Meta Platforms Inc

Previous wording

You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to our historical consolidated financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates, and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors." For a discussion of limitations in the measurement of certain of our community metrics, see the section entitled "Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Current wording

You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to our historical consolidated financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates, and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors." For a discussion of limitations in the measurement of our Family metrics, see the section entitled "Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Previous wording

Our financial results and key community metrics for 2023 are set forth below. Our total revenue for 2023 was $134.90 billion, an increase of 16% compared to 2022, due to an increase in advertising revenue. Revenue on a constant currency basis would have increased 15% compared to 2022. Ad impressions delivered across our Family of Apps increased 28% year-over-year in 2023, partially offset by a 9% year-over-year decrease in the average price per ad.

Current wording

Our financial results and key Family metrics for 2024 are set forth below. Total revenue for 2024 was $164.50 billion, an increase of 22% compared to 2023, due to an increase in advertising revenue. Revenue on a constant currency basis would have increased 23% compared to 2023. Ad impressions delivered across our Family of Apps in 2024 increased 11% year-over-year, and our average price per ad increased 10% year-over-year.

Previous wording

Income from operations for 2023 was $46.75 billion, an increase of $17.81 billion, or 62%, compared to 2022, driven by an increase in advertising revenue.

Current wording

Income from operations for 2024 was $69.38 billion, an increase of $22.63 billion, or 48%, compared to 2023, driven by an increase in advertising revenue, partially offset by an increase in costs and expenses. The increase in costs and expenses was mainly due to increases in operational expenses related to our data centers and technical infrastructure and employee compensation, partially offset by lower restructuring and legal-related costs.

Previous wording

We report our financial results for our two reportable segments: Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL). FoA includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services. RL includes our augmented, mixed and virtual reality related consumer hardware, software, and content.

Current wording

We report our financial results for our two reportable segments: Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL). FoA includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services. RL includes our virtual, augmented, and mixed reality related consumer hardware, software, and content.

Previous wording

•Net income was $39.10 billion, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $14.87 for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Current wording

•Net income was $62.36 billion, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $23.86 for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

•Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $28.10 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Current wording

•Capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, were $39.23 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

•Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $65.40 billion as of December 31, 2023.

Current wording

•Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $77.81 billion as of December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

•Family daily active people (DAP) was 3.19 billion on average for December 2023, an increase of 8% year-over-year.

Current wording

•Family daily active people (DAP) was 3.35 billion on average for December 2024, an increase of 5% year-over-year.

Previous wording

•Ad impressions delivered across our Family of Apps increased by 28% year-over-year in 2023, and the average price per ad decreased by 9% year-over-year in 2023.

Current wording

•Ad impressions delivered across our Family of Apps increased by 11% year-over-year in 2024.

Previous wording

Substantially all of our revenue is currently generated from advertising on Facebook and Instagram. We rely on targeting and measurement tools that incorporate data signals from user activity on websites and services that we do not control in order to deliver relevant and effective ads to our users. Our advertising revenue has been, and we expect will continue to be, adversely affected by reduced marketer spending as a result of limitations on our ad targeting and measurement tools arising from changes to the regulatory environment and third-party mobile operating systems and browsers.

Current wording

Substantially all of our revenue is currently generated from advertising on Facebook and Instagram. We rely on targeting and measurement tools that incorporate data signals from user activity on websites and services that we do not control, as well as signals generated within our products, in order to deliver relevant and effective ads to our users. Our advertising revenue has been, and we expect will continue to be, adversely affected by reduced marketer spending as a result of limitations on our ad targeting and measurement tools arising from changes to the regulatory environment and third-party mobile operating systems and browsers.

