For Facebook, India among fastest-growing ad markets

Nearly 75% of these active advertisers are outside the US

Social networking firm Facebook on Monday said the number of advertisers on its platform has crossed the five-million mark, with India among the fastest-growing markets.

"More than five million businesses all over the world actively advertise on Facebook and the top three verticals are e-commerce, entertainment and media, and retail," it said.

Nearly 75 per cent of these active advertisers are outside the US, it added.

"The fastest-growing countries are India, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina... The top five countries based on year-on-year growth are the US, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, and the UK," it said.

Facebook said it is helping local businesses become global and is investing in creating solutions to help small businesses grow in today's mobile economy.

There are over 65 million pages on Facebook and eight million business profiles on Instagram. Also, one million advertisers globally are active on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook.

Facebook has created small business councils in the US, India, Brazil and Germany, to help small ventures from various industries share feedback and discuss ideas around leveraging technology to grow their enterprise.

The company plans to announce councils in more countries later this year.