Jan 25 (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s possible return to Meta Platforms (META.O) Facebook and Instagram is unlikely to change advertisers’ standing at the world’s No. 1 platform, an ad agency executive said. How the two biggest digital ad agencies spend their money.
That’s good news for Meta, whose share price has halved over the past year as brands slash marketing budgets to combat historic inflation, slowing ad spending.
In a blog post announcing Trump’s reinstatement on Wednesday, Mehta said he would face “heavier penalties for repeat offences.” The company then known as Facebook banned Trump two years ago after he praised rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
While Meta’s deliberations over whether to reinstate Trump are closely watched, ad buyers say the platform’s broad reach of 3.7 billion users is too important for many businesses.
“Polarizing characters are present across all platforms. It’s a moot point when brands need to drive sales and sign-ups,” said Darren D’Altorio, social director at Wpromote, an ad agency that works with brands like Whirlpool and TransUnion.
D’Altorio, however, said Trump’s reinstatement exacerbated longstanding concerns about how social media platforms ensure ads don’t appear next to content that marketers deem inappropriate.
On Wednesday, civil rights groups including the NAACP and GLAAD blasted Mehta’s decision.
In July 2020, thousands of advertisers boycotted Facebook as part of a rights movement to force the platform to do more to prevent hate speech, but the boycott had little impact on the company’s revenue.
Erica Patrick, senior vice president of paid social media at IPG (IPG.N) Mediahub, said Trump’s influence has waned since leaving office, which may be one reason why clients aren’t asking about the impact of his returns on their ads. Has worked with Netflix (NFLX.O) and Western Union (WU.N).
In November, new Twitter owner Elon Musk lifted Trump’s permanent ban from the platform.
Many of Twitter’s top advertisers paused spending after Musk took over Twitter and quickly fired thousands of employees and oversaw a botched verification feature that allowed scammers to pose as public companies.
Ad spending on Twitter slumped in the last two months of 2022, according to the Standard Media Index, which measures ad spending from ad agency data.
Yvonne Williams, vice president of media for Code3, whose Tiffany & Co is one of its clients, said brands will be watching closely how Meta will “monitor[Trump]and follow the rules they set. .”
Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Katie Paul in Palo Alto, California; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Christopher Cushing
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