Posted 1/22/2024, 7:49:19 PM
Meta Exits News as Google Takes Over; Publishers Lose Traffic, But Wall Street Bets on Meta's Future Focus Areas
- Meta is getting out of the news business and distributing less news content, impacting publishers who relied on Facebook traffic
- Facebook previously accounted for 33% of publishers' social traffic, but that dropped to 50% from December 2021 to December 2022
- Google is taking over Facebook's news distribution share, increasing from 26% in 2018 to 38% in 2023
- Though Meta's news departure caused a stock dip, shares nearly tripled in the last year as it focused on Reels, VR, AI instead
- Wall Street analysts rate Meta stock as a Strong Buy with an average price target of $403.58, implying 5.62% upside