It seems only yesterday that Facebook began making any money and now it’s already raking in billions. The social networking behemoth will bring in about $2 billion this year, reports Bloomberg. If true, it means the site has more than doubled its 2009 revenue of $700-$800 million and exceeded 2010 estimates by $500 million. Not only is Mark Zuckerberg Time’s Person of the Year, he might just be one of the richest as well. Correspondingly, Facebook’s value is now pegged at $43.1 billion, almost four times what it was in March of this year.
Much of the growth comes from an increase in attention from big advertisers. Companies like Coca-Cola, Adidas, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have helped balloon ad sales. The company has maintained its ad prices while its user base has exploded, creating a huge space for ads. It now holds about 9.4 percent of the Internet display ad market in the U.S., up from 6.6 percent last year, says EMarketer. In addition, Facebook brings in revenue from micropayments in games and apps on its network. Many of the most popular games, like FarmVille, let people buy virtual items within the game, off which Facebook shaves a commission.
The social network, which opened in 2004, is one of the fastest companies to reach $2 billion in revenue. For comparison, it took Google about as long (1998-2004) to exceed $2 billion and Yahoo didn’t generate that much money for 10 years. Since Facebook is rolling in the dough, we must ask, please HMU with some of that.
Twitter, the social giant’s biggest rival, was recently evaluated at about $3.6 billion, a huge number, but paltry when uttered in the same sentence as $43.1 billion. Things are looking up, as well. The company has been making some high profile search deals with Google competitors and recently got a facelift. And with talent like this guy, 2011 may hold even better numbers for Facebook.
