Facebook is IPO Ready

Facebook IPO

Facebook’s long-awaited Initial Public Offering is happening in just two and ahalf weeks time, the Wall Street Journalreports Tuesday.

Citing the usual anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the Journal says Facebook will begin its IPO roadshow on Monday May 7. That’s when companies traditionally make the rounds of mutual funds, large banks and other major investors looking for multi-million dollar stakes. (We’ve reached out to Facebook for official confirmation.)

The name of the IPO roadshow game is to explain why your stock will be such a good buy, although in Facebook’s case that shouldn’t be too hard.

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg will only be present for some of the roadshow, say the sources; COO Sheryl Sandberg will handle the rest, along with CFO David Ebersman. (We’re hoping Sandberg still gets to finish work at 5:30pm.)

The roadshow will wrap up pretty quickly, and then it’s on to the IPO itself, apparently set for Friday May 18. As we’ve written before, the IPO should shift $10 billion worth of Facebook stock, leaving the social network with an overall valuation of $100 billion — and turning Zuckerberg, who owns a controlling stake of voting shares, into one of the world’s richest men.

Someone else who will be watching the IPO closely: Kevin Systrom, founder of Instagram. We’ve already noted that the $1 billion Facebook purchase of his app made Systrom worth $400 million on paper, but we’ve since learned that much of that $1 billion deal was for Facebook stock.

A wildly successful IPO could theoretically make Systrom a billionaire, albeit at a much lower level than Zuckerberg.

So now that it’s finally happening, what are your thoughts on the Facebook IPO? Will the social network be wildly overvalued, or find its true level? Let us know in the comments. (mashable)

Olympusweb commentary: Facebook has the option of staying private but everybody knows the big bucks is letting people buy pieces of your company and trade them like so many baseball cards. Facebook doesn’t need the infusion of cash. There is no doubt they will try to take over the cyber world much like Google has done with their many billions of dollars.

The truth: Because of hype and popularity the stock will soar and will be introduced and trade well above the actual value of the company. Stocks of this nature almost never reflect the real value of a company. People don’t care ,though, and in reality a stock is worth what people are willing to pay for it and like every public offering there is money to be made here.

Cracking Down on Unnatural Backlinking Practices

Last week we reported that Google is cracking down on sites that engage in what the search engine giant calls “unnatural linking practices.” While plenty of webmasters have received warnings that engaging in the practice could bring on penalties, many of them weren’t really certain why they’d been flagged in the first place.

Now, thanks to an enterprising forum poster over at WebProWorld we have a better idea of what signals Google is examining to flag bad link offenders. It turns out, blog comments could be the culprit.

One Explanation

In a posting titled So…who wants the Google scoop of the year, WebProWorld moderator WilliamC described the link between spam blog comments and Google unnatural link warnings.

After examining links sent to him by several clients, WilliamC noticed that many of the offending links came from blog comments that had never been approved. The big question quickly became, “How did Google access this feed in the first place?”

After posting his findings, WilliamC, and others, came to the conclusion that Google was somehow accessing a feed of unapproved blog comments possibly through Akismet. Askimet is a very popular anti-spam program used by many WordPress hosted sites.

This story moved very quickly through the SEO world and was refuted by an unnamed Google spokesperson in another article on SearchEngineLand.com . In it, the Google rep flatly stated, “No, we don’t use Askimet to flag spam. ”

Room for Debate

Across SEO forums, commenters debated the validity of the blog comment connection and various actions to diminish the unnatural link penalty (use of no-follow tags is a popular suggestion.) But at the end of the day, it’s all just speculation and that’s the way Google wants it to be.

The big boy on the search engine block keeps developers and content creators guessing about its tactics out of necessity, but that makes for plenty of guessing, both educated and fantastic, as to their tactics and motives. We hammer this point often, but it’s worth repeating, Google is stressing that quality content and links are the best way to grab top rankings and is continuing to penalize over-optimization and bad link networks and that’s all anyone knows for certain. penned by Brian K. Trembath

Google CEO Releases ‘Mega Ambitious’ Letter, Still Not Evil

Integration, integration and more integration. That’s the theme of a lengthy state-of-Google blog post by CEO Larry Page, which was published on the company’s Investor Relations blog on Thursday.

