Facebook has faced a few controversies in the past few months, including controversies over privacy policies on its own site and on its photo-sharing site, Instagram.
Still, the company has bolstered investor confidence with a series of
moves that seem to lay the groundwork for Facebook to make more
advertising dollars, particularly in the all-important mobile space.
The social network had a lackluster initial public offering
last May, when doubts about its business model combined with technical
glitches to deflate its much-hyped market debut. And while the stock has
recovered from its lowest prices — once down to the high teens — it’s
never managed to get back to its debut price of $38.
Washington Post tech blogger Hayley Tsukayama shows you the new video app from Vine and Twitter. Also, learn about Data Privacy Day and what you can do to keep your information safe online.
It’s not that the site is losing its grip. Facebook has the most popular app in the United States — alone, it accounts for 23 percent of all U.S. app use. But that distinction is a mixed blessing.
Mobile advertising does not make as much money as ads that appear on laptops
and desktops, and it’s much harder to catch a user’s eye on a smaller
screen. Just 14 percent of Facebook’s revenue came from mobile products
last quarter. That number must jump, a lot, to meet analyst expectations
in its fourth-quarter earnings report Wednesday.
So while it’s
good news for Facebook that its users are numerous, always plugged-in
and engaged, it also underscores a pressing challenge for the company.
Facebook
hasn’t shied away from that obstacle. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg
has said that people underestimate how much the company can benefit from
the shift to smartphones, and has been dogged about creating mobile advertising products.
That
focus has paid off. The social network is projected to edge Google out
for the top spot in mobile display advertising in 2012, despite having
no mobile display products in 2011, according to the advertising analysis firm eMarketer.
In
a December report, eMarketer said Facebook had managed to essentially
“redistribute revenue from mobile to desktop through its native display
products” to pick up 18.4 percent of the mobile display market — an
estimated $339 million for the year.
The company has run tests of
several other advertising products, including those that tap its user
base for money rather than its advertisers. Ideas such as promoted posts, which prompt users to pay to give their updates greater in-network visibility, and Facebook Gifts,
which lets them buy goods straight from the site, have both come out of
Facebook’s labs this year as new ways to make money. The company has
also introduced a series of new stand-alone apps, such as Poke, Facebook Camera and improved versions of Facebook Messenger,
to varying degrees of success. But each plant the company’s flag in the
ground as a source for all manner of multimedia — voice, video, photo
and text — messaging.
And the site has been evolving as well. Earlier this month, Facebook also introduced it’s so-called “third pillar,” Graph Search,
which it hopes will become as central as user profiles and the site’s
running news feed. The feature, which lets users sift through any
information that Facebook’s billion users have shared with them, is
still in its testing mode. It’s not even on the company’s all-important
mobile site yet. But it has a lot of potential for disrupting the search
market, particularly recommendation engines such as Yelp,
because Facebook is in the unique position to tap its enormous bank of
social data. In other words, Facebook’s banking on the fact that you
trust your friends more than you trust anonymous strangers.
There
are a lot of things Facebook has to work through before it gets to that
point, however, including delivering Graph Search to all of its users.
So while analysts will be eyeing the results for hints of early impact
of all of its initiatives, it’s too soon to expect them all to deliver.
What will be interesting to see is if Facebook offers any clues about
which products it thinks are worth the company’s future investment.
Analyst
consensus puts Facebook’s revenue at $1.5 billion for the quarter. On
Wednesday, Facebook was trading over $31 per share shortly after the
market’s open, up around 2 percent from the previous day’s close.
(The Washington Post Co.’s chairman and chief executive, Donald E. Graham, is a member of Facebook’s board of directors.)
SAN FRANCISCO — Wall Street is still not sure about Facebook.
After an eight-month roller coaster ride on the public market, the
company on Wednesday beat earnings expectations by aggressively ramping
up targeted advertisements to its users, including on mobile phones.
It reported fourth-quarter revenues of $1.59 billion, representing 40
percent growth. Analysts were looking for a 34 percent growth in
revenue, to $1.52 billion in this quarter, according to analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg.
Facebook earned $64 million in net income, or 3 cents a share. Excluding
certain items, Facebook said it had a net income of $426 million in the
fourth quarter, or 17 cents a share. Analysts had expected 15 cents a
share.
But after the earnings report, the stock fell over 5 percent from
Wednesday’s closing price of $31.24, before recovering.
