[mFixman]

Disclaimer: I'm a former Meta employee and I still hold a bit of love and nostalgia for the company.

The article is right to point out that Meta has by far the largest and most sophisticated ad targeting and tracking system in the market. The problem is that even if you don't count Apple's ATT the window of places where they can use it is getting smaller: Facebook the app is a shell of its former self, WhatsApp is un-monetiseable despite a lot of attempts to get companies to pay directly to talk to other users, and new acquisitions are impossible in this post-Obama era. Instagram is growing, but mostly in countries with relarively low ad spending levels.

And there comes the difference between this drop and the one in 2018: ads work when people want to spend money on products. The pressures of inflation, rising cost of living, and devaluation of almost every currency to the USD is putting a block in the one reliable source of income for the company.

I would bet on Meta's stock price rising if the economic and social crisis in Europe magically improves tomorrow. Otherwise, it's a matter of believing in the Metaverse and hoping the Oculus Pro becomes successful enough to at least provide another large source of revenue for the company.

[drewda]

> ads work when people want to spend money on products

That's a good "30,000 foot view" summary of how consumer advertising businesses work.