Mobile drives FB’s revenue growth; video focus continues
Mobile advertising revenue for Facebook which reported financial results for the second quarter of 2015 was approximately 76 per cent of advertising revenue. This reflected an increase of approximately 62 per cent of advertising revenue compared to the second quarter of 2014.
The social media platform generated USD 4 billion in revenue and USD 1.3 billion in free cash flow in this quarter, reporting what analysts call good results.
In June, approximately 968 million people used Facebook on an average day, an increase of 17 per cent compared to last year. This daily number represents 65 per cent of the 1.49 billion people who used Facebook during the month of June.
“This was another strong quarter for our community. Engagement across our family of apps keeps growing, and we remain focused on improving the quality of our services,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO.
In June, approximately 1.31 billion people accessed Facebook on mobile devices, up 23 per cent from last year. “Mobile remains the key driver of our growth,” Dave Wehner, CFO, Facebook said.
Daily active users were 968 million on average for June 2015, an increase of 17 per cent year-over-year. Mobile daily active users were 844 million on average for June 2015, an increase of 29 per cent year-over-year. Monthly active users were 1.49 billion as of June 30, 2015, an increase of 13 per cent year-over-year.
Breaking down the numbers according to the region, after North America, APAC showed a strong growth in ad revenue at 48 per cent this quarter.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO, said, “Similar to Q1, we’re pleased with adoption of our ad products across all regions and we saw strong revenue growth in North America and Asia Pacific in particular. We’re staying focused on our three main priorities – capitalising on the shift to mobile, growing the number of Facebook marketers, and making our ads more relevant and effective.”
Video continues to be a big focus for Facebook, which recently started testing charging brands for ads. Ms Sandberg explains, “With so many consumer videos being watched on Facebook, video ads are a natural part of the News Feed experience. For marketers, video has always been a compelling format – now Facebook enables mass reach and cross device targeting and measurement abilities far superior to what other platforms offer.”
Ms Sandberg highlights that mobile video was a major theme at the Cannes Lion festival last month where some of the biggest winners – like Under Armour’s “I will what I want” with Droga5 and Procter and Gamble’s “Like a Girl” with Leo Burnett – used mobile video on Facebook as part of their campaigns.
In Q2, Facebook launched Instagram ads in Japan, Germany and Brazil. The social network also introduced, Carousel Ads on Instagram.
Mr Zuckerberg said, “With Instagram, the continued growth in the size and engagement of the community shows how this is becoming one of the best places to get a real time snapshot of the world. This quarter we made some big improvements to the app including upgrading our search tool and introducing trending content, which we expect will provide even more engaging experiences.”
Ms Sandberg added, “Over the coming months Instagram ads will be available to more advertisers with new formats, better targeting, and the ability to buy online as well as through 3rd party partners. As we ramp Instagram ads, we remain focused on quality and relevance to ensure the best experience for people and the highest performance for marketers.”