Most Facebook users log in on their cell phones,
and so the most closely watched piece of the quarterly earnings was how
much money the company brought in from its mobile users. It reported
that advertising on the mobile newsfeed accounted for 23 percent of its
advertising revenues, up from 14 percent in the third quarter of 2012;
at the time Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, told analysts
he wished to “dispel the myth” that the company can’t profit in the
mobile era.
This quarter, analysts expected the company to rev it up considerably;
Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Raymond James, for example, estimated it
would rise to more than 25 percent. “They’re experimenting a lot with ad
formats,” he said “Not all of them will stick. It’s still in a somewhat
experimental phase.”
Despite the stock’s decline after the earnings report, it is still much
recovered since last year’s slump. After Facebook’s fairy tale debut in
the public markets last year at $38 a share, the stock plummeted, as
Wall Street soured on its ability to grow profits as fast as it had
wished. Shares slumped to half the public offering price last September.
But the company focused on its advertising business;
rolled out a series of new products aimed at taking on some of its
biggest rivals, including Google and Apple; and its chief executive,
Mark Zuckerberg, took greater initiative to reassure investors it had
their interests at heart. Facebook’s share price has steadily improved
in the last few weeks, suggesting that the company’s charm offensive to
investors is paying off.
Facebook’s biggest, long-term challenge remains how to profit from the
enormous piles of personal data of its one billion users without
alienating them or inviting the wrath of government regulators in the
United States and abroad. Secondarily, it must figure out a way to
profit abroad: The lion’s share of its revenues still come from North
America and to a lesser extent, Europe.
In the last few months, Facebook has floated several trial balloons
designed to please Wall Street and in particular, to persuade investors
that it can thrive in the mobile era.
It offered marketers more refined targeting options, including Facebook
Exchange, which allows companies to track users as they are browsing and
shopping for products around the Web and show them advertisements for
those products when they are logged back on to Facebook.
Before Christmas last year, in a bid to step into territory dominated by
Amazon, it rolled out the Gifts application, which allows users to buy
goods and services for their Facebook friends, and in turn, share with
the company an extremely valuable piece of data: their credit card numbers.
Its most ambitious move came in mid-January with a new search tool that
mines the vast data posted by individual users and brands. The tool,
which the company calls “graph search,” promises to help users answer
their questions about everything from jobs to restaurant
recommendations. It is part of the company’s efforts to take on smaller
sites like Yelp, for restaurants, and LinkedIn, for employment, and
ultimately needle its biggest rival, Google, which dominates the search
market.
Jared Belsky, executive vice president of a digital marketing agency,
360i, said marketers were more optimistic about the Facebook platform
than even a few months ago. “They have so much information to share on
consumers, they are getting better at making data available,” he said.
“They’re helping us target better, but to a point.”
Facebook remains a shadow of Google: With about $5 billion in revenues
in 2012, Facebook earned a little under one-tenth of what Google brought
in. Even in the mobile advertising business, Google takes in over half
of all revenues, compared with about 8 percent by Facebook, the research
firm, eMarketer estimates.
As part of its aggressive appeals to mobile users, a few weeks ago,
Facebook rolled out a way for users to make free voice calls using the
Internet (think Skype) and leaving voice messages for friends unable to
text (think Facebook app for cars).
The Facebook mobile application earlier this month became the most
popular in the United States, accounting for 85 million unique users,
according to the market research firm ComScore. The company had released
a new, faster version of its application for the iPhone last August,
followed later in the year by a new version for Android phones.
It showed more advertisements to desktop users and its mobile
subscribers. Sponsored Stories advertisements appear in the mobile
newsfeed and app developers can market their products with what are
called app install ads.
One offering, Poke, a fleeting text application aimed squarely at young
audiences, sank like a lead balloon. Poke was clearly intended to rival
Snapchat, which is popular among teenagers, a demographic that Facebook
desperately needs to hold onto.
This agreement was written in English (US). To the
extent any translated version of this agreement conflicts with the
English version, the English version controls. Please note that Section
17 contains certain changes to the general terms for users outside the
United States.
Date of Last Revision: December 11, 2012. Suckface (Facebook) policy Statement of Rights and Responsibilities This Statement of Rights and Responsibilities ("Statement," "Terms," or "SRR") derives from the Facebook Principles,
and is our terms of service that governs our relationship with users
and others who interact with Facebook. By using or accessing Facebook,
you agree to this Statement, as updated from time to time in accordance
with Section 14 below. Additionally, you will find resources at the end
of this document that help you understand how Facebook works.
Privacy
Your privacy is very important to us. We designed our Data Use Policy
to make important disclosures about how you can use Facebook to share
with others and how we collect and can use your content and
information. We encourage you to read the Data Use Policy, and to use
it to help you make informed decisions.
