Facebook's Board Helped Boost Ad Revenue In 2011
Two companies with seats on Facebook's board, Netflix and The Washington Post together bought a combined $8 million in advertising on the social network last year.
Facebook gets by with a little help from its friends who need advertising.
Netflix and the Washington Post, companies with close ties to Facebook, bought a combined $8 million in advertising last year, according to the initial public offer registration the social network filed yesterday.
With $3.15 billion in ad revenue for 2011, it’s not as if the pair are keeping Facebook afloat with their ad buys. But it is a nice piece of revenue from people with close ties to the company.
It’s also nowhere near what larger advertisers like Zynga dole out to the social network. Zynga spent $408 million in 2011 alone, which accounts for 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue according to the company’s registration documents.
Zynga and Facebook have a symbiotic relationship; each organization relies on the other for their success to some degree.
What makes the dynamic duo of Netflix and The Washington Post unique is the close relationship each executive has to Facebook, forming a different type of bond.
Donald Graham is the chief executive officer of the Washington Post and serves as a director on Facebook’s board, in addition to being a close personal friend of Mark Zuckerberg.
The company raised $9.6 million in advertising revenues over the last three years, with $4.2 million bought in 2011.
Reed Hastings, another Facebook board member, and his company Netflix, spent $3.8 million in Facebook ads last year, a big jump over the $1.6 million in ads purchased the year before.
It’s nice to have friends in high places, or at least friends who are directors on you board and need advertising.