Previous wording

In particular, legislative and regulatory developments such as the General Data Protection Regulation, including its evolving interpretation through decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union, ePrivacy Directive, the European Digital Services Act, and U.S. state privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, have impacted our ability to use data signals in our ad products, and we expect these and other developments such as the Digital Markets Act will have further impact in the future. As a result, we have implemented, and we will continue to implement, whether voluntarily or otherwise, changes to our products and user data practices, which reduce our ability to effectively target and measure ads. For example, in response to regulatory developments in Europe, we announced our plans to change the legal basis for behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the EU, European Economic Area, and Switzerland from "legitimate interests" to "consent," and began offering users in the region a "subscription for no ads" alternative. We are continuing to engage with regulators on our new consent model. In addition, mobile operating system and browser providers, such as Apple and Google, have implemented product changes and/or announced future plans to limit the ability of websites and application developers to collect and use these signals to target and measure advertising. For example, in 2021, Apple made certain changes to its products and data use policies in connection with changes to its iOS operating system that reduce our and other iOS developers' ability to target and measure advertising, which has negatively impacted, and we expect will continue to negatively impact, the size of the budgets marketers are willing to commit to us and other advertising platforms.

Current wording

In particular, legislative and regulatory developments such as the General Data Protection Regulation, including its evolving interpretation through decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union, ePrivacy Directive, European Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, and U.S. state privacy laws including the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, have impacted our ability to use data signals in our ad products, and an increasing number of laws have been introduced limiting or prohibiting the provision of our services to younger users. We expect these and other developments will have further impact in the future. As a result, we have implemented, and we will continue to implement, whether voluntarily or otherwise, changes to our products and user data practices, which reduce our ability to effectively target and measure ads and may negatively impact our advertising revenue and user engagement. For example, in response to regulatory developments in Europe, we announced our plans to change the legal basis for behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland from "legitimate interests" to "consent," and began offering users in the region a "subscription for no ads" alternative. We subsequently began offering users in the region who elect to continue using our services free-of-charge, supported by ads, an option to see less personalized ads, which are expected to be less relevant and effective than our premium ad offerings. We are engaging with regulators on our consent model. In addition, mobile operating system and browser providers, such as Apple and Google, have implemented product changes and/or announced future plans to limit the ability of websites and application developers to collect and use these signals to target and measure advertising. For example, in 2021, Apple made certain changes to its products and data use policies in connection with changes to its iOS operating system that reduce our and other iOS developers' ability to target and measure advertising, which has negatively impacted, and we expect will continue to negatively impact, the size of the budgets marketers are willing to commit to us and other advertising platforms.

Previous wording

Other global and regional business, macroeconomic, and geopolitical conditions also have had, and we believe will continue to have, an impact on our user growth and engagement and advertising revenue. In particular, we believe advertising budgets have been pressured from time to time by factors such as inflation, rising interest rates, and related market uncertainty, which has led to reduced marketer spending. While we saw improvement in business and macroeconomic conditions in 2023, continued business, macroeconomic, and geopolitical uncertainty remains, which could impact our financial results in future periods. In addition, competitive products and services have reduced some users' engagement with our products and services. We are investing in Reels and in AI initiatives across our products, including our AI-powered discovery engine to recommend relevant content, which we have already seen results in improved user engagement and monetization of our products. While Reels is growing in usage, it monetizes at a lower rate than our feed and Stories products and we expect it will continue to monetize at a lower rate for the foreseeable future. We also have seen fluctuations and declines in the size of our active user base in one or more regions from time to time. For example, in connection with the war in Ukraine, access to Facebook and Instagram was restricted in Russia and the services were then prohibited by the Russian government, which continued to adversely affect user growth and engagement in 2023. These trends adversely affected advertising revenue in 2023, and we expect will continue to affect our advertising revenue in the foreseeable future.

Current wording

In addition, competitive products and services have reduced some users' engagement with our products and services. We are investing in Reels and in AI initiatives across our products, including our AI-powered discovery engine to recommend relevant content, which we have already seen results in improved user engagement and monetization of our products. However, we continue to face competition from other products and services within certain demographics, in particular younger users. In addition, while Reels is growing in usage, it monetizes at a lower rate than our Feed and Stories products and we expect it will continue to monetize at a lower rate for the foreseeable future. We also have seen fluctuations and declines in the size of our active user base in one or more regions from time to time due to geopolitical conditions, which have adversely affected our user growth and engagement. These trends adversely affected advertising revenue in 2024, and we expect will continue to affect our advertising revenue in the foreseeable future.

