One billion log on to Facebook every day as revenues near $4.5bn

For the first time, one billion people now check their Facebook News Feed every day. The social network now has more than 1.5 billion registered users for the first time ever - around half of the world’s internet-connected population. The figures were revealed in the company’s third quarter earnings report on Wednesday night, which beat Wall Street predictions. The good news saw Facebook’s share price soar, helping it break yet another company record - reaching a $300bn valuation for the first time.

We had a good quarter and got a lot done. We’re focused on innovating and investing for the long term to serve our community and connect the entire world.

Facebook said founder Mark Zuckerberg

Revenues jumped to $4.5 billion. Ad revenue was the key driver behind the performance, growing 45% year-on-year to $4.3 billion dollars. Earnings stood at $896m - they could have been even higher but the firm is spending hundreds of millions on projects including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and bringing the internet to emerging markets. Most of Facebook’s new users come from outside Europe and North America. Facebook said ads on mobile devices accounted for 78% of advertising revenue, up from 66% a year ago. Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said: “We think we have the best mobile ad product in the market. We’re able to target, we’re able to measure. We have broad scale.”

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