In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Meta doubles down on metaverse spend as ad business shows recovery; Netflix reworks its ad partnership with Microsoft against sluggish sales; and THG buys freesheet City A.M.

Meta sees ad business rebound

Social media giant Meta has reported its highest quarterly sales growth in two years. Ad revenue grew by around 12% in the second quarter of the year, thanks in part to the company’s use of AI for improved ad targeting. The rebound follows aggressive cuts under Mark Zuckerberg’s “year of efficiency”, however the firm continued to invest in the experimental Reality Labs. Despite the studio bleeding funds, Meta shows no signs of slowing spend on AR development.

Netflix reworks Microsoft partnership, lowers ad prices

With its new ad-supported tier struggling to gain traction, Netflix is restructuring its advertising pact with Microsoft. The software giant gave Netflix a “minimum guarantee” when the two firms partnered last year, promising a large influx of advertising revenue to lower the company’s financial risk. Executives at the streaming giant, however, have been frustrated with Microsoft’s sluggish sales, and the company is now offering lower rates to advertisers in the hope of sparking growth.

THG acquires City A.M. paper

London’s free business newspaper, City A.M., has been bought by THG for an undisclosed sum. The freesheet has been on the brink of administration for some time, with its founders seeking an outright sale after accruing £1.2m in debt by the end of 2021. Commenting on the purchase, THG CEO Matthew Moulding said the company had “long been reviewing opportunities in the disruptive media space”. The billionaire previously lashed out at FT journalists for what he considered unfair coverage of the health and beauty platform.

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Fact of the Day

70,000 – City A.M.'s daily circulation.

Source: The Guardian

Last Week's Tech Teasers

Last week’s tech teasers challenged you to match the facts to either video or audio. How well did you do? Check out the answers below!

• Audio – 61% of people stay tuned throughout ads on this medium ??‍?‍??
• Video – China is the second-highest spender in this category ??
• Video  – 82% of global internet traffic came from this medium in 2022 ?
• Audio – Global spend in this market is set to exceed USD$38bn this year ?
• Audio – saw streaming rise to 80% in the US market by 2020 ?  

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