$75 to $100 billion Estimated overall value of the social network — which may command “a valuation more than five times higher than Google Inc.,” says Bloomberg Businessweek.

$5 billion
Initial funding sought by Facebook, in one of the largest IPOs ever filed by a technology company

$75 to $100 billion
Estimated overall value of the social network — which may command “a valuation more than five times higher than Google Inc.,” says Bloomberg Businessweek.

$3.71 billion
Facebook’s annual revenue

85
Percentage of annual revenue in 2011 accounted for by advertising

12
Percentage of annual revenue in 2011 accounted for by Zynga, the third-party company responsible for the game FarmVille

$30.9 million
COO Sheryl Sandberg’s compensation for 2011

$18.65 million
CFO David Ebersman’s compensation for 2011

$1.49 million
CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s compensation for 2011

$1
Mark Zuckerberg’s annual compensation starting 2013, “following his idol Steve Jobs,” says TechCrunch

28
Percentage of Facebook owned by Mark Zuckerberg; his personal worth could potentially grow to a “staggering” $24 billion

$500,000
Initial investment by billionaire Peter Thiel in 2004 in exchange for 44.7 million shares

$2 billion
Potential value of Thiel’s shares post-IPO

$200 million
Potential payday for graffiti artist David Choe, who painted the interior of Facebook’s first headquarter for shares instead of “thousands of dollars,” says the New York Times

845 million
Active users on Facebook

425 million
Active monthly mobile users of Facebook products

2.7 billion
Average number of likes and comments per day

Sources: Bloomberg Businessweek, New York Times, TechCrunch, Reuters (2), USA Today, Wired

via The Week

Since this is a pretty sensitive market to cater with all the [...]]]>

Google originally rolled out its Google Plus service only to those with ages 18 and above. Recently the search giant has announced that it is now opening the service to the thirteen years old and up market.

Since this is a pretty sensitive market to cater with all the understandable apprehensions by parents in trying to protect their teenagers from potential dangers lurking in the internet, Google has simultaneously rolled out new privacy and security features which should somewhat assuage the parents into letting their kids try out the service.

Apparently, this new development is part of Google’s overall rollout plan for their Google Plus; this being the third or fourth installment in a series and with each rollout followed by some announcement of their membership figures.

The Lucrative Teen Market

As far as membership is concerned, experts anticipate millions of teenagers to be signing up for the service in the very near future. This should be a salivating prospect for brands and marketers who are targeting this particular demographic and are looking for a specific channel to get their message through.

Youth-oriented brands that will be able to utilize digital tools which appeals to teenagers such as music videos, movie trailers, games, mobile applications, or social networking sites can certainly tap into this captured market. Teenagers make up the most dynamic and fanatic base but are especially susceptible to social activities having been weaned on daily diets of mobile devices, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

New Security Enhancements for Google Plus

In relation to this expanded rollout, Google has also simultaneously implemented these new security enhancements aimed at protecting the teenagers:

• Teenagers can only interact with those who are listed in their circles. This means that it’s not possible for them to receive any notification or greetings from practical strangers. The only way for a person outside of their circle to interact with them is if an existing member will add those people into their circle.
• By default, if a stranger happens to stumble into a Google Plus Hangout which has a teenager already in the conversation, the teenager will be automatically removed from the video chat – with an option to rejoin the group once it’s been established that there’s no imminent danger. This way, the Hangouts can’t be used as tools for immoral purposes by some shady characters.
• Google Plus will issue warnings to teen users every time they are about to post something to the general public, meaning those that are outside their circle, before they can share.
• There’s also the Google Plus Safety Center which carries all sorts of information and instructions as to how you can set up your Google Plus for security and privacy purposes.

Takeaway

The teenager market is one of the most desirable markets to penetrate for advertisers and marketers. Google is obviously doing a very smart thing in this recent attempt to corner a big chunk of this powerful and influential demographic with the introduction of their Google Plus to those with ages thirteen and above. The enhancements in privacy and security settings are also especially helpful in order to convince parents to let their children try out this new service.

