Facebook has taken the world by surprise and it has turned out to be the leading social network in the world. Built by Michael Zuckerberg, with an aim of connecting university students, this website has since grown and emerged a business heavy weight. This social networking site has drastically changed way many businesses operate too. In time, many have been astonished from earnings Zuckerberg went with it to the bank and have tried to probe on how this website generates income. It is very evident that in less than 5 years, Facebook has becoming one of the top businesses despite the harsh economic times.
First, advertisements are a major source of income for this website. Many businesses that would wish to advertise to a large number of people about the products or services offered can sometimes pay duties to this website and their advertisements kept going. It is advantageous to businesses to use a social networking site such as Facebook since one is guaranteed to reach a large diverse population. In the long run, firms usually benefit by spending less as compared to the physical means of advertisement. At the end of the day, Facebook is able to earn some cash from them.
Furthermore, it also makes money through sending of virtual gifts. Usually, the send a gift option is a massive incentive for people who wish to send virtual gifts to their families and friends. In times of a major event in a person’s life, friends and family who might not have the opportunity of sending a physical gift may opt for the virtual gift since it is cheaper and reaches the recipient at the click of the button. In as much as the charges per gift is low, but many people tend to use this services and hence contribute greatly to the income generated by this website
It also generates income via having a number of applications on sale through the Facebook platform. A good example can be ‘Farmville’ – this is a game launched on Facebook to allow people to maintain their virtual firms. Zynga, the parent company, usually get a lot of traffic from Facebook. It takes some share of the revenue generated from such games.
All in all, Facebook income generation is simply via advertisement, gifts and applications. These items have also been made appealing to the users and therefore temptation to use them is high. In the end, this website gains a lot.