Ad Spending on Facebook, Reactions & Hawaii Tourism

Facebook Q4 ad spending soars

While the overall economy may not have ad a banner quarter Facebook didn’t have any problem selling ads in Q4 – more than doubling over the same time the previous year. The social network reportedly made $5.64 billion off of ads.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg noted that mobile placement buoyed the ad spending and now account for 80% of total ad revenue on Facebook. Facebook has a reported user base of 1.59 billion each month.

Hawaii tourism breaks records

Business is apparently good if you’re in the tourism industry in Hawaii. Tourism to the islands reportedly jumped to 8.6 million people last year. That’s up from 4% over the previous year with consumer spending also rising to a record $15 billion.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority reports a rise in direct flights from its biggest sources of visitors (U.S. mainland, Australia and China) helped lead to the banner year for the Aloha State.

Facebook Reactions coming to U.S.

Facebook users have long asked for different ways to engage with posts besides the iconic “Like” button. The social network seems to finally be listening and has announced six emoji, called Facebook Reactions, would be coming to allow users new ways to interact with content.

The new emoji: angry, sad, wow, haha, yay and love were beta tested in different countries but should be rolling out to the rest of the world in the coming weeks.

Facebook worked with sociologists to carefully select the emotions that would be most appropriate for the content people engage with.