George Peterson currently works for one of the leading search marketing agencies in Denmark – Outrider. He currently works as aSEO manager. 

Facebook is an inspiring success story during a difficult and tumultuous time. Everybody loves a success story. As Sir McCartney opined, ‘What’s Wrong with That?’ Some have criticized the fearless founder, Mr. Zuckerberg and his company for invading privacy. The FTC apparently agreed and Facebook is fully cooperating. [...]]]>

Facebook is an inspiring success story during a difficult and tumultuous time. Everybody loves a success story. As Sir McCartney opined, ‘What’s Wrong with That?’ Some have criticized the fearless founder, Mr. Zuckerberg and his company for invading privacy. The FTC apparently agreed and Facebook is fully cooperating. This now omnipresent application, and Google, has almost completely replaced that big fat environmentally destructive phone book. For that he deserves a greenly constructed blue ribbon. But for now, we can give him a list of 4 great apps to take full advantage of Facebook on an Android smartphone.

Facebook for Android

Facebook for Android has matured into a full featured and useful mobile version of its own mega hit desktop application. Before trying the growing selection of mobile Facebook clones out there and since they are the trendsetter of social media, it does makes sense for the Android phone user to go with the market leader first. The compatibility with the desktop version, for syncing your user information with that of the mobile Facebook, is in theory the most complete, because Facebook must know their own application better than anyone else. Facebook continues to do what they do best, provide a simple and easy to use interface for folks to get together and communicate with each other.

Facebook Timeline Covers: D33P

Facebook Timeline Covers: D33P is a groundbreaking new Android app that will allow your Facebook page to shine far above the maddening crowd. It allows you to superimpose your Facebook image on its preset action backgrounds or lets you do it all yourself. Jazz up your Facebook appearance to stand out from those other predictably drab, dare I say humdrum pics that have become oh too standard. Shine on brightly with Facebook Timeline Covers. If this app does nothing else but get you to activate your Facebook Timeline then you still will have progressed substantially in cyber land.

FriendCaster for Facebook

FriendCaster for Facebook is a great app to install on your smart Android phone if for some reason you aren’t happy with the official app. It happens and then sometimes one must play the field. FriendCaster is a splendid option that will enable you to effectively use Facebook on the fly with your mobile Android device. In addition to the standard FB fare such as re-share, notifications, likes and tagging, this app offers great editing tools for your images like special effects. The superb video enhancements enable uploading of numerous videos.

Color for Facebook

I wrote about the tumultous history of Color at SexySocialMedia, when it was just an iPhone app. Color for Facebook is a simple but extremely power app. With Color you can update your Facebook status with live video instead of all of those laborious and static texts or photos. The idea of personal live video streams broadcast the world over is something that we denizens of the twenty-first century can easily take for granted. As yet there is no audio so perhaps this is the modern equivalent of the silent film. If the proverbial picture is worth a thousand bytes then this app will save a lot of tapping on the screen or tweaking your fingers trying to get the tiny keyboard to work.

The new launch of Google’s “Search Plus Your World” is the latest evolution in the Internet giant’s ever-expanding wave of algorithm restructuring in an effort to refine users’ search results, and unlike other frequent tweaks this change will be hard to miss.

This most [...]]]>

Get ready, because Google is getting personal.

The new launch of Google’s “Search Plus Your World” is the latest evolution in the Internet giant’s ever-expanding wave of algorithm restructuring in an effort to refine users’ search results, and unlike other frequent tweaks this change will be hard to miss.

This most recent revision essentially combines search results that contain personal information stored by users that they share with other members in the Google+ network (e.g., photos and posts) with Internet results on the same search engine results page (SERP). It is important to note, however, that although the private information appears in the results it is not publicly displayed.

