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Facebook’s Ad Revenue Hit $1.86B for 2010

According to recently released figures from eMarketer, Facebook‘s revenue for advertising alone — which excludes revenue for virtual currencies and other sources — came to an astonishing $1.86 billion for all of last year. Not bad for a web startup that’s yet to see its seventh birthday.
As we reported last month, Facebook was on track to reach the $2 billion mark for revenue in 2010. When other revenue streams are counted along with ad revenue, it’s easy to imagine that the $2 billion revenue was achieved and possibly exceeded in the past year.

As users spend more and more on Facebook Credits, which got an extensive roll-out through online and brick-and-mortar retailers throughout 2010, the virtual currency is likely accounting for an increasing amount on Facebook’s balance sheets. After all, Facebook collects around 33 cents on the dollar for Credits spent within the Facebook ecosystem of apps and games — games that grow more popular with each iteration.

As for the ads, Facebook’s serving more than 50 billion display ads per month and was on track to serve 1 trillion display ads for the year.
And the company isn’t satisfied with tried-and-true display ads served on the basis of user behavior and data, either; it’s experimenting with local deals, crossing the line in the sand that lies between it and companies like Google, Groupon, Foursquare and other companies with an interest in location-based advertising.

In an interview with AdAge, eMarketer analyst Debra Williamson said that around 60% of Facebook’s 2010 ad revenue came from SMBs and that 60% of Facebook’s ad dollars came through its self-serve ad platform. Around $740 million of Facebook’s revenue in 2010 came from major brands such as Procter & Gamble or Coca-Cola.

All told, Williamson said Facebook alone accounted for 5% of all online ad spend in 2010; she expects that number to rise to 8% in 2011.
As Facebook continues its rather meteoric ascent as an ad medium, ever more urgency is put into the question, “But does that make Facebook a $50 billion company?”