Over the last couple of months, every major prop firm has seen a decline in traffic. You can see three examples of this below. The data is from SimilarWeb.
| February | March | April | |
| FundedNext | 6.9m | 7.2m | 5.7m |
| FTMO | 6.3m | 6.3m | 5.6m |
| FundingPips | 8.7m | 8.4m | 7.5m |
It’s plausible this was just a reflection of less interest in trading, with a die down in the volatility we saw at the start of the year.
However, it seems like there is more pressure on the industry from social media platforms.
One reader who works in the prop space noted that a Google update in May seems to have specifically targeted prop trading firms – for the worse.
Another factor has been a huge targeting of companies operating in the space on the Meta platforms.
The biggest player that seems to have been impacted by this is FundingPips. Their advertising account on Meta seems to have been deleted in April or May.
Even though they were 100% using the platform to advertise prior to then, Meta’s data shows no advertising activity prior to last month. This is impossible to have been the case.
On top of that, they seem to have reconnected the relevant pages to another Meta account to start running ads again. The result is that some of their ads link out to FundingPips but show a random brand name called ‘Kapil Show 84’.
The company also recently updated their website. Previously the homepage showed links to all their social media platform profiles. Now there are none. The prop firm’s Facebook page appears to be gone but their Instagram account is still live.
As an aside, it’s worth noting that this is a Meta issue, rather than a prop issue. Meta is kind of like a capricious dictator. Along with having aneurysm-inducing backend technology, they can also just decide to ban you, with no real consistency in how that ban is applied.
Several other prop firms that I spoke to also noted that they have experienced more problems than usual with Meta over the last month, with Instagram seeming to be the worst affected platform. One provider had their accounts deleted with no recourse or even the ability to appeal.
However, there does not appear to be any clear pattern here. Some firms, like FTMO and FundedNext, have not had any changes made to their accounts or their advertising activity. In fact, FTMO has been increasing its number of active advertisements on Meta since March, rather than seeing that activity paused.
On the other hand, mid-size firms have been impacted. For example, Instant Funding appears to have had its Instagram account deleted in May.
Hola Prime, who we looked at last week, have had their Instagram account deleted. Moneta Funded, the prop arm of Moneta Markets, has also had its Instagram taken down. Other companies, notably Maven, have had their Facebook pages removed, with their Instagram accounts still live.
It’s not that surprising that firms have been taken down as this has been a perennial problem for props for a long time. What’s more peculiar is that it has all happened at roughly the same time, suggesting there has been a more coordinated effort to take companies off Meta platforms.
However, it fits with a trend you’d broadly expect. Companies in the trading industry typically face three key bottlenecks – payments and banking, regulations, and social media advertising. There is never a real silver bullet and managing all of them is just a regular, day-to-day task.
Props have been more immune to them though, because they don’t have to be regulated. And because they aren’t regulated, they don’t have to deal with the knock-on effect regulation has on how payments and social media companies treat you. Still, and as the Meta changes illustrate, problems are coming.
Indeed, last year we looked at how a change in social media policy could kill a lot of companies in the sector. Unlike brokers, a lot of props have been entirely reliant on Google / Meta ad spend. If that gets taken away then they will die.
Like in the broker sector, where big players often seem mysteriously immune from Meta and Google ad policies, it’s plausible bigger props can weather the storm. Smaller ones are already struggling and any shut down on ads will make them suffer even more.