Previous wording

We expect to continue to build on the discipline and habits that we developed in 2022 when we initiated several efforts to increase our operating efficiency, while still remaining focused on investing in significant opportunities. In 2023, 80% of our total costs and expenses were recognized in FoA and 20% were recognized in RL. Our FoA investments include expenses relating to headcount, data centers, and technical infrastructure as part of our efforts to develop our apps and our advertising services. These efforts include significant investments in AI initiatives, including to recommend relevant content across our products, enhance our advertising tools, develop new products, and develop new features for existing products using generative AI.

Current wording

We expect to continue to build on the discipline and habits that we developed in 2022 when we initiated several efforts to increase our operating efficiency, while still remaining focused on investing in significant opportunities. In 2024, 79% of our total costs and expenses were recognized in FoA and 21% were recognized in RL. Our FoA investments include expenses relating to headcount, data centers, and technical infrastructure as part of our efforts to develop our apps and our advertising services. These efforts include significant investments in AI initiatives, including to recommend relevant content across our products, enhance our advertising tools, develop new products, and develop new features for existing products using generative AI. In particular, we expect our AI initiatives will require increased investment in infrastructure and headcount.

Previous wording

We are also making significant investments in our metaverse efforts, including developing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality devices, software for social platforms, neural interfaces, and other foundational technologies for the metaverse. Our RL investments include expenses relating to technology development across these efforts. Many of our RL investments are directed toward long-term, cutting-edge research and development for products for the metaverse that may only be fully realized in the next decade. In 2023, our RL segment reduced our overall operating profit by approximately $16.12 billion, and we expect our RL operating losses to increase meaningfully in 2024. We expect this will be a complex, evolving, and long-term initiative, and our ability to support our metaverse efforts is dependent on generating sufficient profits from other areas of our business. We are investing now because we believe this is the next chapter of the internet and will unlock monetization opportunities for businesses, developers, and creators, including around advertising, hardware, and digital goods.

Current wording

We are also making significant investments in our metaverse and wearables efforts, including developing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality devices, software for social platforms, neural interfaces, and other foundational technologies. Our RL investments include expenses relating to technology development across these efforts. Many of our RL investments are directed toward long-term, cutting-edge research and development for products that may only be fully realized in the next decade. In 2024, our RL segment reduced our overall operating profit by approximately $17.73 billion, and we continue to expect our RL operating losses to increase in 2025. We expect this will be a complex, evolving, and long-term initiative, and our ability to support our RL efforts is dependent on generating sufficient profits from other areas of our business. We are investing now because we believe this is the next chapter of the internet and will unlock monetization opportunities for businesses, developers, and creators, including around advertising, hardware, and digital goods.

Previous wording

We calculate our revenue by user geography based on our estimate of the geography in which ad impressions are delivered, virtual and digital goods are purchased, or consumer hardware products are shipped. We define ARPU as our total revenue in a given geography during a given quarter, divided by the average of the number of MAUs in the geography at the beginning and end of the quarter. While ARPU includes all sources of revenue, the number of MAUs used in this calculation only includes users of Facebook and Messenger as described in the definition of MAU above. While the share of revenue from users who are not also Facebook or Messenger MAUs has grown over time, we estimate that revenue from users who are Facebook or Messenger MAUs represents the substantial majority of our total revenue. See "Average Revenue Per Person (ARPP)" above for our estimates of trends in our monetization of our Family products. The geography of our users affects our revenue and financial results because we currently monetize users in different geographies at different average rates. Our revenue and ARPU in regions such as United States & Canada and Europe are relatively higher primarily due to the size and maturity of those online and mobile advertising markets. For example, ARPU in 2023 in the United States & Canada region was more than 11 times higher than in the Asia-Pacific region.

