Editor’s note: Guest author Keith Teare is General Partner at his incubator Archimedes Labs and CEO of newly funded just.me. He was a co-founder of TechCrunch.

Much ink has been spilled these past few days on the Facebook IPO filing. Much of it analyses the details revealed in the S1 initial document. Some of it has focused on revenue and growth; some of it on control and corporate governance, some on valuation and how reasonable or not it is likely to be, and a little on whether or not the IPO represents the end of Facebook’s growth cycle.

So, should you be a bull, and buy? Or should you run as fast as you can away from the bulls?

For guidance turn to the risk factors part of the filing.

For me, the most interesting part of the document is that part focused on Facebook’s mobile strategy and associated risks, and what that tells us to be alert to in the future.

Now, to be clear, Facebook and its employees have done the most wonderful job of riding the transformation of the Internet from a place where anonymous individuals surfed the web, consumed information and media and accessed services to discover relevant things into an Internet where named individuals publish information to each other and discover things from friends. Facebook dominates the modern Internet. Its APIs extend its reach outside of its garden into almost every website on the planet – this one included. It is awesome to behold and it generates significant revenues already, and even more significant profits. Hats off to all involved.

This success shouldn’t blind us to the relative size of company we are talking about. Last week Apple reported profits of over $13 billion for a quarter, Google’s revenues were lower than that number, and Facebook’s revenues are lower than Google’s profits. Facebook is huge by startup standards, but not by Internet standards. There is much more in its future.

But this article isn’t about that. It is about the context within which the human Facebook IPO is happening. The Facebook S1 is clear on that context. In the risk factors of its filing it states:

Growth in use of Facebook through our mobile products, where we do not currently display ads, as a substitute for use on personal computers may negatively affect our revenue and financial results.

We anticipate that the rate of growth in mobile users will continue to exceed the growth rate of our overall MAUs for the foreseeable future, in part due to our focus on developing mobile products to encourage mobile usage of Facebook. Although the substantial majority of our mobile users also access and engage with Facebook on personal computers where we display advertising, our users could decide to increasingly access our products primarily through mobile devices. We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven. Accordingly, if users continue to increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, our revenue and financial results may be negatively affected.

Facebook initial S1 filing, 1 Feb 2012, page 13

The reason this risk factor jumps out of the page – for me – is that this trend to growing mobile use is inevitable. What is more, it will be both rapid and enormous. How do we know this? Well, human beings are flocking to mobile platforms in droves. This is happening to such an extent that Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker went on the record almost 1 year ago to say that we are now in the 5^th major technology cycle of the past half century (mainframe; mini-computer; desktop; internet and now mobile) and that mobile traffic will “grow 26 times over the next 5 years”. The presentation linked above is 56 slides long and is well worth a read.

So the risk that “our users could decide to increasingly access our products primarily through mobile devices,” is not a risk. It is a certainty.

When Google reported its financial results for the quarter 2 weeks ago it failed to meet a key metric – Cost Per Click advertising rates. This too was driven by the growth in the relative proportion of traffic derived from mobile. In mobile, ad clicks are fewer and ad rates are lower.

Google’s present – and Facebook’s future – involves the painful fact that the very success of mobile platforms in helping human beings be productive, on the go, has a negative impact on the desktop-based advertising programs of the past 10 years. Mobile growth impacts web advertising revenues, except of course for Apple who make money from hardware and software and so benefits from these trends. The reason is simple. We do less ad-centric activities on mobile than we did on the web. And we are less likely to click away on an ad when we are focused on a specific goal on a largely single window device.

The challenge faced by any content based mobile platform will be to try and figure out a revenue strategy that can monetize mobile use as mobile minutes cannibalize desktop minutes in the months and years ahead. There are many efforts to figure this out. From virtual goods in the context of games (Zynga and others); to subscriptions for high quality content (Wall Street Journal, The Economist); to advertising and sponsorships in content (see Fotopedia’s “Japan” app); and Payment systems (Square).

None of these are the solution – although all are valid and scalable. The billions spent on the web each year by advertisers will have to find a way to be effectively spent in the place consumers increasing will be – on smartphones. The mobile platform needs an innovation that fits it as closely as Google’s Adsense and Adwords were a fit for the desktop era. One thing we know for sure. Revolutions in computing are harsh on those who fail to adapt to what is new.

Photo credit: Camilo Rueda López

• FACEBOOK

Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 500 million users.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks.