Sharing Your Content and Information
You own all of the content and information you post on Facebook, and you can control how it is shared through your privacy and application settings. In addition:
For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like
photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following
permission, subject to your privacy and application settings:
you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable,
royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on
or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when
you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been
shared with others, and they have not deleted it.
When you
delete IP content, it is deleted in a manner similar to emptying the
recycle bin on a computer. However, you understand that removed content
may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time (but will
not be available to others).
When you use an application, the
application may ask for your permission to access your content and
information as well as content and information that others have shared
with you. We require applications to respect your privacy, and your
agreement with that application will control how the application can
use, store, and transfer that content and information. (To learn more
about Platform, including how you can control what information other
people may share with applications, read our Data Use Policy and Platform Page.)
When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it
means that you are allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook,
to access and use that information, and to associate it with you (i.e.,
your name and profile picture).
We always appreciate your
feedback or other suggestions about Facebook, but you understand that we
may use them without any obligation to compensate you for them (just as
you have no obligation to offer them).
Safety
We do our best to keep Facebook safe, but we cannot guarantee it. We
need your help to keep Facebook safe, which includes the following
commitments by you:
You will not post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam) on Facebook.
You will not collect users' content or information, or otherwise access
Facebook, using automated means (such as harvesting bots, robots,
spiders, or scrapers) without our prior permission.
You will not engage in unlawful multi-level marketing, such as a pyramid scheme, on Facebook.
You will not upload viruses or other malicious code.
You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else.
You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user.
You will not post content that: is hate speech, threatening, or
pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or
gratuitous violence.
You will not develop or operate a
third-party application containing alcohol-related, dating or other
mature content (including advertisements) without appropriate age-based
restrictions.
You will follow our Promotions Guidelines and all applicable laws if you publicize or offer any contest, giveaway, or sweepstakes (“promotion”) on Facebook.
You will not use Facebook to do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory.
You will not do anything that could disable, overburden, or impair the
proper working or appearance of Facebook, such as a denial of service
attack or interference with page rendering or other Facebook
functionality.
You will not facilitate or encourage any violations of this Statement or our policies.
Registration and Account Security
Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need
your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us
relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:
You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or
create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
You will not create more than one personal account.
If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.
You will not use your personal timeline primarily for your own commercial gain, and will use a Facebook Page for such purposes.
You will not use Facebook if you are under 13.
You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender.
You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date.
You will not share your password (or in the case of developers, your
secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else
that might jeopardize the security of your account.
You will
not transfer your account (including any Page or application you
administer) to anyone without first getting our written permission.
If you select a username or similar identifier for your account or
Page, we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe it is
appropriate (such as when a trademark owner complains about a username
that does not closely relate to a user's actual name).
Protecting Other People's Rights
We respect other people's rights, and expect you to do the same.
You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes
or violates someone else's rights or otherwise violates the law.
We can remove any content or information you post on Facebook if we believe that it violates this Statement or our policies.
If we remove your content for infringing someone else's copyright, and
you believe we removed it by mistake, we will provide you with an
opportunity to appeal.
If you repeatedly infringe other people's intellectual property rights, we will disable your account when appropriate.
You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the
Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Book and Wall), or any confusingly
similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our Brand Usage
Guidelines or with our prior written permission.
If you collect
information from users, you will: obtain their consent, make it clear
you (and not Facebook) are the one collecting their information, and
post a privacy policy explaining what information you collect and how
you will use it.
You will not post anyone's identification documents or sensitive financial information on Facebook.
You will not tag users or send email invitations to non-users without
their consent. Facebook offers social reporting tools to enable users to
provide feedback about tagging.
Mobile and Other Devices
We currently provide our mobile services for free, but please be aware
that your carrier's normal rates and fees, such as text messaging fees,
will still apply.
In the event you change or deactivate your
mobile telephone number, you will update your account information on
Facebook within 48 hours to ensure that your messages are not sent to
the person who acquires your old number.
You provide consent
and all rights necessary to enable users to sync (including through an
application) their devices with any information that is visible to them
on Facebook.
Payments
If you make a payment on Facebook or use Facebook Credits, you agree to our Payments Terms.
Special Provisions Applicable to Social Plugins
If you include our Social Plugins, such as the Share or Like buttons on
your website, the following additional terms apply to you:
We give you permission to use Facebook's Social Plugins so that users can post links or content from your website on Facebook.
You give us permission to use and allow others to use such links and content on Facebook.
You will not place a Social Plugin on any page containing content that would violate this Statement if posted on Facebook.
