Facebook to make ads simpler with uniform visual display

Facebook has been relentlessly working to amp up its revenue from different sections of the social network. However, the company has come under criticism for having too many types of advertisements that have been been confusing advertisers to choose which one of the ad campaigns is best suited to them. Well, Facebook has finally decided to do something about it – now it plans to bring forth a simpler and uniform process for creating ads.

Moreover, Facebook plans to ditch almost half of its 27 ad formats and will soon allow advertisers to purchase ads based on objectives. Facebook executives say objectives may range from apps instalment, get likes for the page or simply increase brand awareness.

One of the notable ad formats that Facebook is abandoning is "Sponsored Stories”, which will be soon diluted into other types of advertising . Facebook is also ditching “Offer” ads that are used to distribute product discounts or coupons.

“...we are pleased to announce an ongoing effort to simplify our offerings. When we work with a marketer, we always start with their business goals, and we are going to do the same thing with our ad products. Our vision is that over time, an advertiser can come to Facebook and tell us what they are trying to achieve, and our ads tools will automatically suggest the right combination of products to help them achieve it,” says Facebook in an announcement.

“In the next six months, we plan to streamline the number of ad units from 27 to fewer than half of that while mapping all of our ads to the business objectives marketers care about — be it in-store sales, online conversions, app installs, etc.”

Facebook says it will eliminate redundancies, which includes removing the Questions product for Pages. The future Facebook ads will look more consistent, with uniform visual display of all ads.


“This will reduce the number of ad formats and make the ad creation process much simpler for advertisers who run multiple campaigns or want to test which ad creative performs the best. We think this will ultimately help advertisers optimize their campaigns across desktop and mobile,” adds Facebook.


Facebook says it hasn't fixed date for this process to start, but the roll-out should begin within the next few weeks.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Facebook-to-make-ads-simpler-with-uniform_14962.html

Twitter archive download option available in Hindi, 11 other languages

Twitter now allows users to download their archives (tweets and retweets) in 12 other languages other than English, namely Hindi, Farsi, French, Hebrew, German, Spanish, Dutch, Malaysian, Norwegian, Finnish, Hungarian and Polish languages.

Twitter had introduced the archiving tool, also known as Your Twitter archive, in December 2012. The tool allows users to download all their posts and retweets. But, it only supported the English language then.

Twitter has been trying to increase user engagement and use of the platform beyond English-only users with various local and custom features. Twitter recently added 'ad support' for the Middle East and North Africa among other regions, revealing its usage had grown threefold in that part of the world in 2012.

If you plan to download your Archives, here's what your need to do. Go to the Settings, search for the “Your Twitter archive” feature. Clicking on the link, you will be given a link to download a ZIP file of your tweet archive by e-mail.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Twitter-archive-download-option-available-in-Hindi_13837.html

YouTube to offer paid channel subscriptions: Report

Google has been exploring options to generate more revenue from its services, YouTube in particular. More ads (skippable and non-skippable) are definitely noticeable on YouTube. And now reports suggest the largest video sharing site will be soon introducing new paid subscription-only channels.

Citing multiple people familiar with the plans, AdAge claims YouTube team is already in talks with several video producers to come up with channels that would require a fee for viewing. First producers that are supposed to come with paid channels are Machinima, Maker Studios, and Fullscreen while Google is looking for more partners.

The paid channels would priced between $1 and $5 a month. Google is also planning to charge for other features on the site such as libraries of videos, financial advice shows, self-help and live events.

Google is likely to begin with about 25 such paid channels, which are expected to be launched by the second quarter of this year.

"We have long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models," a Google spokesman said in a statement to AdAge. "The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform. There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we're looking at that."

Paid video on YouTube has been often rumoured, especially after the company hinted it was considering paid services for its users. At the AllThingsD media conference last year, YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar revealed plans to poaching second or third-tier cable networks.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/YouTube-to-offer-paid-channel-subscriptions-Report_13260.html

WhatsApp denies Facebook acquisition rumours

Popular messaging app, WhatsApp is denying rumours that it is in talks with social networking giant, Facebook for a buyout.

WhatsApp business head Neeraj Arora told Venture Beat, “The TechCrunch article is a rumor and not factually accurate. We have no further information to share at the moment.”

The response comes to a rumour that has been making the rounds which says that Facebook is in negotiations to acquire WhatsApp. The rumour made an appearance first on TechCrunch.