The original idea for the term…

Learn more

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/P-HrHa_A-Ik/

* * * * *

Small Biz Success Summit 2012
February 1 — 23, 2012 — Online

Presented by Social Media Examiner, this mega-event is designed to help you grow your small business using social media. There’s no travel! You simply attend this online event fromRead More

From Small Business Trends

Grow Yourself: Attend One of These Small Biz Events

Source: RSSMix.com Mix ID 2843392

This new theme of being successful is what James Marshall Reilly (@reillytweet)  explores in his book Shake the World: It’s NotRead More

From Small Business Trends

Get Ready To Shake The World

Source: RSSMix.com Mix ID 2843392

Want to watch the big budget Super Bowl commercials, but can’t wait till Sunday or don’t care about football? Facebook and USA Today have just launched Ad Meter, a Facebook app where you can watch many of the TV spots right now. Then from kickoff until Tuesday night you can vote for your favorites. Traditionally an offline poll done live with handheld meters, USA Today has finally brought Ad Meter online so you can judge ads both in real-time and post-game.

Facebook tapped Involver to build the app, and has secured early previews of roughly 20 commercials. The rest of the ads will become available through the app at game time. On Tuesday night at 6pm EST the results of the voting will be announced.

Several Internet companies have plopped down the big bucks this year in an attempt to court the mainstream. Arrested Development’s Gob plugs Hulu, and Teleflora.com touts the lovin you might get if you use it to send a Valentine’s Day gift. Etrade, Careerbuilder.com,

Investing in Super Bowl ads makes more and more sense for web services as the general public becomes more internet savvy. They should tread cautiously, though, considering past ads from Salesforce, Groupon have been voted most disliked and caused PR crises. Let’s hope no one gives our industry a bad wrap this time around. Oh wait, GoDaddy’s ads filled with body-painted models and angels in the cloud are just as sexist as ever.

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/social/~3/JF500ocX3Qs/

Panda In The Pipelines

There’s a mention of the Panda algorithm update that we wrote about last week, but it also includes a somewhat cryptic reference to being more integrated into Google’s “pipelines.”

We improved how Panda interacts with our indexing and ranking systems, making it more integrated into our pipelines.

Sounds like Panda is baked into things even more firmly than before, which I guess is bad news for any sites that were affected negatively over the past year.

Fresher Results

Google says it made several “minor updates” to the freshness algorithm update that happened back in November.

Date Detection

On a somewhat similar note, the update also says that Google has improved how it detects the date of a web page (document), and that means searchers should see “fresher, more timely results, particularly for pages discussing recurring events.”

Autocomplete

There are two updates related to autocomplete: Google says it’s now faster at delivering predicted queries, and the spelling corrections are now “more consistent with those used in search.”

Speaking of spelling…

Google says it’s doing a better job with “full-page replacement” — i.e., showing an entire page of results for a correctly spelled word and ignoring the searcher’s misspelled word/query. There’s also a change that Google says will help it give more accurate spelling corrections for rare queries.

News queries

Google says it’s improved how it decides when to blend news results into the search results page. The change makes Google “more responsive to realtime trends.”

That’s a quick overview of about half of the January tweaks on Google’s list. Here’s the full list on Google’s Inside Search blog.

Related Topics: Google: News | Google: SEO | Google: Web Search | Top News

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land’s Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee

Article source: http://feeds.searchengineland.com/~r/searchengineland/~3/Vg2wBdBzTnE/googles-january-search-update-110121

Source: RSSMix.com Mix ID 2843392

The jobs report that came out today said that unemployment is at a 3 yearRead More

From Small Business Trends

Cautious Optimism For Small Business

Source: RSSMix.com Mix ID 2843392

Source: RSSMix.com Mix ID 2843392

February 3, 2012

Hearst Corp.s Esquire magazine has tapped mobile bar codes to bring the cover of its February issue to life.

Esquire has used mobile bar codes in editorial content previously, but this initiative marks its first use on the cover. The QR codes are being used in conjunction with other mobile efforts from the magazine, including an iPad application and a mobile Web site.

I am hoping that we can begin to give our print readers the same kind of entertaining enhancements that we give our iPad readers, said David Granger, editor in chief of Esquire, New York.

Every month for the last 15 months, we have done iPad covers that are little movies and set pieces featuring our cover subject, he said.

Now our print readers can experience those as well.

Mobile talk
The February issue of Esquire features former United States president Bill Clinton. The issues theme is common ground, and includes feature articles on politics and entertainment aimed at bringing readers together.

The QR code on the cover has a clear mobile call-to-action that reads, Scan this for a message from President Clinton, helping consumers understand what the code does.

Users with a QR code reader app can scan the mobile bar code either on the cover or on the table of contents page.

The mobile bar code takes users to a 24-second video clip of Mr. Clinton welcoming users to the issue and explains the issues topic.

