Facebook Shrugs Off Cambridge Analytica Scandal, Business Is Booming

If anyone actually expected the Cambridge Analytical debacle and the various other privacy scandals afflicting Facebook to affect its bottom line, they have not been paying attention. The social network was never going to suffer consequences other than being forced to do a few PR stints and Mark Zuckerberg bothering to get some sunlight. Its latest earnings report is proof that business is absolutely booming for the company.

On Wednesday, Facebook released its Q1 earnings report and with a revenue of $11.97 billion, it smashed through Wall Street’s estimates. This represents a profit of $1.69 per share and the revenue increase itself is about 49 percent what it was last year for the same time period, Recode reports.

Weirdly enough, this result is also in direct contrast to what the social network has been warning investors for over two years, in which Facebook said that revenue would slow down. It seems that eventuality is still a long way off, especially considering that the recent privacy debacles have failed to cause the social media company to stumble.

At this point, it’s clear that no matter how much trouble Facebook gets into, it will keep on making money. Its users can threaten to quit all they want, but it won’t make a difference. Zuckerberg and his shareholders will still be laughing their way to the bank.

This doesn’t mean that Facebook is comfortable resting on its laurels, however, since it is still making some effort to fix its image. One of the steps it has taken is creating an ad that recognizes just how bad it has become by pointing out its most recent faults, The Verge reports.

In the ad, Facebook promises to go back to its roots and be a platform that is about connecting people again. Considering how much money it just made even in the middle of doing the exact opposite of that, however, it begs the question of why it should even bother changing.