Meta’s Ad Business Is Still Surging As Headcount Ticks Upward
by Adweek
Adweek— Meta Platforms saw advertising revenue grow to $35.6 billion during the first quarter of 2024. That's up 27% compared to the same three-month period last year. Following chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's cost-cutting “year of efficiency,” which involved mass layoffs, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp now has 69,329 employees, down 10% compared with the same period in 2023, but up from the previous quarter.
Adweek—Amazon’s Ad Business Continues to Boom. Amazon's ad unit keeps surging. That business grew to $11.8 billion, representing 8% of its total revenue. Amazon reported net sales of $143.3 billion during the first quarter of 2024, up 13% compared to the same three-month period last year. Year over year, Amazon's ad segment increased 24%, outpacing Google, but falling behind Meta for the first time in several quarters. “It was a good start to the year across the business, and you can see that in both our customer experience...
MediaNama—It will take a multi-year investment cycle before Meta’s AI offerings become profitable: Insights from Meta’s Earnings Call. Zuckerberg expressed confidence in monetizing AI through methods like ads and paid access to larger models, leveraging Meta's successful history with scaled technologies.
Ars Technica—Customers say Meta’s ad-buying AI blows through budgets in a matter of hours. Based on your point of view, the AI either doesn't work or works too well.