Current wording

We calculate our revenue by user geography based on our estimate of the geography in which ad impressions are delivered, virtual and digital goods are purchased, or consumer hardware products are shipped. The geography of our users affects our revenue and financial results. Our revenue in regions such as United States & Canada and Europe is relatively higher primarily due to the size and maturity of those online and mobile advertising markets, and ad impression growth is primarily in geographies that monetize at lower rates, such as Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. In 2024, revenue increased by 18% in United States & Canada, 26% in Europe, 22% in Asia-Pacific, and 31% in Rest of World, in each case relative to 2023.

Previous wording

Note: Non-advertising revenue includes RL revenue generated from the delivery of consumer hardware products and FoA Other revenue, which consists of revenue from WhatsApp Business Platform, net fees we receive from developers using our Payments infrastructure, and revenue from various other sources.

Current wording

Note: Non-advertising revenue includes RL revenue generated from the delivery of consumer hardware products and FoA Other revenue, which consists of revenue from WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta Verified subscriptions, net fees we receive from developers using our Payments infrastructure, and revenue from various other sources.

Previous wording

The numbers for our key Family metrics, our DAP, MAP, and average revenue per person (ARPP), do not include users on our other products unless they would otherwise qualify as DAP or MAP, respectively, based on their other activities on our Family products.

Current wording

The numbers for our key Family metrics, our DAP and average revenue per person (ARPP), do not include users on our other products unless they would otherwise qualify as DAP based on their other activities on our Family products.

Previous wording

Trends in the number of people in our community affect our revenue and financial results by influencing the number of ads we are able to show, the value of our ads to marketers, as well as our expenses and capital expenditures. Substantially all of our daily and monthly active people (as defined below) access our Family products on mobile devices.

Current wording

Trends in the number of people in our community affect our revenue and financial results by influencing the number of ads we are able to show, the value of our ads to marketers, as well as our expenses and capital expenditures. Substantially all of our daily active people (as defined below) access our Family products on mobile devices.

Previous wording

•Daily Active People (DAP). We define a daily active person as a registered and logged-in user of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and/or WhatsApp (collectively, our "Family" of products) who visited at least one of these Family products through a mobile device application or using a web or mobile browser on a given day. We do not require people to use a common identifier or link their accounts to use multiple products in our Family, and therefore must seek to attribute multiple user accounts within and across products to individual people. Our calculations of DAP rely upon complex techniques, algorithms, and machine learning models that seek to estimate the underlying number of unique people using one or more of these products, including by matching user accounts within an individual product and across multiple products when we believe they are attributable to a single person, and counting such group of accounts as one person. As these techniques and models require significant judgment, are developed based on internal reviews of limited samples of user accounts, and are calibrated against user survey data, there is necessarily some margin of error in our estimates. We view DAP, and DAP as a percentage of MAP, as measures of engagement across our products. For additional information, see the section entitled "Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Current wording

•Daily Active People (DAP). We define a daily active person as a registered and logged-in user of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and/or WhatsApp (collectively, our "Family" of products) who visited at least one of these Family products through a mobile device application or using a web or mobile browser on a given day. We do not require people to use a common identifier or link their accounts to use multiple products in our Family, and therefore must seek to attribute multiple user accounts within and across products to individual people. Our calculations of DAP rely upon complex techniques, algorithms, and machine learning models that seek to estimate the underlying number of unique people using one or more of these products, including by matching user accounts within an individual product and across multiple products when we believe they are attributable to a single person, and counting such group of accounts as one person. As these techniques and models require significant judgment, are developed based on internal reviews of limited samples of user accounts, and are calibrated against user survey data, there is necessarily some margin of error in our estimates. We view DAP as a measure of engagement across our products. For additional information, see the section entitled "Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Previous wording

Note: We report the numbers of DAP and MAP as specific amounts, but these numbers are estimates of the numbers of unique people using our products and are subject to statistical variances and errors. While we expect the error margin for these estimates to vary from period to period, we estimate that such margin generally will be approximately 3% of our worldwide MAP. At our scale, it is very difficult to attribute multiple user accounts within and across products to individual people, and it is possible that the actual numbers of unique people using our products may vary significantly from our estimates, potentially beyond our estimated error margins. For additional information, see the section entitled "Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In the third quarter of 2022, we updated our Family metrics calculations to maintain calibration of our models against recent user survey data, and we estimate such update contributed an aggregate of approximately 30 million DAP to our reported worldwide DAP in September 2022. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023, our Family metrics no longer include Messenger Kids users.

