According to research from social agency TBG Digital, Facebook had a blowout first quarter. The CPM (cost per thousand impressions) rate spiked by 41%, and the CPC (cost per click) rate was up 23%.

These are critical measures for an ad-based business, and Facebook’s figures are showing much more traction than other Internet operators, such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). TBG Digital got these results by crunching roughly 372 billion impressions from 235 clients — a reasonable sample.

However, the findings weren’t all positive. For example, the click-through rate on ads fell 8% during the past year, and it is getting more expensive to buy “Likes” on brand pages.

Still, these developments aren’t taking much of a toll. Advertisers still seem to be excited about the Facebook platform. And this should bode very well for the upcoming IPO, which is expected to hit the market within a month or so.

— Tom Taulli, InvestorPlace