Monetization: How Much Can I Make From Advertising With My Facebook App?
Another question I get from developers all the time: how much money can I make on Facebook?
Shocking, I know that some people care about money when it comes to Facebook apps. <cynicism>Wait...I think that's all most developers care about. </cynicism>
At the moment, there's only one publicly traded app developer, SNAP Interactive. <cynicism>Keep your fingers Max Levchin (Slide), it'll happen for you too one day, I'm sure of it!</cynicism>
Fortunately for us, SNAP Interactive has to publish their revenues, which currently comes exclusively from advertising on the dating apps on Facebook. Those apps: Are You Interested? (#1 dating app on Facebook), Meet New People, and Flirt With Me.
Here's the numbers from the SEC filing:
Revenue increased from $286 for the six months ended June 30, 2007 to $1,053,159 for the six months ended June 30, 2008, an increase of $1,052,873.That's right, zero to a million in revenue in one year. Not bad. Especially, if you look at the expense side.
Operating Expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2008 increased to $717,349 from $277,634 for the six months ended June 30, 2007, representing an increase of $439,715.
That's ~$300,000 in profit. A 30% profit margin. And it looks like that doesn't include the founder's salary. Nice.
Hosting costs, <cynicism>for all you STILL writing business plans...poor bastards</cynicism>are as follows:
Hosting costs, <cynicism>for all you STILL writing business plans...poor bastards</cynicism>are as follows:
Hosting Expense for the six months ended June 30, 2008 increased to $87,512 from $0, representing an increase of $87,512. These increases are attributable to the need for substantial hosting infrastructure and server capacity to handle the high volume of traffic that our applications receive. Our need for a customized hosting solution was minimal at this time last year.
By the way, SNAP Interactive's money comes from ad revenue. The real money is in virtual goods.
