For anyone who ever wondered what a real home constructed by Facebook would be like there is now an infographic that imagines just this.

It was created in light of Facebook’s announcement last week about Facebook Home, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg says is designed to put “people first instead of apps”. Read More »

By now, we don’t need to explain the value of social media. Social networks have attracted billions of users who log in to participate in discussions, share life experiences, and engage with the content their friends and acquaintances offer up.

In turn, they’ve attracted marketing spend with promises of audience targeting well beyond that found offline. There’s no question that social networks are worth our attention.

The real question is: where will that attention focus next in a rapidly changing landscape? Read More »

Almost a year after it pulled its $10m ad budget from Facebook General Motors is returning. This was a huge story at the time for Facebook and rocked confidence in the social network.

It is big news that GM is back and its stock got a lift on the back of it rising to $27.3.

GM has said that Chevrolet will be the first of its brands to advertise on Facebook again. It is very important for Facebook and will bolster confidence in it as an advertising platform – even if Sir Martin Sorrell insists  it is not (an idea rejected by agencies). Read More »

Facebook has released its first TV ad to promote its Facebook Home software on Android, which it announced at a launch event last week.

The ad, which was created by Widen + Kennedy and only its second to date, features a rather surreal set of events where a traveller boarding a plane sees his photos come to life.

Sunbathers reading magazines are discovered inside the hand luggage compartments, a drag queen cabaret appears from the attendant’s service cart, the traveller’s nephew pops up covered in chocolate cake, and cats leap from seat to seat. Read More »

It’s the ongoing question with social media – how do you make a big network earn money and how do you regulate celebrities bypassing regulations to promote products?

Nowhere is this issue more pertinent right now than on Facebook’s $1bn acquisition Instagram, which still does not feature advertising anywhere on the network.

In fact, the problem is even greater than that, as celebrities and brands seek to use the popular platform for their own ad deals, and cut out the Facebook middleman. Read More »

Facebook has introduced a charging scale for users who want to contact people outside their circle of friends, with prices rising to as much as £11 to contact celebrity accounts.

The feature is still in its test phase. It will allow users to bypass the often overlooked “other” mailbox folder and send messages directly to a user’s inbox for a fee – a standard rate of 71p. Read More »

Loveflutter is a new dating website that uses social networks and Google’s knowledge graph to help you find your perfect match, and make that awkward first date just a bit less painful.

We’ve all had it – you turn up on a date with a person you’ve met on or offline, sit down, and realise you have no idea what you are going to talk about. Loveflutter seeks to end that.
Read More »

On the day that Facebook is expected to announce the Facebook phone, it is being predicted that almost 30% of all mobile display ads will go to the social network this year.

Facebook, which is the number-two mobile ad destination in the US, accounted for 9.5% of mobile ad revenues in 2012 and is expected to take 13.2% this year, according to eMarketer. Read More »

The long-rumoured Facebook phone, first reported almost 18 months ago, is no longer a rumour and could be announced this Thursday.

Facebook has invited reporters to an event at its headquarters on 4 April^, with an invitation that reads, “Come See Our New Home On Android”.

According to various reports, Facebook is to announce a modified version of the Android operating system with Facebook functionality embedded in it and running on an HTC handset. Read More »