Facebook's revenues soared by 38 per cent over the first quarter, the social network said yesterday, as it earned more from mobile ads and grew its user base to over 1.1 billion active users every month, up 23 per cent in year on year terms.

Persuading late-night viewers of ITV and Channel 5 to call in and gamble on casino-style games is paying off for Netplay TV, the Aim-listed group whose annual profits have soar more than fivefold to £3m.

The stellar growth in digital advertising shows no signs of slowing down, with annual revenues jumping 12.5 per cent to a record £5.4bn last year as mobile devices turbocharged demand.

As punters grab their wallets for the Cheltenham Festival, Ladbrokes today struck a deal with software and services group Playtech to boost its online gambling business.

Outlook It's been a long time coming, but internet giant Google's share price finally topped $800 more than five years and one financial crisis after it reached the $700 mark. The shares are still worth a buy.

Extracts of the get-rich-quick scheme created by the Conservative Party chairman, Grant Shapps, were revealed for the first time last night since it disappeared from the internet.

Budding British fashion firms will soon be eyeing up a £20m fund that will invest in up-and-coming businesses across design, creative and media industries.

US Outlook: Coming soon to the websites you visit: a little "i" in a blue arrow.

With just a few days to go until the new year, it is time to take stock of how things have played out on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) in the past 12 months.

Outlook On holiday a few weeks ago in a part of Britain that does not yet seem to have built any mobile phone masts, I did something I can't recall having done for years. I picked up a copy of Yellow Pages.

Apple may charge about $1 million (£657 million) for displaying advertisements on its mobile devices, the Wall Street Journal said, citing advertisement executives.