Meta Platforms Inc has issued a gloomy forecast after
recording its first-ever quarterly drop in revenue, with recession fears and
competitive pressures weighing on its digital advertisement sales.
Shares of the Menlo Park, California-based company were down
about 4.6 percent in extended trading.
The company said on Wednesday it expects third-quarter
revenue to come in at $26bn to $28.5bn, which would make it a second
year-over-year drop in a row. Analysts were expecting $30.52bn, according to
IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total revenue, which consists almost entirely of ad sales,
fell 1 percent to $28.8bn in the second quarter ended June 30, from $29.1bn
last year. The figure slightly missed Wall Street’s projections of $28.9bn,
according to Refinitiv.
The company, which operates the world’s largest social media
platform, reported mixed results for user growth.
Monthly active users on flagship social network Facebook
came in slightly under analyst expectations at 2.93 billion in the second
quarter, an increase of 1 percent year-over-year, while daily active users
handily beat estimates at 1.97 billion.
Like many global companies, Meta is facing some revenue
pressure from the strong US dollar, as sales in foreign currencies amount
to less in dollar terms. Meta said it expected a 6 percent revenue growth
headwind in the third quarter, based on current exchange rates.
“We seem to have entered an economic downturn that will have
a broad impact on the digital advertising business,” Chief Executive Officer
Mark Zuckerberg said on the earnings call. “The situation seems worse than it
did a quarter ago.”
Still, the Meta results also suggest that fortunes in online
advertisement sales may be diverging between search and social media players,
with the latter affected more severely as ad buyers reel in spending.
Alphabet Inc, the world’s largest digital advertisement
platform, reported a rise in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, with sales from its
biggest moneymaker – Google search – topping investor expectations.
Snap Inc and Twitter both missed sales expectations last
week and warned of an advertisement market slowdown in coming quarters,
sparking a broad sell-off across the sector.
Chasing TikTok
On top of economic pressures, Meta’s core business is also
experiencing unique strain as it competes with short-video app TikTok for
users’ time and adjusts its advertisement business to privacy controls rolled
out by Apple Inc last year.
The company is simultaneously carrying out several expensive
overhauls as a result, revamping its core apps and boosting its ad targeting
with AI, while also investing heavily in a longer-term bet on “metaverse”
hardware and software.
Meta executives told investors they were making progress in
replacing advertisement dollars lost as a result of the Apple changes but said
it was being offset by the economic slowdown.
They added that Reels, a short video product Meta is increasingly
inserting into users’ feeds to compete with TikTok, was now generating more
than $1bn annually in revenue.
However, Reels cannibalises more profitable content that
users could otherwise see and will continue to be a headwind on profits through
2022 before eventually boosting income, executives told analysts on Wednesday.
“They are being greatly affected by everything,” Bokeh
Capital Partners’ Kim Forrest said, referring to the economic slowdown as well
as competition from TikTok and Apple.
“Meta has a problem because they’re chasing TikTok and if
the Kardashians are talking about how they don’t like Instagram … Meta should
really pay attention to that.”
On Monday, two of Instagram’s biggest users, Kim
Kardashian and Kylie Jenner, both shared a meme imploring the company to
abandon its shift to TikTok-style content suggestions and “make Instagram
Instagram again”.
Zuckerberg did not appear to be swayed, however.
About 15 percent of content on Facebook and Instagram is
currently recommended by AI from accounts users do not actively follow, and
that percentage will double by the end of 2023, he told investors on the call.
Metaverse, still theoretical
For now, at least, the metaverse part of Meta’s business
remains largely theoretical. In the second quarter, Meta reported $218m in
non-ad revenue, which includes payments fees and sales of devices like its
Quest virtual reality headsets, down from $497m last year.
Its Reality Labs unit, which is responsible for developing
metaverse-oriented technology like the VR headsets, reported sales of $452m,
down from $695m in the first quarter.
Although Meta has recently slowed investments as cost
pressures increased, executives reassured investors it was still on track to
release a mixed-reality headset called Project Cambria later this year, focused
on professionals.
Meta broke out the Reality Labs segment in its results for
the first time earlier this year, when it revealed the unit had lost $10.2bn in
2021.
Its second-quarter operating profit margin fell to 29
percent from 43 percent as costs rose sharply and revenue dipped.
In November, Chief Financial Officer David Wehner will
become Meta’s first chief strategy officer. Susan Li, Meta’s current vice
president of finance, will become CFO.