Current wording

Note: We report the numbers of DAP as specific amounts, but these numbers are estimates of the numbers of unique people using our products and are subject to statistical variances and errors. While we expect the error margin for these estimates to vary from period to period, we estimate that such margin generally will be approximately 3% of our worldwide DAP. At our scale, it is very difficult to attribute multiple user accounts within and across products to individual people, and it is possible that the actual numbers of unique people using our products may vary significantly from our estimates, potentially beyond our estimated error margins. For additional information, see the section entitled "Limitations of Key Metrics and Other Data" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2023, our Family metrics no longer include Messenger Kids users.

Previous wording

Worldwide DAP increased 8% to 3.19 billion on average during December 2023 from 2.96 billion during December 2022.

Current wording

Worldwide DAP increased 5% to 3.35 billion on average during December 2024 from 3.19 billion during December 2023.

Previous wording

•Average Revenue Per Person (ARPP). We define ARPP as our total revenue during a given quarter, divided by the average of the number of MAP at the beginning and end of the quarter. While ARPP includes all sources of revenue, the number of MAP used in this calculation only includes users of our Family products as described in the definition of MAP above. We estimate that the share of revenue from users who are not also MAP was not material.

Current wording

•Average Revenue Per Person (ARPP). Our Family of Apps (FoA) revenue represents the substantial majority of our total revenue. We define ARPP as our FoA revenue during a given quarter, divided by the average of the number of DAP at the beginning and end of the quarter.

Previous wording

Our annual worldwide ARPP in 2023, which represents the sum of quarterly ARPP during such period, was $34.72, an increase of 9% from 2022.

Current wording

Our annual worldwide ARPP in 2024, which represents the sum of quarterly ARPP during such period, was $49.63, an increase of 15% from 2023.

Previous wording

We review the developments in our contingencies that could affect the amount of the provisions that have been previously recorded, and the matters and related reasonably possible losses disclosed. We make adjustments to our provisions and changes to our disclosures accordingly to reflect the merits of our defenses and the impact of negotiations, settlements, regulatory proceedings, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and updated information. Significant judgment is required to determine the probability of loss and the estimated amount of loss, including when and if the probability and estimate has changed for asserted and unasserted matters. Certain factors, in particular, have resulted in significant changes to these estimates and judgments in prior quarters based on updated information available. For example, in certain jurisdictions where we operate, fines and penalties may be the result of new laws and preliminary interpretations regarding the basis of assessing damages, which may make it difficult to estimate what such fines and penalties would amount to if successfully asserted against us. In addition, certain government inquiries and investigations, such as matters before our lead European Union privacy regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission, are subject to review by other regulatory bodies before decisions are finalized, which can lead to significant changes in the outcome of an inquiry. As a result of these and other factors, we reasonably expect that our estimates and judgments with respect to our contingencies may continue to be revised in future quarters.

Current wording

We review the developments in our contingencies that could affect the amount of the provisions that have been previously recorded, and the matters and related reasonably possible losses disclosed. We make adjustments to our provisions and changes to our disclosures accordingly to reflect the merits of our defenses and the impact of negotiations, settlements, regulatory proceedings, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and updated information. Significant judgment is required to determine the probability of loss and the estimated amount of loss, including when and if the probability and estimate has changed for asserted and unasserted matters. Certain factors, in particular, have resulted in significant changes to these estimates and judgments in prior quarters based on updated information available. For example, in certain jurisdictions where we operate, fines and penalties may be the result of new laws and preliminary interpretations regarding the basis of assessing damages, which may make it difficult to estimate what such fines and penalties would amount to if successfully asserted against us. In addition, certain government inquiries and investigations, such as matters before our lead European Union privacy regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission, are subject to review by other regulatory bodies before decisions are finalized, which can lead to significant changes in the outcome of an inquiry. As a result of these and other factors, we reasonably expect that our estimates and judgments with respect to our contingencies may continue to be revised in the future.

