Facebook attracted 1.94 billion active monthly users in the three months to the end of March, as the social network saw its mobile ads dominate revenues during another record financial quarter. The figures indicate that a quarter of the world’s population now uses Facebook every month, with most of the new users coming from outside […]
Facebook attracted 1.94 billion active monthly users in the three months to the end of March, as the social network saw its mobile ads dominate revenues during another record financial quarter.
The figures indicate that a quarter of the world’s population now uses Facebook every month, with most of the new users coming from outside of Europe and North America.
Facebook said that total revenue jumped 49% to just over $8bn – with mobile advertising revenue now accounting for a growing share of its ad base, at 85%.
The US tech giant reported profits of just over $3bn (£2.4bn) in the first quarter, a 76% rise year-on-year.
However, it warned that growth in ad revenues would slow down. Shares gained only slightly in after-hours trading after a 0.6% slip in advance of the first quarter update.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the performance as a “good start to 2017”.
The number of people using Facebook each month increased to 1.94 billion, of which nearly 1.3 billion use it daily, the company said.
The company has also come under sustained pressure in recent weeks over its handling of hate speech, child abuse and self-harm on the social network.
On Wednesday, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced it was hiring 3,000 extra people to moderate content on the site.
Speaking after the results, Zuckerberg said the size of its user base gave Facebook an opportunity to expand the site’s role, moving into TV, health care and politics.
“With that foundation our next focus will be building community,” he said. “There’s a lot to do there.”
Over the past few years, the social network has been able to boost revenue by increasing what it calls the “ad load,” or the proportion of ads in a user’s feed. But the company said it is reaching the upper limits of what it can put in the feed without seeing a backlash.
