Facebook usage soars during coronavirus pandemic

An attendee takes a photograph of a sign during Facebook Inc's F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam — Stephen Lam / Reuters

The coronavirus pandemic has, so far, been very good for Facebook’s metrics. It can’t say the same for its ad business.

The company saw a surge in user growth, with an average of more than 1.73 billion daily active users (DAUs) in March, Facebook reported in its first quarterly earnings for 2020. That’s up from 1.66 billion in the previous quarter. Across its “family of apps,” which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, daily active users climbed to 2.36 billion, up from 2.26 billion at the end of last year.

At the same time, the company warned of “a significant reduction in the demand for advertising” in a statement that echoed similar remarks from Google a day earlier. Facebook had previously advised that ad revenue would take a hit, despite a surge in usage around the world.

"Our business has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and, like all companies, we are facing a period of unprecedented uncertainty in our business outlook,” the company wrote in a statement. “We expect our business performance will be impacted by issues beyond our control, including the duration and efficacy of shelter-in-place orders, the effectiveness of economic stimuli around the world, and the fluctuations of currencies relative to the U.S. dollar."

We’ll be listening to Facebook’s call with investors and will update with any new information.

In this article: Facebook, earnings, Social media, Covid-19, coronavirus, news, gear

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