According to Mr. Granger, Esquire will begin using QR codes more frequently inside the magazine in March.

Previously, Esquire has used its cover subjects to give extra content to iPad users. When users open the Esquire iPad app, they can watch an exclusive video clip on the cover of the digital magazine.

Here is the February Esquire issue

The goal behind this initiative is to make the video content available to print readers with a smartphone or tablet via a QR code.

Editorially, our experience has been somewhat limited, Mr. Granger said.

When we did the augmented reality issue in 2009, we got about 70,000 people to download the software that enabled the various experiences inside the magazine but that was way more complicated and involved, he said.

Additionally, in March 2010, the magazine used 2D bar codes on editorial fashion pages to generate tens of thousands of scans, but did not have insight into how many people were bought the items from the bar codes.

Mobile tie
Esquires mobile work is a smart move from a publishers perspective because the magazine is able to expand its content to a wider group of mobile users.

Using mobile bar codes inside a magazine can be tricky without a clear call-to-action because some consumers might be stumped on what the code does.

By placing it prominently on the cover with a description that tells users exactly what they will see when it is scanned, mobile bar codes can be used to bring together digital and print content.

The challenge for publishers however is how to monetize content.

Lots of magazines are trying to sell stuff via mobile, and publishers want to sell subscriptions, Mr. Granger said.

Clearly I think we can enhance the entertainment quotient of the print magazine with mobile gimmicks, he said.

But I think over the next few months, we may see print being disseminated and shared in much the same way that online editorial is.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York

Article source: http://feeds.mobilemarketer.com/~r/homepage-news/~3/_n9DkqLd7RQ/12031.html

Tags: Messaging, mobile, SMS, text

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Article source: http://www.pocket-promo.com/esquire-enhances-editorial-content-with-mobile-bar-codes/

February 3, 2012

Super Bowl XLVI

Fifty-six percent of smartphone owners said they planned to use their device while watching the Super Bowl XLVI, according to a new report from IAB.

In the Super Bowl goes mobile report, the IAB looked at the habits of United States mobile device owners who planned to use their device as a second screen during the game. In particular, the study looked at which mobile activities will be most used during the game.

The Super Bowl has long been one of the most-watched telecasts of the year, and in these days of hundreds of channels it is one of the few things that a large chunk of the U.S. population all watch together, said Joe Laszlo, senior director at IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, New York.

As a major communal, social event and a prime example of appointment TV, people will almost certainly arrange their lives to watch the big game on a big screen if they can, he said.

Super mobile
The study surveyed 2,217 U.S. adult consumer online and found that 70 percent said they planned to watch the Super Bowl.

The study also found that 45 percent of tablet users plan to use their device during the Super Bowl game.

Additionally, one in ten consumers who plan to use their device during the game will use it to say they will use their device to access information about Super Bowl advertisements while watching the game.

Per IAB, age will make a big impact on how consumers watch the game via mobile.

For example, 74 percent of mobile users aged 18-34 say they will interact with their device significantly during the game. Fifty-one percent of users plan to use their device to text, email and message during the game.

Additionally, sports fans will be on the go while watching the game. Sixty-two percent of consumers surveyed said they planned to watch the Super Bowl away from their home. Of the consumers who will watch the game at home, 53 percent said they planned to use their mobile devices.

Four percent of consumers surveyed said they planned to watch the game exclusively on their devices, pointing to the importance that mobile plays with other channels.

The study also looked at how consumers will use their desktops during the game.

Forty-one percent of consumers said they plan to look up information relevant to Super Bowl advertisements while on their desktop, showing that although mobile is important to the upcoming event, Web is still outpacing mobile.

Mobile eyeballs
The IAB research signals the growing trend of mobile and TV interaction.

TV viewers are increasingly using multiple devices while watching television and using them to access relevant information.

For an event as big as the Super Bowl, marketers need to use as many opportunities as possible to attract consumers.

This Super Bowl, mobile is slated to be used increasingly by brands for their multiscreen efforts.

For example, Coca-Cola is using its Super Bowl advertising to drive mobile donations for its Arctic Home campaign (see story).

The big driver of more sophisticated mobile behavior really comes down to device ownership, Mr. Laszlo said.

Posting and checking on social media sites is a significant mobile device activity, as is getting quick hits of news and information, he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York

Article source: http://feeds.mobilemarketer.com/~r/homepage-news/~3/BnKuXFib1qo/12033.html

Tags: Messaging, mobile, SMS, text

This entry was posted
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Article source: http://www.pocket-promo.com/56pc-of-smartphone-owners-plan-to-use-device-during-the-super-bowl-iab/