The number one comparison point for Facebook as it headed towards an IPO was Google. Facebook, like Google, was a giant web company that had hundreds of millions of users. Facebook, like Google, was working on highly-targeted ads that could hit hundreds of millions of consumers.
But a funny thing happened on Facebook's path to becoming Google 2.0 (from a business perspective). Everyone suddenly realized Facebook's ads aren't that good. And everyone realized that Facebook's ads, while very good at targeting, aren't nearly as powerful or effective as Google's.
And then everyone realized Facebook isn't going to have its own magic money making machine. If it's going to make lots of money, it's going to be more of a grind to figure it out.
In our newsroom, someone threw out a good analogy for Facebook's ad business*: It's like you're at a party, standing around, talking to your friends, and someone made the posters on the wall advertisements. Maybe you'll look at them, but they're not really what you're there to do.
Google, on the other hand, is like you're walking through a grocery store looking for whatever you need and the advertiser gets to jump in at the last second and offer you what you're looking for.
As Chris Dixon has written, successful online advertising is all about purchasing intent. How do you capture commercial consumer interest?
Google's entire business is based on people asking commercial questions and giving advertisers an opportunity to provide the top 2-3 answers to the question.
That's an amazing business. And it's one Facebook doesn't have.
That's not say Facebook isn't going to figure out a way to make gobs and gobs of money. It has 900 million users. It has a team of super smart people looking to solve a hard problem. It can figure something out.
It's just not likely to be a magical money making machine like what Google has.
Don't Miss: Here's What Could Happen Next To Facebook's Stock
*We apologize if this analogy was from somewhere else and we didn't realize. Credit to whoever came up with it.
Finance and Services looking for a CIO - CIO Australia
The New South Wales Department of Finance and Services division is recruiting a chief information officer (CIO).
The CIO will be responsible for driving the ICT strategy of the department and leading the consolidation of technology requirements across the entire department. This will include promoting the department’s technology agenda and utilising leading-edge technology.
The CIO will also ensure the security and ongoing operational delivery of information systems is carried out, along with software applications, hardware and technology networks.
The CIO is expected to be visionary, pragmatic and able to find opportunities to drive change with innovative technology solutions.
The department requires job candidates to have experience managing costs and maximising results, have effective communication skills with stakeholders, be able to provide technical advice to the executive team and have success in using technology to drive change in large and complex environments.
The CIO will be in charge of an $85m operating budget and a $50m capital works budget.
The CIO will report to the deputy director general - corporate services.
The contract will be for up to five years.
Applications close 12 June, 2012.
Follow Stephanie McDonald on Twitter: @stephmcdonald0
Mo’ money, mo’ squabbles over scholarship for Diddy’s son - Chicago Sun-Times
By Bill Zwecker June 3, 2012 9:08PM
NEW YORK - JANUARY 23: Sean "Diddy" Combs and son Justin Dior Combs attend Justin Dior Combs' 16th birthday party at M2 Ultra Lounge on January 23, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Sean "Diddy" Combs;Justin Dior Combs
Updated: June 3, 2012 9:58PM
The decision by UCLA to award a full-ride scholarship to young football star Justin Combs — son of multimillionaire entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs — has generated a huge debate online and on the campus of the Southern California university.
While many argue the younger Combs earned the scholarship on his merits, I’ve learned there’s considerable backlash among key UCLA alumni and fund-raising honchos. During this time of tough economic challenges, many UCLA alumni who play major roles in Hollywood’s showbiz world believe that need should trump everything else.
“I know it seems unfair to Justin, but clearly he has had so many advantages in his life. … Those funds should have gone to a kid who otherwise might not be able to attend UCLA,” said a top studio executive and university alum Sunday, who also said, “Everyone I’ve spoken to is on the same page about this.”
† Diddy’s camp believes that Justin is entitled to the scholarship, and no one’s intending to give it back. That said, there also is word that Combs Sr. will be very, very generous to UCLA fund-raising efforts.
“I’ll bet he’ll end up giving the university more — over a period of time — than Justin is getting over the next four years,” said a close Combs associate.
DEJA VU? Is Charlie Sheen slipping back into his old ways — partying wildly, drinking heavily and surrounding himself with a bunch of porn stars? That was the contention of some weekend reports the actor was laughing off, claiming he’s well in control of himself. Sheen blasted the unnamed “friends” who gossiped about him to several celebrity magazines and websites, saying, “Consider the sources.” My own sources close to Sheen do express concern that he seems to be repeating the behavior that caused him problems in the past. “Charlie now thinks he’s able to control himself and won’t be pushed over the edge by surrounding himself with booze, drugs and porn stars,” said a longtime Sheen associate, who did add, “so far he’s doing OK. “I just worry, he’ll go crazy all over again — and totally lose control.” “I don’t care what anyone says,” added a second source. “Charlie has always been a trigger for Brooke’s addictions. Always has been. Always will be. I’m sorry, I just don’t think that will ever change.”
EU finance ministers haggle over bank rules - Yahoo Finance
BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union finance ministers are to meet in in Brussels Tuesday to hammer out an agreement over how high banks should build their defenses against future financial shocks, with the U.K. running the risk of being isolated over who should set the height.
The EU's 27 members agree on the need to increase capital reserves of banks, following an international agreement called Basel III, which was negotiated by the world's largest economies to avoid another financial meltdown such as the one brought on by the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.
But the U.K. wants national regulators to be able to set requirements significantly higher than those of the EU — a position opposed by almost all other EU members, who fear investors might then prefer UK banks and flee from those in other countries.
On his way into the meeting Tuesday morning, George Osborne, the British chancellor of the exchequer, was non-committal about the possibility of reaching an agreement.
"This is a time of considerable uncertainty in the eurozone economies," he said, referring to the 17 countries — the U.K. not among them — that use the euro currency. "And that uncertainty is undermining the entire European recovery. And I think we're reaching a point where we've got to make a decision to see the eurozone stand behind their currency. A very important part of that, of course, is strengthening the entire European banking system. And that is what we intend to do today."
Once enacted, Basel III would require lenders to increase their highest-quality capital — such as equity and cash reserves — gradually from 2 percent of the risky assets they hold to 7 percent by 2019. An additional 2.5 percent would have to be built up during good times. All members of the G-20 have agreed to implement Basel III; if the European Union succeeds, it would become the first entity to institute the new requirements.
The U.K. is arguing that, because national taxpayers have to bail out banks when they fail, national authorities should be able to set more stringent requirements to guard against such failures. A compromise proposal offered by the Danes, who hold the rotating presidency of the European Union, would allow national authorities some leeway to increase requirements beyond those called for in the Basel III agreement. That proposal has broad support — except, so far, from the U.K.
The finance ministers can approve the compromise proposal without British support, through what is known as qualified majority voting, in which member countries have different numbers of votes according to their populations. However, there is a tradition in the EU that changes that would affect an industry in a particular country — such as the banking sector in the U.K. — are not forced into effect over the objections of that country, and consensus is sought.
"I think there should be a unanimous decision on such an important issue," Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said on his way into the meeting.
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