Special Provisions Applicable to Developers/Operators of Applications and Websites
If you are a developer or operator of a Platform application or website, the following additional terms apply to you:
You are responsible for your application and its content and all uses
you make of Platform. This includes ensuring your application or use of
Platform meets our Facebook Platform Policies and our Advertising Guidelines.
Your access to and use of data you receive from Facebook, will be limited as follows:
You will only request data you need to operate your application.
You will have a privacy policy that tells users what user data you are
going to use and how you will use, display, share, or transfer that data
and you will include your privacy policy URL in the Developer Application.
You will not use, display, share, or transfer a user’s data in a manner inconsistent with your privacy policy.
You will delete all data you receive from us concerning a user if the
user asks you to do so, and will provide a mechanism for users to make
such a request.
You will not include data you receive from us concerning a user in any advertising creative.
You will not directly or indirectly transfer any data you receive from
us to (or use such data in connection with) any ad network, ad exchange,
data broker, or other advertising related toolset, even if a user
consents to that transfer or use.
You will not sell user data.
If you are acquired by or merge with a third party, you can continue to
use user data within your application, but you cannot transfer user
data outside of your application.
We can require you to delete user data if you use it in a way that we determine is inconsistent with users’ expectations.
You will not give us information that you independently collect from a user or a user's content without that user's consent.
You will make it easy for users to remove or disconnect from your application.
You will make it easy for users to contact you. We can also share your
email address with users and others claiming that you have infringed or
otherwise violated their rights.
You will provide customer support for your application.
You will not show third party ads or web search boxes on www.facebook.com.
We give you all rights necessary to use the code, APIs, data, and tools you receive from us.
You will not sell, transfer, or sublicense our code, APIs, or tools to anyone.
You will not misrepresent your relationship with Facebook to others.
You may use the logos we make available to developers or issue a press
release or other public statement so long as you follow our Facebook Platform Policies.
We can issue a press release describing our relationship with you.
You will comply with all applicable laws. In particular you will (if applicable):
have a policy for removing infringing content and terminating repeat
infringers that complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
comply with the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and obtain any
opt-in consent necessary from users so that user data subject to the
VPPA may be shared on Facebook. You represent that any disclosure to us
will not be incidental to the ordinary course of your business.
We do not guarantee that Platform will always be free.
You give us all rights necessary to enable your application to work
with Facebook, including the right to incorporate content and
information you provide to us into streams, timelines, and user action
stories.
You give us the right to link to or frame your application, and place content, including ads, around your application.
We can analyze your application, content, and data for any purpose,
including commercial (such as for targeting the delivery of
advertisements and indexing content for search).
To ensure your application is safe for users, we can audit it.
We can create applications that offer similar features and services to, or otherwise compete with, your application.
About Advertisements and Other Commercial Content Served or Enhanced by Facebook Our goal is to deliver ads and commercial content that are valuable to
our users and advertisers. In order to help us do that, you agree to the
following:
You can use your privacy settings
to limit how your name and profile picture may be associated with
commercial, sponsored, or related content (such as a brand you like)
served or enhanced by us. You give us permission to use your name and
profile picture in connection with that content, subject to the limits
you place.
We do not give your content or information to advertisers without your consent.
You understand that we may not always identify paid services and communications as such.
Special Provisions Applicable to Advertisers
You can target your desired audience by buying ads on Facebook or our
publisher network. The following additional terms apply to you if you
place an order through our online advertising portal (Order):
When you place an Order, you will tell us the type of advertising you
want to buy, the amount you want to spend, and your bid. If we accept
your Order, we will deliver your ads as inventory becomes available.
When serving your ad, we do our best to deliver the ads to the audience
you specify, although we cannot guarantee in every instance that your ad
will reach its intended target.
In instances where we believe
doing so will enhance the effectiveness of your advertising campaign, we
may broaden the targeting criteria you specify.
You will pay for your Orders in accordance with our Payments Terms. The amount you owe will be calculated based on our tracking mechanisms.
We will determine the size, placement, and positioning of your ads.
We do not guarantee the activity that your ads will receive, such as the number of clicks your ads will get.
We cannot control how clicks are generated on your ads. We have systems
that attempt to detect and filter certain click activity, but we are
not responsible for click fraud, technological issues, or other
potentially invalid click activity that may affect the cost of running
ads.
You can cancel your Order at any time through our online
portal, but it may take up to 24 hours before the ad stops running. You
are responsible for paying for all ads that run.
