UPDATED 14:58 EDT / JUNE 12 2013

Zuckerberg “Poking in the dark” for Ad Strategy : Facebook Weakness Starting to Show

A month after Facebook celebrated its one-year IPO anniversary, the social network executives met up with an “angry” mob of investors at its first shareholders meeting.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg knows that the primary concern is the company’s falling stocks.  Currently, Facebook’s shares are 40 percent below its IPO price, and investors are clearly unhappy.

“We understand that a lot of people are disappointed in the performance of the stock, and we really are, too,” Zuckerberg said in an anticipatory statement to shareholders before receiving questions.

Zuckerberg assures investors that recent changes in its mobile and ad strategy are paying off, reporting 30 percent of its sales now come from mobile ads.  With that said, though stocks are falling, the CEO stated that the company’s strategy will not change, adding that he is very well-versed in Facebook’s advertising business.

Joining Kristin Feledy in this morning’s Live NewsDesk Show is SiliconANGLE Contributing Editor John Casaretto to give his Breaking Analysis on Facebook’s money-making skills.

“Here’s what they’re facing: for all the monetization efforts that they’re trying here, they [must] deal with a bunch of realities.  From the outside, it looks like they’re trying to throw iterations of different advertising platforms against the wall to see what sticks, and that’s not really market research. It’s really not refining anything, it’s pretty much poking in the dark,” Casaretto stated.

He also added that “while Facebook advertising is something that can work, it hasn’t thus far — it hasn’t figured out that magic formula, and it’s because it appears that Facebook doesn’t really have a firm grip or plan on what’s it doing or name game in sight.”

For more of Casaretto’s Breaking Analysis on Facebook’s strategy, check out the NewsDesk video below:

Zuckerberg defends his mobile ad strategy

 

While Zuckerberg may not agree with Casaretto, investors just might.  The Facebook CEO took a beating from disappointed investors, some even stating that they invested “blindly” because a family member was a “huge fan,” while others wonder how many years they’ll have to hold out for positive results.

David Ebersman, Facebook’s chief financial officer and a key orchestrator of the IPO, tried to calm the angered group, but it seems his strategy only fueled the fire, stating he wished he had a crystal ball to predict what the future holds.

As for the whole NSAgate, Zuckerberg stated that the company doesn’t work directly with the government and if it receives a warrant it only gives “the minimum amount of information” to comply with the law.

Though tensions were high, shareholders still voted for the management’s agenda.


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