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Facebook's (FB) Instagram Copies Snapchat Features Yet Again
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Facebook Inc has once again copied the features of Snapchat, Snap Inc’s (SNAP - Free Report) social media service. Facebook added augmented reality filters to its photo sharing app, Instagram.
Per the blog post, Instagram users can now use eight different face filters ranging from koala bear ears to math equations whirling over the head. To access these filters, users need to click on the camera first and then click on the new face icon located at the bottom right corner.
To users’ delight, Instagram has added more “creative tools” to the camera. With these, one can now create videos that play in the “reverse” mode. Users can also add hashtag stickers to their pictures as well as use the new eraser brush that’s now added to the drawing tools, adds the blog post further.
It’s not the first time that Facebook has unveiled new features which are heavily inspired by Snapchat. Last year, the company added the “Stories” feature — a slideshow of photos and videos that vanishes after 24 hours — to Instagram. This was a blatant rip-off of Snapchat’s hallmark feature of the same name. “Stories” on Instagram has proved to be a massive hit, with 200 million daily actives. It has also launched the same on Messenger. In March, Facebook launched the feature on its main platform. Users can now add their stories by tapping on the “Your Story” icon in the Stories bar at the top of News Feed.
The question arises as to why Facebook, the world’s largest social media service, needs to imitate Snapchat. The latter is one of the most popular messaging and social media apps in the U.S. Launched in 2012, Snapchat is extremely popular with teens and millennials, primarily because of its ephemerality. Moreover, an interactive style of chatting developed by the addition of features like stickers and doodling has really caught the fancy of teens.
Since then, Snapchat has been offering some serious competition in terms of attracting teenagers/young adults to its platform. Consequently, Facebook has started to mimic its features so as to boost its own user growth and engagement levels.
Analysts have observed that Facebook can easily take chances by unveiling features that are similar to other social media services. This is because if these “inspired” features do not work, Facebook can easily roll them back like it has done previously with Poke, Slingshot and Bolt. After all, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger do have their own inherent features that will prevent them from losing users.
On the other hand, if the features become successful, like Facebook Live (inspired heavily by Twitter’s Periscope, it can boost revenues considerably. Online video is the most lucrative component of digital advertising. As video ads generate more revenues than its photo- and text-based counterparts, Facebook is trying to incorporate more and more video-oriented content to increase the flow of ad dollars.
Talking about ad dollars, Facebook said that it has found yet another discrepancy in its ad calculation. Per the blog, Facebook has found a bug that “mistakenly” considers video carousel ad clicks as link clicks. Mobile web browsers on smartphones were affected by the bug but desktops remained unaffected.
Though apologetic, Facebook has denied any major impact caused by the bug. Per the company’s press release, though most people access Facebook via their phones, the mobile web browser ad impression aren’t a significant part of the total ad impressions. More importantly, video carousel ad inaccurate billing affected a mere 0.04% of the impressions. Facebook further said it will be refunding money to the affected advertisers.
In Sep 2016, the company first revealed that it has found a “mistake” in it ads metrics. It realized that it had been miscalculating the average time spent by users watching videos. Following that, Facebook detected three more discrepancies. Its disclosures sent advertisers and publishers into a tizzy.
Advertising is the mainstay of Facebook’s total revenue, with over 95% contribution. In the last reported quarter, ad revenues (98% of total revenue) grew 51% year over year to $7.9 billion while mobile ad revenues were up 58% to $6.7 billion.
Consequently, Facebook isn’t taking chances to anger advertisers. To alleviate the anxiety of advertisers and publishers, Facebook has increased third-party verification. Also, the company said that it is collaborating with other partners like comScore, Inc (SCOR - Free Report) , Moat and IAS for enabling advertisers and publishers to verify data through a third party.
In the past one year, Facebook has vastly outperformed the broader market. Shares of Facebook have grown over 27.3% compared with the Zacks categorized Internet Service Industry’s gain of 22.83%.
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With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.
Image: Bigstock
Facebook's (FB) Instagram Copies Snapchat Features Yet Again
Facebook Inc has once again copied the features of Snapchat, Snap Inc’s (SNAP - Free Report) social media service. Facebook added augmented reality filters to its photo sharing app, Instagram.
