• USA Today, Thursday, October 4, 2007 11:45 AM

As Facebook continues its rise speculation mounts over its future. Will the 3-year-old social network go public or sell out to one of the Internet majors? Rumor has it that Microsoft, which places ads on Facebook, is set to purchase a 5% stake in the social network, worth between $300 and $500 million. That would indicate a sovereign future for the company, which analysts believe will attempt to go public late next year. Others say an acquisition or two may be on the horizon between now and then.

EMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson says the company's "may be onto something big" with its new ad targeting system. "It takes Google's concept of targeted search advertising and goes multiple steps further," she says, by delivering targeted ads not just to individuals but also their friends. Others are equally bullish about Facebook's long-term prospects. IDC analyst Karsten Weide says that Faceook, and not Google, could become the operating system of the future, especially if it successfully integrates necessary Web services like word processing.

Even so, Facebook is a long way away from becoming the next Google. Bear Sterns values the social network at $6 billion. Google's market cap is currently hovering at around $180 billion. Analyst Robert Sterns expects Facebook to post a profit of $30 million this year on revenue of $140 million. He predicts $6 billion in revenue by 2016.

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