We spend less time on Facebook, but it still makes loads of money


The past few weeks haven't been easy for Facebook. After announcing an overhaul to its News Feed earlier this month, one that places emphasis on people's interactions over content from brands, the company has been taking heat for its new approach. Not only because Facebook is leaving publishers who relied on its platform behind, but it also isn't offering the best solution to fix its fake news problem. A blunt two-question "trusted" news survey simply won't cut it. CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said that, with these changes, he expects users' time on the site to go down, but he believes keeping people happy will be better for Facebook's bottom line in the long run.

And well, today during its Q4 2017 earnings report, Facebook revealed that even though users are indeed spending less time on its site, it is making more money than ever. The company raked in a record revenue total of $12.97 billion last quarter, a 47 percent year-over-year increase. It's also a notable jump compared to the $10.3 billion from Q3 2017. "2017 was a strong year for Facebook," said Zuckerberg in statement about the latest results. "But it was also a hard one." He added that, in 2018, won't just be to ensure Facebook is fun to use, but also "good for people's well-being and for society."

"We're doing this by encouraging meaningful connections between people rather than passive consumption of content. Already last quarter, we made changes to show fewer viral videos to make sure people's time is well spent. In total, we made changes that reduced time spent on Facebook by roughly 50 million hours every day. By focusing on meaningful connections, our community and business will be stronger over the long term."

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