Per the blog post, Instagram users can now use eight different face filters ranging from koala bear ears to math equations whirling over the head. To access these filters, users need to click on the camera first and then click on the new face icon located at the bottom right corner.
To users’ delight, Instagram has added more “creative tools” to the camera. With these, one can now create videos that play in the “reverse” mode. Users can also add hashtag stickers to their pictures as well as use the new eraser brush that’s now added to the drawing tools, adds the blog post further.
It’s not the first time that Facebook has unveiled new features which are heavily inspired by Snapchat. Last year, the company added the “Stories” feature — a slideshow of photos and videos that vanishes after 24 hours — to Instagram. This was a blatant rip-off of Snapchat’s hallmark feature of the same name. “Stories” on Instagram has proved to be a massive hit, with 200 million daily actives. It has also launched the same on Messenger. In March, Facebook launched the feature on its main platform. Users can now add their stories by tapping on the “Your Story” icon in the Stories bar at the top of News Feed.
The question arises as to why Facebook, the world’s largest social media service, needs to imitate Snapchat. The latter is one of the most popular messaging and social media apps in the U.S. Launched in 2012, Snapchat is extremely popular with teens and millennials, primarily because of its ephemerality. Moreover, an interactive style of chatting developed by the addition of features like stickers and doodling has really caught the fancy of teens.
Since then, Snapchat has been offering some serious competition in terms of attracting teenagers/young adults to its platform. Consequently, Facebook has started to mimic its features so as to boost its own user growth and engagement levels.
Analysts have observed that Facebook can easily take chances by unveiling features that are similar to other social media services. This is because if these “inspired” features do not work, Facebook can easily roll them back like it has done previously with Poke, Slingshot and Bolt. After all, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger do have their own inherent features that will prevent them from losing users.
Facebook, Inc. Price
Facebook, Inc. Price | Facebook, Inc. Quote
On the other hand, if the features become successful, like Facebook Live (inspired heavily by Twitter’s Periscope, it can boost revenues considerably. Online video is the most lucrative component of digital advertising. As video ads generate more revenues than its photo- and text-based counterparts, Facebook is trying to incorporate more and more video-oriented content to increase the flow of ad dollars.
Talking about ad dollars, Facebook said that it has found yet another discrepancy in its ad calculation. Per the blog, Facebook has found a bug that “mistakenly” considers video carousel ad clicks as link clicks. Mobile web browsers on smartphones were affected by the bug but desktops remained unaffected.
Though apologetic, Facebook has denied any major impact caused by the bug. Per the company’s press release, though most people access Facebook via their phones, the mobile web browser ad impression aren’t a significant part of the total ad impressions. More importantly, video carousel ad inaccurate billing affected a mere 0.04% of the impressions. Facebook further said it will be refunding money to the affected advertisers.
In Sep 2016, the company first revealed that it has found a “mistake” in it ads metrics. It realized that it had been miscalculating the average time spent by users watching videos. Following that, Facebook detected three more discrepancies. Its disclosures sent advertisers and publishers into a tizzy.
Advertising is the mainstay of Facebook’s total revenue, with over 95% contribution. In the last reported quarter, ad revenues (98% of total revenue) grew 51% year over year to $7.9 billion while mobile ad revenues were up 58% to $6.7 billion.
Consequently, Facebook isn’t taking chances to anger advertisers. To alleviate the anxiety of advertisers and publishers, Facebook has increased third-party verification. Also, the company said that it is collaborating with other partners like comScore, Inc (SCOR - Free Report) , Moat and IAS for enabling advertisers and publishers to verify data through a third party.
At present, Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past one year, Facebook has vastly outperformed the broader market. Shares of Facebook have grown over 27.3% compared with the Zacks categorized Internet Service Industry’s gain of 22.83%.
Will You Make a Fortune on the Shift to Electric Cars?
Here's another stock idea to consider. Much like petroleum 150 years ago, lithium power may soon shake the world, creating millionaires and reshaping geo-politics. Soon electric vehicles (EVs) may be cheaper than gas guzzlers. Some are already reaching 265 miles on a single charge.
With battery prices plummeting and charging stations set to multiply, one company stands out as the #1 stock to buy according to Zacks research.
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