The virtual goods market has given Facebook a boost in revenue. According the market research firm eMarketer, Facebook Credits, the social networks internal payment system for virtual goods, has raked in $470 million for the company. This puts Facebook on target to pass $4 billion in revenue this year.
Much of the virtual goods revenue comes from social games. Although it’s no surprise that Facebook is making money on social gaming, given the growth of Zynga and other developers, what is interesting is that players are becoming more willing to use Credits.
But what has contributed to the growth is Facebook’s revenue strategy. In a pretty shrewd move, the company requires game developers to use Credits for payments; it then takes 30 percent of all such purchases.
Still, as eMarketer notes, the bulk of Facebook’s revenue continues to come from advertising. eMarketer estimates the company will earn $5.78 billion worldwide in 2012 ad revenue.
Read more at Venture Beat.
