(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.)
Pinterest Inc. and Snap Inc. said their revenues grew in the September ending quarter, aided by rise in advertising incomes.
Image-sharing platform Pinterest’s overall revenue grew nearly 60% in the quarter compared with the same period last year. It experienced a push from the advertiser boycott of social media that began in July, prompting a group of advertisers to accelerate their spending on Pinterest, the company said in its earnings call.
Pinterest also said it witnessed many retailers who paused spending in the previous months due to COVID-19 return to the platform. Both companies reported a rise in daily active users.
Multimedia company Snap said its revenue grew by more than 50% in the same quarter, owing to an increase in brand advertising "during the period of uncertainty" referring to the Facebook boycott movement.
This comes after a consortium of businesses decided to hit pause on advertising with Facebook in July, keeping in mind the social media platform’s inability to curb hate speech.
The 'Stop Hate For Profit' movement was participated by an alliance of more than 1000 members including large companies like Unilever, Verizon, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft, Volkswagen and Adidas.
Also read | Ahead of U.S. election, Facebook suspends political and new group recommendations
Facebook earns most of its revenue through its advertising services. The world's second-largest seller of online ads saw a 22% rise in ad revenue last quarter, compared with the same period last year. This is because only a few thousands of Facebook's millions of advertisers joined the boycott movement. Facebook continues to earn from its small advertisers.
Pinterest made a number of investments in ad technology including conversion optimisation, shopping ads and auto-bidding to help diversify advertiser base.
Snap said its augmented reality (AR) platform has helped attract retailers to grow their businesses by way of AR trial and purchase.
Published - November 02, 2020 12:23 pm IST
