During today’s Facebook earnings call, head honcho Mark Zuckerberg told investors that, overall, people spend “more mobile time on Instagram than Twitter,” pointing to comScore numbers to back up the claim. Not a bad justification for that huge billion dollar investment. More »
Facebook just announced its earnings for this year’s third quarter, and it seems they were right on track with analysts’ expectations. The company earned a revenue of $1.26 billion and adjusted earnings of $0.12 per share. Analysts had Facebook at estimations of $1.23 billion and $0.11 a share, which was right on par.
More importantly, though, Facebook accelerated its revenue growth once again after experiencing a period of slower growth. They announced sales were up 32% over last year, and Analysts had expected that growth to plateau to 29%. Similarly, ad revenues grew 36% compared to the 28% growth last quarter.
Mobile ad revenue, specifically, accounted for 14% of all ad revenue for Facebook. CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that he wanted to put more focus on mobile, since that’s what a lot of users are taking advantage of. “People who use our mobile products are more engaged, and we believe we can increase engagement even further as we continue to introduce new products and improve our platform,” Zuckerberg said.
The number of monthly active users was 1.01 billion as of the end of September, which is up 26% from last year. In the previous quarter, Facebook had 955 million users. Daily active users was at 584 million on average at the end of September, which is up 28% from last year. And in the previous quarter, daily active users was at 552 million, which is up 32% from that time last year.
[via Forbes]
Facebook announces Q3 2012 earnings is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The bloom is slightly off the rose for Facebook. After a banner first post-IPO quarter, it’s recording a net loss in its fiscal third quarter of $59 million despite its revenue climbing to $1.26 billion — a big swing that the company is blaming on payroll tax tweaks and income taxes, which becomes clearer when you learn that the company posted a $311 million profit before factoring in standard accounting practices. Facebook hasn’t said exactly what had the biggest impact, although its closing the Instagram deal wouldn’t have helped matters. Still, the company isn’t glum about its prospects: following an earlier mention of the milestone by founder Mark Zuckerberg, the earnings report touts that there are over 1.01 billion active Facebook users who check in at least once a month, over 604 million of which were mobile. Between a reworked iOS app, a freshened Facebook Messenger and new ad-friendly SDKs, the social network is bracing for a potential bonanza ahead.
Continue reading Facebook posts $59 million net loss in fiscal Q3, touts 1.01 billion active users
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Facebook posts $59 million net loss in fiscal Q3, touts 1.01 billion active users originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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How do you get over an addiction? Some people check into rehab, others go cold turkey, while others resort to hiring people off Craigslist to slap themselves out of it. The first two seem like typical things to do. The last one was done by blogger Sethi.
Sethi runs a blog called Hack the System. He also happens to be addicted to social media. One day, he tracked how he was spending his time and discovered that he was spending way too much time chatting on Facebook and checking out Reddit. So he did what no normal person would do and posted an ad on Craigslist for a slapper:
I’m looking for someone who can work next to me at a defined location (my house or a mission cafe) and will make sure to watch what is happening on my screen. When I am wasting time, you’ll have to yell at me or if need be, slap me.
Strange thing to do, I know. But people actually signed on to do the gig and Sethi got a fair amount of slaps in the process. What’s stranger is that it actually worked for Sethi, since he reported that his productivity was quadrupled because of it.
I guess you could say Sethi managed to slap away his habit.
[via Dvice]
While Apple was busy introducing new devices and updating its existing ones this morning, Facebook game creator Zynga was apparently relieving itself of several studios worth of employees. Several reports on Twitter indicate that Zynga is cutting its Boston, Austin, and Chicago studios; our colleagues at Joystiq spoke with a Zynga Austin employee who confirmed at least two of his location’s teams were let go (The Ville and Zynga Bingo teams). Further reports on The Verge indicate that “more than 100” employees were let go as a result of the Austin layoffs. TechCrunch is reporting the full shut down of Zynga’s Boston studio, which was apparently working on an unannounced title before being closed. The company’s San Francisco location — its headquarters — has yet to be affected, nor have employees heard anything from upper management.
Notoriously, Austin-developed The Ville is the root of an ongoing lawsuit between game publishing giant Electronic Arts, wherein EA alleges The Ville too closely resembles its own Facebook game, The Sims Social. Beyond the lawsuit, Zynga’s faced declining stock value since its IPO, and the $200 million purchase of Draw Something developer OMGPOP remains a sticking point for investors. The company is slated to release its quarterly earnings tomorrow, which are expected to be down for another quarter. We reached out to the company for comment, but have yet to hear back as of publishing.
