Mark Zuckerberg labels 2023 'Year of Efficiency' for Meta

Mark Zuckerberg has called 2023 the "Year of Efficiency” for Meta as the company focuses on “becoming a stronger and more nimble organisation”. The news sent stocks surging by 19%.

In its quarterly statement, the company said it expects the first quarter total revenue to be in the range of US$26-US$28.5 billion, and it anticipates that the full-year 2023 total expenses will be in the range of US$89-US$95 billion, lowered from its prior outlook of US$94-US$100 billion.

The report also said that ad impressions and price per ad across its family of apps increased by 23% year-over-year, and the average price per ad decreased by 22% year-over-year. For the full year 2022, ad impressions increased by 18% year-over-year and the average price per ad decreased by 16% year-over-year.  Meanwhile, monetisation for Reels on Facebook also reportedly doubled in the last six months.

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Earlier this year, Meta also has put up a blogpost stating that it will no longer enable advertisers to target ads at teens based on gender. Come February onwards, Meta says that age and location will be the only information about a teen that will be used to show them ads.

The company also expects to record an estimated US$1 billion in restructuring charges in 2023 related to consolidating of its facilities footprint. The statement also added that the company may incur additional restructuring charges as it progresses further in its efficiency resorts. The reduced outlook reflects Meta’s updated plans for lower data center construction spend in 2023 as it shifts to a new data center architecture that is more cost efficient and can support both AI and non-AI workloads.

"Our community continues to grow and I'm pleased with the strong engagement across our apps. Facebook just reached the milestone of two billion daily actives," said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. "The progress we're making on our AI discovery engine and Reels are major drivers of this.”

Meanwhile, Meta shook the industry at the tail end of 2022 when it announced its axe of 13% of its global headcount, amounting up to 11,000 staff.

Zuckerberg told employees then that the company would also be taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending its hiring freeze through the first quarter of next year. While it is making reductions in every organisation across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs, recruiting will be "disproportionately affected" since it is planning to hiring fewer individuals next year.

Much of Meta’s revenue was also impacted in 2022 due to a dwindling number of youth’s on the platform and companies cut back on marketing spending due to economic woes.

Earlier this year, Meta also has put up a blogpost stating that it will no longer enable advertisers to target ads at teens based on gender. Come February onwards, Meta says that age and location will be the only information about a teen that will be used to show them ads.

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