Facebook Estimated To Collect Almost 5 Percent Of U.S. Online Ad Revenue

Facebook may be responsible for nearly a quarter of all display ads shown in the U.S., but it only collects about 5 percent of U.S. online ad revenues. An article in AdAge reports on new estimates from eMarketer which peg Facebook’s 2010

Facebook may be responsible for nearly a quarter of all display ads shown in the U.S., but it only collects about 5 percent of U.S. online ad revenues. An article in AdAge reports on new estimates from eMarketer which peg Facebook’s 2010 advertising revenues at $1.86 billion, with $1.21 billion of that coming from the U.S. That would give Facebook a 4.7 percent share of the estimated $25.8 billion total spent in the U.S. on online advertising last year.
Despite its already impressive financial might, Facebook could be doing a lot better. The gap between its share of display ad impressions and ad dollars shows how poorly Facebook is monetizing those ads, and suggests there is still a lot of room for improvement. Indeed, by 2012, eMarketer estimates Facebook’s U.S. ad revenues will more than double to $2.89 billion and it will account for nearly 9 percent of the U.S. online advertising pie.
Meanwhile, Facebook’s worldwide advertising revenues are expected to reach $5.74 billion by 2012. As a (sad) point of comparison, eMarketer estimates that MySpace’s worldwide ad revenues will decline from a high of $470 million in 2009 to $156 million in 2012.
Below is a table from AdAge showing the estimates for Facebook’s U.S. advertising revenues compared to total U.S. online ad spending:

Facebook Share of Total US Online Advertising Spending, 2009-2012 (billions and % of total)
	2009	2010	2011	2012
Facebook	$0.56	$1.21	$2.19	$2.87
Total US online advertising spending	$22.70	$25.80	$28.50	$32.60
Facebook % of total	2.4%	4.7%	7.7%	8.8%

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