Digital ads show signs of rebound as Meta, Amazon point to growth [Video]

A year ago, Meta finance chief Susan Li offered chilling commentary about the state of the digital ad market, telling analysts that the struggling industry would remain in a slump.

Speaking to analysts on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Li said at the time that Facebook’s revenue “remained under pressure from weak advertising demand” and that sales would continue “to be impacted by the uncertain and volatile macroeconomic landscape.”

During that period Meta’s ad revenue fell 4%, and Google’s ad business suffered a similar drop. Inflation, supply chain issues and global conflict were all depressing spending.

The narrative is very different now.

With results in from Alphabet, Meta and Amazon — the three U.S. leaders in digital advertising — it’s clear that the market has rebounded, at least for the time being.

Meta’s fourth-quarter ad sales jumped 24% from a year earlier to $38.7 billion, while Amazon’s booming ad unitrose 27% to $14.7 billion. Meanwhile Alphabet, still the …