$75M Estimated Virtual Goods Revenue For Facebook This Year

Earlier this month anonymous sources reported a breakdown of Facebook's estimated 2009 revenue to The Business Insider. The estimate called for company generating a total of $550 million. Among the breakdown was an estimate that Facebook would be making $75 million from direct sales of virtual goods to its users. Days later, Facebook board member Marc Andreessen disclosed to Reuters that the company did in fact anticipate making over $500 million in revenue in 2009, with billions anticipated in the next five years.

In light of that, the anonymous estimate begins to look more credible. Despite high consumer and speculator interest in the company's performance, Facebook rarely reports hard figures. That said, some analysts who watch the space are suggesting that Facebook's own estimates of its 2009 revenues may be unrealistic. eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson believes that Facebook will only crack the $350 million dollar threshold this year, citing the downturn's deleterious effects on ad spending.

Neither breakdown expects Facebook to generate significant revenue through Payments or Credits before the end of the year. It's also unclear how much of the advertising revenue estimates made by either source reflects revenue generated by deals for branded virtual goods campaigns. There's plenty of evidence from this year suggesting that Facebook is closing deals for branded virtual gifts all the time, so how much Facebook is really making from this emergent form of advertising through virtual goods is a relevant question. Unfortunately Facebook is famous for not disclosing hard numbers easily or frequently, so it may be some time before that question is answered. 

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