Our license
to run your ad will end when we have completed your Order. You
understand, however, that if users have interacted with your ad, your ad
may remain until the users delete it.
We can use your ads and related content and information for marketing or promotional purposes.
You will not issue any press release or make public statements about
your relationship with Facebook without our prior written permission.
We may reject or remove any ad for any reason.
If you are placing ads on someone else's behalf, you must have permission to place those ads, including the following:
You warrant that you have the legal authority to bind the advertiser to this Statement.
You agree that if the advertiser you represent violates this Statement, we may hold you responsible for that violation.
Special Provisions Applicable to Pages
If you create or administer a Page on Facebook, or run a promotion or an offer from your Page, you agree to our Pages Terms.
Special Provisions Applicable to Software
If you download our software, such as a stand-alone software product or
a browser plugin, you agree that from time to time, the software may
download upgrades, updates and additional features from us in order to
improve, enhance and further develop the software.
You will not
modify, create derivative works of, decompile or otherwise attempt to
extract source code from us, unless you are expressly permitted to do so
under an open source license or we give you express written permission.
Amendments
Unless we make a change for legal or administrative reasons, or to
correct an inaccurate statement, we will provide you with seven (7) days
notice (for example, by posting the change on the Facebook Site Governance Page) and an opportunity to comment on changes to this Statement. You can also visit our Facebook Site Governance Page and "like" the Page to get updates about changes to this Statement.
If we make changes to policies referenced in or incorporated by this
Statement, we may provide notice on the Site Governance Page.
Your continued use of Facebook following changes to our terms constitutes your acceptance of our amended terms.
Termination
If you violate the letter or spirit of this Statement, or otherwise
create risk or possible legal exposure for us, we can stop providing all
or part of Facebook to you. We will notify you by email or at the next
time you attempt to access your account. You may also delete your
account or disable your application at any time. In all such cases, this
Statement shall terminate, but the following provisions will still
apply: 2.2, 2.4, 3-5, 8.2, 9.1-9.3, 9.9, 9.10, 9.13, 9.15, 9.18, 10.3,
11.2, 11.5, 11.6, 11.9, 11.12, 11.13, and 15-19.
Disputes
You will resolve any claim, cause of action or dispute (claim) you have
with us arising out of or relating to this Statement or Facebook
exclusively in a state or federal court located in Santa Clara County.
The laws of the State of California will govern this Statement, as well
as any claim that might arise between you and us, without regard to
conflict of law provisions. You agree to submit to the personal
jurisdiction of the courts located in Santa Clara County, California for
the purpose of litigating all such claims.
If anyone brings a
claim against us related to your actions, content or information on
Facebook, you will indemnify and hold us harmless from and against all
damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including reasonable legal
fees and costs) related to such claim. Although we provide rules for
user conduct, we do not control or direct users' actions on Facebook and
are not responsible for the content or information users transmit or
share on Facebook. We are not responsible for any offensive,
inappropriate, obscene, unlawful or otherwise objectionable content or
information you may encounter on Facebook. We are not responsible for
the conduct, whether online or offline, or any user of Facebook.
WE TRY TO KEEP FACEBOOK UP, BUG-FREE, AND SAFE, BUT YOU USE IT AT YOUR
OWN RISK. WE ARE PROVIDING FACEBOOK AS IS WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
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MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT FACEBOOK WILL ALWAYS BE SAFE, SECURE OR
ERROR-FREE OR THAT FACEBOOK WILL ALWAYS FUNCTION WITHOUT DISRUPTIONS,
DELAYS OR IMPERFECTIONS. FACEBOOK IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS,
CONTENT, INFORMATION, OR DATA OF THIRD PARTIES, AND YOU RELEASE US, OUR
DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS FROM ANY CLAIMS AND DAMAGES,
KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH ANY CLAIM
YOU HAVE AGAINST ANY SUCH THIRD PARTIES. IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA
RESIDENT, YOU WAIVE CALIFORNIA CIVIL CODE §1542, WHICH SAYS: A GENERAL
RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR
SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE,
WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH
THE DEBTOR. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR OTHER
CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF
OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS STATEMENT OR FACEBOOK, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN
ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY
ARISING OUT OF THIS STATEMENT OR FACEBOOK WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID US IN THE PAST
TWELVE MONTHS. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION
OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE
LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH CASES, FACEBOOK'S
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LAW.
Special Provisions Applicable to Users Outside the United States
We strive to create a global community with consistent standards for
everyone, but we also strive to respect local laws. The following
provisions apply to users and non-users who interact with Facebook
outside the United States:
You consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.
