Remarkable Candor From Facebook Exec

Despite the possibility that we now are in, or building towards, another Internet investing bubble, the amount of innovation we might expect in social and other areas remains extraordinary. And it always is refreshing when a top exec at a category leading company with huge market impact admits that his own firm might not be working on the innovations that might fuel the next great wave of Internet applications development.

Investment Values Twitter at $8 Billion

Twitter is in the process of raising $400 million in a deal that values the company at $8 billion, according to the New York Times.

Rory Maher, an analyst for Hudson Square Research, says Twitter makes about $200 million a year from online advertising and is close to profitability. At those levels, a valuation of $8 billion, or roughly 40 times sales, is difficult to justify."

That is just one more bit of evidence that we might be in an Internet investing bubble, or building towards one. That is no slam on all the social application innovation going on right now. I use Twitter just about every day, and I find it one of the most useful business tools I use on a regular basis. But valuations can diverge from end user value in dramatic ways at times.

Investment Values Twitter at $8 Billion

The competitive prospects of Google — Tech News and Analysis

The obvious competitor Google is taking on with Google+ is Facebook. But there are lots of other applications that might be affected as well. The "Hangouts" app is getting attention for its drop-dead-simple way of allowing users to set up and use multi-party video chats. How Google can track who is speaking at the moment, and needs to have the audio feed, is somewhat amazing. But the issue then becomes whether "Hangouts" can become a popular business tool for multi-party videoconferencing.

That might both stimulate demand for other business-class services, as well as reduce demand for consumer grade video chat services or applications. A survey of 451 GigaOm readers suggests the notion of competition with Skype (especially for video calls), as well as Facebook (social networking) is where the biggest upside for Google+ might be, and where competitors might feel the most pressure.

Competitive prospects for Google+

Is Google+ Enthusiasm an Indicator of Demand for a Facebook Alternative?

The early reviews of Google (including mine) have been almost uniformly positive. The "Hangout" and "Circles" features seem to have gotten most of the attention, from me and everyone else, it seems.

Some might argue that, aside from the almost certain enthusiasm of early adopters, there is evidence of end user demand for a real alternative to Facebook.

Being an "underdog" works better for Google in this case. It might be hard for people to root for Google in search or advertising or mobile operating systems and so forth, where Google is a major player or a market leader. Taking on Facebook in an area where it has stumbled in the past (social networks) is a horse of a different color, as the saying goes.

Does Google Rapture Indicate “Pent-Up Demand” For Facebook Alternative?

Apple’s App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion

Apple today announced that over 15 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by the more than 200 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users worldwide. There are 425,000 apps available. That works out to around 75 apps per device.

Apple says it has paid developers more than $2.5 billion in commission to date. That means that apps in total have grossed more than $8.3 billion in revenues. That suggests an "average" revenue per app of $1.80.

Apple’s App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion

Conversion Rate Gains Beat Traffic Gains

It’s a lot easier to improve your conversion rate by a percentage point or two than it is to double or treble your traffic, says Neil Shearing. "If you get 1,000 visits per month at a one-percent conversion rate, you make 10 sales," he says. "If you improve the conversion rate to two percent, you’ll double your sales to 20 per month. If you went in search of more traffic instead of improving your conversion rate, you’d have to double that, which means getting 2,000 visits per month instead of 1,000.

The former is arguably easier than the latter.

Sales CSI by Winning Ware Reviewed | Internet Marketing Strategies and Marketing Tips by Neil Shearing:

Businesses Focus on Social Media for Lead Generation

With lead acquisition the top goal of business-to-business companies, marketers are prioritizing investments in social media and digital content marketing in 2011, according to a survey from Focus.

Meanwhile, client understanding and customer retention are top goals for B2C brands with marketers emphasizing social media, digital content, and email as a means to achieve their goals.

Some 55 percent of B2B companies report “acquiring leads” as their top strategic priority in 2011, followed by building brand awareness (49 percent) and lead conversion (45 percent).


Read more.