Facebook Declares Profitability, Reaches 300 Million Users

Facebook has reached profitability quicker than it expected, according to the social network's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Writing on the firm's blog yesterday, Zuckerberg said, "Earlier this year, we said we expected to be cash flow positive sometime in 2010, and I'm pleased to share that we achieved this milestone last quarter."

Facebook has struggled to monetize its platform as easily as it may have hoped, owing in part to reluctance from brands to advertise alongside user generated content, and also to privacy concerns from some users over the way in which their data is being used to target commercial messages.

Regardless, Zuckerberg says the firm is now in a position to sustain itself financially, and "sets Facebook up to be a strong independent service for the long term." In addition, he claims the service now serves 300 million people globally.