If you are located in a country embargoed by the United States, or are
on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals
you will not engage in commercial activities on Facebook (such as
advertising or payments) or operate a Platform application or website.
Certain specific terms that apply only for German users are available here.
Definitions
By "Facebook" we mean the features and services we make available, including through (a) our website at www.facebook.com
and any other Facebook branded or co-branded websites (including
sub-domains, international versions, widgets, and mobile versions); (b)
our Platform; (c) social plugins such as the Like button, the Share
button and other similar offerings and (d) other media, software (such
as a toolbar), devices, or networks now existing or later developed.
By "Platform" we mean a set of APIs and services (such as content) that
enable others, including application developers and website operators,
to retrieve data from Facebook or provide data to us.
By
"information" we mean facts and other information about you, including
actions taken by users and non-users who interact with Facebook.
By "content" we mean anything you or other users post on Facebook that would not be included in the definition of information.
By "data" or "user data" or "user's data" we mean any data, including a
user's content or information that you or third parties can retrieve
from Facebook or provide to Facebook through Platform.
By "post" we mean post on Facebook or otherwise make available by using Facebook.
By "use" we mean use, copy, publicly perform or display, distribute, modify, translate, and create derivative works of.
By "active registered user" we mean a user who has logged into Facebook at least once in the previous 30 days.
By "application" we mean any application or website that uses or
accesses Platform, as well as anything else that receives or has
received data from us. If you no longer access Platform but have not
deleted all data from us, the term application will apply until you
delete the data.
Other
If you are a resident of or have your principal place of business in
the US or Canada, this Statement is an agreement between you and
Facebook, Inc. Otherwise, this Statement is an agreement between you
and Facebook Ireland Limited. References to “us,” “we,” and “our” mean
either Facebook, Inc. or Facebook Ireland Limited, as appropriate.
This Statement makes up the entire agreement between the parties regarding Facebook, and supersedes any prior agreements.
If any portion of this Statement is found to be unenforceable, the remaining portion will remain in full force and effect.
If we fail to enforce any of this Statement, it will not be considered a waiver.
Any amendment to or waiver of this Statement must be made in writing and signed by us.
You will not transfer any of your rights or obligations under this Statement to anyone else without our consent.
All of our rights and obligations under this Statement are freely
assignable by us in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of
assets, or by operation of law or otherwise.
Nothing in this Statement shall prevent us from complying with the law.
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Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks to reporters at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts November 7, 2011.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it crystal clear Wednesday that the social networking juggernaut has a better working relationship with hardware giant Apple
than it does with Web search leader Google. The 28-year-old billionaire
said his company is working closely with Apple on applications for new
mobile products. Google? Not so much. “Our relationship with Google isn’t one where the companies really talk,” Zuckerberg toldWall Street analysts in a startling disclosure on the conference call
following the company’s earnings report. By contrast, Zuckerberg spoke
highly of his counterparts at Apple. “I’m really happy with the
partnership we have with them,” he said. With those comments, Zuckerberg laid down a marker in the escalating
battle for Internet advantage between Facebook, Apple, and Google. The
chips are now on the table; the war is on. Facebook recently launched a
heavily-publicized new search product, which could pit the company
against search leader Google. Facebook has over one billion
users worldwide, but it hasn’t figured out how to make money off those
users as effectively as Google has done with its search engine. (MORE: Is Broadband Internet Access a Public Utility?) Facebook delivered a strong earnings report, especially in the
crucial mobile space. In one year, the company has increased mobile
revenue as a percentage of total revenue from 0% — nothing — to
23%. ”Today there is no argument,” Zuckerberg told Wall Street analysts.
“Facebook is a mobile company.” There was some drama immediately following the close of the market as
Facebook’s stock price plunged 10% — wiping out billions of dollars in
shareholder value in a matter of seconds. Minutes later, Facebook’s
stock recovered its losses, climbing back above $30 per share. This game
is not for the faint of heart. Facebook’s ad revenue in the fourth quarter grew 41% to $1.3 billion.
The company’s overall fourth-quarter revenue was $1.6 billion, versus
$1.1 billion one year ago. That topped analyst estimates. ”It was a
solid [fourth quarter] beat as daily mobile users outnumbered desktop
users for the first time ever,” Jeffries’ analyst Brian Pitz wrote in a
note to clients. Mobile device advertising revenue is rapidly becoming the most
important consumer Internet metric as the tech industry undergoes a
profound structural shift thanks to the explosive growth of
sophisticated smartphones
like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices. Consumers are
increasingly accessing the Internet on mobile devices as the locus of
computing shifts away from the desktop and toward smartphones and
tablets. (MORE: Google Fiber Issues Public Challenge: Get Up To Speed!) Despite the solid earnings report, Facebook is still dealing with the fallout from last year’s controversial IPO.
