Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
Owner of Facebook and Instagram, and the most widely used place to buy clicks for social-to-search campaigns.
Menlo Park, California, USA · founded 2004 · facebook.com/business
META NASDAQ
What Meta (Facebook & Instagram) does
Meta sells ads inside Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and its other apps. An advertiser tells Meta what result it wants, and Meta's systems decide who sees the ad. For search arbitrage, Meta is the main shop where clicks are bought.
A typical campaign shows a Facebook ad about, say, home insurance offers. The click lands on an article with related search terms, and the money is made on the search ads that follow. This is Social-to-search. Buyers send revenue data back to Meta through the Conversions API so its algorithm learns which clicks paid.
Meta is not a partner in the scheme; it simply sells the ads. Its ad review rejects misleading creatives, and accounts that break its rules are closed. Google's 2025 requirement that RSOC publishers pass on the exact text of the referring ad was aimed at this kind of traffic.
How it makes money
Almost entirely advertising, sold by auction across its apps.
Where it meets invalid traffic
The risk here is deception more than bots: Clickbait or misleading ad creatives that promise something the landing page does not deliver. That harms users, breaks Meta's rules, and now breaks Google's RSOC rules as well.
Products
- Meta Ads Manager
- Advantage+
- Conversions API
- Meta Pixel
Quarterly revenue
From SEC XBRL filings · latest quarter +28.0% year on yearQuarterly net income
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $117.9B | $116.6B | $134.9B | $164.5B | $201B |
| Net income | $39.4B | $23.2B | $39.1B | $62.4B | $60.5B |
| Diluted EPS | $13.77 | $8.59 | $14.87 | $23.86 | $23.49 |
Earnings, explained
Meta's Q2 revenue jumps 28%, but profit falls on higher costs
Meta reported second quarter 2026 revenue of $60.80 billion, up 28% year-over-year. Net income fell 14% to $15.85 billion, as costs and expenses surged 55% to $42.03 billion, including $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.18 billion in severance. Diluted EPS was $6.18, down from $7.14 a year ago. For Q3, Meta expects revenue between $61-64 billion and raised its full-year expense outlook to $165-169 billion.
Meta's strong revenue growth shows continued demand for its advertising products, but rising costs—especially from legal and restructuring charges—are pressuring profits. This highlights both the company's scale and the challenges of managing regulatory and operational risks in the digital ad market.
SEC filings
EDGAR| Filed | Form | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-30 | 10-Q | Quarterly report |
| 2026-07-29 | 8-K | Results of operations (earnings) · Financial statements and exhibits |
| 2026-05-29 | 8-K | Shareholder vote |
| 2026-05-04 | 8-K | Other events · Financial statements and exhibits |
| 2026-04-30 | 10-Q | Quarterly report |
| 2026-04-29 | 8-K | Results of operations (earnings) · Financial statements and exhibits |
| 2026-04-16 | DEF 14A | DEF 14A |
| 2026-04-14 | 8-K | Executive or director change |
| 2026-01-29 | 10-K | Annual report |
| 2026-01-28 | 8-K | Results of operations (earnings) · Financial statements and exhibits |
| 2026-01-16 | 8-K | Executive or director change |
| 2025-12-19 | 8-K | Executive or director change |
| 2025-12-12 | 8-K | Other events · Financial statements and exhibits |
| 2025-11-03 | 8-K | Other events · Financial statements and exhibits |
| 2025-10-30 | 10-Q | Quarterly report |
| 2025-10-29 | 8-K | Results of operations (earnings) · Financial statements and exhibits |