Facebook Says, Lower Your Expectations About Mobile

Here an ad, there an ad, everywhere an ad ad. Except on Facebook’s mobile app, that is.

Facebook amended its public offering prospectus to note that it is showing fewer ads per user on the site because of its lack of mobile advertising. It is the sixth amendment to the document since Facebook filed for an initial public offering in February. The company also warned that if Facebook users continued to gain access to the social network on mobile devices, instead of computers, and if Facebook was “unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users,” the company’s revenue growth could be harmed. Mobile is clearly a huge challenge for Facebook, and something the company sees as its future. (The company mentions the word “mobile” 171 times in the prospectus.) But it has also acknowledged the difficulties it may face while trying to build a meaningful advertising business on smartphones.