The offering was supposed to be a triumphant moment for Silicon Valley
and Wall Street. Instead, between trading glitches on the NASDAQ
exchange, accusations of “selective disclosure” against Facebook’s bankers, and an offering level that was clearly mispriced, the episode turned into a major debacle. After going public at $38 per share, Facebook’s stock price quickly plunged to about $20. The company and its bankers face multiple lawsuits
from irate investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission has so far
found no evidence of wrongdoing, although the investigation is
continuing. Facebook still has a ton of work to do, but Wednesday’s solid results
indicate that the company is making progress with its strategy to
generate revenue from mobile advertising, which is the next great tech
battlefield in the war for Internet supremacy. Wall Street analysts offered cautious praise for Facebook’s latest
performance. “Quarterly results may be choppy as Facebook optimizes for
the long term, but we continue
to believe that Facebook is in the early stages of transitioning its ad
platform to better targeted social and mobile ads that will become
increasingly valuable to advertisers,” JPMorgan’s Doug Amnuth wrote in a
note to clients. “We would be buying any near-term weakness in Facebook
shares. After a tumultuous year,
Facebook seems to be finding its footing, and Wall Street is taking
notice. “The quarter was a little like a cold shower after you’ve been
out all night — it’s something that makes you sober up very quickly,”
Jordan Rohan, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, told the New York Times. He said the company’s results make it clear that Facebook intends to spend more “to go after the opportunities before them.”
Duh!!
Why would FB want to partner with Google? OR Better Yet---Why would
Google be even interested in discussions with FB---there is no value to
Google. The "Billion" users are mostly vapor. I myself have 3 FB
accounts and seldom ever log in to any of them. Google is a decade ahead
in technology over FB. In my humble opinion, FB fans (as well as Apple
users are intoxicated with their own Koolaid. Even Google will run out
of great ideas some day! For the time being--- Google does not need
anything from FB.
It
is only logical. Facebook and Apple are not competing with each other.
Google bought Android to compete with iPhone, started Google+ to
compete with Facebook.
Two
companies that are slowly losing their ignorant horde following.
Facebook and Apple. Too bad Facebook will be old news in a few years
time. Apple will probably take another 10 years to fully dissolve into
nothingness.
@DerpsleyHerpington Nonsensical and unsupported claims are even more difficult to take seriously with an avatar like that...
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
Let’s get something straight. Just because Facebook’s daily active
users on mobile is more than half, does not make them a mobile company.
They are on the way to that goal, but it’s unlikely that Facebook could
thrive in 2013 if it it was only on mobile. During their earnings call,
the social network reported 618 million daily users accessing Facebook
on their mobile phone, out of a total 1.1 billion daily users (I
suspect some nice rounding errors there), but how people use Facebook on
their mobiles is different to the desk-bound usage, and reduces their
value to advertisers. 56% of Facebook users will access the network from their mobiles at
some point during the day, and I wonder how many of those users are
actually interacting with Facebook in a way that Facebook can monetize.
RIght now only 23% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile. If Facebook
is going to be a truly mobile company, the mobile revenue percentage
needs to start climbing and start subsidising the desk-bound browsers,
not the other way around.
Facebook’s alerts and status updates are pulled into a
mobile environment that works for the users, and are initially handled
by the UI of the smartphone. Windows Phone is a good example, stripping
out all the extraneous detail to present Facebook updates in the People
Hub or on the widget-like Live Tiles the user has on their start screen.
Android can fill up the notifications bar, but at least any interaction
will take people back into Facebook’s mobile application.This is the challenge for Mark Zuckerberg going forward. The world is
slowly moving away from the desk-bound browser and interacting on their
handheld devices, where screen estate is a premium and users are far
less forgiving of banners, obtrusive text, and data-rich media adverts. I would say watch for Facebook trying out new methods of raising
funds, but you’ve seen some of them already; paying to ensure a message
is delivered to someone not following you; sponsored stories that appear
in the timeline; promoted posts that are given priority in the
visibility stage; the top slicing of Facebook credits used in games.
These are all innovative and worth watching, but the bottom line is that
they’re not profitable enough on mobile compared to the desk-bound
income they generate. If Facebook is to become a truly mobile company, as Mark Zuckerberg
indicated in the earnings call, they’re going to need to translate the
dynamic mobile ecosystem into one that is monetized at a significantly
higher level than it is at the moment. And when they unlock that winning
formula, everyone else to follow, and the mobile world change once
more. Hopefully for the better.