Comment
Yesterday
marked 'Data Privacy Day' or 'International Data Security Day,' observed
globally, raising awareness about the importance of securing personal
information. Various international organizations have implemented various
initiatives to promote awareness regarding the security of personal
information. According to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) of the
United Nations, 128 out of 194 countries worldwide have laws pertaining to
information security and personal privacy. Similarly, Article 43 (kha) of our
constitution also recognizes privacy rights as fundamental human rights.
However,
while our constitution and laws emphasize information security and personal
privacy, individual privacy is constantly breached. From intimate phone calls
to the proliferation of audio-video content online, personal information is
vulnerable and can reach millions of people in an instant. From politicians to
ordinary citizens, no one is immune, especially in today's digital age, where
personal information is readily accessible to multinational corporations.
Additionally, both government and non-government entities collect personal
information in various ways. Due to the lack of clear guidelines about what
information an individual should disclose or how much information can be
demanded, the privacy of personal information is under considerable threat,
according to experts in social and digital security.
A
few days ago, a leaked telephone conversation involving former Information
Minister Dr. Murad Hassan created quite a stir. The incident led to his
eventual resignation. Similar incidents of leaked phone conversations involving
various political leaders have occurred before. It's not just phone calls; the
advancement of communication technology has enabled the widespread sharing of
various types of information, including audio and video, in an alarming rate.
The investigation into Dr. Murad Hassan's leaked phone call from two years ago
is still ongoing, led by law enforcement agencies. Recently, the trend of
leaking phone conversations has surged among politicians, and even ordinary
individuals are resorting to various apps to avoid discussing sensitive matters
over the phone. Alongside concerns about security and privacy, there is ongoing
debate within the political arena regarding the legal aspects of these issues.
How
Personal Privacy Is Breached
Personal
privacy is breached in various ways, starting from close acquaintances.
Firstly, there's a decline in the perception of security regarding the
protection of personal information worldwide. People tend to reveal a lot of
information, both knowingly and unknowingly, often with a misplaced trust in
the security of digital platforms.
Research
shows that personal privacy is most often compromised by those closest to us.
If not through hacking or leaks, personal matters often find their way online
through various social media platforms or are exposed due to threats. Breakups
between spouses, partners, or lovers, for instance, can result in one party
sharing personal photos or videos online out of revenge. Additionally, personal
matters are sometimes exploited and used to mentally harass individuals. In
some cases, even without their knowledge, hackers can expose any piece of
personal information online. We regularly share a significant amount of
personal information on platforms like Facebook and other communication
mediums. This can inadvertently expose our privacy. Moreover, personal data
such as phone numbers, emails, and bank account numbers are shared in various
ways with different multinational corporations. Self-interest and greed prompt
individuals and organizations to utilize personal information for commercial or
personal gains. Often, individuals willingly share all sorts of information
inspired by their self-interest. Analyzing this data, those organizations gain
insight into individuals' minds, often better than the individuals themselves.
What
Does Bangladeshi Law Say About Personal Privacy?
Recording
someone's personal phone call and sharing it without their consent is illegal
in Bangladesh, as per the constitution and prevailing laws, unless authorized
by the government. According to Article 43 of the constitution, every citizen
has the right to privacy of correspondence and other means of communication.
Furthermore, Section 71 of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act explicitly
mentions that intercepting telephone conversations without the permission of
both parties is a punishable offense. It states that if anyone intentionally
intercepts any message intended for another person through telephone, that
person shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years
or with a fine not exceeding five crore taka or with both.
However,
these laws come with certain conditions. Under Section 97-K, these provisions
will not apply to agencies appointed by the government for national security,
law enforcement, or investigative purposes. In other words, government agencies
have the legal authority to intercept phone conversations for national security
and law enforcement reasons, but this requires authorization from the Minister
or State Minister of the Home Ministry. While the law specifies who can be
intercepted, for how long, and under what circumstances, it lacks clarity on
these aspects.
Experts
in social and digital security argue that governments have the authority to
intercept communications for the sake of national security. Every country in
the world has laws concerning this, particularly post-9/11, when countries
worldwide shifted their focus from traditional notions to safeguarding national
security interests. Although these laws do not make such interceptions
acceptable in principle, they do extend the reach of governments to monitor
individual communications, especially in the context of national security and
public order. Nevertheless, it is not permissible to use these laws for
personal or political gains.
The
proliferation of leaked personal phone calls in our society has generated
significant curiosity and discussion. However, these incidents should not be
sensationalized, and such activities should be discouraged, according to
experts. While these legal matters are complex, the leakage of personal phone
calls continues to be a concern. Prominent politicians, public figures, and
ordinary individuals alike have experienced personal conversations being leaked
to the public.
