Startups have been insulated from the wider economic climate for years — but now they’re feeling the chill, and the focus is switching to revenue generating ideas rather than get-big-quick consumer services. That’s a good thing, says one serial entrepreneur. Read more »
LocalVox, a New York-based startup that targets small- to medium-sized businesses with a comprehensive online marketing platform, has raised $7.4 million in Series A funding. The company currently operates in New York and Hartford but plans to scale to 20 markets nationwide. Read more »
For the first time, the U.S. will surpass Japan as the world’s biggest market for mobile advertising, according to research firm eMarketer. In 2012, advertisers are expected to spend more than $6.43 billion globally in 2012, with the U.S. contributing $2.3 billion. Read more »
New York startup Percolate, which helps brands sort and curate content to share on Facebook, Twitter and other social channels, has released its newest version. Read more »
Facebook needed to change the way it sold advertising inventory and add some glitzier formats. Last week, at its fMC event for marketers, it made some progress towards addressing those needs. Let’s see what Facebook is doing right and where it still has ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
For ad-supported web platforms such as Facebook, every dollar spent on infrastructure means even more money brought in by advertising — the culprit of many privacy issues. That has big implications for a company’s bottom line. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
With close to a billion active users, Facebook is already the world’s largest social network, and it is already generating billions from advertising directed at those users. So the bottom line for investors and analysts is, Can this company really get any bigger? Read more at GigaOM Pro »
A new survey has revived the fear that digital ad spending will shrink the overall pie. While newspapers have it tough, other big ad markets are still pretty healthy, and technologies like targeting and social media advertising could still increase the value of — and thus ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
This report outlines the myriad issues at play in Facebook’s move, from examining how CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to rewire the world to understanding the company’s infrastructure dependency. But from every angle, it’s clear the effects will ripple throughout the startup and tech communities. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The fourth quarter may have lacked a dominating big-event product announcement like Q3’s Facebook platform extension or Q2’s unveiling of Google+, but the NewNet world continued to buzz along. In the battle for mind share, everyone wanted to be a platform. Meanwhile, consumer and social technologies continued to gain momentum, and new vehicles for content and service discovery presented both challenges and opportunities for NewNet companies. And it is hard to ignore the overcrowded but growing world of daily deals. This quarterly report analyzes these trends and others, and it also provides a near-term outlook of trends, technologies and companies to watch in 2012. Companies mentioned in the report include Amazon, Facebook and Socialcast. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The rise of gamification has become an increasing point of contention over the past year. Now it seems a spat between two leading figures has left the movement facing a divisive split. The controversy centers on a new book by Gabe Zichermann called Gamification by Design. Read more »
Groupon is growing faster than virtually any other tech-related company in history, including Google and Facebook, and is expected to close the year with revenue of more than $500 million. What then, are the lessons retailers and other companies can learn from the such incredible ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
While we may not all agree on the “rules” when it comes to marketing, we can all agree that marketing has changed considerably in recent years, largely due to social media. “Inbound Marketing” is a primer for those looking to make the most of social media. Read more »
Two and a half years ago, the first edition of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” hit the shelves. David Meerman Scott’s guide to using other online tools for marketing was a game changer. Last month, the second edition of the book came out. Read more »
Social networking tools are critical for keeping up with others and raising our profiles in the working world. They are also increasingly useful ways for businesses to communicate. Here are eight essential guides from our network to make you a power business user of social tools. Read more »
