After Musk’s Twitter Blue, Now Zuckerburg Comes Up with Meta Verified

In a Facebook post, Meta Platforms (NYSE: META) CEO Mark Zuckerburg announced a new paid subscription called “Meta Verified.” The verification service is similar to Twitter Blue.

Instagram and Facebook users would need to submit a government identity card to get the blue verification badge.

Meta Platforms would charge users $11.99 if the subscription is taken on the web. However, the company would charge $14.99 per month on iOS. Here again, the pricing methodology is similar to that of Twitter Blue which also charges a higher fee if the subscription is taken on Google or Apple App stores.

Twitter has kept the monthly subscription at $8 for the web and $11 for iOS and Android. It also offers an $84 annual subscription but the option is only available on the web and not the app stores.

Meta Platforms launches paid verification

In his Facebook post, Zuckerburg said the paid verification would help subscribers “get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support.” He added, “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services.”

Zuckerburg also said that initially the company would launch the service in New Zealand and Australia and would “soon” roll out the service in other countries.

The paid verification service comes at a time when Meta Platforms is facing multiple headwinds. On one hand, its revenues are falling and 2022 was the first year in history when the company’s revenues fell YoY. On the other hand, soaring costs and costly metaverse investments are taking a toll on the company’s profitability.

Meta posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings

Meta Platforms reported revenues of $32.17 billion in Q4 2022 which was ahead of the $31.53 billion that analysts were expecting. The actual results were towards the upper end of the $30 billion-$32.5 billion guidance that the company provided in the Q3 2022 earnings call.

The revenues however fell 4% YoY. The social media giant’s revenues have fallen YoY for three consecutive quarters. The lower end of its guidance implied a fall in Q1 2023 revenues also. However, the upper end of its guidance implies a slight rise in revenues.

Looking at the other metrics, Meta Platforms reported a DAP (daily active people) of 2.9 billion in December which was 5% higher YoY. Monthly active people across the Family of Apps rose 4% to 3.74 billion over the period.

Facebook DAUs hit 2 billion in December

It reported an ARPU (average revenue per user) of $10.86 which was better than the $10.63 that analysts were expecting.

Facebook’s DAUs (daily active users) rose 4% YoY and reached 2 billion in December. It is a new milestone for the company even as the growth rates have come down significantly amid saturation in key markets. In Q4, while ad impressions across platforms increased by 23%, the average price per ad decreased by 22%.

Zuckerburg touted “efficiency” and productivity

Last year, Meta Platforms laid off 11,000 employees which were 13% of its workforce. Reports suggest that the company is contemplating another round of layoffs.

During the Q4 2022 earnings call, Zuckerburg said that 2022 was a “challenging year.” He however added that the company “ended it having made good progress on our main priorities and setting ourselves up to deliver better results this year as long as we keep pushing on efficiency.”

He said that the company is working to reorganize its organizational structure and is removing some layers of middle management.  Zuckerburg said that Meta Platforms is working to increase productivity.

Efficiency is the new mantra for Meta Platforms

He added, “As part of this, we’re going to be more proactive about cutting projects that aren’t performing or may no longer be as crucial.”

He emphasized, “But my main focus is on increasing the efficiency of how we execute our top priorities. So, I think that there’s going to be some more that we can do to improve our productivity, speed and cost structure. And by working on this over a sustained period, I think we’ll both build a stronger technology company and become more profitable.”

Zuckerburg sees the metaverse as a long-term driver

Zuckerburg said that in the short term, AI is the company’s priority. In the long term, however, he sees the metaverse as the company’s key driver.

Meta Platforms’ investments in the nascent metaverse business have irked many investors. The business posted a loss of $13.7 billion in 2022. In the past, Zuckerburg has defended the investments and said that they are crucial for the company’s long-term success.

Meta Platforms growth has come down

During the earnings call, Zuckerburg said, “The first 18 years I think we grew it 20%, 30% compound or a lot more every year.” He added, “And then obviously that changed very dramatically in 2022, where our revenue was negative for growth, for the first time in the company’s history.”

Commenting on the slowdown, Zuckerburg stated that “We don’t anticipate that that’s going to continue.” He, however, added that the company’s growth rates would not rise to what it has witnessed in the past.

Notably, last year Apple iPhone privacy rules negatively impacted Meta Platforms and the company estimated that they shaved off $10 billion from its annual revenues.

Global ad spending has sagged

Also, the global digital ad market has slowed down which is hurting the earnings of companies like Meta Platforms, Snap, Twitter, as well as Google.

Twitter’s woes are compounded by the mass exodus of advertisers from the platform after Musk took over. It is now working to diversify its revenue base and apart from the paid Twitter Blue subscription, it is reportedly contemplating charging $1,000 for the gold-verified company accounts.

Zuckerburg has taken a leaf out of Musk’s books. Incidentally, in 2019, Facebook removed its famous slogan “it’s free and it always will be.” With the paid verification, Meta Platforms is apparently looking to enhance its revenues and profitability at a time when it is under increased scrutiny for the targeted ads.