In its S-1 filing (a securities registration statement) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Facebook is telling us that in 2011 it generated $557 million in revenue from payments and other fees. That is up by 425 percent from the $106 million total for 2010, which itself was up by 715 percent from the 2009 total of $13 million.
The social networks only other revenue source is advertising, which, while still far bigger in absolute terms, is quickly decreasing as a share of the overall total. In 2009 advertising had a share of more than 98 percent, which by the end of 2010 had decreased to less than 95 percent and last year it shrank to 85 percent.
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