Profits for the second quarter hit $3.9 billion and revenues jumped 45 per cent to $9.3 billion.
Facebook Reports Second Quarter 2017 Results https://t.co/ec60Uojyp9
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) 26 July 2017
Facebook, which has more than two billion users, has managed to shoehorn more ads into its Facebook news feed and to Instagram, which has 700 million users.
"We had a good second quarter and first half of the year. Our community is now two billion people and we're focusing on bringing the world closer together," said Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg said they were now turning their attention to monetizing Messenger and WhatsApp, which have more than a billion users each.
He said he wanted to "move a little faster" when it came to ads on Messenger but said he was "confident that we're going to get this right over the long term."
The danger is that he will alienate Facebook users.
Conscious of that, Facebook has said Messenger ads would be for brands people "love" or offer an "opportunity to discover experiences."
When ads were first introduced into Instagram the app's CEO Kevin Systrom reviewed every ad before it went live.
Facebook product manager Ted Helwick blogged that a "small percentage" of Messenger users would receive ads by the end of July.
Facebook shares rose in after-hours trading on Wednesday (July 26) after it became clear the company had done better than Wall Street had expected.
City analysts had estimated the company would post profits of $9.2 billion.
When Facebook bought WhatsApp in 2014, its CEO Jan Koum promised users there would be "absolutely no ads interrupting your communication."
But the temptation has been too great and the company is expected to cash in on algorithm software which enables it to track people's internet searches and browser history to find out what ads they might be interested in.
In May this year it was claimed those same algorithms can determine and allow advertisers to pinpoint "moments when young people need a confidence boost."
Facebook said it also wanted to push more video, seeking to drag more people away from their televisions.
It said it planned to launch a video service with scripted shows.
