Facebook Outlines Its Plans To Create A “Metaverse”

Facebook Outlines Its Plans To Create A “Metaverse”
Edward Pollitt
By Edward Pollitt
SHARE
THIS



Facebook has joined the likes of Twitter and Snap in posting strong Q2 results, but the social media giant is now warning of a significant slowdown in the coming months.

Facebook posted 56 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to reach $US29.08 billion ($39.3 billion) – marking the fastest growth since 2016.

The strong growth has been attributed to a 47 per cent increase in average price per ad, along with a 6 per cent increase in the number of ads it delivered.

“We had a strong quarter as we continue to help businesses grow and people stay connected,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “I’m excited to see our major initiatives around creators and community, commerce, and building the next computing platform coming together to start to bring the vision of the metaverse to life.”

However, the company has flagged a looming decrease in the rate of revenue growth.

“In the third and fourth quarters of 2021, we expect year-over-year total revenue growth rates to decelerate significantly on a sequential basis as we lap periods of increasingly strong growth,” the company said in a statement.

“When viewing growth on a two-year basis to exclude the impacts from lapping the COVID-19 recovery, we expect year-over-two-year total revenue growth to decelerate modestly in the second half of 2021 compared to the second-quarter growth rate.”

Creating a “metaverse”

Facebook’s latest results come as the company flags its desire to create a ‘metaverse’ – a new concept that combines virtual worlds.

The concept will bring together AR and VR technologies, which Facebook has been investing in through the acquisition of Oculus and other innovations.

Zuckerberg described it as: “an embodied Internet that you are inside of”.

Head of Facebook’s Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth said the concept will bring these new technologies into the mainstream.

“Today Portal and Oculus can teleport you into a room with another person, regardless of physical distance, or to new virtual worlds and experiences,” Bosworth said.

“But to achieve our full vision of the Metaverse, we also need to build the connective tissue between these spaces — so you can remove the limitations of physics and move between them with the same ease as moving from one room in your home to the next.”

While a shift towards any potential metaverse may increase Facebook’s revenue from hardware (VR headsets etc), it is likely Zuckerberg’s new vision for the internet will still include options for advertisers.

Please login with linkedin to comment

Facebook

Latest News

72andSunny Unveils First Campaign For Plant-Based Drink Brand Australia’s Own
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns

72andSunny Unveils First Campaign For Plant-Based Drink Brand Australia’s Own

Freedom Foods and 72andSunny Sydney have launched the first advertising campaign for Australia’s Own range of plant-based beverages. The campaign introduces a new visual world and identity for the brand and captures the healthy, positive feeling you get when spending time in nature and when consuming Australia’s Own certified-organic, plant-based beverages. As well as featuring […]

Are You Paying Too Much In Search Marketing?
  • Partner Content

Are You Paying Too Much In Search Marketing?

Are you paying too much for search marketing? Discover the awful truth here. Or, alternatively, look at the invoice.

Partner Content

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Nine APAC Finalists In One Club’s Young Guns 19 Competition
  • Advertising

Nine APAC Finalists In One Club’s Young Guns 19 Competition

Nine creatives from APAC are among the 94 finalists from 27 countries in The One Club for Creativity’s prestigious Young Guns 19 competition, celebrating international creative professionals age 30 or younger. The finalists from APAC are: Hiu Ching Kung, graphic designer, Hong Kong Lam Ieong Kun, graphic designer, illustrator, indego design, Macau Raxenne Maniquiz, graphic designer, illustrator, Santa Maria (Philippines) Kiyotaka […]

Adflow’s Regional OOH Coverage Expands By 60%
  • Media

Adflow’s Regional OOH Coverage Expands By 60%

OOH transit company Adflow has announced the success of the first phase of its regional expansion program. Adflow’s regional footprint has increased by 60 per cent to now include 65 regional locations. With 9.1 million people living regionally in Australia (growth of 1.1 per cent experienced in the 19/20 Financial year) and most regional centres […]

Freshworks Starts Trading On Nasdaq, Valued at $13.7 Billion
  • Technology

Freshworks Starts Trading On Nasdaq, Valued at $13.7 Billion

Freshworks, a leading software company, has started trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, marking an important milestone for the company. The company priced its IPO at US$36 per share (AU$49.76), raising about US$1 billion (AU$1.4B), resulting in a total market capitalisation of AU$13.7 billion  (US$10B). Freshworks, which was founded in India, has strong roots […]

SLIK Announces Four New Key Hires
  • Marketing
  • Media

SLIK Announces Four New Key Hires

Independent creative agency, SLIK, has made significant changes to its full service creative offering with four hires across management, creative and production.

How Retailers Can Maximise Their Results This Sales Season
  • Marketing
  • Technology

How Retailers Can Maximise Their Results This Sales Season

Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) is the biggest player in the holiday shopping game and Google’s most recent research suggests consumer interest for the peak sales season starts much earlier than retailers may realise. The pandemic has fundamentally changed buyer behaviour over peak sales season, with Google suggesting that global consumer interest in Black Friday […]