Facebook users watch 100 million hours of video per day

Dive Brief:

In Facebook’s Q4 2015 earnings report, the social media behemoth announced revenue of $5.84 billion, up from $3.85 billion a year ago, and reaching 1.59 billion active monthly users, an increase of 2.9%. Its $0.79 earnings per share exceeded analysts’ forecasts of $0.68 per share.
Mobile advertising accounted for 80% of ad revenue, up from 69% year-over-year.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based tech titan also revealed during an earnings call with investors that users are watching 100 million hours of video per day. As Re/code notes, this surge in video views implies a rise in ad revenue for Facebook from video ads namely because video ads are more costly.

Dive Insight:

Though Facebook doesn't break out its video, mobile or Instagram numbers, Re/code spoke with COO Sheryl Sandberg before the earnings call, asking about whether the company's video ad dollars were beginning to chip away at TV's share. This was her response to Re/code: "We do think that eyeballs are shifting, not just from TV but from a lot of other formats, to mobile. And we are positioned very well to not just participate but to lead that shift."

Facebook has made a major push in advertising, releasing new ad units and expanding its Audience Network, and its ad business increased 57% annually bringing in over $5.5 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO said in a statement about the earnings, "2015 was a great year for Facebook. Our community continued to grow and our business is thriving. We continue to invest in better serving our community, building our business, and connecting the world."

Separate from the earnings, Bloomberg Business reported that the social network is also ready to release its revamped “like” button, called Reactions, that will offer the range of emotions conveyed by the button from one to six.

According to Bloomberg, the new “like” button began last year with a challenge from Facebook’s Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. The result is something Facebook users have been requesting for a long time – the ability to do more than just “like” posts where liking doesn’t seem like the appropriate response. Users will soon have the ability to express additional emotions via five new options – Angry, Sad, Wow, Haha and Love.