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Facebook marketing data partner loses a third of its value

Acxiom, which used Facebook data for marketing purposes, is one of the losers from the social network's decision to end its "Partner Categories" program.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials
  • SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
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Roger Cheng
A new employee sits at a computer during Facebook's engineering bootcamp

Facebook's shutdown of its third-party data program has ripple effects elsewhere. 

 Facebook

The fallout from Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal is hitting one data marketing firm hard. 

Acxiom, which uses Facebook data for better targeted marketing, lost a third of its value on Thursday after Facebook decided to end its "Partner Categories" program, which fed data to firms like Acxiom. The company's shares fell 31 percent to $19.45. 

Facebook's shutdown of the program is part of a broader effort to clean up the way it handles its users' data. The social network has been in the spotlight since the revelations emerged about how Cambridge Analytica used Facebook information to create targeted political ads.

But in the case of Acxiom, there's collateral damage. 

Acxiom said it expects total revenue and profitability to fall by as much as $25 million.