Facebook Offers $500 Bounty for Reporting Bugs; PC Magazine
Facebook is offering a $500 reward for reporting bugs on its site.
The Takeaway: Although it is great that Facebook is getting into the bug bounty game, they are charging far less than bug bounties offered by companies like Google or Microsoft. Continue reading →

Google grabs facial-recognition ‘ware firm’; The Register
Google has bought a facial recognition company called pittpatt.
The Takeaway: The acquisition looks a little curious in light of comments by Eric Schmidt at Google’s ‘Big Tent’ privacy conference in May to the effect that facial recognition technology creeped him out, and in which the company co-founder seemed to state that Google would not make use of such technology. Continue reading →

Why Google+ is Not the Facebook Killer it Thinks it is; Technorati
Google+ has attempted to usurp the King of Social Media, Facebook. While it will start things with a slightly changed interface, it will not be the change that we are all looking for, as the Google insight into social media is the same as it was, and the same as it will be until a fundamental shift in ideas occurs.
The Takeaway: Despite the majority of truly innovative products that Google has developed over the years, the move into the Social Media space makes Google and Google+ a big, yes, you guessed it, copycat. Continue reading →

GSV Capital Invests in Facebook; MarketWatch
GSV Capital Corp. GSVC +19.73% announced that it has acquired 225,000 shares in social-networking company Facebook at an average price of $29.28 per share.
The Takeaway: The investment of $6,587,500 represents approximately 15% of GSV’s total portfolio, making it one of their biggest investments to date. Continue reading →

REPORT: Facebook Leads 2011 Online Display Ad Sales; All Facebook
Facebook will have a 17.7 percent share of the market for online display ad sales this year.
The Takeaway: That’s eMarketer’s latest forecast for 2011; in March the consultancy first said that Facebook was on track to outsell Yahoo and Google in the online display ad market. By contrast, Facebook had 12.2 percent of the online display ad sales market in 2010. And eMarketer expects the social network to take 19.4 percent of the online display ad market in 2012. Continue reading →

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 →