The TechCrunch report says, “WhatsApp, the multiplatform mobile messaging app that has been one of the runaway success stories for ad-free, paid services, has been in talks to be acquired by Facebook, according to sources close to the matter.

We’re still digging around on potential price and other details about how advanced the deal is. But as mobile becomes the most bloody battleground in the Internet’s game of thrones, you can see how such a deal could make sense.”

Even though WhatsApp has denied talks about the accusation, the deal kind of makes sense. WhatsApp is a very popular messaging app in India and it is free for all the mobile platforms except iOS. Facebook too has a messaging app that not only works on smartphones but on other devices such as tablets and you’re trusted old computer. Integration would see a more seamless conversation between friends.

As of today it gets a little difficult being a user of multiple messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, BBM, iMessage and the plethora more available for the mobile user. Not to mention the good old traditional SMS that just turned 20. Read all about that here.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/WhatsApp-denies-Facebook-acquisition-rumours_11611.html

Zynga revamps contract with Facebook

Zynga loosened its ties with Facebook in an amended agreement that had governed a close partnership between the two companies for years. As per the new pact, Zynga will no longer be required to use Facebook as the log-in for users, while Facebook will be able to develop its own games. Zynga can choose to do away with Facebook Payments as the way for users buy virtual goods and opt not to show ads served by Facebook.

“Zynga's mission is to connect the world through games," Barry Cottle, Zynga's chief revenue officer, said in a statement. “In order to do this, Zynga is focused on building enduring relationships with consumers across all platforms from Facebook and Zynga.com on the Web to tablets and mobile." Read Zynga's regulatory filing here.

Facebook, however, in a statement has said that the social network has no plans of getting into gaming business. "We're not in the business of building games and we have no plans to do so," Facebook clarified in a statement. "We're focused on being the platform where games and apps are built."

It is believed that there are various parts of the new deal that could hurt Zynga's interests in near future. As per the terms of the new pact, Zynga will be barred from using Facebook to “cross-promote” its games. This means when a player on Zynga.com shares their accomplishment or any activity on a given game that shows up on their Facebook Timeline, the post will not link back to Zynga.com. This would definitely dampen traffic to Zynga.com.

Both Zynga and Facebook have been making efforts to reduce their inter-dependence. In an attempt to come out of Facebook's shadows, Zynga launched its gaming platform, Zynga.com. Facebook, in the meanwhile, started wooing other game developers.

"We have streamlined our terms with Zynga so that Zynga.com's use of Facebook Platform is governed by the same policies as the rest of the ecosystem," a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. "We will continue to work with Zynga, just as we do with developers of all sizes."


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Zynga-revamps-contract-with-Facebook_11578.html

Facebook brings Timeline layout to Friendship Pages

Facebook has rolled out a redesign of “Friendship Pages”, which shows the two friends' history in a Timeline format.

Friendship Pages shows users' mutual friends, likes, photos, and interactions they had on the social networking website. Facebook's Friendship Pages were one of the last segments of the social network that resembled the old profile. With the addition of Timeline layout, these pages are now easier to navigate.

“Starting today, we're introducing a new layout for friendship pages. Friendship pages combine posts, photos and events that you and another person have shared. Click the gear menu at the top of a friend's timeline to see a friendship page,” says Facebook in a blog post.

The update provides users more options to personalise the pages, and have a more complete look on the interaction between the two friends. Users will be able to remove different areas of their relationship details.

They can also remove the images they are tagged in from the friendship Timeline. To remove such images, users need to click on the pen icon on the upper right hand corner and choose “hide from Timeline”.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Facebook-brings-Timeline-layout-to-Friendship-Pages_11329.html

Facebook's user base in India grows to 65 million

Facebook has announced its user base in India has grown to 65 million users, from just 8 million in 2010 - a growth that has made it an essential market for the company today, competing with Brazil and Indonesia for the number two spot.

As of August 2012, the user base was around 50 million, suggesting a rapid growth of the social networking website in rural and urban parts of the country.

According to Head of Facebook India Kirthiga Reddy, companies have increased their expenditure on online advertisements, which is now growing at 25 percent year-on-year. “Our reach can be a strong platform for marketers,” she told the media after inauguration of the company's refurbished office in Hyderabad.

She further revealed that top brands across the sectors in the country were using Facebook to engage with their customers. Moreover, Facebook is now aiming at the small and medium companies, for which the network recently teamed up with industry body FICCI.

