Editor’s Note: Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) executive Sheryl Sandberg has sold £59m ($91m) of her shares in the company, according to filings in the US. US securities filings show the social networking giant’s chief operating officer sold 2.37m shares at an average price of £25 ($38) a share. The shares were sold at the level of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s May 2012 initial public offering (IPO) using a pre-arranged trading plan.
PM’s son Marcus Rudd smokes cigar in Facebook photo (news.com)
HIS dad has just slugged smokers with a $5.3 billion tax hike but it has emerged Marcus Rudd enjoys a cigar. The 20-year-old, who is a digital campaigner for his Prime Minister father Kevin Rudd, has been caught out online himself.
Sitting with friends, cigar poised in his mouth, the youngest Rudd’s indulgence was posted on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Another image shows Marcus goofing for the camera, prompting one friend to post: “f … Marcus you are getting your Charlie Manson on.”
What IG Overlooked In State Dept. Facebook Flare-up (Information Week Government)
The State Department is often recognized for its forward-leaning use of social media to connect with populations around the world. However, the Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP) might have leaned a little too far forward. That’s according to a recent State Department Inspector General’s report , which took issue recently with the bureau’s decision to spend $630,000 on two campaigns to build its base of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) fans. The promotion campaigns were a success at one level: They helped increase the number of fans of the bureau’s English Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) pages from about 100,000 to more than 2 million. At question, however, was how many of those fans were meaningful to the Department’s mission? The IG faulted State Department employees for “buying fans,” and focusing on the raw numbers of social media fans instead of public diplomacy goals.
Google Is Helping Facebook Steal Ad Revenue From Yahoo and The New York Times (Business Insider)
Google’s recent redesign of Gmail — which shunts “promotional” email into a special folder rather than letting it clutter your inbox — is working to Facebook’s advantage, according to UBS Investment Research analysts Eric J. Sheridan, Vishal J. Patel and Timothy E. Chiodo. The UBS team believes that the Gmail change will reduce the effectiveness of email marketing — spam, to you and me — and that marketing budgets will thus transfer to Facebook, which allows brands to serve display ads to users targeted off their email addresses. The UBS team believes that the Gmail change will reduce the effectiveness of email marketing — spam, to you and me — and that marketing budgets will thus transfer to Facebook, which allows brands to serve display ads to users targeted off their email addresses.
Indian court orders Facebook, Google to offer plans for protecting children (Index)
The New Delhi High Court has given Facebook and Google one month to submit suggestions on how minors can be protected online in India. This move is in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by KN Govinacharya, a senior member of the right wing political party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The PIL seeks to protect citizens of India from cyber crimes, which according to the government, has cost the exchequer $4 billion last year. Some of the highlights include the PIL pointing out that despite guidelines given by the government for companies to follow the KYC normal (“know your customer”), social networking companies do not follow them. The PIL believes that Facebook is not verifying its users, and instead allowing minors to set up accounts because it uses them for marketing, advertising, and data mining purposes.