“We have always believed that it’s possible to make money without being evil,” Page writes, echoing the company’s recent statements to Congress.

“In fact, healthy revenue is essential if we are to change the world through innovation, and hire (and retain) great people.”

The update runs through Google’s successes, as well as its plans for this year and beyond. Page wrote about Google’s desire to focus on big ideas and take “uncomfortably exciting” risks.

“It may sound nuts, but I’ve found that it’s easier to make progress on mega-ambitious goals than on less risky projects,” he writes.

“Few people are crazy enough to try, and the best people always want to work on the biggest challenges. We’ve also found that “failed” ambitious projects often yield other dividends.”

Some key highlights:

More than one million businesses now use Google’s advertising products, Page writes. He goes on to say the mobile advertising space is rapidly growing.

Page reiterates the claim that Google+ has 100 million active users, but doesn’t define “active”. Previous claims have included users of Google+ integrated products — such as Gmail and Google Maps.

So far, there have been more than 120 Google+ integrations, writes Page, to ensure a seamless and intuitive online experience from one Google product to another.

Gmail now has 350 million users. AdSense, which has paid more than $30 billion to partners, was the result of a “failed” project, he writes.

“In 2006, when Google acquired YouTube, we faced a lot of skepticism. Today, YouTube has over 800 million monthly users uploading over an hour of video per second,” Page writes.

See a theme here?

Google Changes 2012

Google takes challenges head-on and aims to be a company “deserving of great love,” the CEO says. Its future endeavors include refining Google search and continuing to invest in security.

In light of the fact Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility, Page assures Android users it will continue to be an “open ecosystem.”

What jumps out for you in Page’s letter to investors? Tell us in the comments.

from Mashable

Google Algorithm Updates Take Effect

Google rolled out a record 40 new algorithm updates in yet another sign that the search engine giant is serious about taking on back link builders and content farms head on.

Though most of the new changes are less than a month old, they’ve already impacted hundreds of sites and are being blamed for the closure of the popular link building site, BuildMyRank.

War on Backlinks

SEO gurus have been pouring over the changes since the list was released late last month, and one in particular stood out to them.

Link evaluation. We often use characteristics of links to help us figure out the topic of a linked page. We have changed the way in which we evaluate links; in particular, we are turning off a method of link analysis that we used for several years. We often rearchitect or turn off parts of our scoring in order to keep our system maintainable, clean and understandable.

Many in the SEO world see this statement as a warning that excessive backlinking won’t be tolerated for much longer. Google doesn’t mind giving out information about how many changes they make in a given month, but the details are frequently shrouded in a mystery.

But many sites that rely heavily on backlinking have felt the impact of the new changes.

Changes Shutter Build My Rank

Earlier this week the popular link building network BuildMyRank (BMR) announced that the new algorithms had resulted in so many of their pages being de-indexed, that they were shutting down for good. BMR didn’t mention the changes specifically in their announcement, though the connection seems clear.

Google Cracks Down

Since rolling out its Panda updates last year, the folks at Google have been sending a steady message to the SEO world that content really is king. Just last week Google SEO Guru Matt Cutts announced that a new over-optimization penalty was in the works and could be rolled out very soon.

The takeaway from all of this for affiliates is that Google isn’t going to tolerate shortcuts and shenanigans any longer. Back door/black hat SEO techniques that worked in the past may cause your sites to drop off the map completely tomorrow. (originally posted by CAP)

Google Penalties for “Over Optimization” in the Works

Great News from Google. We here at Olympusweb have been waiting for this for some time. They are going to start identifying spammy looking optimization and reward websites with real, clean, custom content even more. Our sites are all “white hat” SEO and are not spammy in any way.

Will the next Panda update from Google include a penalty for over optimization? That seemed to be the message from Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam team in a panel discussion at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas this weekend.

