Facebook boosts funds for Google fight

As Facebook and Google jockey for dominance of the Web, the social networking titan's $US5 billion stock offering will give it a hefty war chest for the ongoing fight, analysts say.

"We compete broadly with Google's social networking offerings, including Google+," Facebook said of the social network launched by Google which has attracted 90 million users to Facebook's more than 800 million.

Facebook, opening its books for the first time in the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said it had net income last year of $US668 million and revenue of $US3.7 billion.

The dominant player in online advertising with a 44

Google is the dominant player in online advertising with a 44.9 per cent share of US online ad revenue last year to Facebook's 6.4 per cent, according to eMarketer.

Most of Google's revenue comes from search advertising during Facebook is the top player in the rapidly growing display advertising space.

Facebook's share of total US display advertising revenue was 16.3 percent last year to Google's 12.3 per cent and Yahoo!'s 12.5 per cent, eMarketer said.

The social networking king is an advertiser's dream

"The social networking king is an advertiser's dream, accessing the intimate social interactions of one in every 10 people in the world."

Gartenberg said that because Facebook has become such a dominant force in social networking it may be better positioned than Google eventually.

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