LinkedIn Now Has 225 Million Members
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Yesterday, as it reported earnings the professional social network said it now boasts over 225 million members, up from 202 million at year-end 2012. The company also reported 170 million monthly unique visitors to its site. Read >
Facebook Is Improving Features That Allow Mobile Users To Hide Ads (CNET)
It's as easy as clicking an "x" that appears on the top right of the ad. The social network is currently allowing users to hide ads that feature content from Facebook Pages, but the same "x" will soon help users hide app-install ads and ads created when your friends like a Page, according to CNET's Donna Tam. Read >
U.S. Audiences Are The Most Valuable Users To Facebook, With Europeans Second (BuzzFeed)
Facebook users in different geographic locations generate more revenue. Americans and Canadians are in first place with $2.85 per user generated from advertising, and Europeans are in second place with $1.38. The global average is $1.15 per user. One worrying point for Facebook is that the average revenue per user isn't growing. That's natural when user growth is happening quickly, but it's still a number to watch. (See chart, below right.) Read >
Digital Video Companies Look To Sway Advertisers Away From Television (New York Times)
Where broadcast and cable networks attract advertising dollars with pitches for upcoming programming called "upfronts," digital media companies experimented this week with "NewFronts." The main goal was to divert advertising dollars away from traditional television. YouTube and Google announced several channels dedicated to original programming. AOL also pushed new programming to advertisers. TV ad spending topped $70 billion dollars last year for the first time. Meanwhile, YouTube numbers are at an all-time high and Google claims online video watching has surpassed television watching. YouTube says advertisers should look to them to deliver young audiences with digital-native programming. Read >
Facebook Active User Growth Rate Is Slowing (All Things Digital)
A peek at the numbers shows that there is a slowing growth rate in active Facebook users over the past year. The chart displays the rate for all active user metrics, including mobile. Have a look at the chart below right for the details. Read >
New Instagram Tagging feature May Prove Useful To Brands (TechCrunch)
Popular photo-sharing app Instagram is now allowing users and brands to explore the app through photo-tagging. (This is Instagram's video on the feature on Vimeo.) With the new "Photos Of You" section, Instagram is following a similar model that helped Facebook quickly spur user activity. Instagrammers will be able to tag the photos with the names of any friend or any brands that they follow. On the flip side, brands will also have a chance to tag their company or product name in photos made available publicly on the app. This could provide an individualized way for brands to reach out to consumers. Read >
Taco Bell Promotes Product Relaunch Through SnapChat (Business Insider)
In another instance of brands finding news ways to reach out to consumers, Taco Bell sent a SnapChat message to announce the relaunch of its Beefy Crunch Burrito. SnapChat is a photo-sharing mobile messenger app with a small, but growing user base, that is particularly popular among teens. This move may open the door for other major companies to test SnapChat marketing. Read >
Wikipedia May Have a Male Bias (The New York Review Of Books)
The New York Review of Books investigates an ongoing debate over Wikipedia's male-dominated base of editors, who are responsible for much of the content on the site. Read >
Zynga Invests In Learning Games (Forbes)
Zynga will invest $1 million in a partnership with NewSchools Venture Fund to host an accelerator in its San Francisco headquarters for educational game development. The investment comes from its nonprofit organization, Zynga.org, which is dedicated to promoting causes through casual mobile games. Read >
Rovio Integrates Facebook Capabilities For Angry Birds (The Verge)
Rovio introduced a new version of its popular Angry Birds mobile game called Angry Birds Friends. Users are now able to link their Facebook profiles to their account and will be able to engage with Facebook friends within the game. Read >