State of AI Apps Report 2025 is Live!

Blog

Sensor Tower · Seema Shah · September 2024

In-App Usage Data Unlocks Insights into Facebook Marketplace User Engagement

Powered by Sensor Tower’s unmodeled data offering, in-app usage by feature data can reveal which surfaces on a particular app garner the most consumer attention, how that shifts over time and how that compares to similar features and functions on other apps. Facebook’s Marketplace appears to lead in user time spent in the US across all online secondhand marketplaces, which could pose a threat for key players in the industry who are more beholden to specific revenue and profitability growth targets.

In-App Usage Data Unlocks Insights into Facebook Marketplace User Engagement

Key Takeaways:

  • In Jul’24, US Facebook users collectively spent nearly 3.7mn hours/day on Facebook Marketplace, more than 5x that of eBay (600k), OfferUp (410k), Poshmark (130k) and Craigslist (15k). This suggests that legacy secondhand marketplaces in the digital space have a formidable threat to address in the form of Facebook Marketplace, particularly given how much more time consumers spend on this feature

    • Though Marketplace is only 4% of total US Facebook user time spent and less popular than Reels on Facebook (30%) and Shorts on YouTube (17%), the size of Facebook’s user base makes it a daunting player in the space

  • ST data can also be used to determine which surfaces are being heavily (or under) monetized by social media platforms via advertising volume. On Facebook, Marketplace made up merely 6% of total US ad volume in Jul’24, much less than the Main Feed (66%), Reels (13%) or Small Banner Ads (8%), suggesting that Meta may have additional room to expand monetization capabilities on the surface

For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.


Sensor Tower's platform is an enterprise-level offering. Interested in learning more?


Seema Shah

Written by: Seema Shah, VP, Insights

Date: September 2024