Previous wording

The ultimate outcome of these matters, such as whether the likelihood of loss is remote, reasonably possible, or probable or if and when the reasonably possible range of loss is estimable, is inherently uncertain. Therefore, if one or more of these matters were resolved against us for amounts in excess of management's estimates of losses, our results of operations and financial condition, including in a particular reporting period in which any such outcome becomes probable and estimable, could be materially adversely affected. See Note 12 — Commitments and Contingencies and Note 15 — Income Taxes of the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" and Part I, Item 3, "Legal Proceedings" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding these contingencies.

Current wording

The ultimate outcome of these matters, such as whether the likelihood of loss is remote, reasonably possible, or probable or if and when the reasonably possible range of loss is estimable, is inherently uncertain. Therefore, if one or more of these matters were resolved against us for amounts that materially differ from management's estimates of losses, it could have a favorable or unfavorable impact on our results of operations and financial condition, including in a particular reporting period in which any such outcome becomes probable and estimable. See Note 12 — Commitments and Contingencies and Note 15 — Income Taxes of the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" and Part I, Item 3, "Legal Proceedings" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding these contingencies.

Previous wording

We recognize tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. These uncertain tax positions include our estimates for transfer pricing that have been developed based upon analyses of appropriate arms-length prices. Similarly, our estimates related to uncertain tax positions concerning research and development tax credits are based on an assessment of whether our available documentation corroborating the nature of our activities supporting the tax credits will be sufficient. Although we believe that we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions (including net interest and penalties), we can provide no assurance that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be materially different, as significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision for income taxes. We make adjustments to these reserves in accordance with the income tax accounting guidance when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit or the refinement of an estimate. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different from the amounts recorded, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made, and could have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results.

Current wording

We recognize tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. These uncertain tax positions include our estimates related to uncertainties with our research and development tax credits that are based on an assessment of whether our available documentation corroborating the nature of our activities supporting the tax credits will be sufficient. Similarly, our estimates for transfer pricing have been developed based upon analyses of appropriate arms-length prices. Although we believe that we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions (including net interest and penalties), we can provide no assurance that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be materially different, as significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision for income taxes. We make adjustments to these reserves in accordance with the income tax accounting guidance when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit or the refinement of an estimate. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different from the amounts recorded, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made, and could have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results.

Previous wording

Other revenue. Other revenue consists of revenue from WhatsApp Business Platform, net fees we receive from developers using our Payments infrastructure and revenue from various other sources.

Current wording

Other revenue. Other revenue consists of revenue from WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta Verified subscriptions, net fees we receive from developers using our Payments infrastructure, and revenue from various other sources.

Previous wording

RL revenue is generated from the delivery of consumer hardware products, such as Meta Quest, wearables, and related software and content.

Current wording

RL revenue is generated from the delivery of consumer hardware products, such as Meta Quest and Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, and related software and content.

Previous wording

Cost of revenue. Our cost of revenue consists of expenses associated with the delivery and distribution of our products. These mainly include expenses related to the operation of our data centers and technical infrastructure, such as depreciation expense from servers, network infrastructure and buildings, as well as payroll and related expenses which include share-based compensation for employees on our operations teams, and energy and bandwidth costs. Cost of revenue also includes costs associated with partner arrangements, including traffic acquisition costs and credit card and other fees related to processing customer transactions; RL inventory costs, which consist of cost of products sold and estimated losses on non-cancelable contractual commitments; and content costs.

Current wording

Cost of revenue. Our cost of revenue consists of expenses associated with the delivery and distribution of our products. These mainly include expenses related to the operation of our data centers and technical infrastructure, such as depreciation expense from servers, network infrastructure and buildings, employee compensation which includes payroll, share-based compensation and benefits for employees on our operations teams, and energy and bandwidth costs. Cost of revenue also consists of costs associated with partner arrangements, including traffic acquisition costs and credit card and other fees related to processing customer transactions; RL inventory costs, which consist of cost of products sold and estimated losses on non-cancelable contractual commitments; and content costs.

