Facebook has recently been listed in the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange but the first widely adopted global social network is not a champion when it comes to sales. Facebook is actually trumped in earnings by two other online giants including one from China's which is almost unknown in the Western World.  The following list does not represent the online companies that are being talked about who earn the most, but instead those that earn the most money.

Facebook, which achieved an IPO lately, is the 11th group in terms of sales within the website category of media groups – in other words those websites that sell content on the Internet (so this does not include websites such as eBay who fall into the retail category).

The 10 Largest Media Groups on the Internet

Turnover in terms of Billions of US Dollars

1. Google – 36.4
2. China Mobile – 7.6
3. Bloomberg - 7
4. Reed Elsevier – 5.9
5. Apple – 5.4
6. Yahoo - 5
7. WPP – 4.7
8. Thomson Reuters – 4.7
9. Tencent – 4.5
10. Microsoft – 3.9
11. Facebook – 3.7

Facebook’s Advertising Revenues Could Improve

Having said that, Facebook is not so bad, especially when you think of its comparative age.  As an example, when the company launched on the stock exchange its revenues tripled surpassing the industry heavyweights like NewsCorp, Amazon, and Walt Disney.  Facebook makes 82% of its revenue by selling advertising, although advertising on social networks are still at the experimental level so there is every chance that these numbers could continue to increase over the coming twelve to twenty four months.

Google Dominates Online Media Groups in Terms of Revenue

The rankings of the largest media groups are dominated by Google and they hugely outweigh the other websites with $36.4 billion US Dollars. The second highlight of the table shows China Mobile in second place with $7.59 billion US Dollars in revenue which comes from the sale of mobile Internet content.

China Could Climb the Table Due to Un-Tapped Customers

Tencent are also Chinese and they offer diversified content such as social networks and games in China.  This just goes to show how Asia appears to be booming when it comes to the mobile Internet, perhaps even leading the way over the West.  This upward trend should continue as only 40% of the 1.3 billion Chinese people are actually connected to date according to analysts at Nomura.

Author Bio:
This article was researched, written, and supplied by the team at GPS Bites.  This technology website specializes in GPS News and Reviews and has recently published an article all about GPS History – an essential guide for students and technology bloggers.