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6/19/2013, 9:08 AM ET

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Wednesday, June 19, 1:55 AM Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has discussed potential partnerships with Samsung (SSNLF.PK) President Shin Jong Kyun as the U.S. company looks to boost advertising sales on mobile devices. The firms already seem to have a decent relationship, with Samsung being among the first device makers to feature Facebook's Home software on its handsets. Meanwhile, Facebook intends to invest more in Korea and serve as a platform for startups. 4 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Tuesday, June 18, 5:46 PM Facebook's (FB) monthly active advertiser base is now above 1M, the social networking giant boasts. Though impressive, that figure still suggests only a small portion of the 16M local businesses that have set up Facebook pages are buying ads. Facebook is hoping to reel in more clients in part by streamlining its ad offerings, creating more mobile-friendly business pages, and giving advertisers more data on its users' non-Facebook activity. BIA Kelsey estimates over half of U.S. small businesses promote themselves via Facebook, and 16% buy ads. 1 Comment [Tech]
Tuesday, June 18, 10:49 AM Amazon (AMZN +1.2%) tries to profit from the growing use of Facebook (FB +2.8%) as a "social gifting" platform by launching Amazon Birthday Gift, a solution that allows Facebook users to send a friend Amazon credit for his/her birthday, and then lets other friends to add to the pot. The product is separate from Facebook's Gifts platform. Also: 1) Leveraging existing content deals, Amazon is adding videos and games from Disney, Viacom, Warner Bros., and Electronic Arts to its Kindle Freetime kids' platform. The move comes shortly after a major deal was reached with Viacom for kids' shows. 2) AdAge reports Facebook's video ads will be delayed until fall. The magazine reported in April Facebook plans to charge up to $1M per daily ad slot. 1 Comment [Tech, Consumer]
Monday, June 17, 11:47 AM Instagram (FB) will add video-sharing support on Thursday, TechCrunch reports. Such an update would be aimed at Twitter's Vine 6-second video-sharing app, which has racked up 13M+ users in just 5 months. An Android Vine app launched earlier this month has already passed Instagram on Google Play download charts. But with a base of 100M+ monthly users connected via both its own social network and Facebook, Instagram should be a formidable rival. TechCrunch notes adding video support could also appeal to marketers if/when Instagram begins showing ads. 1 Comment [Tech]
Sunday, June 16, 3:44 AM Facebook (FB) has disclosed that it received 9,000-10,000 requests for information about 18,000-19,000 accounts from all U.S. government entities in H2 2012, whether those entities be local authorities or the NAS. Microsoft (MSFT) received 6,000-7,000 requests, although Google (GOOG) declined to provide the information, saying it wanted permission to provide more detailed data before releasing such information. 9 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, June 14, 3:54 PM "A small team has been working on a big idea." Thus reads an invite to a June 20 Facebook (FB -0.5%) event. It arrives amidst expectations (fueled by API code) Facebook is set to launch an RSS reader to dovetail with Google Reader's end-of-June shutdown. If Facebook can provide an innovative take on the RSS reader (a product that never quite gained a mass following), it could bolster the company's content-sharing/referral traffic dominance. 2 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, June 13, 5:18 PM Facebook (FB) is eliminating its sponsored search ads as part of its efforts to get rid of over half its 27 ad products (and limit advertiser confusion). Facebook argues the ads were mostly used to promote apps and games, products that can be advertised via app install ads (growing quickly) and page post link ads. But it's still a surprising move, given expectations Facebook will ramp its search ad ops with the help of graph search. Meanwhile, a Salesforce report estimates the click-through rate for Facebook ads ranges from a mere 0.03% (dating ads) to 0.92% (telecom ads). Google (GOOG) once claimed the average rate for its AdWords search ads is around 2%. 