It
is essential to raise awareness about the importance of personal privacy and
information security. Individuals should be educated about the risks associated
with sharing sensitive information online and over the phone. Organizations and
government agencies should also take steps to ensure that they handle personal
data responsibly and securely, following established legal and ethical
guidelines. Moreover, there is a need for clearer and more comprehensive laws
and regulations that govern the collection, storage, and sharing of personal
information in the digital age.
Comment
Soppiya,
Bangladesh's first global no-coding e-commerce, blog, and portfolio platform has
been officially launched at the BASIS SoftExpo 2023 at Bangladesh-China
Friendship Exhibition Center in the capital’s Purbachal area on Friday (February
24)
Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), the national trade organization of the information and communication technology sector, has organized the 4-day exhibition with the slogan 'Welcome to Smartverse'.
Md. Ekramul Haque, Honorable Managing Director of Soppiya Innovation Limited, cut a cake on Friday to open the launching ceremony.
During this 4-day exhibition, Soppiya’s stalls hosted various events including a chance to win attractive gift hampers by opening a free website for visitors.
Asad Bin Abdullah, executive director of Soppiya said, ''Soppiya is a saas-based cms platform. Through this, you can create your professional e-commerce, blog, and portfolio website in 30 minutes for free. By doing this, there will be a revolutionary change in the socio-economic system of the country through online platform business and Bangladesh will take a step forward in achieving Digital Bangladesh.''
''We have launched the platform with an emphasis on providing quality e-commerce websites, blog websites, and portfolio website creation solutions with the latest updates and most convenient packages, themes, plugins, widgets, hosted solutions, and advanced technologies. Even those who have no coding or technical knowledge can set up a beautiful website and all this is possible only with Soppiya.''
Comment
Twitter on Saturday
began rolling out a controversial new paid subscription system which the social
network's unpredictable new owner, billionaire Elon Musk, ordered staff to
build after taking over last week.
The platform's mobile app began offering an update that will
allow users to sign up for the new version of Twitter Blue, which Musk has said
will cost $8 a month, and is set to grant users a blue checkmark and perks such
as less advertising in their feeds.
"Starting today, we're adding great new features to
Twitter Blue," says the update, only on iPhones for now. "Get Twitter
Blue for $7.99 a month if you sign up now."
In a tweet, the California-based company's director of
product development Esther Crawford specified that the new service had yet to
go live.
"The new Blue isn't live yet -- the sprint to our
launch continues but some folks may see us making updates because we are
testing and pushing changes in real-time," she posted.
"New Blue ... coming soon!" she added.
On Friday, half of Twitter's 7,500 employees were laid off
by Tesla boss Musk.
He ordered the redesign of Twitter Blue as a priority,
making some teams work day and night on it, reportedly with a target launch
date of November 7 -- a day before the US midterm elections.
The current version of the service, which costs $5, contains
premium features, such as a more comfortable reading mode.
Musk wants to add a blue tick which until now has symbolized
account verification, though he has not explained how the paying accounts will
be verified.
Until now verification has been free and serves as proof of
authenticity for the accounts of users such as politicians, governments,
journalists, celebrities and sports figures -- a system Musk has derided as
"lords and peasants."
The update also lists other benefits mentioned by Musk, such
as the ability to post longer videos and audio messages.
"Since you're supporting Twitter in the battle against
the bots, we're going to reward you with half the ads and make them twice as
relevant," the offer states.
The Californian company needs to diversify its income,
heavily reliant on advertising. Several advertisers have suspended their
spending on the platform since its acquisition, after Musk vowed to dial back
content moderation.
– BSS/AFP
Comment
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) boss Elon Musk said in a filing on Monday
he will serve as chief executive of Twitter, the social media company he just
bought for $44 billion, a move that Wall Street analysts have said could
stretch the billionaire thin.
Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, brain-chip
startup Neuralink and tunneling firm the Boring Company, fired Twitter's
previous chief, Parag Agrawal, and other top company officials last week.
Tesla's stock has lost a third of its value since Musk made
an offer to buy Twitter in April, compared with a 12% decline in the benchmark
S&P 500 index (.SPX) in the same period.
Musk had previously changed his Twitter bio to "Chief
Twit" in an allusion to his planned move.
Twitter on Monday declined comment on how long Musk might
remain CEO or appoint someone else.
In another filing on Monday, Musk revealed that he became
the sole director of Twitter as a result of the takeover.
"The following persons, who were directors of Twitter
prior to the effective time of the merger, are no longer directors of Twitter:
Bret Taylor, Parag Agrawal, Omid Kordestani, David Rosenblatt, Martha Lane Fox,
Patrick Pichette, Egon Durban, Fei-Fei Li and Mimi Alemayehou," Musk said
in the filing.