At a panel discussion titled, Dear Google & Bing: Help Me Rank Better! Cutts hinted that a penalty for “too much SEO” is in the works and could be implemented within a few weeks or months. The idea behind the penalty is to give sites with great content an edge over sites that are merely good at optimization.

Google’s Oracle

Mention of the new penalties came in response to a question about how mom and pop sites could compete with companies spending thousands of dollar on SEO. Cutts responded by saying that in a perfect world, webmasters wouldn’t need SEO.

He then went on to say that while he doesn’t normally pre-announce changes, Google engineers are indeed working on changes that will detect “too much SEO.”

How much is too much SEO? In true Google was sort of vague, but he did specifically mention sites that, “use too many keywords,” or, “exchange way too many links.” What that means in terms of actual numbers is anybody’s guess. Cutts has addressed the question of over-optimization in the past and has said that optimization is sometimes, “a euphemism for ‘kind of spammy.”

Not Really Surprising

Given the direction of previous Panda updates and other directives from Google, an over-optimization penalty isn’t really surprising. The search engine giant has been sounding a drum beat about quality content for months now.

Google’s ideal web is a place where the top ranked page is the page with the most relevant content. In that regard, Google seems more benevolent than oppressive, but that’s not how the SEO world is likely to see this latest twist from Google.

Still, when Cutts talks, the SEO world listens and when he mentions a penalty for over optimization chances are he’s not just shooting the breeze. Do you think that a penalty for over optimization is a good idea? Share your opinion with us on our Search Engine Optimization Forum.

Originally written by Bryan K. Trembath

Melbourne Florida St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Hey guys don’t forget that the parade is tomorrow morning. There will be lots of drinking so be careful and catch a cab if need be. I heard they have a cab service that takes whatever you feel like paying for cab fare.

Parade Details

On Saturday, March 19, 2011, at 11:00 a.m., the 18^th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade begins marching east down New Haven Avenue to Depot Drive in Historic Downtown Melbourne. The parade lasts almost two hours, so bring a lawn chair or a blanket to sit on if you don’t feel like standing. Plenty of
free parking is available on the side streets.

The parade is very lively. Images of Ireland are immediately brought to mind
as the Irish Bagpipe players get everyone in a festive green mood. There are
plenty of floats and decorated cars, trucks and boats. Look for St. Patrick (the
patron saint of Ireland) to make an appearance. Salute and cheer for our
military as they march on by.

The local St. Patrick’s Day parade brings a bounty of treats for young and
old alike. Plenty of candy is thrown out, so have the kids bring a bag. There
are also loads of green beaded necklaces given away-young, old, male or
female-everyone is wearing green by the end of the parade.

The parade is sponsored by The Ancient Order of Hibernians (a Catholic Irish
organization that helps to keep alive the Irish traditions) and Meg O’Malley’s Irish Pub & Restaurant.

Suggestions

Wear something green to the parade. If you have a green wig, a crazy
leprechaun hat, or some St. Patrick’s Day novelty items you’ve been dying to
wear-this is the perfect opportunity to display the Irish side of you. Don’t be
shy. The Florida sun is hot in March, so wearing sunscreen is a good idea.

Shop Irish

Before, during or after the parade, stop in at The Irish Shop located at 818 East New Haven Avenue in Historic Downtown Melbourne Florida, located right on the parade route.

Eat & Drink Irish

Continue the Irish celebration at Meg O’Malley’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, 812 East New Haven Avenue. Have a great time at the local St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities in Downtown Historic Melbourne Florida.

Finally: Google overhauling search engine

Changes at Google

Google search is getting quite the facelift: Google is in the middle of one of the biggest overhauls to its search engine in years, trying to fight off growing competition from Microsoft’s Bing, Apple’s Siri, Facebook, and others by incorporating more real-life language concepts, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The changes will be implemented over the next few months and could change search-result rankings for millions of websites, but also provide Google with more opportunities for advertising and increase the time users spend on Google-owned pages.