Update: Zynga confirmed layoffs at its Austin studio, as well as outlining closures at its Boston, Japan, and UK locations. A full letter from CEO Mark Pincus to employees was released by Zynga detailing the layoffs and closures, which we’ve added below. The company also says it’s closing 13 of its games, and “significantly reducing” its investment in The Ville.
Continue reading Zynga shutters Boston, UK and Japan studios, lays off 5% of full-time staff
Filed under: Gaming, Internet, Software
Zynga shutters Boston, UK and Japan studios, lays off 5% of full-time staff originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
That meteor shower was a bust. I’ll never get back the five minutes I spent waiting to be awed. Anyone similarly impatient will be in gratification heaven for the next week, as the biggest cosmic bodies in the tech cosmos streak across the sky with announcements, device releases, price shifts and earnings reports.
Tossing astronomy aside for its failure to bedazzle, I turn to astrology to illuminate the upcoming eventful days. From a This Week in Astronomy blog: “A Venus-Pluto-Uranus T-square will be testing relationships and finances. The Sun enters Scorpio and aspects every slower planet except Pluto, and there’s an intense Mars-Jupiter opposition.” I don’t understand most of that, but I know about opposition. That fits. The energy of opposition crackles in the ecosystem warfare waged this week by Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Switching now from inscrutable astrology to fables (because next to cosmic messaging I like simple allegories to explain life), we can see that the slow-but-steady tortoise is placing the most audacious bet.
Continue reading Editorial: Turning point for the tortoise and the hare
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Apple, Microsoft, Google
Editorial: Turning point for the tortoise and the hare originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Social integration is a big thing these days, and today Mozilla is ready to begin beta testing its new Firefox Social API. The end goal for the Social API is to eventually have integration with a number of different social sites, but today, the only thing the team has ready to go is Facebook Chat integration. If you’re ready to see what Firefox will look like in the not-to-distant future, then Mozilla wants you to help test this new feature.
With the Social API, you can have a number of Facebook features at your fingertips and ready to go without ever having to visit the actual Facebook site. Of course, you won’t have full Facebook functionality when using this feature, but there is quite a bit you can do. For starters, you can get the chat and news feed list right there in your browser, allowing you to see who’s online and available for chat as you surf the Internet.
The sidebar stays present as you go from page to page, and you can also share the page you’re currently viewing to your Facebook with just a “single click in the address bar.” The Facebook chat sidebar will also let you know when you have notifications waiting for you, and naturally, you hide the sidebar if it’s time to stop chatting and get back to work. If you want to give it a test spin, you’ll need to download the latest Firefox beta and then visit Facebook when you’ve got the beta installed. Once you’re there, Facebook will ask if you want to allow Firefox integration, and after that you’re one click away from getting started.
Mozilla assures that more social sites will be added later on, but for now, these beta tests will only be focused on Facebook integration. If you’ve got a lot of social profiles to keep track of, Mozilla’s Firefox Social API should be like a gift from the heavens, provided the full release later on goes smoothly. Are you going to give the beta test of Mozilla’s Social API a spin?
Firefox wants you to help test its new Social API is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
You live a fast-paced life, and you don’t have time to stop your high-speed internet surfing just to check up on Suzie’s latest Facebook update. Mozilla understands your plight, digital denizen, and its “Social API” is here to help — Firefox browser users can beta test Facebook’s Messenger functionality right this minute, should they be able to pause for long enough to get it set up. Thankfully, that setup isn’t too strenuous, requiring little more than the latest beta version of the Firefox browser and an opt-in to the Social API program (via Facebook). Mozilla’s promising more social service integration as the beta rolls on (“soon”), but for now you can more readily stay in touch with Suzie at least, right?
Filed under: Internet, Software
Firefox begins testing Social API with Facebook Messenger, here’s how you can take part originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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When Seagate launched its PC/Mac Backup Plus offering that could safeguard not only your folders but your Facebook or Twitter content, too, it seemed like a nice idea. But conspicuously missing from the Mac side of that equation was a USB 3.0 port to hustle transfers along at a much less pedestrian 5 Gbps — likely because until recently, no Macs directly supported it. Now, Seagate has launched a USB 3.0 version of the device for those shiny new Macbook Pro Retina and Air models that pack it, while offering the option to upgrade to Thunderbolt or FireWire 800 “as the need presents itself.” Prices go from $110 for the 500GB model up to $180 for the 3TB version — check the PR after the break to see the entire range.
Continue reading Seagate Backup Plus brings USB 3.0 speed, sociability to new Macbooks
Filed under: Storage
Seagate Backup Plus brings USB 3.0 speed, sociability to new Macbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 02:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you thought people were already sharing way too much on social networks, you’re in for a rough future. At least, that’s what your buddy Mark Zuckerberg thinks, and it’s probably safe to say he’s might know what he’s talking about. More »
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