Facebook overtakes media giants' U.S. ad revenues – report

MANILA, Philippines – In spite of the hoaxes and the fake news that have been hounding Facebook, the company has seen positive growth. 

A recent analysis by The Information showed that the social network has accumulated ad revenues in the US larger than known US media giants such as CBS, Disney and Comcast.

This is the first time that the social network topped the ad revenues of these traditional media outlets, signifying the continuing shift of advertisers from traditional to digital avenues. It could be taken as another "sign of trouble" for traditional media, according to the report. 

The report tracked the ad revenues from the 1st to 3rd quarter this year – including the industry leader Google whose earnings are at a whopping $21.5 billion. Facebook sits at second with $9.5 billion; Comcast at $7.6 billion; Disney at $6.7 billion; and CBS at $5.4 billion. 

The trajectory has been bullish for Facebook.

In 2014, the social media giant trailed all 3 of these traditional media giants.

Last year, Facebook finally topped CBS with earnings of $5.5 billion as opposed to CBS' $4.9 billion.

This year, it finally overtook the 3 media giants, becoming a far second to Google, whose ad revenues in the past 3 years are around double of the nearest competitor. 

The report identifies 2 possible reasons for Facebook's growth: advertisers preferring to spend more and more on digital outlets, and the lack of real competition as of late as Twitter and Yahoo! falter. 

At first glance, it might look like Facebook is becoming a monopoly like Google. As The Information noted, Google has commanded "nearly sole ownership of a lucrative marketing tool" – search advertising. To some extent, Facebook has become like that in the realm of social media.

But the same article points out 2 reasons for a potential slowdown: the volume of ads the network can show is about to hit a ceiling, and the rise of Snapchat. – Rappler.com