Facebook brings advertising to mobile devices
Shortly before its planned initial public offering, Facebook is boosting its business. At an event attended by hundreds of advertising specialists in New York on Wednesday, the company announced that it would allow advertising on mobile devices in the future.
Until now, mobile Facebook has been free of advertising - and thus generates practically no money. However, 425 million users - around half of all Facebook fans - keep up to date with what's happening in their online circle of friends via their smartphones. This is a huge source of revenue for Facebook.
Just the day before, the short message service Twitter announced its plans for advertising on mobile devices. Smartphones are booming worldwide, and with them the opportunities for Facebook and others to earn money here. According to US media, however, there will be no graphic ads on mobile Facebook for the time being.
Facebook is under pressure to attract enough investors for its IPO. According to previous plans, the company wants to raise $5 billion with the share placement. Together with the shares that will remain with the old owners such as Zuckerberg, the total company value is estimated at 100 billion dollars. (SDA/DPA)
