Facebook hurtles toward 2bn users as mobile ad revenues surge to 85pc

4 May 2017

Mark Zuckerberg profile on Facebook mobile app. Image: dolphfyn/Shutterstock

Facebook has kicked 2017 off to a good start, according to founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Social network Facebook reported a 49pc increase in revenues for the first three months of 2017, reaching the $8bn milestone.

Facebook reported $7.8bn in revenues from advertising and $175m from payments and other fees.

‘We had a good start to 2017’
– MARK ZUCKERBERG

The company brought home a tidy $3bn profit, up 76pc on the first quarter of 2016.

Mobile advertising accounts for 85pc of Facebook ad revenue

Facebook reported that daily active users now stand at 1.28bn, up 18pc on last year. Monthly active user figures reached 1.94bn, up 17pc year-on-year.

Mobile advertising revenue accounted for 85pc of Facebook’s advertising revenue, compared with 82pc last year. Facebook said that capital spending for Q1 was $1.27bn.

The company’s headcount has increased 38pc on last year to 18,770 people.

“We had a good start to 2017,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “We’re continuing to build tools to support a strong global community.”

Mark Zuckerberg profile on Facebook mobile app. Image: dolphfyn/Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com