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• Thanks to Adap.tv, AOL sees big ad growth in its future

  by Steven Loeb, March 11, 2014

  AOL will see double-digit ad growth in the United States for the first time in years

  It has been less than a year now since AOL bought video advertising platform Adap.tv for $405 million. The purchase might have seemed a little risky at the time, given that t is one of AOL's largest acquisition ever, even more than the $315 million it paid for the Huffington Post in 2011. But the acquisition is apparently already starting to pay dividends for the company. This year, AOL is now expe

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• The Web at 25: What's in store for the next decade?

  by Faith Merino, March 11, 2014

  Experts agree on where the Web is headed, but many disagree on what it means for society

  “It is striking how much consensus there is among these experts on what will change, and equally striking how varied their answers are when they are asked how those changes will impact and influence users in good and bad ways,” said Elon University Professor Janna Anderson, a primary author of the report, in a statement. “This is the sixth ‘Future of the Internet’ survey

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• Why Startups Should Look to Corporate VCs for Funding

  by Sponsored Story, March 11, 2014

  Get 25% OFF registration with your vator code

  Strategic Investors: Why Startups Should Look to Corporate VCs for Funding DATE: March 12th, 6 - 8:30 pm LOCATION: 379 Lytton Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301 PROMO CODE: 25% OFF with 25_PERCENT_OFF SIGN UP: http://bit.ly/1h5en1e This is our annual "Strategic Investors" event. Find out... * What are corporations looking for in startups? * Which corporations are the most active investors? * How to ne

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• New WhatsApp feature lets you pay for your friends

  by Steven Loeb, March 11, 2014

  New feature seems less about monetizing and more about increasing the app's userbase

  The justification for Facebook's $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp was based pretty much only on its potential for growth and, ultimately, the amount of money it can make from subscription fees. Never mind that the app is free for the first year. Or that, by some estimates, as many at 40% of its current user base are using it for free, and there's no guarantee that they will want to pay when the ye

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• Priceline buys Qlika for local targeted advertising

  by Steven Loeb, March 10, 2014

  Team at ad-targeting firm will likely work with local businesses to target Priceline customers

  It seems extremely bizarre to me, but did people really used to have to go to see another person who would then book their travel for them? I know that people like rail against technology for making certain positions obsolete, but sometimes those positions, like the travel agent, were just aching to fade away. Sites and services such as Expedia and Travelocity do more than simply cut out the middl

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• Wanna make $15? Refer Google Apps to your network

  Google will pay out for news user referred to its business-targeted suite of Google Apps

  Of course I was being facetious. Honestly, I don't really know that anyone ever thought that ads that had doctors saying that drinking beer and smoking cigarettes were good for you ever fell for it. (I ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• Comcast users to get Netflix shows sans subscription

  Comcast confirms that subscribers will now be able to purchase House of Cards in the Xfinity Store

  While Netflix has spent the last several years dutifully trying to convince content providers to license TV shows and movies to the subscription video-on-demand service—all while simultaneously developing ...
  By Faith Merino
  

• Kabam buys up RPG studio Phoenix Age

  Phoenix Age is the company RGP hit games Castle Age and Underworld Empire

  Interactive entertainment company Kabam is one of the more well-known gaming studios out there right now, especially when it comes to its free-to-play games. With a potential IPO looming, though, the company ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• Google to release Android SDK for wearables in 2 weeks

  With a rumored smartwatch in the making, Google wants to jumpstart the wearables landscape

  Google may be gearing up to unveil its very own smartwatch later this year, but when has it ever bogarted its own OS? Google executive Sundar Pichai revealed at SXSW that Google plans to release the Android ...
  By Faith Merino
  

• Tencent takes on Alibaba with JD.com partnership

  Tencent is taking a 15% stake in the Chinese e-commerce company worth $214.7 Million

  E-commerce company Alibaba is probably the better known in this country, mostly because of its relationship with Yahoo, as well as its often discussed pending IPO. Tencent, on the other hand, might be ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• Instagram's $100 million deal with Omnicon

  Omnicom can spend up to $100 million over the next year putting its brands on the photo sharing site

  When Instagram launched its first ad back in November, the ad was extremely successful, probably more so than anyone imagined it would be. That success no doubt peaked the interest of many brands and agencies, ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• Box projected to double revenue to $200M in 2014

  Box ramps up revenue as it nears its IPO

  As Box gets closer to its highly anticipated IPO (its secret IPO—shhh), word has it that the company is en route to double its 2013 revenue this year. Unnamed insiders told Bloomberg that the company ...
  By Faith Merino
  

• Funding roundup - week ending 3/7/14

  Trusper, CloudBees, AppZero, Javelin, Business Insider, Aseptia, Boqii, Clinicient, ClassDojo, Speek

  Blend, a social networking app for college students, raised a $2.7 million seed round led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from Trinity Ventures, Foundation Capital, Lerer Ventures, Maveron, ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• Home goods provider Wayfair raises $157M

  With $915M in revenue, Wayfair is seen as another potential IPO candidate for 2014

  The company has raised $157 million in equity financing, it was announced on Friday. The round was led by funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price Associates. It also encompassed a limited number of ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• Why companies are not startups

  Every time another execution process is added, corporate innovation dies a little more

  Facing continuous disruption from globalization, China, the Internet, the diminished power of brands, changing workforce, etc., existing enterprises are establishing corporate innovation groups. These ...
  By Steve Blank
  

• Federal Judge rules commercial drones are legal

  Judge finds that the FAA has no standing in banning commercial drones but not model aircraft

  A federal judge ruled Thursday that the FAA has not actually made any legally binding rules banning commercial drones from the skies, ergo, the FAA’s $10,000 fine of 29-year-old Raphael Pirker for ...
  By Faith Merino
  

• Twitter officially bans porn videos on Vine

  If you need to take your clothes off in front of other people, you're going to have to go elsewhere

  Twitter has had a porn problem on Vine literally since day one. In fact, I remember reading stories about it literally an hour after it debuted. The company took care of the problem pretty quickly restricting ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• A year later, News Feed is finally getting revamped

  Facebook tried to update it last year but users rejected the design for being too confusing

  Remember how, exactly one year ago today, Facebook unveiled an overhauled News Feed, which was supposed to highlight things like Photos, news articles, maps and events with new feeds for each type of content? ...
  By Steven Loeb
  

• How does Flipboard make money?

  As publishers watch their revenues tank in the wake of Web content, how is Flipboard making money?

  Flipboard is booming. The company closed out a Series C round of $100 million altogether in December at an $800 million valuation, and it also announced that its users had topped 100 million. On Wednesday, ...
  By Faith Merino
  

• Spotify purchases music discovery engine The Echo Nest

  The Echo Nest API will remain open to developers

  The music streaming space is all about getting the right music to the right people at the right time. That is where a company like The Echo Nest comes in. It is a music intelligence company used by many ...
  By Steven Loeb
  
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