Earnings beat forecasts
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Facebook blew past Wall Street's expectations yet again with its quarterly earnings report, despite some concerns that its “ad load,” or the number of advertisements it can show users without clogging up their feed, has reached its limit.
Facebook on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $3.56 billion, up sharply from $1.56 billion in the same period a year earlier.
On a per-share basis, the company said it had net income of $1.21, up from 54 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $1.41 per share in the latest quarter.
The social media company posted revenue of $8.81 billion in the period, which also beat Wall Street forecasts.
— AP
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Updated 24 minutes ago
NEW YORK — From billboards to TV ads to endless notifications, Facebook is furiously promoting its live video feature as it tries to get more users to shoot and watch such videos.
But will it be a big business for the social network? The prospects for advertisers are uncertain, and even when users do “go live” — broadcasting their toddler's first steps to family or showing footage from protests around the world, for instance — their friends often don't see it until after the fact, just like any other recorded video.
So why all the big fuss?
Some analysts believe it's just another in Facebook's ongoing efforts to keep people attached to its service as long as possible. “It's a usage thing — keeping them engaged, keeping them on Facebook, giving them an avenue to share,” eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson says. “As long as Facebook can be successful with that, it can show ads to them.”
As is its custom, the company is first pushing the service to as many of its 1.8 billion users as possible. Users get special notifications when their friends go live, and ads prompting them to do the same have been prevalent in the last few weeks.
But making money off live streams isn't easy, starting with the fact that they offer few opportunities to display video ads. But that's OK, Williamson says, arguing that now is the time for marketers to experiment with the feature.
Some are already doing just that — not by advertising on other live broadcasts, but by streaming themselves. General Motors, for example, was the first automaker to livestream on Facebook, rolling out its Chevy Bolt EV at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show.
News outlets live-streamed the presidential debates as well as election night and Donald Trump's inauguration and Tuesday's Supreme Court nomination. Users, meanwhile, are broadcasting from sports events, protests and their living rooms.
At the same time, live videos that have gotten outsize attention — those showing police shootings, for instance — are not exactly good PR for the company. While the vast majority of live streams don't involve violence or crime, Williamson says the negative connotations are “definitely a red flag and could cause advertisers to take a second look on whether it makes sense for them.”
There's another upside for live video: anecdotally, it is popular with young users, the generation that's following millennials, Parrish says. For Facebook, this could be a good way to fend off criticism that it's losing popularity with the younger set.
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