At the beginning of the pandemic Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) saw a surge in the number of daily active users, but the numbers declined in the US and Canada. The company reported in its Q3 earnings that it lost 2 million users in North America.
DAUs drop by 2 million in Q3
The number of daily active users in North America dropped to 196 million in Q3, down from 198 million in Q2. The company also indicated that monthly active users dropped from 256 million in Q2 to 255 million. Facebook indicated that the decline was expected and could go on through the end of 2020.
According to a press release issued by the company, there was a drop in DAUs and MAUs in North America from the elevated levels in Q2 due to the pandemic’s impact. In Q4 2020, the company said the trend will go on, and DAUs and MAUs numbers will be flat in Canada and the US compared to Q3 2020. Facebook saw a surge in the number of daily active users at the beginning of this year because of widespread lockdowns.
However, the company is not experiencing the same decline elsewhere as the social network adds more new users in Asia and the “rest of world” markets. Facebook continues to tout its “family of apps” metrics that include Instagram, Messenger, Facebook, and WhatsApp. The total number of daily active users increased to 2.54 billion in September.
Revenue jumps 22% YoY
Despite the decline in daily active users, this didn’t affect revenue, which grew 22% YoY to $21.4 billion, topping analysts’ estimates. Even though there was an advertiser boycott in the last quarter, the company generated over $18 billion in ad revenue.
Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, indicated that Facebook is preparing for the upcoming US election, but he is concerned about the possibility of civil unrest after the elections. The company has measures in place to address this like banning political ads post-election day and a crackdown on QAnon.