Facebook is in a serious relationship with advertisement
february 07, 2012 · 13h39
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Facebook only managed to get to where it is, with its 845 million users, and possible revenue of US$ 5 billion, after its first public offering, because Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the company, refused to fill his website with ads.
The reluctance of the president to allow publicity on his social network platform is seen by many as a successful move. Mainly when compared to other social network platforms, such as its adversary: MySpace.
“Mark has an evangelical posture as regards advertisement”, said Martin Sorrell, chief executive at WPP, to Reuters. “He sees Facebook as a tool to open communication, and not one to cash in.”
But he had to reevaluate his opinion since 85% of his revenue (US$ 3.7 billion) came from the sales of ad slots.
“Things have changed a lot in the past 12 month”, added Michael Hayes, president of the digital publicity sector at Initiative. “Before, they had no relationship with us, but now they are trying to create one. I see a clear interest of working with us.”
The fact that Facebook is now in a serious relationship with advertisement is no lie, the company hired last year Caroline Everson, the global chief executive of the publicity sector at Microsoft. Facebook has also announced that it will be adding ads to its tablet/smartphones platforms content.
Adnews Editorial Office
