Social Media

Facebook recently started running ads on Zynga's website, one of several moves the social network has made recently to expand its advertising reach. Some Zynga users now see Facebook's Sponsored Stories ads, which display certain brands or businesses that those users' Facebook friends have "liked." ...

2012 is not shaping up to be a good year for Facebook. There was its disaster of an IPO, of course. Also, a number of reports have been turning out that illustrate one or another of Facebook's weaknesses. The latest is from comScore, which reported Facebook's U.S. user numbers for May. Compared to i...

Facebook is shelling out $10 million in a settlement that will allow it to keep its Sponsored Stories advertising program on the site but will saddle it with new restrictions. The Sponsored Stories system on Facebook is meant to help ads get more exposure. When a user checks into a location or "like...

With the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics, London will be the first city to have hosted the modern games of three Olympics. It will also be the first Olympics to embrace social media, as well as being the first to actually step in and place limitations on how said media can be used. The IOC has no prob...

Facebook has changed its payment system, doing away with its Credits program as well as allowing app developers to offer subscription billing. Facebook currently sells in-app purchases for Credits -- digital tokens that allowed users to buy virtual goods within games or apps. But the company found t...

YouTube's attorneys have sent a cease-and-desist letter to YouTube-mp3 demanding that it stop allowing users to extract audio clips from YouTube videos in order to copy them onto personal devices. YouTube-mp3 is a highly user-friendly service. All a user must do is enter a video's URL, and the audio...

Social media giants are teaming up with nonprofit website StopBadware to create the Ads Integrity Alliance, which will counter so-called bad ads and work to create trust within the online advertising industry. Facebook, Google, Twitter, AOL and the Interactive Advertising Bureau announced Thursday t...

Mike Heaston knows the power of a good cycling event. Get the people out there, biking through the Colorado mountains, and they'll become loyal and steadfast customers. "We're putting on events that people love," said Heaston, owner of EventMarketing Group. "We're creative, and these are our product...

Facebook can be an effective platform for advertisers, according to a report released Tuesday by comScore. The results appear to counter the findings of a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll in which four out of five respondents claimed they were never influenced by advertisements or comments on the site rega...

Zynga's share price dropped to a record low after an analyst's research note revealed that its usage declined in May due to players migrating to mobile platforms. At close of business on Tuesday, the stock had dropped to $4.98 per unit, the lowest level since its December initial public offering at...

LinkedIn has reported that some of its users' passwords have been stolen and published on the Internet. The company is withholding details, including exactly how many passwords were compromised. Members with accounts associated with the compromised passwords will find that their LinkedIn account pas...

A new poll does not bode well for Facebook's goal of stepping up its ad revenue. Four out of five Facebook users said they were never influenced by advertising or even comments on the site to buy a product or service, found the poll, which was conducted by Reuters/Ipsos. Thirty-four percent of the...

Facebook is exploring ways to include children younger than 13 years of age as members of its social network, according to The Wall Street Journal. To that end, it is working on developing technology that would allow tweens to be active on the site under parental supervision. Facebook's move in this...

Google has acquired social networking site Meebo, a possible bid to sharpen the search giant's social networking acumen. The deal has been the subject of rumors for about a month, after AllThingsD reported the two companies were in talks. Meebo confirmed the acquisition Monday. The companies didn't ...

Facebook is opening its proposed policy changes to a vote, inviting users to review and approve or disapprove of the newly revised documents. The social network will consider results binding if 30 percent or more of its active user base participates. Facebook's current proposed changes don't include...