Andreessen: Facebook could do $1 billion in revenue if it wanted to

Facebook will likely bring in "billions of dollars in revenue" in five years time and could even do $1 billion in revenue this year if it really pushed itself, board member Marc Andreessen told Reuters. (Techmeme)

Instead, it's more important for Facebook - and even micro-blogging site Twitter - to continue to grow and capture market share. That strategy mirrors the one that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg put forth when he said last year that he didn't see the need for a revenue plan until 2011.

I've been critical in the past of these sites that continue to grow but offer no insight as to how they make money. Maybe I'm tarnished by the last dot-com boom and the number of sites that launched - and generated a lot of publicity - and then disappeared when the money went away. At some point, there needs to be a plan - a strategy of some sort that says "We're here for the long run, not just until investment money dries up."

With that said, the Reuters piece addresses that by pointing to the MySpace example.

MySpace was once a leader in social networking but was quickly swooped up by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which put the focus on selling advertisements instead of feeding the growth momentum. As a result, Facebook swooped in and took market share.

When you look at it that way, it's hard to argue. Forgive me if I'm a bit leery of popular, high-profile Web properties that have no solid plan for generating revenue over the long-term - but I've seen that before.

If Facebook can truly bring in $1 billion this year with some effort - as Andreessen suggested - then maybe I don't have to worry that Facebook will run out of cash and fold up anytime soon.