EMarketer: Facebook US mobile ad revenue soaring

NEW YORK (AP) — A research firm expects Facebook's mobile ad revenue to soar this year, hitting nearly $1 billion a year after the company started to splice ads into its users' mobile phones and tablets.

The forecast comes a day before Facebook is planning to unveil a new Android product. Speculation has centered on a mobile phone, made by HTC Corp., that deeply integrates Facebook into the Android operating system.

EMarketer said Wednesday that it expects Facebook Inc. to reap $965 million in U.S. mobile ad revenue in 2013. That's about 2.5 times the $391 million in 2012, the first year that Facebook started showing mobile ads.

Facebook is No. 2 behind Google Inc. when it comes to mobile advertisements, and it isn't expected to surpass the online search leader any time soon.