The number of Facebook users in the U.S. and Canada declined as shown by the company’s third-quarter earnings released on Thursday.
From 198 million a quarter earlier, the number of Facebook users in U.S. and Canada fell to 196 million. According to the tech giant, its U.S. and Canada user base had broadened during the second quarter, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook warned that it expects its user base in the U.S. and Canada to be flat or decline in the fourth quarter.
The social networking app’s user base in Europe is still flat at 305 million daily active users for the third consecutive quarter.
Meanwhile, Facebook noted it counts 3.21 billion monthly users across its empire of apps, compared to 3.14 billion in the previous quarter. This metric assesses Facebook’s total user base across its main app, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
Analysts from CNBC believe that the StopHateForProfit ad boycott did not affect the company’s advertising business, with ad revenue posting a 22% increase compared to a year ago.
Moreover, the company now caters to 10 million active advertisers, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. That figure is an increase from 9 million in July. The boycott involved more than 1,000 advertisers that stopped ads on the social network during the month of July to condemn the company’s hate speech and misinformation rules.
Fourth-quarter prediction
Facebook predicts its fourth-quarter ad revenue growth rate to be bigger than the third quarter, due to the holiday season demand.
Facebook’s “Other” revenue posted $249 million for the quarter, a 7% decline compared to last year. This covers sales of Oculus virtual reality headsets and the Portal video-chatting devices. According to the company, sales of the Oculus Quest 2 are thriving and could push its “Other” revenue in the fourth quarter.
Despite Apple’s decision to postpone ad tracking changes to iOS 14, Facebook notes that it could cause issues.
“In addition, we expect more significant targeting and measurement headwinds in 2021,” the company said in its earnings report. “This includes headwinds from platform changes, notably on Apple iOS 14, as well as those from the evolving regulatory landscape,” the company said.
Facebook’s earnings report shows the following:
- Earnings: $2.71 cents per share, vs $1.91 per share forecast by Refinitiv
- Revenue: $21.47 billion, vs $19.8 billion forecast by Refinitiv
- Daily active users (DAUs): 1.82 billion vs. 1.79 billion forecast by FactSet
- Monthly active users (MAUs): 2.74 billion vs. 2.7 billion forecast by FactSet
- Average revenue per user (ARPU): $7.89 vs. $7.32 forecast by FactSet
Facebook users during election season
Despite the decline of its U.S. users, Facebook announced that it helped 4.4 million people register to vote for the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.
According to the company’s estimates, it helped 2 million people register in 2016 and 2018.
The increase in the numbers suggests that social media companies are reaching more potential voters. Earlier in the year, Facebook launched a voting information center to present resources about voting, such as how to register and how to vote.
According to the information center, the election results would not be accessible for days or weeks after Nov. 3. due to the coronavirus pandemic and an increased number of people voting by mail. There is also a message pinned at the top of users’ feeds with details about the election, such as voting deadlines.
