Facebook Now Makes 84% Of Its Advertising Revenue From Mobile

In May 2012, when Facebook had its initial public offering, it was making no ad money from mobile at all. What a difference half a decade makes. According to the company’s latest earnings released today, mobile advertising accounted for 84 percent of its 2016 fourth-quarter revenue—up from 80 percent during the same period the previous year. Facebook’s total advertising revenue in the fourth quarter of 2016 grew to $8.63 billion, a 53 percent increase over the same period a year earlier, beating analysts’ expectations. For the entire year, the company reported $26.9 billion in advertising revenue, up 57 percent from 2015. “When you’re talking about a growth rate that might be as high as 45 percent, I think there are plenty of publicly traded companies that would be extremely jealous of that outcome,” said Forrester analyst Melissa Parrish. According to Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, the platform has continued to diversify its advertising portfolio. She said it now has 4 million paying brands, along with another 500,000 on Instagram. Sandberg said the company’s top 100 advertisers now represent just a quarter of advertising revenue, a decrease from the year before. Read more at Adweek.