October 31, 2011 : Comments (4)
Google+ Updates Android App, Adds New Design And Other Features
Business
Glam Media Acquires Social Networking Platform Ning
Glam Media, a social content platform that targets mainly women, has acquired the social networking platform Ning. In August, we reported that Ning was looking for a buyer and had been talking to companies like Google and Groupon about a $150 million sale. Ning received more than expected, according to AllThingsD, and sold for $200 million, mostly in... Read more » MyHeritage Acquires Family Data Backup Service BackupMyTree
MyHeritage, the family-based social network and family history discovery service, has acquired BackupMyTree, a service that allows users to store information about their family history. This acquisition is MyHeritage’s sixth and will help the company expand their technology to encompass a range of family history related services. Past acquisitions include the... Read more » HootSuite Closes $3M Funding Round, Acquires Twitter Analysis Tool TwapperKeeper
Social media management client HootSuite has closed a $3 million funding round and has acquired TwapperKeeper, a social storage and reporting tool used for Twitter analysis. HootSuite, which moved to a freemium business model last year, is now a profitable company. In order to accelerate its growth, it has raised $3 million in funding with participation from... Read more » Investors Fred Wilson And Bijan Sabet Leaving Twitter Board, Chief Scientist Exits Too
It seems that the behind-the-scenes shake-up at Twitter is continuing. Investors Fred Wilson and Bijan Sabet are stepping down from the company's board at the end of September and Twitter is not going to replace their seats on the board. Wilson is a high-profile investor and is a partner at venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. He was one of the earliest... Read more » Turntable.fm Closes $7M Funding Round, Launches iPhone App
Turntable.fm has confirmed that it has closed a $7 million funding round, details of which were initially revealed last month. The social music service has also launched its iPhone app in the App Store. Union Square Ventures led the funding round and Fred Wilson, a partner at the VC firm, is joining the Turntable.fm board. Others who have participated in the round... Read more » REPORT: Twitter To Launch Promoted Tweets, Trends And Accounts In UK Next Month
Twitter is said to be almost ready to roll out Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends and Promoted Accounts to users in the U.K., in an expansion of its advertising program. The ads could be rolled out to U.K. users next month. The company has apparently been in talks with several media agencies in recent months as it tries to attract marketing spend from brands which... Read more » Facebook Adds Former White House Chief Of Staff Erskine Bowles To Board Of Directors
Facebook has announced that Erskine Bowles, the former president of the University of North Carolina (UNC) system and a former White House chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton, has joined its board of directors. In 1991, Clinton appointed Bowles as administrator of the Small Business Administration. Bowles became Clinton's deputy chief of staff in... Read more » REPORT: Facebook Generated $1.6B Revenue In The First Half Of 2011, $500M Net Income
Facebook apparently generated $1.6 billion in revenue in the first half of 2011. According to a source cited by Reuters, the social network generated $500 million in net income over the period. The person cited in the report wishes to remain anonymous as Facebook is privately held and does not disclose its financial results. However, the revenue figure could be... Read more » REPORT: Twitter To Expand Promoted Tweets, Will Include Ads From Accounts You Don’t Follow
Twitter is apparently about to make more changes to its Promoted Tweets advertising program. Within the next month or so, you may start to see Promoted Tweets in your timeline from brands that you don't even follow. Twitter is planning to roll out the update to a small set of users by the end of September and is describing the concept to advertisers as “Promoted... Read more » Justin.tv Spins Off Socialcam As Separate Company
After getting off to a successful start in which it passed 1 million downloads just over 4 months after being launched, video-sharing app Socialcam is being spun off by Justin.tv as a separate company. Justin.tv co-founder and CEO Michael Seibel will become the CEO of Socialcam and is taking some of the engineers that initially worked on Socialcam with him. Emmett... Read more » 
