Facebook (FB) reported strong results for the first quarter, showing that plenty of users spent time on the platform despite a data-privacy scandal in the last two weeks of March.
The world’s biggest social network added half a billion users in the first three months of the year. It reported 1.45 billion users who visit the site daily and 2.2 billion monthly users.
Advertising revenue soared 50 percent, to nearly $12 billion.
“So far the damage from Cambridge appears contained although this will be a long 3-6 months ahead to steer through this storm,” Daniel Ives, head of technology research at GBH insights, wrote in a note.
The results cover the period that ended March 30. The Cambridge Analytica scandal broke two weeks earlier, meaning the full effect of the fallout may not be reflected. However, other reports indicate that advertisers were not scared away.
“The strength continues, and we’re certainly not seeing impact from Cambridge Analytica,” said Aaron Goldman, chief marketing officer at 4C Insights, a marketing technology company. “We looked week over week in the last two weeks of March, and we didn’t see anything in [reduced] growth.”
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