Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
As more brands move their money to mobile
The company drove one-third of all US digital ad growth for the fifth straight quarter in Q1, Morgan Stanley analysts write in a note, and Facebook's business is accelerating while overall ad growth in the market is slowing.
"Facebook - with its still-low pricing, industry leading reach and cross-platform targeting - is the main beneficiary and driver of the continued movement of ad dollars onto mobile," Morgan Stanley analysts write in a summary note on Q1 ads.
Google still reels in much more revenue than Facebook on mobile advertising overall. But, according to company numbers and Morgan Stanley research, Facebook is on track to start winning more new ad dollars than Google. Marketers are starting to think Facebook-first:
Morgan Stanley
Online advertising growth will be driven by mobile and video over the coming months and years. Facebook is capturing around three times as much revenue as Google from mobile, graphical and video ads, Amir Efrati reported for The Information's Amir Efrati reported late last year.
As Facebook continues to ramp up its video offerings and steal viewers from YouTube, and is even testing a way to cut Google out of the link-sharing equation by introducing its own internal search engine, Google could continue to see more grim-looking charts like these from Morgan Stanley. It's still a huge beast, but its performance has been below average of late.
Morgan Stanley