Amazon’s ad business grew 19%, unlike Google’s Meta

Amazon’s ad business continues to grow despite a general slowdown in digital advertising that has hurt companies like Google parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta and Snap.

The e-commerce giant’s advertising services unit generated $11.6 billion in sales in the fourth quarter, up 19% year-over-year, according to an earnings report Thursday.

While Amazon’s advertising division still accounts for a small portion of the $149.2 billion in revenue the company posted in the fourth quarter, it is a fast-growing area that analysts believe could become a major player in the digital market. advertising.

Indeed, while investors were pleased that Meta was cutting costs, the company’s fourth-quarter sales fell 4% year-over-year to $32.17 billion.

Meta executives explained on a call with analysts on Wednesday that they don’t see an immediate recovery in the digital advertising market anytime soon. Susan Lee, the company’s chief financial officer, said: “In line with our expectations, Q4 revenue remained pressured by weak advertising demand, which we believe continues to be impacted by an uncertain and volatile macroeconomic landscape.”

Meanwhile, Alphabet on Thursday reported fourth-quarter ad revenue of $59.04 billion, down from $61.24 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Alphabet’s YouTube ad unit, which faces competition from TikTok, brought in $7.96 billion in the fourth quarter, down 8% from a year ago.

Digital advertising tech companies are under pressure from several factors, including a tough economy, increased competition from TikTok, and the lingering effects of an appleiOS 2021 Privacy Update.

Insider Intelligence’s latest research on the share of digital advertising revenue worldwide found that Amazon now has 7.3% of the total online advertising market, trailing AlphabetMeta-owned Google, Facebook and Instagram account for 28.8%, 11.4% and 9.1% of the digital advertising market respectively.