in the right direction as they will aim to single out aggregator accounts and handle them accordingly.

    The exact way in which Instagram will filter “original” content currently remains unclear, however. Mosseri himself is not entirely confident in the platform’s ability to do so consistently. Some trial and error will likely be required before the mechanism is refined

    Ultimately, this is just another milestone in Meta’s vision. Instagram and Facebook have steadily been transitioning away from their previous purpose of keeping people connected. They now aim to be, above all, platforms for creators with the recent changes reflecting that perfectly.

  • Creators will be able to sell virtual items in Meta’s Horizon Worlds

    Creators will be able to sell virtual items in Meta’s Horizon Worlds

    Well, well, as you know Facebook rebranded to Meta in order to focus more on the metaverse, a virtual reality world. But of course, the company cannot give up on social media, or at least, a form of social media dubbed Horizon Worlds, which is a virtual world you can hang out with using avatars in the metaverse. Meta has found a way to monetize in the metaverse: with creators selling virtual items on there.

    Pretty much, Meta is looking into ways to let creators make money within Horizon Worlds. Horizon Worlds is a social metaverse platform for Quest VR, and it should be coming soon to mobile phones and possibly game consoles. Now, a handful of Horizon creators will get the possibility to sell virtual items and effects in the worlds they have created.

    Basically, creators will be able to sell anything, whether we are talking about a VIP section in their virtual worlds or just virtual items such as jewelry, or a special basketball, stated Meaghan Fitzgerald, who is the product marketing director for Horizon.

    In the US, participants will be able to earn money from a $10 million creator fund that Meta has recently set up in order to reward creators who have the most engaging worlds. And now, to further incentivize creators to use Horizon Worlds, Meta will be offering an “in-world purchases” system so creators can make money.

    But of course, Meta will be indeed taking a cut of the money that creators earn by selling virtual stuff in the metaverse. You may be wondering what exactly is that cut? Well, for Horizon purchases, Meta is taking a 25 percent cut of the percentage that’s left after a platform fee was applied.

    And that platform fee depends on the platform. For example, there are platform fees with a 30 percent cut, like Meta’s own Quest Store, and the creator will then be left with a little over half of the sale price. Put in simple terms, Meta will get 25% of the 70% left after the platform fee was applied.

    Vivek Sharma, Meta’s VP of Horizon, stated that the company thinks this is a pretty competitive rate in the market, and that other platforms should also be able to have their share. However, as The Verge rightfully reminds us, Meta was calling Apple’s 30% commission for App Store purchases too aggressive, but hey…

    So far, Horizon doesn’t have advertising, except for a recent Wendy’s theme world that was called… wait for it… “Wendyverse”. Apart from that, though, the focus is on monetization for creators, and not on ads right now. Fitzgerald does mention that ads would be an area they want to explore in the future, but as you can imagine, it’s better first to have people in the metaverse. And the best way to get users on there – is to have creators on there.

    Additionally, Meta is rolling out a bonus program to encourage creators to build out their world. It is a “goal-oriented bonus program”, and the bonuses will not be subject to any fees. The bonuses will be calculated based on the engagement of the creator’s world.

    Of course, not everything is allowed in there. Creators will need to follow the company’s VR conduct policy and not publish any content that’s prohibited in Horizon Worlds. If creators fail to follow the rules, they would be removed from the program.

    Horizon Worlds has so far hit 300,000 monthly users just for its few months of existence. So far, the company stated that 10,000 worlds have been created in the metaverse. And Meta plans to expand further, planning to bring Horizon Worlds to mobile phones later this year, and probably to game consoles too (but there, it is still in “early discussions”).

  • Meta seals partnership for 3D ads in step toward the metaverse

    Meta seals partnership for 3D ads in step toward the metaverse

    Meta Platforms will make it easier for brands to run three-dimensional ads on its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms through a new partnership with an eCommerce technology firm.

    The integration with VNTANA will allow brands to upload the 3D models of their products to Facebook and Instagram and easily convert them into ads, VNTANA said on Thursday in a press release.

