Facebook's quarterly earnings surpass $5bn for first time thanks to ad sales

Facebook poised to overtake Google as most powerful internet company, as net income more than doubled in fourth quarter of 2015

Facebook signalled its increasing power and influence with an emphatic set of financial results that showed quarterly revenue passing $5bn for the first time, and putting it in a position to challenge Google's dominance of Silicon Valley.

The social networking company's fourth-quarter report, released on 27 January, saw a better-than-expected 51.7% jump in revenues as new advertising formats and an improved mobile app drove a sharp rise in ad sales.