Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that "building out a whole phone wouldn't make any sense" for the social media company. This should put to rest all the rumors of a Facebook Smartphone being developed for consumers. Also of interest coming out of the conference call was the company's expressed optimism about its ability to generate advertising from the 543 million users who access the site on mobile devices, a 67% gain from a year ago. Execs said the "Sponsored Stories" ads introduced last month have generated $1 million a day with about 50% coming from mobile devices. If you are familiar with Facebook, but unfamiliar with the term Sponsored Stories, you have already been exposed to them.
Facebook won't be able to bet on Sponsored Stories as its main mobile advertising offering for long, said analysts. "I think Facebook is going to have to find a different way to monetize mobile that isn't about little display ads" said Melissa Parrish, an analyst at Forrester Research. Chris Silva, of Altimeter Group, called Sponsored Stories "blunt instruments" and that Facebook is leading now for lack of anybody coming along and innovating."
It is quite clear that Facebook has it's work cut out for them as the mobile space continues to evolve and grow in regards to monetizing ads.
Via: NY Times