Meta says a number of factors, including Apple’s iOS updates and supply-chain disruptions, have created “headwinds” for the company which reported US$33.67 billion in revenues for the December quarter.
Total revenue was up 20% year-on-year, from US$28.07 billion the same time last year. Meta’s annual revenue was up 37% to US$117.93 billion, marking the first time the business has generated more than $100 billion in annual revenue.
Advertising revenue hit US$32.64 billion for the quarter, up 20% year-on-year.
Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg says while 2021 saw growth for the company, there were a number of factors that created headwinds for it in the fourth quarter, including Apple’s iOS updates.
“We were lapping a period of strong demand in 2020 that benefited from very strong growth in online commerce, which has since slowed,” Sandberg says.
“Q4 was also the first holiday season after Apple’s iOS changes, which have had an impact on businesses of all sizes – especially small businesses who rely on digital advertising to grow. This will continue to be a factor in 2022.
“We’ve also heard from advertisers about other macro trends that contributed to the headwinds in Q4, including global supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and inflationary pressures.
“A number of industry reports have pointed to people shopping earlier in the holiday season to avoid potential supply chain issues and shipping delays. This is in line with the behavior we saw from advertisers, many of whom frontloaded their spend earlier than usual.”
Sanberg says the iOS updates from Apple meant the accuracy of its ads targeting decreased, which increased the cost of driving outcomes. The updates also means measuring the outcomes became more difficult.
For the fourth quarter, ad impressions delivered across Meta’s apps increased by 13% year-over-year and the average price per ad increased by 6% year-over-year. For the full year 2021, ad impressions increased by 10% year-over-year and the average price per ad increased by 24% year-over-year.
“We’re working to try and improve things, for example by making progress in closing the underreporting gap for iOS web conversions, and by introducing tools like our Aggregated Events Measurement solution to deliver better insights for advertisers,” she says.
“These efforts will help to mitigate some of the challenges, but we expect the overall targeting and measurement headwinds to moderately increase from Apple’s changes and from regulatory changes in Q1 and throughout 2022.”
Facebook’s daily active users were 1.93 billion on average for December 2021, an increase of 5% year-over-year. Meanwhile, Facebook’s Monthly active users were 2.91 billion as of December 31, 2021, up 4% year-over-year.
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