Privacy Regulators See Red Over Facebook Facial Recognition; Search Engine Watch
The long worked on facial recognition technology recently released by Facebook is coming under attack from European Union regulators questioning its intrusion in to users’ privacy.
The Takeaway: The reality is that facial recognition is already here, and it’s not going away so the debate at this point should be a matter of figuring out how the technology should be used rather than if it can be created in the first place.

Why Facebook is Becoming Twitter and Twitter is Becoming Facebook; Shiny
While Twitter once tried to distinguish itself as an “information network” it has with its recent product announcements, like an improved Twitter.com and a native photo sharing service, put itself right up there to take on Facebook head-to-head in the battle for the social network crown.
The Takeaway: This is might prove to be a significant blow to Facebook which has for a long time been the preferred – or default – ‘connection’ mechanism for social sharing. Continue reading →

Official Chinese Media Lash Out at Google; Wall Street Journal
A leading Chinese government newspaper lashed out at Google Inc., saying the company’s allegations of China-based hacking were a politically motivated attempt to spark new disputes between China and the U.S.
The Takeaway: Google shouldn’t engulf itself in the international political war as a tool for political gaming. If there is “any change in the international atmosphere, I am afraid Google will become a target to be sacrificed by politics, and also will be discarded by the market. Continue reading →

Google Borrowing $3 Billion in First Ever Bond Offer; Business Insider
Google is borrowing $3 billion in its first ever debt offering, according to a filing with the SEC.
The Takeaway: In the filing Google says it will use the money to “repay outstanding commercial paper and for general corporate purposes.” Continue reading →

Facebook is Driving Traffic to News Web Sites but Twitter Barely Registers; The Inquirer
Facebook is becoming an important driver of traffic to the world’s top news web sites, while Twitter is having very little impact at all.
The Takeaway: The growing influence of social notworking media is becoming increasingly important, so much so that news agencies are beginning to craft news that caters for the burgeoning social audience. Pew Research believes that this will ultimately affect the economics of the news industry, because reporters will no longer simply write stories that readers want to know about, but rather they will write stories that they think readers will want to share with others. Continue reading →

Facebook Numbers Exceed Expectations Ahead of IPO; PCW
Facebook earnings are growing faster than previously expected, and are on track to exceed US$2 billion this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The Takeaway: Increased demand and higher costs for its advertising is good news for Facebook’s bottom line. The company is now on track to exceed $2 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in 2011, according to The Wall Street Journal. That is above the numbers from Facebook that circulated several months ago when Goldman Sachs Group and Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies invested in the company, it wrote. Continue reading →

Google Offers Finally Makes Beta Debut; ZippyCart
Google is ever-so-softly inching its way into the realm of daily deals, kicking off a beta test of its own ecommerce software of deals in the cities of Portland, New York, and San Francisco.
The Takeaway: One can’t help but also wonder how Google Offers will actually fair among sites like Groupon and Living Social, who have respectively rooted themselves as the top two daily deal sites in the world. Really, all that can be said about this risky venture is: good luck. Continue reading →

Twitter Offering $50 Million To Buy TweetDeck; Silicon Valley Insider
Twitter is in “advanced” talks to pay $50 million for popular Twitter client TweetDeck, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Takeaway: TweetDeck is one of the more popular independent third party Twitter applications out there. It accounts for around 13% of all tweets sent out, and is generally the preferred app for Twitter “power users.” Those are the users Twitter wants on one of its official apps, not controlled by a growing rival like UberMedia. Who will win in this battle: UberMedia or Twitter? Continue reading →

Facebook Increases Ad Prices 40% on Rising Popularity; Bloomberg
Ads on Facebook Inc.’s site cost 40 percent more per click last quarter than in the previous three months, as the company’s social-networking dominance let it command higher prices, according to Efficient Frontier.
The Takeaway: Facebook, which has more than 500 million users, is parlaying its burgeoning popularity into higher ad revenue. Advertising spending on the site will more than double to $4.05 billion this year, according to research firm EMarketer Inc. in New York.

Google Launches Messages for Japan; WebProNews
Google has just announced a new site, messagesforjapan.com, to help in the relief effort. On this site, users can write their messages of support to the Japanese people and they will be automatically translated and posted using Google Translate.
The Takeaway: Google notes that since the translation will be done automatically, it will not always be perfect. But for many people around the world moved by the disaster, being able to communicate in fractured Japanese language is better than no Japanese language. Continue reading →