In an oddly timed move, Microsoft has reportedly stopped all advertising spending on Facebook and Instagram. Given that Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders on Zuckerberg's platforms, this is an important shift, but it comes at an odd time, as Microsoft just partnered with Facebook Gaming following the shutdown of Mixer.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that Mixer would be shutting down in July and that partners would be able to transfer their contracts to Facebook Gaming should they choose to. Now, just a couple of weeks later, sources speaking with Bloomberg say that Microsoft is stopping its advertising spending on Facebook worldwide.
According to the report, Microsoft is actually Facebook's third largest advertiser, having spent around $116 million on the platform in 2019. It likely would have spent a lot more this year too, as Halo Infinite and next-gen console hardware are coming in the months ahead.
As pointed out by GI.biz, Microsoft is one of several large companies to do this, with Starbucks, Ford and HP also pulling advertising from Facebook in hopes of forcing the social networking platform to do more to combat hate speech and the spread of misinformation.
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KitGuru Says: Microsoft will be sending its old Mixer streamers over to Facebook, but simultaneously wants to take some form of stand against the site, which is an odd mix. Microsoft itself has not commented publicly yet though, so there could be more to the story in the days/weeks to come.