• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Tech

These big companies have cut the most daily ad dollars during the Facebook boycott

By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 23, 2020, 6:45 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today.

New data shows that of all the corporate advertisers on Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung, Starbucks, and Wells Fargo have cut the largest amount ad dollars three weeks into a one-month boycott over how the service has handled hate speech and discrimination.

Microsoft was responsible for the largest decline in spending, eliminating the average $166,000 it spent daily on U.S. ads during the second quarter, according to data from digital marketing data firm Pathmatics. Samsung followed, decreasing but not completely eliminating, its average daily spend by $160,400, while Starbucks eliminated its spending by about $111,500 per day. Wells Fargo also reduced, without completely cutting, its daily average by $111,200.

Colin Sebastian, analyst at Baird Equity Research said he wasn’t surprised by the individual advertiser reductions, given that many of these companies had publicly announced their intentions. “What the data does is it confirms that most of those advertisers did cease the majority of their spending on these platforms,” he said. “They followed through with their threat.”

The temporary boycott, which was organized by groups including the Anti-Defamation League, Color of Change, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, aimed to pressure Facebook into doing more to control hate speech, discrimination, and violence on its service by asking advertisers to halt ads for a month. Hundreds of small businesses participated, but the campaign also landed several big brands including Verizon, Unilever, and Levi Strauss. Other big brands like Disney, which never publicly joined the campaign, have reportedly reduced their advertising on Facebook as well, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Ninety of Facebook’s top 500 advertisers participated, according to a note Sebastian published Wednesday. Overall, the top 500 advertisers from the second quarter were responsible for an $80 million reduction in ad spend from July 1 through July 17. The top advertisers on the service so far this month, according to Pathmatics, include: Purple Innovation, TaxACT, Home Depot, AT&T, and HBO.

Microsoft wasn’t alone in eliminating its Facebook ad spending completely. But as seen with some of the top reduced spenders, Pathmatics data shows that some companies—including some Unilever brands—that publicly joined the boycott still bought ads, though at smaller levels, during the month of July. Similarly, other big advertisers—which include Samsung—that didn’t publicly join the boycott significantly reduced their ad spend. For example, Geico reduced its daily average ad spend by $92,700, and Walmart dropped by $86,700.

Sebastian estimates that the boycott will ultimately lead to $200 million in lost ad revenue in July if the current trend continues, which would only represent 1% of quarterly revenues. Sebastian calls this nothing more than a “blip” in the earnings—a prediction shared by several analysts when the boycott debuted.

Bryan Karas, CEO of marketing agency Playbook Media and former Facebook employee, said Facebook has been reaching out to his agency and its advertisers reiterating its efforts and the progress it has made to improve the detection of hate speech. Meanwhile, many small advertisers are still putting their marketing dollars into Facebook out of necessity as they try to gain new customers during the coronavirus pandemic, which has crippled their businesses.

“If we’re working with a small venture backed company and their lifeblood is new customers, they have to take that [public relations] risk,” Karas said. “REI and Coca-Cola, they can shut it down, and they can get the positive PR.”

YouTube, Twitter, and Amazon appear to have benefited from the pause on Facebook ads, according to Pathmatics. Sebastian points out that Hulu, Geico, and Samsung—all of which have cut back on Facebook ads—began allocating more to YouTube in July. At the same time, Target, Best Buy, and Geico increased their spend on Twitter ads by double or more. Sebastian said companies may use this opportunity to see if they can get similar returns from advertising on other services.

“I think the answer is no, but some companies will be doing that experiment,” he said.

While Facebook is scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings next Wednesday, the impact of the boycott won’t be reflected until its third-quarter earnings. Analysts estimate that Facebook will report $17.4 billion in second-quarter revenue. While that would represent a 3% increase over last year’s second quarter, it pales in comparison to the 28% year-over-year growth Facebook reported at that time.

Sebastian said he hopes Facebook will shed more light on the ads boycott during next week’s earnings call. But he’s also hoping to hear more about Facebook’s outlook on its profit margin.

“Bigger picture with Facebook is spending levels,” Sebastian said. “Are they continuing to invest in bigger projects? Are they going to dial back? Are they going to do more to ensure elections aren’t as disruptive as 2016?”

About the Author
By Danielle Abril
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

elon
CommentaryChina
China has 400 private space companies. The West is barely paying attention
By Rainer ZitelmannJuly 2, 2026
1 hour ago
hegseth
Startups & VentureVenture Capital
The defense tech boom has become a bubble—or it will be soon
By Allie GarfinkleJuly 2, 2026
3 hours ago
Emily Blunt is worth $80 million and just pocketed $15 million for her latest film—but she once wanted to be a Spanish translator for the UN
SuccessCareers
Emily Blunt is worth $80 million and just pocketed $15 million for her latest film—but she once wanted to be a Spanish translator for the UN
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
4 hours ago
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
By John KellJuly 1, 2026
18 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIAnthropic
Anthropic’s AI models are back online after a two-week government standoff—settling the company and administration into a fragile truce
By Tristan BoveJuly 1, 2026
18 hours ago
Nikesh Arora, chief executive officer at Palo Alto Networks
SuccessJobs
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
20 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
22 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.