2 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, June 13, 2:12 PM Global mobile ad sales will grow 79% in 2013 to $15.8B, and Google (GOOG) will account for $8.85B (56%) of them on the back of 92% growth, estimates eMarketer. Facebook's (FB) mobile ad sales are seen rising over 4x to $2.04B (12.9% share), Pandora's (P) 67% to $400M, Twitter's 121% to $310M, and Millennial Media's (MM) 71% to $120M. Total digital (Web/mobile) ad sales are expected to rise 10% in 2013 to $116.8B, with Google growing 19% to $38.8B, Facebook 38% to $5.89B, Microsoft (MSFT) 22% to $2.08B, LinkedIn (LNKD) 46% to $380M, and Yahoo (YHOO) just 3% to $3.63B. (U.S. mobile estimates) 4 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, June 12, 4:09 PM #Longoverdue? Facebook (FB) is finally adding hashtag support, with an eye towards enabling the kind of "public conversations" that have contributed greatly to hashtag-filled Twitter's rise. Users will be able to click and search for Facebook hashtags (similar to Twitter), and will also be able to click on hashtags from 3rd-party services (Netflix, Pandora, etc.). Facebook adds it plans to roll out other features that enable conversation-finding. As GigaOm notes, overuse has hurt the utility of many hashtags. But it's hard to deny their popularity, and judging by Twitter's example, they could also enable new ad products. (previous) 1 Comment [Tech]
Wednesday, June 12, 1:26 PM "About [2/3] of Facebook’s (FB) users are now over 35. The average age of a Facebook user has climbed to 41. The average age of a Facebook employee is 31." Thus writes Quartz's Leo Mirani in a surreal recap of the company's 2013 shareholder meeting that highlights the disconnect between the social networking giant and many of its shareholders. One investor told Mark Zuckerberg he "invested blindly" in Facebook because "my family is a big fan of yours." He earlier expressed concerns about all the "hackers" at the company (Zuck responded by explaining his definition of a hacker). 8 Comments [Tech]
Monday, June 10, 10:02 AM Stifel's Jordan Rohan upgrades Facebook (FB +4.1%) to Buy, sending shares back above $24. Rohan sees potential upside to Q2 PC ad sales, and considers it a matter of time before Facebook joins the S&P 500. "When the company reports in late July, many investors will be embracing back-to-school and holiday trades, of which Facebook is one of the best." Stifel cut Facebook to Hold on Jan. 31, when shares were at $31.24. 2 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
Sunday, June 9, 4:25 PM Google (GOOG) "buying Waze is all defense but great defense wins championships," tweets Howard Lindzon. Quartz's Gideon Lichfield argues a deal, which would reel in 50M users and the top provider of crowdsourced maps/traffic/POI data, "would deal a death blow" to Apple (AAPL) and Facebook's (FB) efforts to develop rival maps platforms (Google Maps already has 1.3K data sources). In Facebook's case, it would also throw a wrench into efforts to be a go-to source for local content and ads. But regulators could oppose Google, given its mobile maps dominance. Sources claim Waze CEO Noam Bardin will remain following a deal, and that Waze's Israeli R&D ops will stay put for at least 3 years. 8 Comments [Tech, M&A]
Sunday, June 9, 10:20 AM Google (GOOG) is on the verge of closing a $1.3B acquisition of Waze, according to Globes. Talks with Facebook (FB) fell apart in late May over location issues. Apple (AAPL) was also thought to be a suitor of the mobile navigation app provider until Tim Cook said otherwise. 21 Comments [Breaking News, Top Stories, Tech]
Sunday, June 9, 5:50 AM Tech companies may be telling the truth by saying they have not provided the National Security Agency with full access to their servers, but they have reportedly taken steps to make data-sharing with the government easier. For example, Facebook (FB) has built a separate and secure portal to which it can deposit data requested by the NSA. Other companies that negotiated with the government include Google (GOOG) Microsoft (MSFT), AOL (AOL) and Apple (AAPL); Twitter has limited its co-operation as much as possible. 18 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
Friday, June 7, 2:54 PM Facebook (FB +1%) ad engagement is growing, says Morgan Stanley after conducting an analysis that it believes dispels fears of declining engagement due to a lack of advertiser control over where ads appear. The note comes a day after Facebook announced plans to drastically streamline its ad offerings in an effort to make life easier for marketers. 4 Comments [Tech]
Friday, June 7, 3:36 AM Revelations over government electronic surveillance have widened to include several of the country's largest technology companies under a program called PRISM. A National Security Agency document reportedly shows that it has "direct access" to the servers of Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo (YHOO), Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB), Paltalk, AOL (AOL), Skype, YouTube and Apple (AAPL). While the NSA document says PRISM has the consent of these firms, those contacted denied any knowledge of the program. The question is whether the disclosures will cause a drop-off in user activity. 26 Comments [Tech, Consumer, Top Stories]

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