Driving much of this change is Google’s 2010 purchase of startup Metaweb Technologies, which organizes information by “entities”—that is people, places, and things—instead of just words and websites, which can be more ambiguous. Under the new algorithm, searching for a geographical body could bring up a whole range of data about that place, in addition to the usual related websites from, say, the local chamber of commerce or Wikipedia. The function also should be able to answer specific questions more precisely.

Our 2 cents

At Olympusweb, we are not sure this is a good idea. They do so well with the quick search format and to mess with it would be similar to when Coke laumnched “New Coke” in the 80′s. Google trying to be more like Bing or Yahoo is very ironic in our opinion.

I wouldn’t doubt if that they add an option for a simple search page for all visitors and if they switch it to a more wordy page, they switch it right back after people complain and go other places.

CNN to Buy Mashable?

Buy out?

Online rumors are off the charts with news that cable news giant CNN ispurchasing Mashable , one of the biggest online destinations for news and tips about social media, the web, and technology.

Reuters blogger Felix Salmon said Sunday night in a video from the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference:

“A little bird told me that CNN is going to announce the acquisition of Mashable for upwards of $200 million. Is this real? I don’t know, but it’s entirely plausible.”

The New York Times confirmed that CNN was in talks with the site and the talks had progressed to a very advanced stage. They also cautioned that the deal could still fall through and that there would probably not be an announcement by Tuesday.

CNN currently uses some of Mashable’s stories in syndication on CNN.com. Multiple news outlets have reported that the division of Time Warner would purchase the website for roughly $200 million dollars.

According to the website, Mashable has 20 million unique visitors per month and 4 million social media followers.

Chrome still trying to catch Firefox

Google Chrome

At the end of 2011, it looked like Chrome had knocked Firefox from the number-two spot in Web browser rankings — but it’s starting to look like that title might have been a little premature. According to Net Applications’ Net MarketShare report, both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome lost ground in February 2012, leaving Firefox in the number-two spot with a two percent lead over Chrome — at least in the desktop browser market. All versions of Internet Explorer still account for a little more than half of all desktop browsers out there (52.84 percent, a drop of 0.12 percent since January), while Chrome slipped to an 18.9 percent share, down one percent from a peak of 19.11 percent in December 2011.

Apple’s Safari desktop browser also saw significant gains in February, jumping from 4.9 to 5.24 percent of the browser market. Opera also moved up from 1.67 to 1.71 percent.

The new figures highlight some of the discrepancies in how different firms account for browser share. Net Applications collects its data from customers using its live stats services, and says the data spans about 160 million visitors a month. Of course, there’s no way of knowing whether the sites using Net Applications services are representative of the Web as a whole; in fact, they’re probably not, since 76 percent report they participate in pay-per-click programs and 43 percent claim to be commerce sites.

Other services with different methodologies produce different numbers. For instance, StatCounter shows very different figures, with Internet Explorer accounting for only 35.75 percent of browser usage in February 2012, Chrome in second place with a 29.84 percent share, and Firefox in third with a 24.88 percent share. According to StatCounter, IE is in decline, Chrome is growing fast, and Firefox did see a slight uptick from January to February.

Why the discrepancy? Are one or both of these just doing it wrong? No — both companies have a solid history of reporting as accurately as possible using the data they gather. The issue is that Net Applications and StatCounter aren’t counting the same people. StatCounter is a Web analytics service, with customers using its code on more than 3 million Web sites around the world accounting for over 18 billion hits a month. If users visit a site with StatCounter code, the visit is included with aggregate data about browser share and other things. Again, there’s no way to know whether StatCounter’s base of sites is in any way representative of the broader Internet — and, in fact, they’re probably not since they’re sites looking for (and using) third party analytics services.

The bottom line: the fact major metrics services aren’t even in general agreement over their figures points to how difficult it is to measure browser share in the worldwide market. As always, consider such figures general guidelines, and consider any announcement of watershed changes in browser share with a grain of salt.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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