When Facebook acquired photo sharing app Instagram earlier this year for $1billion, there was speculation the deal favoured Instagram's founders rather than Mark Zuckerberg.

However, in the proceeding six months Instagram's massive spike in active users indicates Facebook got the better end of the deal.

Up, up and away

When Facebook bought Instagram the app had 860,000 active daily users. Today, according to data from AppData, it has over 11million users, an incredible increase of 1179 per cent growth in six months.

By comparison, Pinterest has reportedly refused acquisition offers upwards of $2billion, and has less than 3million daily active users

Good news for Facebook 

In a year that has seen Facebook face scrutiny over its struggling share price and ongoing privacy concerns, Instagram may well be the ace in Zuckerberg's (mobile) pocket.

As users increasingly access the internet through mobile devices, Instagram gives Facebook another tool to tap this burgeoning market.

While running advertisements next to images will be a challenge to maintaining Instagram's user experience, Facebook has shown through the success of its recently launched Sponsored Stories that mobile will increasingly become the domain on marketers. 

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