The quiet period is now over and Facebook has come out swinging, rushing to the defense of its besieged ad business. You just know they’ve been chomping at the bit for weeks.
The Wall Street Journal reports that comScore has released a study “partly commissioned” by Facebook and essentially claiming that yes, the social network’s ads are effective. Research Read More
CNN’s Laurie Segall managed to sneak in a question about Facebook’s IPO debacle by Sean Parker during a promotional tour for his new startup Airtime. “Somehow I knew I was going to get this question,” Mr. Parker winced, holding his head in his hands. But the former Facebook president quickly rebounded, blaming the hype and then the media for the stock’s volatile performance.
“It was sort of a relief in a way,” he said. “We knew that that speculative interest was not going to go in a good direction. It never ends well. whenever there’s something that’s so hotly anticipated and so speculative. The thing that was unexpected was how quickly the media turned on it and therefore short circuited the retail investor and their speculation.”
It seems more than a little disingenuous for Mr. Parker to scapegoat speculators when Facebook decided to both price shares higher than expected and increase the number of shares offered by more than 25 percent. Read More
Okay, now we’re really wondering what’s up with Facebook’s mobile strategy. Because–according to CEO Dick Costolo, anyway–Twitter seems to be doing just fine making money off mobile.
Reuters reports that Mr. Costolo appeared yesterday on a panel at a conference in San Francisco. Asked the difference between Facebook and its own company (we Read More
For avid Facebook users, it’s become second nature to “like” a brand or political position or angsty emo group like “When I say ‘I hate you’ I mean ‘I love you but you hurt me.’”And most informed users know that in the court of Facebook, your likes can be used against you–mainly, as ads displayed to your friends in some dystopian form of peer pressure: “Jessica likes Betabeat! You should too!”
But did you know that the links you share on Facebook can also be served to your friends as ads? As the New York Times reports today, that’s what happened to Nick Bergus, who jokingly shared an Amazon link to a 55-gallon barrel of lube. Read More
Snarkmarket collaborator Robin Sloan, who has a novel coming out in October, spent the morning live-tweeting from the future. As in Facebook’s “initial galactic offering,” in the year 3012 on Menlo Prime. Lord Zuck and Queen-Regent Sheryl Sandberg are in attendance. “Her wings are amazing,” writes Mr. Sloan. Two centuries hence, Zuck’s hoodie Read More
Yesterday, NME reported that once Facebook hit the stock exchange, Bono would usurp Paul McCartney’s role as the richest musician in the world. That’s because Bono (or “Bono Rockstar,” as Crunchbase lists him) invested in Facebook through Elevation Partners, which owns 2.4 percent of Class B shares. Based on the IPO pricing, that makes Elevation Partners stake worth more than $1.5 billion, whereas Mr. McCartney’s fortune is estimated at £665 million or $1.05 billion. Read More
It may look like Eduardo Saverin, international playboy and man of very few public pursuits, renounced his American citizenship in favor of a lesser tax bill, but that’s just a coincidence, you guys. A very unfortunate coincidence. Mr. Saverin actually filed to renounce his citizenship way back in January 2011, because there’s no way he could have had the slightest inkling that Facebook might go public soon, being a cofounder and all.
“I’m not a tax expert,” he told the New York Times, while refusing to offer any other explanation for why he’d agree to a move that could mean he is never allowed back into the U.S. again. “This had nothing to do with taxes,” he insisted.
Okay then. Read More
If you’re a dual citizen, and you think the U.S. helps itself to far too large a chunk of your hard-earned cash, here’s a new lesson from Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin: renounce your citizenship, and you, too, can avoid a hefty tax bill.
Bloomberg reports that Mr. Saverin, a Brazilian-born resident of Singapore, has decided to forfeit his U.S. citizenship days before Facebook’s IPO, in “a move that may reduce his tax bill.” They pulled the information from a list published by the Internal Revenue Service that names people who have decided to renounce their citizenship as of April 30th. Read More
Facebook has amended its IPO forms and the changes are significant. The social networking giant admits in the revised docs that while “daily active users (DAUs)” are on the rise, those numbers are outpacing the average number of ads delivered each day. AllThingsD breaks it down for us: Read More
“We’re from the Internet” can sound ominous but that may change if Facebook-based cash mobs really take off. Cash mobs are groups assembled on Facebook who pick a locally-owned retail outlet then at a predetermined date and time descend on the establishment with a mission to spend up to $20 there. The surprise element is that those who plan a cash mob wait until the day of the event to give the location.
Cash mobs aren’t simply a positive effort to support locally owned and operated stores, they are also a chance to actually meet and talk to real people. On a page detailing how to start a cash mob, the Cash Mobs blog states there are three overarching rules: Read More
