The wildly popular social networking giant, Facebook, plans to generate $1.2 billion from mobile advertising, according to UK-based analyst firm Mobile Squared.
This bit of news has circulated for some time now, as we recently reported the social networking site was working on bringing ads to smartphones and tablets in the near future. The $1.2 billion a year estimate was calculated by future earnings from major markets, such as the United States and all of Europe — the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Potential revenue for all five countries were dissected in following order: The United States will account for roughly half of the $1.2 billion, at $653.7 million in 12 months, with the United Kingdon bringing in $166.6 million, $100 million in France, Germany and Italy, and $70 million in Spain.
The analyst firm broke the numbers down even further, suggesting that Facebook stands to make around $6.50 per year off every mobile user, which is a $2 increase compared to what it makes from online users. The only catch to this new potentially successful revenue stream is it will depend heavily on mobile display-style ads.
Truth is, when it comes to presenting ads, we don’t know which direction Facebook will ultimately go. Some have suggested traditional display ads, that appear in a user’s timeline, or something different like ads as sponsored stories. The company is thinking of new ways to bring on more investors, especially after its recent IPO filing.
This might come off as bad news for those who are loyal Facebookers, but if you love using the service for free then you’ll have to deal with the reality of Facebook being covered in ads.
[via TC]