Shortly afterward, Musk tweeted that the move to dissolve
the board "is just temporary," without elaborating.
Last week, Musk's takeover of the social media company for $44
billion concluded a months-long saga.
Since the takeover Musk has moved quickly to put his stamp
on Twitter, which he had ridiculed for months for being slow to introduce
product changes or take down spam accounts.
His teams began meeting with some employees to investigate
Twitter's software code and understand how aspects of the platform worked,
according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Some staff who spoke with Reuters said they had received
little communication from Musk or other leaders and were using news reports to
piece together what was happening at the company.
- Reuters
Comment
Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday reported that its revenue
declined for a second consecutive quarter, hurt by falling advertising sales as
it faces competition from TikTok’s wildly popular video app.
The quarter’s weak results raised fresh questions about
whether Meta’s plans to spend $10 billion a year on the metaverse — a concept
that doesn’t quite exist yet and possibly never will — is prudent while its
main source of revenue is faltering.
The quarterly results from Meta Platforms Inc. sent its
stock tumbling 19% in after-hours trading to $105.20. If the sell-off holds
through Thursday’s regular trading day, it will be the lowest it’s been since
2016. The stock closed Wednesday down 61% for the year.
Meta’s disappointing results followed weak earnings reports
from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft this week. The Menlo Park,
California, company earned $4.4 billion, or $1.64 per share, in the three-month
period that ended Sept. 30. That’s down 52% from, $9.19 billion, or $3.22 per
share, in the same period a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.90 per share, on
average, according to FactSet.
Revenue fell 4% to $27.71 billion from $29.01 billion,
slightly higher than the $27.4 billion that analysts had predicted.
Some of the company’s investors are concerned Meta is
spending too much money and confusing people with its focus on the metaverse, a
virtual, mixed and augmented reality concept that few people understand — while
it also grapples with a weakening advertising business.
“Meta has drifted into the land of excess — too many people,
too many ideas, too little urgency,” wrote Brad Gerstner, the CEO of Meta
shareholder Altimeter Capital, earlier this week in a letter to Meta CEO Mark
Zuckerberg. “This lack of focus and fitness is obscured when growth is easy but
deadly when growth slows and technology changes.”
In addition to an accelerating revenue decline, Meta also
forecast weaker-than-expected sales for the current quarter, further raising
worries that the revenue slump is more of a trend than an aberration.
“While we face near-term challenges on revenue, the
fundamentals are there for a return to stronger revenue growth,” Zuckerberg
said in a statement. “We’re approaching 2023 with a focus on prioritization and
efficiency that will help us navigate the current environment and emerge an
even stronger company.”
Meta said it expects staffing levels to stay roughly the
same as in the current quarter — a departure from previous years’ double-digit
workforce growth. The company had about 87,000 employees as of Sept. 30, an
increase of 28% year-over-year.
“To return to stronger growth, Meta needs to turn its
business around,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “As
Facebook Inc., it was a revolutionary company that changed the way people
communicate and the way marketers interact with consumers. Today it’s no longer
that innovative groundbreaker.”
She added that “Meta would benefit from less priority on the
metaverse and more on fixing its core business.” Meta’s Reality Labs unit,
which includes its metaverse and virtual reality efforts, had an operating loss
of $3.67 billion in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $2.63 billion a
year earlier. Its revenue was $285 million.
Meta said it expects Reality Labs operating losses in 2023
to “grow significantly year-over-year.”
Despite the revenue decline, Meta grew its user base.
Facebook’s monthly active users were 2.96 billion as of Sept. 30, up 2% from a
year earlier. And 3.71 billion people logged in to at least one of Meta’s
family of apps — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Messenger — up 4%
year-over-year.
– AP/UNB
Comment
Yesterday marked 'Data Privacy Day' or 'International Data Security Day,' observed globally, raising awareness about the importance of securing personal information. Various international organizations have implemented various initiatives to promote awareness regarding the security of personal information. According to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) of the United...
Twitter on Saturday began rolling out a controversial new paid subscription system which the social network's unpredictable new owner, billionaire Elon Musk, ordered staff to build after taking over last week. The platform's mobile app began offering an update that will allow users to sign up for the new version of Twitter Blue, which Musk has said will cost $8 a month, and is set to grant users a blue checkmark and perks such as less advertising in their feeds.
Facebook parent Meta on Wednesday reported that its revenue declined for a second consecutive quarter, hurt by falling advertising sales as it faces competition from TikTok’s wildly popular video app. The quarter’s weak results raised fresh questions about whether Meta’s plans to spend $10 billion a year on the metaverse — a concept that doesn’t quite exist yet and possibly never will — is prudent while its main source of revenue is faltering.