Here is a recent chart published by Silicon Valley Insider on the relative Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)/ Year in 2009 for some of the leading Internet players.  Google leads the pack with an ARPU of >$18 USD, where as the social media players are still much lower.  I think it is going to be interesting year in 2010 as Facebook/Twitter and others really build on there social advertising strategies.   I think what would be interesting to model is the time it took Google to reach this value as opposed to now both Facebook and Twitter.

I was once  told that the advertising business is “a distribution constrained business”;  based on the quality of segmentation and reach.  As Social channels do offer that deep insight, as they move from a Social utility business structure to more Social entertainment, I am interested to see how high they will go over the next 5 years and the major brands gravitation toward them.

There have been many charts that show Google’s search growth has been relatively flat, so  I would expect their first priority is definitely to move toward innovative location-based local advertising with a focus on mobile.  Even if we were to add up $18 per person for year for 2 years= $36 does not completely buy a mobile device.  There is still a long way to go for a free phone powered by advertising only by Google.