A look at Facebook by the numbers

With its much-ballyhooed IPO, Facebook remains the most popular social network in the world, outstripping all competitors in almost every key market. So say the folks at Nielsen, who yesterday released a new (and fascinating) batch of Facebook statistics. Among the findings: In the US, 69 percent of active Web users – or 152 million people – visit Facebook at least once a month. 

In Brazil, where once Orkut was king, a whopping 76 percent of Web users – or 38 million people – regularly use the social network. In Italy, the number is 70 percent. In New Zealand, it's 79. The numbers, reps for Nielsen wrote, underscore "Facebook’s transcendence of borders around the world – and on the world wide web." In fact, in the 12 markets surveyed by Nielsen, there's only one place Facebook is not dominant: Japan. 

According to Nielsen, in Japan "blog sites are more popular in the social media category," and Facebook is fifth, not first, in the social media category. (Facebook is blocked in China for the foreseeable future.) 

As we noted the other day, a new AP/CNBC poll reveals that 43 percent of Americans think Facebook will be successful over the long term, while a full 46 percent think Facebook will "fade away as new things come along." It's possible, of course, that Facebook will eventually get knocked off the leader-board. But considering the tight grip Facebook currently holds on the global market, that "fade" is probably not going to happen anytime soon. 

Still, Facebook still must address one key challenge: Translating all those eyeballs, here and abroad, into advertising cash. Reps for the social network have been touting the precise and wide-reaching power of Facebook as an advertising platform – it's a key part of the pre-IPO pitch to investors. Yesterday, however, came the news that General Motors was pulling its advertisements from Facebook. 

The reason? Facebook wasn't helping GM sell cars. More on that development here. And for more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.