The new changes help shed some light on Google’s ongoing business and algorithmic engineering decisions, particularly the launch of the Google+ social network and the secure search capabilities within it. The integrated nature of search when signed in to Google will allow users to streamline their personal and Internet searches, and make new connections between friends, trending topics, product searches and shared information.

Some experts wonder whether the broadened search capability will raise privacy concerns among users. Google+ users will notice it is the new default system, and results may feel a little too personal even though on-screen indicators are available to help sift through the different results and otherwise control the level of exposure.

Google’s motivations for this integration are clear in that they want to capture more of the search market share by increasing relevance of searches, but it will also obviously make the Google+ social network more relevant – and attractive to users. Twitter reps spoke out about the change, arguing that the new SERPs will be heavy on Google content that will eclipse other results, like tweets.

The Twitter statement is an indirect note that Search Plus Your World will not contain data users have shared through Facebook and Twitter, because there is no agreement between the companies to share information. Many will likely feel this is a good thing, considering the very serious privacy implications it raises, although there are no guarantees these wards of personal information will remain unaffiliated.

Search engine optimization (SEO) specialists are also interested in how the new Google will change Internet marketing. A major driver for the creation of “social search” is that consumers are more influenced by their peers’ buying habits, which Search Plus Your World will bring to the forefront as SERPs display friends’ opinions about searches for products, restaurants, vacation spots, etc.

This may mean a need for SEO experts to consider new strategies that better address these changes as Google pushes “social search” into the mainstream, and users grow accustomed to a new era in Web search

James Madeiros is a staff writer at Sparkplug Digital, a Seattle SEO company providing online marketing strategy and execution for tech companies and non-profits.

It seems that no matter what site gets developed for a specific Internet browser or for a given operating system, there will always be some hot shot programmer out there that will find their niche by making it a better mousetrap. These four iPhone apps have scrupulously gleaned [...]]]>

It seems that no matter what site gets developed for a specific Internet browser or for a given operating system, there will always be some hot shot programmer out there that will find their niche by making it a better mousetrap. These four iPhone apps have scrupulously gleaned the missing pieces and dropped balls of Twitter’s architecture to find their own place in the shadows of Twitter’s success story. Check out these useful 4 iPhone apps to use Twitter.

HootSuite

HootSuite is perfect for those Twitter adherents with international interests. It supports no less than fourteen languages. Not only that. This app will translate many more. Take that tower of Babel!

HootSuite will let your inner number freak revel in mountains of amazing statistics relating to your Twitter account. Such as the number of clicks and how your reviews are going. It charts out what countries your pages are being accessed from. One interesting feature allows you to simply bump another smart phone to begin following another user. How cool is that? What’s really fun is the cute owl interface that keeps you company.

Twittelator Pro

Twittelator Pro is very impressive. With it you can Tweet video, which is significant because I don’t believe that the existing Twitter interface is all that easy to use with video.

After getting Twitter to upload video once from a desktop PC, that feature never worked again for me. For this post I explored all of Twitter’s standard menu options and nowhere did I see an upload video screen. So for this app to do it even with the somewhat scaled down iPhone operating system makes it worth the price of admission for that alone.

TweetCaster Pro

TweetCaster Pro  earned a solid four-star rating from app users. One of its highlights is an improved search feature that allows you to focus on only the Tweets that you are interested in.

By creating lists for your flow of Tweets, TweetCaster Pro enables you to weed out those boring or irrelevant Tweets from the ones that really matter to you. No matter whether you are a regular Joe or one of those smart Columbus Ohio web designers. Other nice perks include the ability to merge your Twitter stuff with Facebook and offline Tweet reading. The app’s cute bug eyed mascot gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘A little bird told me.’

Tweetbot

Tweetbot learns your moves and remembers them. One gesture can be worth a thousand clicks. It makes you the choreographer of your very own Twitter dance. And isn’t that how it should be? This full featured app integrates with Cloud computing for enhanced usability like uploading videos.

