Join us at the Digiday Publishing Summit from March 24-26 in Vail
Digiday Research: 56% of buyers say clients paused Facebook ad spend this month
This research is based on unique data collected from our proprietary audience of publisher, agency, brand and tech insiders. It’s available to Digiday+ members. More from the series →
More than half—56%—of agency buyers said that their clients had paused Facebook ad spend this month in response to the “Stop Hate for Profit” campaign.
The survey by Digiday found that about 40% said their clients had not paused spending on Facebook, while 4% didn’t know.
When asked if they believed if the current boycott will actually result in Facebook implementing meaningful changes, 55% said they didn’t believe it would.
While brands have “boycotted” Facebook before, this year’s movement seems to be bigger. Calls from civil rights groups have asked Facebook to enforce policies about hate speech differently, fueled by mass anger at systemic injustices and racism in the U.S. after the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Advertisers like REI and Patagonia have joined in, along with big agencies.
It’s yet to be seen if this makes any actual difference. Most brands were planning to cut spend anyway, because of the current crisis.
Reasons on what the “demands” of the boycott were varied. The vast majority said Facebook’s brand values did not align with client brand values, while their clients would spend more with Facebook if it had a “better reputation.”
About 41% said they expect client to resume spending by the end of July, while 26% said it would be at the end of the third quarter. About 17% said it wouldn’t resume until Facebook makes “meaningful changes.”
More in Media
The Trump tariffs are forcing creators to overhaul their side businesses
The Donald Trump administration’s tariffs, which impose an additional 10 percent duty on Chinese imports, have led to an increase in creators’ business costs.
Brands’ interest in “Grand Theft Auto” is mounting — but questions about brand safety remain
Although it remains unclear whether Rockstar’s stance toward brands will soften for “GTA 6,” the game developer is certainly aware of “GTA’s” power as a distribution network, both for its own products and for outside advertisers.
Media Briefing: Podcasters test different types of paywalls for subscriptions
Podcasters discuss testing out different podcast subscriptions, and how to grow them as a complement (or alternative) to advertising revenue at this year’s On Air Fest event.