iWorld
A majority of Facebook’s 3 million advertisers are SMBs’
MUMBAI: Facebook announced that a vast majority of its three million active advertisers are small and midsize businesses (SMBs’). The number of advertisers is up by fifty per cent in one year. Small businesses are mobile and a million advertisers create an ad directly on mobile for Facebook. The social media giant says that the three top advertising brand categories are services, local commerce and eCommerce.
As per data shared by Facebook 70 per cent of the three million companies are from outside the US, with the fastest growing region being south east Asia. 57 per cent of people on Facebook in India are connected to small businesses.
What’s more, as of October 2015, nearly 2 million small businesses in India actively use Facebook Pages because they’re free, easy to use, and they immediately give businesses a digital and mobile strategy. It is interesting to note that of 142 million monthly active users are in India alone, 133 million are active on mobile, facilitating over 1.99 billion interactions generated between businesses and people in India
Keeping the India market in mind, Facebook had also up the SME India Council for the first time in Asia Pacific, while an India Client Council with global advertisers was established in 2014. The SME India Council will meet few times over the coming months to discuss progress on solutions, business ideas, discuss new successes and challenges and meet the Facebook teams.
Currently more than 50 million small businesses use Facebook’s free Pages product to grow. Going by their analytics, more than one billion people on Facebook are connected to at least one business.
To celebrate these businesses, the social media giant has also announced the development of Your Business Story, a new movie tool that makes it easy for business owners to showcase what their company brings to the world. As part of the tool, businesses are able to upload their photos from their Page, overlay with music and share “what they are in the business of” doing.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