“We are interacting with SMEs through the industry body on how they can build a presence on Facebook and engage with their customers,” Kirthiga said.

With an increasing Internet population, including the smartphone users, in India, Facebook is expected to post growth at the same pace in the near future. However, sustaining the growth will not be that easy.

As WSJ in its report points out, the social networking website has cater to millions of Indians still using the feature and low-tech phones. Moreover, it has to make its platform more accessible to the local developers to boost its ecosystem. If Facebook's model succeeds in India, it could apply same in other emerging markets such as Indonesia and Brazil.

“As we think about how to deliver the best possible Facebook experience to an emerging-market customer, India is probably the best place to incubate and experiment on different ways we can deliver that experience," WSJ quotes Meenal Balar, Facebook's director for international growth as saying.

That being said, Facebook has definitely taken a lot of measures to make its services popular in the country. It recently rolled out support for Hindi and seven other Indian languages for its feature phone app. Moreover, it is currently running a scheme under which it is offering Rs. 50 talktime for new users signing up via mobile phone. Read more about the Facebook scheme here.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Facebooks-user-base-in-India-grows-to_11100.html

LinkedIn rolls out new profile design

LinkedIn on Tuesday started rolling out a revamped design for its profiles and said redesign will make it easier for users build a professional identity. The updated LinkedIn user profile is available immediately for English-language users, and will be rolled out for all users over the next few months.

Addressing a media presentation at LinkedIn headquarters, the engineering team of the professional networking website said the new profiles come with several enhancements and new features. Some of the notable enhancements are in-line editing, sidebar for adding profile sections, high resolution images and drag and drop profile sections, to sort according to users' preferences.

LinkedIn also added a new feature for users that allow them to follow world's 'most respected thought leaders' on the site. The company says the new “follow” mechanism allows users to keep up with select group of individuals, a “natural extension" of existing tools for following news feeds and organisations. The company ruled out possibilities of monetising the new feature.

"The ability to follow thought leaders on LinkedIn allows members to engage directly in professional conversations with influencers, comment directly on professionally relevant topics, and share them with their peers," LinkedIn said.

"For our influencers who will be regularly posting content and updates, LinkedIn offers the ability to reach the largest network of professionals around the world and be able to have professionally relevant conversations with them."

The revamped profile redesign is quite reminiscent of the Facebook profile, though LinkedIn clarifies it has making efforts to simplify the website for some time, and that similarities to larger social networking were due to offering “the best experience for members”. “simplication efforts” have been

The redesigned LinkedIn also offers users better access to their professional connections via "rich and visual insights on the people and companies in your network," the company said. If you’d like to be one of the first ones to get the new LinkedIn Profile, you can sign up here

Source:http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/LinkedIn-rolls-out-new-profile-design_11076.html

Google+ custom URLs start rolling out

Few weeks ago Google had unveiled custom URL service for Google+ profiles and pages, taking on vanity URLs offered by Facebook. And now Google has expanded the service to more brands and verified individuals.

Users, part of the roll-out, will see a notification on the top of the homepage that says, “your page is preapproved for the custom URL: google.com/CUSTOM followed by a Claim URL button that you’ll certainly want to push.” Such users will also be notified via an email to prompt them about claiming theirs.

It's notable the custom URLs service does not let you pick your own URL, but you can seek a different one. Google says once you select your custom URL, you cannot change or transfer it.

“We’re making these changes over the next few days, and we’ll be offering custom URLs to many more profiles and pages in the future. We appreciate your patience in the interim, and we look forward to hearing your feedback,” says Saurabh Sharma from the Google+ team.

Earlier, Google+ custom URLs rolled out to a limited number of 'verified' users. Google revealed that few celebrities such as David Beckham and pop singer Britney Spears, along with brands like Toyota, Delta, and Hugo Boss have already received the custom URLs.

In another Google+ news, the social networking site is now going to get new notification controls. Users can now “mute” notifications on their profile. Moreover, users can subscribe for e-mail alerts for updates on certain Circles they want to.

"For these select circles, we often have news we really want to share — like getting engaged, or landing a job," Austin Chang from the Google+ team, wrote in a post. "In these cases you can now check 'Also send email' when sharing, to help make sure your friends see your message."

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Google-custom-URLs-start-rolling-out_10560.html

Yahoo, Facebook settle patent dispute

Yahoo and Facebook announced Friday they have settled a high-profile patent dispute with a deal that analysts said would likely be good for both sides.

