Patricio Robles

Yahoo's Tumblr acquisition sends clear message to advertisers

It's official: Yahoo has purchased popular blogging platform Tumblr for more than a billion dollars - $1.1bn to be exact.

The internet's latest nine-figure acquisition is probably one most industry observers wouldn't have predicted.

After all, despite that an ex-Googler, Marissa Mayer, is at Yahoo's helm, there were few prior indicators that she was looking to make a billion dollar purchase.

And if there had been, Tumblr, while incredibly popular, doesn't seem like the company that would have made it to the top of the list as Yahoo's track record with acquisitions of user generated content startups is not all that impressive.

From Geocities to Flickr, Yahoo has proven to be a master of reverse alchemy in the space, repeatedly finding ways to turn gold to lead.

by Patricio Robles 21 May 2013 13:42pm 0 comments

Coca-Cola: the 's' in social media doesn't stand for 'sales'

Coca-Cola, one of the most iconic consumer brands in the world, is not surprisingly one of the most popular and active brands on social media. In fact, with more than 62m 'likes' on Facebook, it's the most popular brand on the world's largest social network.

But in looking at the online chatter that takes place on social networks, Coca-Cola has come to a startling conclusion: there's essentially no impact on sales.

by Patricio Robles 20 March 2013 14:22pm 33 comments

To reach Gen Y, will financial services firms warm to the web?

According to a new report, members of Gen Y are less entrepreneurial and more risk averse than their older siblings, parents and grandparents. So it stands to reason that Gen Y, hard particularly hit by the turbulent economic environment of the past five years, probably isn't eager to invest.

But that may not be the case.

by Patricio Robles 28 February 2013 16:02pm 2 comments

Is it time to talk about tablet retail?

What does the word mobile mean? To many companies, including those in retail, mobile is used to describe any connected device that's portable.

That makes some sense: despite the fact that there are differences between the growing number of connected devices that can fit in a pocket or bag, there are often enough similarities, at least on the surface, to justify putting them in the same bucket. But can and should the all-encompassing use of mobile translate to strategy?

by Patricio Robles 28 February 2013 16:59pm 2 comments

Could "the next big thing" be a Baby Boomer creation?

When you hear the word startup, chances are images of twenty-somethings hacking away at Macs in a loft office with an open floor plan spring to mind. And for good reason: head to sunny California, home to Silicon Valley and some of the today's prominent internet startups, and you're bound to find that a lot of startups do look something like this.

But that doesn't mean that one should jump to the conclusion that Gen-Y is the generation with the greatest entrepreneurial spirit. According to a new survey released today by Monster.com and Millennial Branding, members of Gen-X and the Baby Boomer generation actually consider themselves to be more entrepreneurial than their younger siblings and children.

by Patricio Robles 27 February 2013 15:41pm 0 comments

Showrooming may have offline upside: report

Showrooming probably isn't going to make it onto a list of retail executives' favorite words any time soon. After all, the notion that the significant amounts of money required to operate physical stores is increasingly going to waste as consumers use stores to check out products they'll buy cheaper online isn't a pleasant one.

But is all of the fear around the showrooming really justified? According to a study published by Ipsos MediaCT and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the answer may be no.

by Patricio Robles 27 February 2013 16:15pm 1 comment

Coming soon: paid YouTube channels?

When Google purchased YouTube for $1.65bn in late 2006, some wondered whether the acquisition would be the Web 2.0 equivalent of Yahoo's ill-fated billion-dollar purchase of Broadcast.com during the first .com boom.

It was hard not to be somewhat skeptical: YouTube was an expensive operation to run and was facing the same type of legal assault from Hollywood that basically killed Napster 1.0 years earlier.

by Patricio Robles 26 February 2013 16:38pm 1 comment

The key to Facebook's ad targeting may not be Facebook data

If Facebook is to ever rival Google's dominance in the online advertising market, many believe that the world's largest social network will need to figure out how to take advantage of its treasure trove of user data.

That treasure trove includes significant amounts of personal information that users have provide about themselves, and it grows by the day as users upload and tag photos, share content with their friends and 'Like' brand Facebook Pages.

by Patricio Robles 25 February 2013 14:15pm 0 comments

As investors pour $200m more into Pinterest, is a business model in the offing?

The internet economy may be one of the brightest spots in today's global economy, but the hits taken by shares of publicly-traded prominent internet brands like Facebook, Zynga and Groupon has definitely had an impact on venture backed companies, many of which have had and will have a more difficult time convincing investors that they're worth as much as they might have been able to convince them they're worth a couple of years ago.

You wouldn't know that, however, looking at Pinterest's latest funding round, which made headlines last week. The image-based social network is on the verge of becoming the second most popular social media site in the United States, and despite the fact that it hasn't figured out how to make money, investors poured $200m into the young company at a $2.5bn valuation.

by Patricio Robles 25 February 2013 15:51pm 0 comments

Future versions of Firefox to block third-party ad cookies

Online advertising continues to grow by leaps and bounds, but that doesn't mean that life is easy for players in the digital ad ecosystem. In fact, the thriving online ad economy is increasingly complicated.

Unfortunately, things are only going to get more complicated. Need evidence? Look no further than last week's announcement that one of the most popular browser makers, Mozilla, will begin blocking cookies from third-party ad networks by default in Firefox 22.

by Patricio Robles 25 February 2013 16:22pm 1 comment