It supports multiple Twitter accounts. With built in retina display technology Tweetbot is poised for enhanced viewing on your iOS device. In addition to being highly functional, the app includes hip sounds and fun cartoons to help spice up your Tweeting.

With great pleasure I share with an awesome update on La Casa del Ritmo, A film about Los Amigos Invisibles. I first wrote about this project back in February 2011 and I was very happy to support this project. I just got news that the world premiere of [...]]]>

Dear readers of idaconcpts.com,

With great pleasure I share with an awesome update on La Casa del Ritmo, A film about Los Amigos Invisibles. I first wrote about this project back in February 2011 and I was very happy to support this project. I just got news that the world premiere of this amazing documentary will happen this March 2012 at the Miami International Film Festival. The full press release is below.

Congratulations to “mis panas invisibles” and my fellow Ecuadorian, Juan Miguel Marin.

“La Casa del Ritmo, A Film About Los Amigos Invisibles”
 World Premiere at Miami International Film Festival

New York, N.Y. (January 17, 2012) – USA/Ecuadorian feature film, “La Casa del Ritmo, A Film About Los Amigos Invisibles” will celebrate its world premiere at the Miami International Film Festival, March 2-11, 2012 in Miami, Florida.

This concert film was the brainchild of Ecuadorian artist/musician Juan Miguel Marin, whose former North-Carolina based Latin-Alternative quintet, La Rúa, toured with Los Amigos Invisibles back in 2005 and 2006. Marin was inspired by the band’s hard work, their devotion
to their music, and commitment to their fans.

In 2010, a chance encounter at the Miami International Airport between Marin (now based in NYC), and LAI bass player Jose Rafael Torres led to a conversation about the band’s 20-year anniversary, which took place in 2011.

Marin immediately thought of friend and Ecuadorian director Javier Andrade as the perfect collaborator to bring the film to life – a film that shared the band’s twenty-year musical journey through intimate conversations with each of the six original members of LAI, and a special concert shot in NYC. With the band’s approval, a 3-person team consisting of Juan Miguel Marin, Javier Andrade, and Catalina Kulczar-Marin began production of “La Casa del Ritmo”
in New York City, in summer of 2010.

In January of 2011, they created a Kickstarter campaign to help raise $30,000 in order to complete the project. Kickstarter is an all-or nothing, crowd funding platform for creative projects. Thanks to nearly 600 backers (now Associate Producers), from countries all over the world (Venezuela, Australia, France, Germany, India, etc), they raised $31,500, exceeding their 30-day goal of $30,000.

Upon funding of the project, La Casa del Ritmo team was ready to execute the original idea of filming a memorable concert sequence in New York City, the band’s second home, and the city that took their career to a global stage. The special night captured in the film took place on March 11th, 2011, at the Highline Ballroom in NYC.

“La Casa del Ritmo, A Film About Los Amigos Invisibles,” was produced by Catalina Kulczar-Marin, directed by Javier Andrade and includes interviews by David Byrne (Talking Heads) and Yale Evelev – both formerly of Luaka Bop – and each of the six members of Los Amigos Invisibles.

Twitter: @casadelritmo @juanmiguelmarin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lacasadelritmo
Los Amigos Invisibles www.amigosinvisibles.com
La Casa del Ritmo blog: www.lacasadelritmo.net
Direct link to Kickstarter video: www.lacasadelritmo.net/suma

This diagram reminded me about how difficult is to find a great logo design for a blogger on a tight budget.

As you can see from the intersection of Free, the results will either [...]]]>

The other day I encountered an interesting Venn diagram about graphic design:

This diagram reminded me about how difficult is to find a great logo design for a blogger on a tight budget.

