Why Mobile and Direct Monetization Will Get Facebook 2 Billion Users
In her latest appearance on the News Desk SiliconANGLE editor Kristen Nicole discussed Facebook’s recent announcement that it has reached one billion active monthly users, and the company’s outlook (full video below).
Kristen Nicole considers the milestone a very significant one, and credits it in great part to the ecosystem: Facebook has become the de facto answer for site owners that want to integrate social features into their web pages, extending the reach of the social network across the net.
Her take is that Facebook’s Like button and integrated log-in have become so unavoidable nowadays, it’s clear that Facebook’s platform has become a standard on the web. This is the reason that Facebook was even able to reach this week’s one billion user milestone, and that deep integration could help them reach two billion in the future.
Kristen Nicole also addressed the question of why this announcement was made known only now, although Facebook actually reached their milestone last month. She thinks there are two reasons: one, because, like most companies, Facebook is not particular keen on disclosing internal performance measurements, and two, because of their upcoming earnings call. The company will post financial results for this quarter later this month, and this milestone will provide a much needed image boost for the social network. Facebook is not simply boasting its one billion users – it’s putting it in context with its long term goals, and that’s what stakeholders will be looking at.
One of those goals is establishing a stronger mobile presence, Kristen Nicole says, citing recent research that suggests well over 50 percent of Facebook’s billion active users access the network from their mobile devices. The social network is also working on a couple of other ways to directly monetize users, including a Promoted Posts feature that for a fee will allow users – both brands and individuals – to highlight their story on contacts’ pages.
Facebook also unveiled Gifts this week, a new Android app that enables users to send gifts to each other thanks to a network of partners that includes Starbucks, 1-800-Flowers and other retailers.
See Kristen Nicole’s entire commentary below:
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