Business As Usual In The New Silicon Valley

Now here is one spectacular tale. A company, with little PR or marketing, grows in just a handful of years to connect half a billion people around the world through a simple messaging app. The company gets acquired for a hefty sum; in this case, the largest sum ever in the history of venture-backed startup acquisitions. Billionaires and millionaires are created almost out of thin air.

How Facebook's WhatsApp Deal Compares to Other Tech Acquisitions

Facebook announced Wednesday that it will acquire popular messaging app WhatsApp for $16 billion ($19 billion, if you include restricted stock units for the WhatsApp staff). It's hard to believe that only two years ago, the social network acquired Instagram for a then-shocking $1 billion. How times (and dollars) have changed.

20 Tools To Stop The Social Media Timesuck

The longer I work in social media, the more I realize that the biggest danger for a social media marketer isn’t proving ROI, anticipating Facebook algorithm changes or even dealing with Twitter trolls — it’s the dreaded Social Media Timesuck. You’re probably familiar with it. It’s what happens when you go to Facebook just to post a link to that latest blog entry but somehow end up staying for an extra 30 minutes and opening 7 new tabs.

Facebook Buying WhatsApp For $19B, Will Keep The Messaging Service Independent

Facebook is purchasing messaging giant WhatsApp for $16 billion in cash and stock, according to a regulatory filing. The deal is being cut for $12 billion in Facebook shares, $4 billion in cash and an additional $3 billion in RSUs for employee retention. A termination fee is attached to the deal that would cost Facebook $1 billion in cash and $1 billion in shares if the deal fails to pass regulatory muster.

Facebook to Buy WhatsApp for $16 Billion

Facebook has entered into an agreement to acquire WhatsApp, the popular messaging app, for $16 billion in cash and stock, according to a filing Wednesday. The deal is by far Facebook's largest acquisition to date and comes after rumors in late 2012 and early 2013 that Facebook and Google were vying to buy the messaging service. According to the filing, Facebook has agreed to pay $12 billion in stock and $4 billion in cash for the company. Facebook has also agreed to pay an additional $3 billion

LinkedIn’s Long Form Professional Publishing Tools Opens To All Members

Since launch in 2012, LinkedIn’s dynamic publishing platform has been aimed toward top societal influencers like Richard Branson, Tony Robbins and Bill Gates. Today, LinkedIn is opening their publishing platform to all users so they can publish long-form original content. The program to date has been very successful with Influencer posts seen by 31,000 professionals on average.

60 Percent Of Internet Access Is Mostly Mobile

In a new global Mobile Media Consumption report, ad networkInMobi asserts that, outside the US and UK, mobile media time spent now exceeds TV. However in the US, TV is still the top screen. The Mobile Media Consumption research was conducted by Decision Fuel and OnDevice Research and had roughly 14,000 respondents in 14 countries. In emerging and especially less affluent markets, the InMobi report also confirms that mobile media time exceeds the PC internet.

10 Big Brands That Were Penalized By Google, From Rap Genius To The BBC

It’s been a busy year already with big brands getting hit by Google penalties. First came Rap Genius, slammed so hard that you couldn’t find it for its own name. Then came Expedia’s suspected penalty that may have hurt its traffic. But these are also a familiar tune. Big brand violates Google’s rules, gets in trouble but ultimately returns to Google’s good graces with what may seem a virtual wrist-slap.

5 Times Google Penalized Itself For Breaking Its Own SEO Rules

Make no mistake. Plenty of sites — big brands included — willingly do things in an attempt to rank better on Google that go past SEO tactics that Google itself considers acceptable. However, there’s also no better poster child for how complicated and confusing Google’s rules can be than the fact that Google has had to punish itself with penalties over and over again.

50 Freelance Job Sites For Designers & Programmers

Being a freelancer can be extremely advantageous and it is probably a dream for many designers and developers. Not only you get to choose the job you are really interested in, you also have total flexibility in terms of time, whom you want to work with and where you want to work at.