Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 and is owned by Meta platforms. It is a free online social media networking platform where you can share pictures, videos, and movies and connect with family, friends, and colleagues. You can promote your work, support a cause or just be there to pass time. It ranks as the number three most popular site after Google and YouTube. Let us learn “Companies Facebook Acquired”
Facebook has acquired over 94 companies some of them are:
Oculus VR
Olavo
Beluga
Customer
With Instagram, you can share your photos and videos with your friends and followers on its platform. It was acquired by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion. To date, it contributes over $20 billion to Facebook’s revenue.
WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion. It Is used mainly for sending messages and making video calls. Facebook bought it because it saw WhatsApp as a threat and a strong competitor to Facebook. The owners and employees were also paid by the government $3 billion in stock units as part of the acquisition deal.
Oculus VR
Oculus VR which was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014, is a gaming headset that requires a personal computer or console for power. Facebook bought Oculus VR because it believes virtual reality is the future reality where people work, play, and interact in virtual spaces.
Onavo
Onavo was acquired by Facebook for $200 million in 2014. It was an Israeli mobile web app that performed activities on mobile apps. with Onavo, users can reduce their data usage and be protected from malicious sites. Facebook uses Onavo to track cookies and check popular product trends.
Beluga
Was a group messaging service that enabled instant messaging on your phone. It was acquired by Facebook in 2011, 8 months after the company began operations. Facebook got the messaging idea from this company which later shut down and opened Facebook messenger.
Customer
It is a customer service platform that Facebook acquired in 2020 for $1 billion. The platform allows businesses to deliver a faster and better experience to their customers through a unified view using business rules and workflows.
Other most recent companies acquired by Facebook include Downpour Interactive, Unit 2 games, Bigbox VR, AL Reverie, and Within. Though Facebook has acquired over 94 companies over the past couple of years, the amount for which some of these companies were acquired remains undisclosed.
The apps owned by Facebook which are top of the most downloaded are:
Messenger
Facebook main
Facebook’s Strategy
Facebook sells advertising space on its social media platforms. It acquires these companies and converts them into multi-million dollar companies. The company focuses on diversifying assets. They look out for their competitors and buy them out rather than compete with them. Its business strategy focuses on:
- Growth by acquiring companies.
- Continuously maintaining its focus on users’ experience.
- Continuous development of new products and services.
- Constant seeking new monetization avenues which have over time increased its revenue to over 60%.
Facebook’s Biggest Competitors Are:
Advertising
Google has a platform called google ads where advertisers can advertise their goods or services.
- Amazon
A strong competitor to Facebook in the advertising space as it is an eCommerce site.
Userbase
- Tiktok
its competitive advantage over Facebook was in its focus on the younger generation and the use of face filters, 3D masks, and pride.
- Twitter competes with Facebook in users and engagement.
- Pinterest is preferred by marketers as it drives the market to their businesses.
- Snapchat instant messaging, photo and video sharing.
- LinkedIn builds profiles and creates engagements between professionals.
Video sharing
- YouTube
International users
- Vkontakte
Facebook’s strategy over these giants is by opening its platforms similar to those created by the other companies such as Facebook ads, Facebook marketplace, reels on Instagram, Facebook jobs, and Facebook Watch.
Facebook’s competitive advantage over its competitors is its user-generated content which is hard to copy. Furthermore, it has a large number of active users, caters to a wide variety of people, and offers more connection options such as like, follow, and share among others.
Some disadvantages of Facebook are that it is addictive and can lead to low productivity especially if you are on it for fun. People can also create fake accounts. It can affect your relationship, and there can be cyberbullying. However, this is not only limited to Facebook alone but on social media platforms.
Summary
Facebook is a social media platform for photo and video sharing. The company has spent about $23 billion on its acquisitions which is one of its biggest business strategies and growth models. Facebook acquires companies in direct competition with it and applies its modus operandi to its own companies.
FAQ
Why was Beluga shut down?
The founders said it duplicated Facebook messenger’s ability to function.
Are there future acquisition plans by Facebook?
Yes, there are future acquisition plans as the acquisition is a part of Facebook’s growth strategy.
Did Facebook change to meta?
Yes, in 2021
