For the last year, there have been many industry concerns over Facebook’s ability to keep thriving and generating revenue in an era where advertising is increasingly moving to mobile, and in a time when many users experience “Facebook fatigue.” This week, Facebook seems to have put to rest — at least for the time being — many of these concerns as it released its newest numbers on both new users, and mobile ad revenue.
According to their latest earnings release, Facebook has been able to more than double their profit, and their incoming revenue beat out estimates once again. Over 60% of the company’s ad revenue is now coming from mobile advertising. This is an important number, because eMarketer says that 2014 will be the year that mobile advertising surpasses magazine, radio and newspaper ad revenue for the first time.
“What Facebook has done with mobile is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen an Internet company do in recent years,” said Mark Mahaney, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, in response to Facebook’s earnings release.
Although many have wondered whether Facebook can continue to be relevant — especially given that up-and-coming teens tend to gravitate toward less parent-heavy platforms, such as Instagram — Facebook showed that it still had some “wow” factor, adding 40 million new users in the second quarter. Currently, an incredible one-fifth of the world’s population logs in to the website at least once every four weeks.
“There’s still so much room to grow,” said Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook is now generating profits of $791 million (and revenue of $2.91 million), which is up from $333 million a year ago. Their stock is at an all time high of $75, which is almost double their initial public offering price.
If growth continues as anticipated, Facebook is expected to receive 18% of the U.S.’s $17.7 billion market for mobile ads throughout the rest of 2014. Google still remains Facebook’s top competitor for ad revenue.
Milena Lyons, Branding Expert at CMG Creative Agency, had this to say on the subject “Close to 50% off cell phone users are using smart phones, hence using apps, watching videos or sending texts. These are great advertising opportunities you can take advantage of. Companies continue to expand their mobile presence based on demand. By adding mobile advertising to your strategy, your company will position itself where your competition is not – in front of your smart phone user audience.”