LinkedIn Launches In-Feed Sponsored Ads, Aims To Compete With Facebook And Twitter

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LinkedIn Launches Sponsored Updates For Brands To Target Any User (LinkedIn)
Facebook offers Sponsored Posts, Twitter offers Sponsored Tweets, and now LinkedIn will offer Sponsored Updates that will let businesses target any LinkedIn member. Sponsored Updates can be seen on desktop, smartphone, and tablet devices and will appear in the member's homepage feed along with the organic posts from their network and the companies they follow. In this, LinkedIn is taking a cue from Twitter and Facebook, which have figured out how to monetize their news feeds. Read >

Is Location-Based Social Media Losing Steam? (TechCrunch)
In 2009, location-based social networks such as Gowalla and Foursquare were all the craze. By 2011, investors were pouring money into startups like Color, which raised $41 million, to drive the convergence of mobile and social media. Fast forward to earlier this year, when Google announced plans to retire its location-based service called Latitude in favor of adding a check-in feature on Google+. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram now allow users to tag a location with their posts. Are FourSquare's best days behind it? Will proximity-based social networking ever take-off, or will it simply be a feature on major social platforms? Read >

LinkedIn As A Social Marketing Platform: From Sponsored InMail To Sponsored Posts
(BI Intelligence)
In a new report from BI Intelligence, we analyze how Linkedin could aid in sales efforts and expand your list of leads, telling you what you need to know about InMail. We also look at Sponsored InMail and a case study of its performance, and examine how you can use Linkedin as a marketing platform, breaking down the various ad products on the platform and the other techniques you can use as well. Read >

LinkedIn Signal Will No Longer Be Available (LinkedIn)
LinkedIn Signal, which allows users to search for updates and access saved searches, will be shut down on July 29. Although the product is being retired after two years, LinkedIn has incorporated some of its features into user feeds and search along the way. Read >

Americans Becoming Dissatisfied With Social Media Services (ACSI)
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) rated how satisfied people are with major social media platforms. Overall, satisfaction declined slightly, driven largely by Google+'s 7-point decline from the previous year. Read >

Report: Twitter Will File IPO By End Of Year (AllThingsD)
AllThingsD reports that Twitter will likely file S-1 papers with the SEC for an IPO by the end of this year. Read >