Facebook is reportedly planning to enter the mobile advertising business by the end of Q1 2012. The company is considering putting its Sponsored Stories ads, which feature friends’ interactions with brands, into the mobile News Feed, according to two people with knowledge of the matter cited by Bloomberg. Facebook’s new advertising service was originally supposed to arrive earlier this year, but the plan was delayed, so don’t be too surprised if it happens again.
When Facebook enters this market, it will have to work its way uphill against mobile advertising giants Google, Apple, and Millennial Media. Still, the social networking giant had to face stiff competition in the online advertising market as well, and it is doing quite alright for itself already.
Facebook has managed to establish itself as a major advertising supplier because it has a unique offering to businesses that are willing to gamble a little with their marketing dollars. Advantages include being able to target users with a precision not found in most other forms of advertising. With its quickly growing user base (800 million monthly active users and counting), the company’s social graph is exploding across all demographics, which only further fuels improved ad targeting, performance, and revenue as well.
Facebook already has 350 million monthly active mobile users. If it can replicate the same success on the mobile side of things, the company will be able to create a respectable new source of revenue for itself. It’s no wonder the company said “We’re going to become a mobile company” just three months ago.
A new revenue stream will be a very good weapon for Facebook to have in its arsenal for 2012.
Palo Alto is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for next year, meaning the company will go public in Q1 2012, Q2 2012, or even later, depending on which rumor and sources you want to believe. The social networking giant is expected to raise $10 billion, giving it a valuation of around $100 billion.
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