Half of US marketers boycott Facebook
Facebook is being boycotted by marketers in the U.S. Nevertheless, #StopHateForProfit has had little success—the platform increased its profits in July.
A good one in two US marketers boycotted social media giant Facebook in July. This is shown in a survey by Digiday . In the course of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, companies such as the ice cream manufacturer Ben and Jerry's and the sporting goods company Adidas refuse to continue paying for advertising space on the platform. According to the brands, Facebook is doing too little to stop hate and incitement on its own platform.
Protest rather symbolic
Digiday conducted the survey of 104 media agency representatives. 56 percent of respondents say their clients no longer pay for advertising space on Facebook. However, this step is only rather symbolic for the agencies. 55 percent believe that the boycott will not result in any meaningful changes.
In fact, #StopHateForProfit has hardly damaged Facebook's bottom line. "Some wrongly assume that our business depends on a few larger advertisers," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. In July, the company said profit grew ten percent compared to the same period last year.
Brands already return
Although Facebook's reputation has suffered from various scandals in recent years, many marketers still can't get away from the platform. According to Digiday, 41 percent of brands will return to Facebook as early as August. Another 26 percent will follow at the end of the third quarter and 13 percent will wait until the end of the year. (pte/hae)
