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(Image Source: CNET)
BY JEREMY TRUITT
Facebook has been busy over the past year since it's disastrous IPO, but the social
media titan reported Wednesday its first quarter results are far from disastrous. Sky News
has the details.
"Sales in just the first three months in this year were up 38% on the same time last year.
It's a whopping amount, it's $1.46 billion earned in just the first three months of the
year."
So what helped Facebook generate that revenue? In a word: mobile. Specifically an increasing
market share of mobile ads. Of the $1.46 billion in revenue,85 percent of it was from advertising.
(Via The Washington Post)
"30 percent of that ad revenue came from mobile ads as Facebook made an active push to reach
out to users on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets." (Via BBC)
Just one year ago, Facebook generated zero dollars from mobile ads, leading the company
to try to crack the mobile ad code. The COO said "We want content in ads that's as good
as content from a friend or somewhere else on the site, as well as to have a higher return
for marketers." (Via The New York Times)
So if Facebook is laser-focused on mobile ads, then there must be a ton of mobile users,
right?
Try 751 million — that's around two thirds of the total 1.11 billion Facebook users around
the globe. It's an astounding number, but an analyst on CNN says it may not even matter.
(Via Bloomberg)
"If you've got an iPhone when was the last time you were on Facebook and clicked on an
ad? It just doesn't happen...Because all those eyeballs are on those mobile devices, they're
not on your PC where you see the ads and are more likely to click."
On to the topic of user demographics, it's long been rumoured that users under the age
of 25 are beginning to shun the social network. Facebook's CFO however, said that's just an
"urban legend."
"The younger users remain among the most active and engaged users we have...We think the overall
amount of time spent on services that enable you to connect and share is growing and will
continue to grow." (Via San Jose Mercury News)
While the earnings release was mostly positive news, Facebook's share price is hovering around
$27 a share, still well below the $38 IPO price just one year ago.