You Get What You Pay

As you can see from the intersection of Free, the results will either end in trash, rejection from designers or “try again”. The reality is that in order to get some decent results you will have to be willing to provide remuneration for somebody to be interested in working with you. From my personal experience in developing a logo for GoodOrBadEmail.com, I highly suggest that you seek the services of a professional designer and that you provide a decent monetary incentive. What’s a decent monetary incentive? That depends on the designer and your negotiation skills.

One great way to get the greatest bang for your available budget buck is to hold a logo design contest.

Things to Consider when Running a Logo Design Contest

1. Money is Cool. Recognition is Even Cooler.

Besides the prize money, offer free press for the winner in places other than just your site (unless, you’re a mega blogger star!). Struggling designers will not only appreciate the financial reward but also the free press to promote their work. Make sure to network with relevant media outlets (both online and offline) that would appeal to your potential contestants. If you’re running a hyperlocal promotion, it would be interesting to explore local newspaper, magazines and TV stations. Since content is king, local media providers are always looking for attractive ideas, so if you position your contest just right, you might get their attention.

2. Generate Buzz.

No one will enter your contest if they don’t know about it. Therefore, it is critical that you plan ahead how you are going to effectively promote your logo design competition. If you’re using social media, remember that the first 48 hours are critical for your content to go viral. Don’t just sent out a tweet and cross your fingers, hoping for the best. You need to contact people ahead of time and time their promotion of your competition so that you have enough validation and better chance of going viral.

3. Develop a FAQ sheet.

The devil is in the details. While being very explicit about how people can contact you in case of questions is a good idea, it is an even better idea to already provide the answers to obvious potential questions from your contestants. For example, if you’re offering X amount of dollars, will you be mailing a check? Sending the funds via Paypal? Will you cover the transaction expenses? Think of 3 to 5 questions ahead of time and provide the answers. As your contestants start interacting with you, make sure to update this FAQ sheet with additional questions that you’re receiving.

Takeaway

Great logo design is not cheap! However, through a carefully planned logo design contest can allow you to get the best return for your investment. Make sure to include exposure in relevant and reputable media channels among the incentives for your contestants. Plan ahead how you are going to promote your contest in a sustainable way, and be proactive in providing answers to common questions from your potential contestants.

If you’ve read any SEO resource out there, the same thing crops up again and again: if you want results in search then you need to be engaged in a link building campaign. However, this “advice” typically falls a bit short. It falls short because it neglects to [...]]]>

If you’ve read any SEO resource out there, the same thing crops up again and again: if you want results in search then you need to be engaged in a link building campaign. However, this “advice” typically falls a bit short. It falls short because it neglects to mention “how” to achieve this, at least in a practical way.

Let’s Start With Two Simple Points.

1. Link Building Isn’t About Numbers, It’s About Quality

This is the first thing you need to reconcile yourself to: link building isn’t about quantity, it’s about quality. That may be difficult to believe, but one solid, authoritative link from a website like BBC.co.uk (which you won’t achieve without a great deal of effort), is far more valuable than hundreds of low quality directory links.

2. Link Building isn’t About PageRank

PageRank is a marketing gimmick, that’s probably the best way to think about it – it’s a ranking factor, but it’s one of many ranking factors. The fact of the matter is that you can easily go out tomorrow and buy ten PageRank links for around $20 – does that spell “value” or “quality” to you?

It’s not just about the PageRank value of the page you are acquiring the link from, it’s also about the overall authority of the website (the total quality of all links pointing in), relevance, trustworthiness and so on.

So, What is Successful Link Building?

This is the million dollar question. There are hundreds of potential link building strategies out there but before we review a couple, remember this: there is no such thing as a “magic bullet” (well, unless you have an astoundingly original business concept which will naturally generate links). Link Building is about tenacity, creativity and perseverance – apply these in equal measure, with a little bit of knowledge, and you will succeed.

Blog Networks: Securing Links From Authoritative Websites

What’s better, an in-content link or a comment link? The in-content link of course, but that’s not really that important – above all else you need to focus on acquiring links from a diverse range of quality websites; blog networks can help you achieve this objective.

