Facebook's Q1 Ad Sales Climb to $872 Million

Facebook’s ad revenue totaled $872 million during Q1 2012, up 37 percent from the $637 million it took in during the same period the year before, according to its amended S-1 filing released today.

The digital giant’s Q1 ad sales were down from the $943 million it accrued during 2011 Q4, a period typically bolstered by the holiday shopping season.

The Menlo Park, CA-based firm’s Q1 total revenue reached $1.058 billion, up from $731 million in the same period a year ago. Net income totaled $205 million, down from $233 million during Q1 2011, likely due to increased investment by CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growing company. For instance, it said the number of full-time employees climbed 46 percent from last year to 3,539 during Q1, ending March 31.

According to the new filing, Facebook now claims 500 million mobile users. It also notes the social media platform has 532 million daily active users, which is up from 372 million a year ago. Additionally, its monthly active users went from 680 million last year to more than 900 million for Q1 2012.

Eight-year-old Facebook is expected to become a public company in mid-May.