Meta is gradually readjusting its priority scheme. As you may remember, the social media company changed its name in 2021 to reflect its strong commitment to the metaverse, its biggest and most ambitious project. At the time, Mark Zuckerberg seemed convinced that the future of digital social connections would lie in immersive virtual reality worlds.
Product of that initial enthusiasm, Meta began an intense campaign whose purpose was to exhibit the benefits of the metaverse. In addition to interviews with the media where the idea was shown, the plan included telling advertisers the commercial advantages they would have in this new product so that they could build their influence from the current Horizon Words platform.
Is Meta moving away from the metaverse?
Now, according to The Information, the company has stopped naming the metaverse in meetings with brands that buy advertising on its platforms. Instead, every minute of advertisers’ precious time is devoted to introducing improvements to their other products, like Reels, the TikTok-style videos that have slowly flooded the Instagram feed and crowded out photos.
Facebook’s parent company is also introducing improvements to its ad platform. In the meetings with the brands, Advantage+ is also presented, an artificial intelligence system that aims to improve the delivery of targeted ads in the different social networks of the conglomerate driven by algorithms, as well as new generative tools for the creation of campaigns.
The metaverse, remember, has become a money-burning machine. Reality Labs, the division tasked with bringing this virtual reality dream world to life, has asked for more than $13.7 billion since the project was announced. And, as if that were not enough, within the company itself they admit that it will not be profitable in the short term and that the ecosystem still needs years of development.
The arrival of the Meta Quest Pro has been a very important step. These are the virtual reality glasses with which developers can begin to immerse themselves in the metaverse and literally build their possibilities. However, as we say, it is a product that is not yet aimed at the general public and has a price of 1,799.99 dollars that leaves it within the reach of a few.
Now, while the ideal concept of the metaverse is in a very primitive phase (and thirsty for millions of dollars to continue growing), the social networking company sees interest in its flagship project seem to fade before its eyes. This scenario, added to the current economic challenges, may have been essential for Zuckerberg to declare 2023 the “Year of Efficiency”.
Meta is now not only focused on short-term profit, but has embarked on a drastic turnaround plan that includes more than 20,000 layoffs, high optimization, and reduced operating expenses. This is how we have seen how projects such as NFTs on Facebook and Instagram recently came to an end. We don’t know what the next move will be, but times are changing at Meta.
