Facebook Ad Revenue Grew 69% in ‘11, Now Over $3B

Facebook advertising revenue reached $3.15 billion in 2011, representing an increase of almost 69% from $1.87 billion in 2010, and more than tripling from $764 million in 2009,  according to the February 2012 prospectus it filed in conjunction with its initial public offering (IPO).

The $3.15 billion in advertising revenue equaled 85% of the social network’s $3.71 billion in 2011 revenues, with the remaining $557 million derived from payments and other fees revenue, more than quadruple the $106 million derived from those sources in 2010. The proportion of 2011 revenue accounted for by advertising was down from 95% (of $1.97 billion) in 2010 and 98% (of $777 million) in 2009.

Notably, Zynga accounted for approximately 12% of the company’s revenue last year.

Fan Engagement Low, Though

Despite these impressive figures, brands using Facebook likes as a rating could be disappointed. In terms of engagement, only slightly more than 1% of users who like big brands such as Procter & Gamble or Coca-Cola actually engage with those brands, according to Ehrenberg-Bass Institute research, as reported by AdAge. The research, which measured Facebook’s “People Talking About This” metric relative to overall fan growth for the social network’s top brands during a 6-week period in 2011, found the proportion of the metric to overall fans to be 1.3%. Removing new likes from the equation, the proportion was even more minimal, at 0.45%.

Users Continue Growing at Rapid Pace

Even so, Facebook’s reach continues to grow at leaps and bounds. According to its prospectus, it had 845 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of December 31, 2011, representing growth of 39% from 608 million a year earlier, and 135% from 360 million at the end of 2009.

The amount of daily active users (DAUs) also increased 48% from an average of 327 million in December 2010 to an average of 483 million December 2011.

According to Socialbakers analysis from January 2012, Facebook grew 7 users per second in 2011.

Elderly, Adolescents Show Most Rapid Growth

Data from Socialbakers’ analysis shows that the amount of Facebook users aged 65 and older grew 52% in 2011 to reach 19 million, matched by the 52% growth among users aged 16-17, who numbered 66 million. Adults aged 18-24 made up the largest demographic on Facebook, at 248 million, but grew a relatively smaller 32% in 2011.

Meanwhile, the top 10 countries accounted for 55% of all Facebook users, led by the US, with 157 million MAUs, up 7% in 2011. Indonesia (42 million) and India (41 million) followed, although India displayed the higher growth in 2011, at an impressive 139%. Among the top 10 countries, Brazil showed the greatest growth, tripling its users to 35 million.

Other Findings:

• According to its prospectus, Facebook had more than 425 million MAUs who used Facebook mobile products in December 2011.
• There were more than 100 billion friend connections on Facebook at the end of 2011.
• Facebook users generated an average of 2.7 billion likes and comments per day during the 3 months ending December 31, 2011.

Source: MarketingCharts.com