As part of the agreement, Yahoo and Facebook have signed a cross-licensing deal granting access to each others' patent portfolios, they said in a joint statement. They've also forged an advertising partnership and will expand an existing content distribution agreement.

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Yahoo sued Facebook in March under the leadership of former CEO Scott Thompson. It accused Facebook of infringing patents covering technologies related to social networking, advertising, privacy, site customization, and communications. Facebook's News Feed and the way it handles privacy were both in violation of Yahoo's patents, Yahoo contended.

Soon after, Facebook shot back with its own patent infringement lawsuit against Yahoo.

As part of the settlement, apparently brokered by interim Yahoo CEO Ross Levinsohn and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, the companies plan to bring Yahoo's large event coverage to Facebook users by "collaborating on social integrations on the Yahoo site," their statement said.

That could mean integrating more of Facebook's social sharing features into Yahoo's coverage of events such as the Olympics, analysts said. But they didn't rule out the possibility that Facebook will host Yahoo's content on its own site.

In large part, however, Yahoo was looking for a way to put the lawsuit behind it, said Karsten Weide, an analyst with IDC. "Primarily, I think this is Yahoo saying, 'Oops, sorry we bothered you with the patent stuff.' We're going to go home now," she said.

But in the process, Yahoo secured a piece of the social pie that Facebook dominates. "Yahoo can go to [advertising] customers and say, look, you wanted social and we've got social," she said.

On Facebook's side, it will likely benefit from the access it gains to some of Yahoo's content.

"One of the real opportunities [for Facebook] moving forward is using their platform to distribute content," said Allen Weiner, a Gartner analyst.

"Facebook wants to beef up their supply of content that can be shared across the Facebook network. They don't really have any of their own content, be it original or even aggregated, so Yahoo makes a logical partner for that," Weiner said.

Hearings in the patent case had been set to begin later this month.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/yahoo-facebook-settle-patent-dispute-197219

YouTube turns seven; gets 72 hours of video upload per minute

YouTube has turned seven– and has hit yet another video upload milestone – YouTube is now uploading three days of videos (72 hours) per minute – which is about 37,840,000 hours of video per year!

"We're so honored that you've used YouTube to share how-to tips, political moments, home videos, comedy, music, and so much more," the YouTube team wrote in a blog post on Sunday.

YouTube has come a long way in the last seven years. The interface has been revamped, making it easier to browse and share videos of interest. Backed by a massive 800 million users, YouTube has incorporated numerous interesting features such as channels, video playlist and the latest, option to convert all short form videos uploaded in 1080p in 3D.

Notably, the site earlier this year announced that it had surpassed 4 billion video views every day and over 60 hours of video upload every minute.

“This last year was especially big for us. We helped bring more great channels to YouTube and we redesigned the site, making it easier for you to discover, watch and subscribe to the videos you love. And all 800 million of you all over the world have shown us we’re on the right track by increasing subscriptions 50% and watching over 3 billion hours a month,” it further said.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/YouTube-turns-seven-gets-72-hours-of_9594.html

Facebook now wants a say in computer hardware

Facebook, the world's largest social network, wants to get in on computer hardware as well.

The company that revolutionized social networking on the Internet has teamed up with some of tech hardware's biggest names - Hewlett Packard Co, Dell Inc, Advanced Micro Devices, and Intel Corp - to launch the "open compute project."

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the project aims to offer specifications and designs for more power-efficient computers that are specifically geared toward running Internet services, shared openly with other companies.

"What we found over time is that a lot of the stuff that the mass manufacturers put out wasn't exactly in line with what we needed and what other social apps needed," Zuckerberg said at a media event at Facebook's Palo Alto, California headquarters on Thursday.

By sharing design specifications, he said he hoped to increase availability and demand for the specialized servers.

Dell will build servers based on those technical specifications, while Synnex Corp will act as overall vendor for the systems. The technology will power servers in the social network's first custom-built data center, in Prineville, Oregon. Until now, Facebook has leased data centers for its infrastructure.

With more than 500 million users, Facebook is the world's No. 1 Internet social network and is increasingly challenging established Web companies like Google Inc and Yahoo Inc as a top destination for Web surfers and a compelling advertising channel for marketers.

The technical infrastructure that powers websites such as Facebook, on which more than 30 billion photos, videos and other types of content are shared by users every month, play a key role in a service's performance.

According to Facebook, the new servers will be 38 percent more energy efficient and cost 24 percent less than off-the-shelf products used to power its service.