Previous wording

Research and development. Research and development expenses consist mostly of payroll and related expenses which include share-based compensation, RL technology development costs, facilities-related costs for employees on our engineering and technical teams who are responsible for developing new products as well as improving existing products, and restructuring charges.

Current wording

Research and development. Research and development expenses consist mostly of employee compensation which includes payroll, share-based compensation and benefits for our employees on our engineering and technical teams who are responsible for developing new technologies and products; RL technology development costs; infrastructure costs; and facilities-related costs.

Previous wording

Marketing and sales. Marketing and sales expenses consist mainly of marketing and promotional expenses as well as payroll and related expenses which include share-based compensation for our employees engaged in sales, sales support, marketing, business development, and customer service functions. Our marketing and sales expenses also include professional services such as content reviewers to support our community and product operations and restructuring charges.

Current wording

Marketing and sales. Marketing and sales expenses consist primarily of employee compensation which includes payroll, share-based compensation and benefits for our employees engaged in sales, sales support, marketing, business development, and customer service functions; marketing and promotional expenses; and professional services to support our community and product operations.

Previous wording

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of legal-related costs, which include estimated fines, settlements, or other losses in connection with legal and related matters, as well as other legal fees; payroll and related expenses which include share-based compensation for certain of our executives as well as our legal, finance, human resources, corporate communications and policy, and other administrative employees; other taxes, such as digital services taxes and other non-income-based tax levies; professional services and restructuring charges.

Current wording

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee compensation which includes payroll, share-based compensation and benefits for certain of our executives as well as our legal, finance, human resources, corporate communications and policy, and other administrative employees; legal-related costs, which include estimated fines, settlements, or other losses in connection with legal and related matters, as well as other legal fees; other taxes, such as digital services taxes and other non-income-based tax levies; and professional services.

Previous wording

FoA revenue in 2023 increased $18.56 billion, or 16%, compared to 2022. The increase was almost entirely driven by advertising revenue.

Current wording

FoA revenue in 2024 increased $29.35 billion, or 22%, compared to 2023. The increase was almost entirely driven by advertising revenue.

Previous wording

Advertising revenue in 2023 increased $18.31 billion, or 16%, compared to 2022 due to an increase in the number of ads delivered, partially offset by a decrease in the average price per ad. In 2023, the number of ads delivered increased by 28%, as compared with an 18% increase in 2022 as ads impressions grew in all regions during 2023, especially in Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. The increase in the ads delivered during 2023 was driven by increases in the number and frequency of ads displayed across our products and an increase in users. In 2023, the average price per ad decreased by 9%, as compared with a decrease of 16% in 2022. The decrease in average price per ad was driven by an increase in the number of ads delivered, especially in geographies and in products, such as Reels, that monetize at lower rates. While the average price per ad declined year-over-year, we believe the improvements to our ad targeting and measurement tools have had a favorable impact on our ad performance and advertising demand. Other factors are also discussed in the section entitled "—Executive Overview of Full Year 2023 Results." In addition, year-over-year advertising revenue growth for the full year 2023 was driven mainly by marketer spending in online commerce, which benefited from marketers based in China, consumer packaged goods, and entertainment and media. We anticipate that future advertising revenue will be driven by a combination of price and the number of ads delivered.

Current wording

Advertising revenue in 2024 increased $28.68 billion, or 22%, compared to 2023 due to increases in ad impressions delivered and average price per ad. In 2024, ad impressions delivered increased by 11%, as compared with a 28% increase in 2023, year-over-year. Ad impressions delivered during 2024 grew in all regions, especially in Asia-Pacific and Rest of World, which was mostly driven by increases in users and their engagement on our products. In 2024, the average price per ad increased by 10%, as compared with a decrease of 9% in 2023, year-over-year. The increase in average price per ad in 2024 was driven by an increase in advertising demand, which we believe is mainly due to ongoing improvements to our ad performance from our ad targeting and measurement tools. This increase was partially offset by a higher number of ad impressions delivered, especially in geographies and in products, such as Reels, that monetize at lower rates. Other factors are discussed in the section entitled "—Executive Overview of Full Year 2024 Results." In addition, the online commerce vertical was the largest contributor to the increase in advertising revenue in 2024 compared to 2023. We anticipate that future advertising revenue will be driven by a combination of price and ad impressions delivered.