    The move is a stepping stone into advertising in the metaverse, said VNTANA Chief Executive Ashley Crowder, referring to the futuristic idea of a collection of virtual worlds that can be accessed through devices such as headsets.

    Meta has staked its future on contributing to the building of the metaverse, which it has said could take up to a decade to be realized.

    Meta previously partnered with augmented reality (AR) companies Modiface and PerfectCorp to help beauty and cosmetic brands more easily run 3D and AR advertising.

    “The metaverse is basically the spatial internet,” Crowder said. “It is a whole world of possibility that starts with having the right 3D models of your products.”

    Facebook and Instagram users who see a 3D ad while browsing on their desktop or phone can interact with an image of a handbag, for instance, and move it around to view the item from all angles.

    “In a way, this offers a glimpse of what you might expect on future devices like AR glasses,” said Chris Barbour, director of augmented reality partnerships at Meta’s Reality Labs unit.

    Before VNTANA’s integration with Meta, advertisers would need to reformat 3D files to be compatible with Meta’s ad systems. Now, brands can use VNTANA to easily upload and convert the files into ads without technical expertise in working with 3D images, Crowder said.

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  • Ads on Facebook are starting to recover from Apple’s App Tracking Transparency effect

    Ads on Facebook are starting to recover from Apple’s App Tracking Transparency effect

    Recently, Facebook has been struggling with its market share as it predicted a $10 billion loss in revenue due to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency. However, the company might be starting to recover its ad revenue.

    For those of you who don’t know, with iOS 14.5, Apple introduced a feature dubbed App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which allowed iPhone and iPad users to opt-out of tracking of their activity for targeted ads. Before this change, apps could track you across websites in order to offer you relevant ads, but Apple’s feature prevented that. And, as you can imagine, a vast majority of iOS users decided they didn’t want to be tracked.

    Facebook was among the companies that vocally disagreed with ATT, accusing Apple of harming small businesses with the move. And, as we could see later, Facebook ended up suffering quite a lot from ATT, and its ad revenue dropped significantly.

    As nothing is without consequence in this world, Facebook’s share value then plummeted because investors started selling their Facebook stock.

    However, things seem to be starting to improve, at least according to some small businesses owners on Facebook or Instagram. Many small businesses are claiming that their ads are performing better than usual. The reason for this change is… surprise, surprise – unknown at the moment.

    Earlier, Meta stated that it is working on adapting its advertisement systems to the new situation, so they can maximize the performance of ads. At the same time, many advertisers are reportedly still skeptical, but Meta seems to be working hard to maintain the improvement.

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  • Vietnam taxed tech giants $218 mln in four years

    Vietnam taxed tech giants $218 mln in four years

    Vietnam taxed cross-border platforms like Google and Facebook some VND5 trillion ($218.53 million) in 2008-2021, Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc informed lawmakers Wednesday.

    During the four-year period, Facebook was taxed VND1.69 trillion, Google, VND1.62 trillion, and Microsoft, VND577 billion, Phoc said.

    Last year, Vietnam earned VND1.32 trillion from taxing cross-border platforms, up 15 percent from 2020, he added.

    Vietnamese authorities have been calling for properly taxing tech giants like Facebook and Google, saying these companies account for around 70 percent of the online advertisement market, but use different means to evade tax.

    The General Department of Taxation said last year that Facebook, Google, Netflix, YouTube and other cross-border platforms were not fulfilling their tax obligations in Vietnam.

    Vietnam is also looking to tax online sellers, both on e-commerce platforms and social media, as e-commerce sales have been surging by double-digits in recent years.

  • If you receive a Facebook email for enabling Facebook Protect, don’t worry

    If you receive a Facebook email for enabling Facebook Protect, don’t worry

    If you receive an email or have recently received an email from Facebook telling you to enable Facebook Protect, or you will be locked out of your account, don’t worry. The email is indeed from Facebook, and it isn’t a phishing attempt, as many have thought. Facebook recently began sending such emails to some of its users. Facebook Protect is an additional level of security for higher-risk accounts like journalists and activists, and is currently available only for some users.

