Facebook and Bebo UK users compared
As a bit of a statistical nerd, I like to keep an eye on the latest statistics on social network usage. Anybody who reads the Tamar blog will know that I regularly report on how Facebook in particular is growing, but until recently I had very little to compare it against.
Finding accurate and up-to-date information on MySpace is nye-on impossible (unless I'm missing a trick?) and Bebo proved fairly hard to find as well. We've all heard that Bebo is supposed to be the social network of choice for kids, and Facebook proves much more popular for the older generation, but do the numbers back this up?
Advertising malware is on the rise
The tough economy has led to an uptick in advertising experimentation online, but one thing that publishers have not approved is also on the rise — ads imbedded with malware.
Websites have long taken to selling their advertising through a number of different strategies, including but not limited to in house salesmen, ad networks and exchanges. But the diverse and varied nature of online ad selling has its own set of concerns for publishers, now including the threat of viruses.
Successful startup founders launch new European VC fund
It's not the best time to be an internet entrepreneur if you need funding. Thanks to a global recession, investment is pretty hard for most new startups to come by.
In the United States, which has the most robust VC market, investments by VCs plummeted in Q1 2009, reaching their lowest level in 12 years. VCs are focusing on their existing investments, being far more conservative when it comes to making new investments and are increasingly asking more of entrepreneurs, both in terms of investment criteria and deal terms.
Reports: ITV looking to end friendship with Friends Reunited
In December 2005, ITV purchased social networking pioneer Friends Reunited for £120m plus an earn-out of £55m. At the time, Friends Reunited had 46m registered users, an impressive number that made the husband-and-wife creation one of the largest social networks in the world.
As competing social networks like Bebo and Facebook gained prominence, Friends Reunited stuck to a subscription model. And despite losses in users and traffic, the service pulled in £22m in 2007, making up a hefty chunk of ITV's online revenue.
Is AOL looking to sell Bebo?
Less than a year ago, AOL acquired Bebo for $850m in cash in what is today still one of only a handful of major Web 2.0 acquisitions.
Our resident skeptic, Drama 2.0, criticized the deal and called the suggestion that AOL may have overpaid for the popular social network the "understatement of the year".
Balderton Capital raises £285m for downturn startup investments
Who said that funding wouldn't be available to startups in the downturn?
Balderton Capital, which was formerly Benchmark Europe, made $140mn
when portfolio company Bebo was sold to AOL and a small fortune when
another portfolio company, MySQL, was sold to Sun. Its other
investments have included Betfair, the UK's most popular betting
exchange, and Yingli Solar, a Chinese solar company that is now public.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