Previous wording

FoA other revenue in 2023 increased $250 million, or 31%, compared to 2022. The increase was mainly driven by WhatsApp Business Platform revenue.

Current wording

FoA other revenue in 2024 increased $664 million, or 63%, compared to 2023. The increase was primarily driven by WhatsApp Business Platform revenue.

Previous wording

Revenue is traditionally seasonally strong in the fourth quarter of each year due in part to seasonal holiday demand. We believe that this seasonality in both advertising revenue and RL consumer hardware sales affects our quarterly results, which generally reflect significant growth in revenue between the third and fourth quarters and a decline between the fourth and subsequent first quarters. For instance, our total revenue increased 17%, 16%, and 16% between the third and fourth quarters of 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, while total revenue for the first quarters of 2023, 2022, and 2021 declined 11%, 17%, and 7% compared to the fourth quarters of 2022, 2021, and 2020 respectively.

Current wording

Revenue is traditionally seasonally strong in the fourth quarter of each year due in part to seasonal holiday demand. We believe that this seasonality in both advertising revenue and RL consumer hardware sales affects our quarterly results, which generally reflect significant growth in revenue between the third and fourth quarters and a decline between the fourth and subsequent first quarters. For instance, our total revenue increased 19%, 17%, and 16% between the third and fourth quarters of 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively, while total revenue for the first quarters of 2024, 2023, and 2022 declined 9%, 11%, and 17% compared to the fourth quarters of 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Previous wording

Changes in foreign exchange rates had a favorable impact on our total revenue in the full year 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. If we had translated revenue for the full year 2023 using the prior year's monthly exchange rates for our settlement or billing currencies other than the U.S. dollar, our total revenue and advertising revenue would have been $134.53 billion and $131.57 billion, respectively. Using these constant rates, total revenue and advertising revenue would have been $374 million and $379 million lower than actual total revenue and advertising revenue, respectively, for the full year 2023. Using the same constant rates, full year 2023 total revenue and advertising revenue would have been $17.92 billion and $17.93 billion higher than actual total revenue and advertising revenue, respectively, for the full year 2022.

Current wording

Changes in foreign exchange rates had an unfavorable impact on our revenue in the full year 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. To calculate revenue on a constant currency basis, we translated revenue using the prior year's monthly exchange rates for our settlement or billing currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Using these constant rates for full year 2024, our total revenue and advertising revenue would have been $165.37 billion and $161.51 billion, which were $874 million and $880 million higher than actual total revenue and advertising revenue, respectively.

Previous wording

Cost of revenue in 2023 increased $710 million, or 3%, compared to 2022. The increase was primarily driven by higher operational expenses related to our data centers and technical infrastructure, partially offset by a decrease in data center abandonment charges related to restructuring and lower content costs.

Current wording

Cost of revenue in 2024 increased $4.20 billion, or 16%, compared to 2023. The increase was primarily due to higher operational expenses related to our data centers and technical infrastructure, mostly from higher depreciation expense.

Previous wording

RL loss from operations in 2023 increased $2.40 billion, or 18%, compared to 2022. The increase in loss was mainly due to an increase in payroll and related expenses and a decrease in RL revenue.

Current wording

RL loss from operations in 2024 increased $1.61 billion, or 10%, compared to 2023, driven by an increase in RL costs and expenses. RL costs and expenses increased primarily due to increases in employee compensation and infrastructure costs.

Previous wording

Interest and other income (expense), net in 2023 increased $802 million compared to 2022. The increase in interest income was due to a combination of higher interest rates and higher balances, compared to the same period in 2022. Changes in other income (expense), net were mostly related to gains (losses) recognized for our equity investments.

Current wording

Interest and other income (expense), net in 2024 increased $606 million compared to 2023, mostly due to an increase in interest income from a combination of higher balances and interest rates, partially offset by an increase in interest expense on our long-term debt.