By Chantal Tode

The relatively small role played by mobile at the recent Facebook developer conference points to the company’s difficulties in figuring out how to monetize mobile.

The f8 conference for Facebook developers that was held last week produced some interesting developments, such as Timeline, a new feature that reimagines the Facebook profile in a more visual way. However, with the convergence of social and mobile a hot topic, some had expected Facebook to announce the rumored HTML5 platform or an iPad app.

“Facebook doesn’t have a very good story to tell about mobile,” said Aapo Markkanen, London-based senior analyst for consumer mobility at ABI Research

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“It’s true that more and more of its users are accessing it from mobile phones, but at the same time Facebook hasn’t really figured out how to monetize them,” he said.

Incomplete strategy
Mobile is certainly a focus for Facebook, with reports suggesting that Facebook has dedicated a big team and lots of intellectual capital against a mobile strategy.