The SNW/SMC Industry Insider is the weekly news summary for the social networking industry
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:~ SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE & STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE ~:
*NEW*: VIDEO UPDATE ON MOSCOW: http://socialmediaconference.com/T/4.php (includes Visa Info)
*NEW: PHOTOS FROM LA (JUNE): http://socialmediaconference.com/T/6.php
MOSCOW EVENT (SEPT 29-30, 2011):
The next social media conference will be held in Moscow, RUSSIA on September 29-30 2011.
Speakers include Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru, Moneybookers, Kiwi, Megaphone, Sheremetevo Airport, professionali.ru, livejournal.com, erTelecom.ru, IQMan.ru...and others.
Please plan now for your travel.
Visa info: http://www.socialmediaconference.com/venue-moscow-2011.php
Register before August 10 and save $295!
http://www.socialmediaconference.com/form-1-moscow.php
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:~ TWITTER ~:
Get the Social Networking Watch newsfeed delivered straight to your Twitter account: http://twitter.com/social_news
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:~ THE DAILY DEALS OBSERVER ~:
Daily deal sites like Groupon and Living Social are storming along. We thought it would be nice if there was a news illumination blog for the daily deals industry. So we created The Daily Deals Observer. We hope you like it, and it's useful for you.
http://www.dailydealsobserver.com
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:~ TOP SOCIAL NETWORKING WATCH NEWS ITEMS ~:
The Top Viral Video Campaign, Updated August 4th, 2011
http://tinyurl.com/adcampaign118
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India to Become Facebook's 2nd Biggest Market
BLOOMBERG - Aug 5 - Cheaper Internet-ready phones may make India Facebook's biggest market after the US next year with ~50M users, according to Nielsen. The number of active accounts in India jumped 85% to 32M this year, according to socialbakers.com, which tracks user data. That's the world's third-biggest behind the 153M in the US and 39.2M in Indonesia. Mobile handset sales will surpass 206M units annually in 2014 from 175.9M last year. Online advertising in India rose 26% to $223M in the year ended March, according to IMRB. Advertising on social networks grew as much as 65% from the year before. Facebook faces new competition from Google+, which started June 29. The service had 6.44M visitors in the US through July 24 and 3.62M in India, not including mobile usage, said Andrew Lipsman, ComScore's VP for industry analysis.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/india-to-become-facebooks-2nd-biggest-market.html
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Groupon Buys Obtiva to Boost Engineering Team
MASHABLE - Aug 5 - Groupon has acquired Obtiva, a Chicago-based Ruby on Rails software development firm. The talent-motivated deal will bring many of Obtiva’s team members on board as in-house Groupon engineers.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/groupon-buys-obtiva-to-boost-engineering-team.html
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LinkedIn Revenue Up 120% to $121M
TECH CRUNCH - Aug 5 - LinkedIn is reporting its second quarter results today. The revenue came in at $121M, which is an increase of 120% compared to $54.9M for the Q2 '10. Net income for the second quarter was $4.5M, compared to $4.3M YOY. The site’s members grew to 115.8M, an increase of 61% from the Q2 '10. During the quarter, LinkedIn saw unique visitors of 81.8M per month, an increase of 83% from Q2 '10.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/linkedin-revenue-up-120-to-121m.html
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Mobile App WhosHere Raises $1.25M
VENTURE BEAT - Aug 3 - The $1.25M round was led by Lightbank, that was started by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. WhosHere is made by myRete, a three-year-old startup. WhosHere itself is an iOS app for location-based social networking. Offering users the promise that they can “meet nearby people,” the app also allows for free SMS texting, free MMS image sending, and free VoIP calls.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/mobile-app-whoshere-raises-125m.html
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Halve your customer service team costs! Procall knows internet dating, and is ready to help you offshore your customer service center, and compete!
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Zynga Sues Google over Vostu Dispute
TECH CRUNCH - Aug 4 - Zynga dragged Google into that lawsuit, apparently because Orkut, popular in Brazil, is hosting the Vostu games that Zynga says are ripoffs. Google, which is a Zynga shareholder, must be thrilled. Zynga has filed a lawsuit in Brazil against Vostu for copyright infringement and unfair competition based on Vostu’s copying of four of Zynga’s games. Zynga is pleased that the Court has reviewed the evidence and found good cause to issue an injunction order requiring Vostu and Google Orkut to cease distribution of four Vostu games – MegaCity, Café Mania, Pet Mania and Vostu Poker – or be subject to fine by the Court.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/zynga-sues-google-over-vostu-dispute.html
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Facebook Buys iPad Book-Maker Push Pop Press
MASHABLE - Aug 3 - Facebook has acquired stealth startup Push Pop Press. Co-founded by a former Apple designer, Push Pop Press is best known for the iOS version of Al Gore’s book Our Choice. As impressive as Push Pop’s technology is, a Facebook acquisition, on the surface, seems a bit strange. Although Facebook isn’t planning to start publishing digital books, the ideas and technology behind Push Pop Press will be integrated with Facebook, giving people ways to share their stories.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/facebook-buys-ipad-book-maker-push-pop-press.html
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Twitter Confirms Significant Round of Funding
MASHABLE - Aug 2 - Twitter has raised a “significant round of funding led by the venture firm DST Global, with the participation of several of our existing investors.” The announcement comes just weeks after rumors suggested that Twitter was in the process of raising $800M in funding at an $8 billion valuation. Twitter however, does not disclose the size of the round, its current valuation or whether it will cash out early employees and investors, as suggested by earlier reports.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/twitter-confirms-significant-round-of-funding.html
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Google's Daily Deal: Groupon Competitor Dealmap
READ WRITE WEB - Aug 1 - Google continues its plodding march into the local deals space by acquiring The Dealmap, which aggregates local offers and displays them on a Google-powered map. The acquisition of The Dealmap is a signal that deals will be integrated directly into Google Maps and other location searches. The Dealmap displays offers from major local deals providers, including Groupon, who rejected a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google late last year.
http://www.socialnetworkingwatch.com/2011/08/googles-daily-deal-groupon-competitor-dealmap.html
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Social Media Conference
The business conference for the social networking industry @ SocialMediaConference.com
Industry Message Boards @ mb.socialnetworkingonference.com
Conference Organiser
Marc Lesnick,
marc@lesnick.net,
212-722-1744
Media Relations
Press, please contact Mark Brooks
mark@socialnetworkingwatch.com,
212-444-1636
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Social Networking Watch
www.socialnetworkingwatch.com or snw1.com
Editor: Mark Brooks,
mark@socialnetworkingwatch.com,
212-444-1636