    In the email you received or may receive, Facebook requires you to activate Facebook Protect before/by March 17, 2022. Facebook further explains that it wants you to enable Facebook Protect because your account ‘has the potential to reach a lot more people than an average Facebook user,’ and, because of that, you might become a target for hackers. As the email says, “Hackers are often motivated to attack accounts that have a lot of followers, run important Pages, or hold some community significance.”

    Because many people thought that the Facebook Protect emails were phishing attempts, Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s head of security policy, confirmed in a tweet that the emails were indeed coming from Facebook. He said, “Confirming that it’s an enrollment notice from us.”

    As to why Facebook sends emails that make you enable Facebook Protect, Gleicher stated, “Because this is mandatory for highly targeted users like journalists, activists, etc., we’re also sending notices off-platform to the people who may not use the platform as often so they don’t miss the notice and lose access to Facebook.”

    The Facebook emails contain a link that, when clicked, takes you to the Facebook Protect setting. But, although it has been confirmed that these emails are coming from Facebook, you may not want to click on any links, just for safe measure. If you’ve received such an e-mail, you can go to the Facebook app and then go to Settings & Privacy. After that, click Settings and go to the settings within Facebook “Settings & Privacy,” then click “Settings,” and after that, “Security and Login.” Find Facebook Protect and click “Next,” and follow the on-screen instructions until the process is completed.

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  • New report shows how Meta was forced to change its ad tech on iOS because of Apple’s ATT

    New report shows how Meta was forced to change its ad tech on iOS because of Apple’s ATT

    As you may have heard, recently Meta (Facebook’s parent company) reported a substantial decrease in its revenue, and more specifically, a big 26% drop in revenue, a total of $250 billion, and a large part of this decrease is due to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, which changed the way ads work within iOS apps.

    Now, a new report from Recode dives deeper into how Meta has tried to find a workaround for iOS advertisement.

    Meta, upon the report of the decreased revenue, singled out Apple’s App Tracking Transparency as one of the things that affected it the most. App Tracking Transparency was announced back in June of 2020, and was released with iOS 14.5, and gave iPhone users the ability to opt-out of app tracking their internet behavior in order to deliver personalized ads.

    App tracking, however, is important to advertisers as they use your information to deliver ads relevant to your interests, and understandably, the more relevant the ad is to you, the easier it is for advertisers to make you buy the products.

    Apple’s ATT then made the information less relevant for users, and advertisers on Meta suffered from it. Nevertheless, Meta and many of its advertisers reportedly expect to see an increase in revenue this year, but it has become harder for them to advertise to iOS users.

    According to the report, Meta has decided to make up for the issue. It has created an “aggregated event measurement” workaround, which provides advertisers with access to metrics for a much larger audience while being denied individual users’ information. Pretty much, the info advertisers get is less personal, so the ads are less relevant to a specific iPhone or iPad user.

    On the other hand, the report underlines that Facebook also pushed selling products on its own apps, like digital storefronts on Instagram and Facebook, which is a plan laid out last spring just as Apple’s privacy changes went into effect. Facebook could generate revenue from those sales as well. However, despite that, the report indicates that Meta’s ads for iOS users will never be at the same level of efficiency as they were before ATT.

    We are left wondering what these changes might lead to in the future, but all we can do so far is wait and see.

    A couple of weeks ago, we reported on the exact toll Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature cost social media giant Meta. Back when it published its initial revenue report, Meta’s stock dropped by $73.95 to finish that day at $249.05. And now, at the time of writing, Meta’s stock has gone even lower at $217.70.

    And it seems that Facebook’s issues will be continuing through this year. As we reported earlier, the company’s forecast for 2022 doesn’t seem to get much better, and it stated that there are headwinds from increased competition from other apps and social media platforms for people’s time and attention. Additionally, there has been a shift in engagement without its own apps towards video platforms such as Instagram Reels, but they monetize at lower rates than Feed and Stories. Basically, it is struggling to find ways to grow its business during these changing times.

    Unfortunately for Meta, it is looking at a possible cost of $10 billion just because of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency and users spending their time on Reels and finding other things to do than just sit for ages on Facebook.

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