Facebook’s Mobile Focus Highlighted By Lightbox Acquisition

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Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has been increasingly focused on the mobile space, which continues to worry investors since the company has been unable to monetize its mobile audience. As many people know the company recently acquired Instagram while also launching its own photo sharing app shortly thereafter. Most recently, Facebook made a deal with Lightbox, an Android photo sharing app, to hire all of Lightbox’s employees. [1]

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The Lightbox deal is mostly a talent acquisition, unlike Instagram, and the team will work on Facebook’s mobile photo sharing apps. It will work on apps specifically for Android and HTML5 platforms. This acquisition just signals how much importance Facebook places on mobile now.

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It is already working on a new location-based mobile advertising product which would allow advertisers to target users based on their real-time location data and check-ins. With the new ad offering, it could target not only more relevant ads, but also offers and deals based on a user’s location, and generate a significant amount of revenue in the coming years.

Facebook also recently acquired Face.com, an Israeli technology startup which specializes in mobile facial recognition, which could help it drive engagement on its platform by increasing the ratio of tagged photos on its network. By providing accurate tagging recommendations whenever users click a photo, Facebook could see a significant increase in photo tagging on mobile, which would directly boost engagement levels on the website as users tag more photos and like or comment on the photos they or their friends are tagged in, which could ultimately result in higher engagement and more monetization opportunities.

All its moves suggest that Facebook knows that the shift to mobile could be a disruptive threat for its business, but it seems well poised to take on that challenge head on.

We currently have a $33 Trefis price estimate for Facebook, most of which is derived from its social text and display advertising business. It competes primarily with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo (NYSE:YHOO) in the online advertising space.

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Notes:
  1. Facebook Hires Team From Android Photosharing App Dev Lightbox To Quiet Mobile Fears, Techcrunch []