Chart Of The Day: Facebook Seems To Be Able To Do What Google Can't

 | Aug 04, 2020 09:49

Much has been written about how advertising dollars have been drying up during the coronavirus pandemic. That's a primary reason Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) earnings disappointed last week.

At the same time the parent company of Google reported, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)—which is also heavily dependent on ad spending and has been the target of a highly publicized advertising boycott—released results too, but the social media giant surprised to the upside. 

The reason Google’s advertising funnel is drying up during this pandemic while Facebook’s ad revenues continue to grow is this: Google's AdWords system relies on user searches to find products or services whereas Facebook targets users and shows them ads based on their interests.

A Google search may be more effective in the short-term and lead to an actual sale, but Facebook's targeted approach enhances a brand’s influence over the longer term while building a loyal base fan, leading to overall higher growth over an expanded period of time. 

Technicals are echoing these business models.