Facebook saw its mobile advertising revenue to grow in the first three months of the year as the social network sold more ads to users on smartphones and tablets. Facebook's revenue from advertising during the quarter was $1.25 billion, representing 85% of total revenue and a 43% increase from the same quarter last year. Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 30% of the company's advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2013.

Facebook has rolled out a series of product launches in recent months, including an overhaul of its newsfeed and search feature, as well an app for Android smartphones that puts Facebook features front and center on phone homescreens.

The various initiatives have contributed to rising spending, with Facebook's 60 percent year-on-year increase in costs and expenses outpacing the 38 percent revenue increase.

Facebook said it earned $219 million in the first three months of the year, compared to $205 million, in the year-ago period.

Excluding certain items, Facebook said it earned 12 cents a share.

"We've made a lot of progress in the first few months of the year," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "We have seen strong growth and engagement across our community and launched several exciting products."

"We're starting to see real revenue from mobile app installs," Zuckerberg added, without giving details. "It's one of our most important new ad products."

Facebook's revenue in the first quarter totaled $1.46 billion, versus $1.06 billion in the year-ago period.