Three of the best websites to utilise are LinkVana.com ($147 per month), BuildMyRank.com ($57 per month) and MyBlogGuest.com ($29 per month) – what makes them the best? They can help you submit your content to authoritative blogs which get indexed regularly and contribute value to your web presence.

The great thing about blog networks – or general blogs owned by webmasters – is that they help you build out a diverse link profile; you can essentially acquire links from a range of different sources. Compliment this with social bookmarking submissions (again, available through LinkVana) and press release distribution via various press release hubs, and you have a link building strategy.

This Isn’t Rocket Science, But It Is Hard Work

Link Building, and SEO for that matter, isn’t rocket science – but it does take practical application and consistency; rankings will be built up incrementally, however create a plan and stick to it.

For example, you may decide to build 15 blog submissions, 5 guest blog submissions, 25 social bookmarking submissions and 1 press release distribution per month – providing you are targeting the right terms i.e. terms you can realistically rank for, you should have absolutely no problem creating a business model out of Search Engine Optimization.

Gareth Mailer is an SEO professional at Clickwork Media who spends far too much time thinking about links – visit ClickworkMedia.co.uk for more SEO and link building tips.

Awesome infographic on the Internet browser market share for the period 2008-2011.

(click for larger image)

Infographic courtesy of Reflex, a leader in [...]]]>

Awesome infographic on the Internet browser market share for the period 2008-2011.

(click for larger image)

Infographic courtesy of Reflex, a leader in videoconferencing.

Safari is a perfectly fine browser but there is something about stepping out of that prepackaged mode that is exhilarating. The danger of possibly messing up the status quo is there but also the excitement of improving your web experience and taking your surfing where it’s never been [...]]]>

Safari is a perfectly fine browser but there is something about stepping out of that prepackaged mode that is exhilarating. The danger of possibly messing up the status quo is there but also the excitement of improving your web experience and taking your surfing where it’s never been before. Check out these 4 browser alternatives to the Safari on the iPhone.

Mercury Web Browser Pro

Mercury Web Browser Pro scores well on the iTunes Richter scale. Not to be outdone, the Mercury Browser is another app that wisely includes an ad blocking utility. It has a multiple download feature which is a great time saver.

Being able to download several programs simultaneously allows you to collect your favorite new apps and needed files in one session, thus enabling you to go on to your next task. Mercury offers eleven themes to select for your screen’s appearance.

Secret Browser

Secret Browser appeals to those that identify with the intrigue of our present age. The Panic Mode will safely reset your trajectory home. Secret Browser offers support for multiple languages. With all of those stalkers out there this is the ultimate browser for the celebrity or merely the paranoid. It cleans up the dangerous trail of digital breadcrumbs that most cookie-cutter browsers tend to leave, no matter whether you were searching for Flash templates or for celebrity pics. This is the browser that J. Bond would prefer. It offers many options for the user to customize the app to their preference.

Apollo Browser

Apollo Browser is so sure that you don’t like ads that they set their Adblock utility at default. This is an app that has elicited high praise on iTunes with its adoring users. Apollo’s Google Reader Mode will enhance your mobile reading pleasure.

The app syncs with Chrome and Firefox between your various mobile devices to achieve consistent data updates. Its interface is simple to use and offers integrated chat on Facebook while still surfing the net.

Atomic Web Browser

Atomic Web Browser is very popular amongst its users. The current version is rated at four and a half stars on the iTunes Customer Ratings System. Atomic adherents love the full-screen mode that maximizes the display size on your iOS device by hiding those useful but sometimes annoying menus that can usurp valuable viewing area. Another nice perk is the Adblock feature that speeds up downloading and enhances applications by slicing off that distracting spam. Fourteen color options are available to choose for you menu displays.

The ability to customize the look and feel of the browser scores additional points with Atomic fans.