Tea Party Community, Conservative Facebook Alternative, Set To Launch
The Huffington Post
|
By Nick Wing
Posted: 02/01/2013 11:04 am EST | Updated: 02/01/2013 11:21 am EST
Organizers of new social networking site The Tea Party Community
have taken Facebook, eliminated the supposed liberal bullying, tossed
in tens of thousands of conservatives and mixed it all together with a
dash of conspiracy theory to create a new online hub, set to launch
officially on Saturday. The Tea Party Community co-founder Ken Crow tells Fox News, he wants to make it the Facebook alternative for conservatives and the Tea Party movement. So far, it has drawn upward of 50,000 members, attracted to what Crow
calls a “safe haven for the conservative movement where we can share
ideas and thoughts and express ourselves without fear of retribution.” Crow claims that he and other conservatives have been targeted by
Facebook and its liberal users simply for attempting to express their
political point of view. “Most of us are subjected to censorship on Facebook,” Crow told Fox News. “I’ve been suspended there as have many of my friends. You also absorb a lot of abuse from liberals.” While there have been high-profile examples of Facebook removing or threatening to remove conservative-leaning content, Facebook claims to not be involved in any intentional censorship of content. Some Tea Party activists might be all too familiar with the content Facebook allows. In Virginia, the Mecklenburg Tea Party drew statewide backlash last year when it refused to remove a series of Facebook photos
depicting President Barack Obama as a witch doctor, neanderthal and
thug. In that case, the pressure came from the Virginia GOP, not
Facebook. And in 2011, a failed Tea Party candidate unleashed a racial epithet-laden Facebook post
that called for the assassination of Obama and his family. The poster
later took down the message under his own accord and replaced it with an
apology. As for The Tea Party Community, the website could draw some scrutiny from a design perspective. The basic page layout looks remarkably similar to Facebook's, with a little more in-your-face patriotism sprinkled around the frills. Read more from Fox News here, or click over to The Tea Party Community and have a look for yourself.
NEW YORK Post Reports about Facebook CEO's sister Randi Zuckerberg has book deal
HarperCollins
announced Wednesday that Randi Zuckerberg plans a memoir and a
children's book. The social media executive and entrepreneur left
Facebook in 2011. Her memoir, "Dot Complicated," is scheduled for
release Nov. 5. It will combine personal and professional insights for
the digital age, from her years as Facebook's marketing director to
becoming a mother in 2011. "Dot Complicated" is also the name of her
online newsletter. Randi Zuckerberg has since founded her own Zuckerberg Media. She is
FILE
- This Oct. 15, 2012 file photo shows Randi Zuckerberg, sister of
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, at the New York Stock Exchange.
HarperCollins announced Wednesday that Randi Zuckerberg plans a memoir
and a children's book. The social media executive and entrepreneur left
Facebook in 2011. Her memoir, "Dot Complicated," is scheduled for
release Nov. 5. It will combine personal and professional insights for
the digital age, from her years as Facebook's marketing director to
becoming a mother in 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file) (Richard Drew)
Twitter Reaction: Oscar Pistorius charged with murder of girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp
Michael Katz, USA TODAY Sports11:07a.m. EST February 14, 2013
Oscar
Pistorius, the Olympic star known as the Blade Runner, has been charged
with the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp at his home in South
Africa. The shock and sadness of this news manifested itself on
Twitter early Thursday morning. But even amid the instant reaction, two
old tweets -- from Pistorius and his girlfriend -- are getting the most
attention on social media. (1) @OscarPistorius
bragging about his score at a shooting range in Nov. 2011: "Spent the
afternoon at the Tormezzo Italian Shooting range. Had a 96% headshot
over 300m from 50shots! Bam!" (2) One of the last tweets from Pistorius' girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp: "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited #ValentinesDay" Here is more of the reaction from around Twitter. * Columbia University's Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan: "Reading w/ horror about shooting of @reevasteenkamp & arrest of @OscarPistorius." * New York Time's Christopher Clarey:
"Would urge everyone to take deep breath, exhale at length & not
rush to judgment on #Pistorius Skip the jokes, too. A young woman has
died." * U. of Maryland journalism professor Kevin Blackistone: "One of those stories you don't imagine coming, but we don't really know these people we deify. We really don't." * USA TODAY Sports' Joe Fleming: "Don't even know what to say." For news updates as we learn more, follow @USATODAYsports
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