YELP
In-depth analysis and expert insight into the website that connects people with great local businesses.Automating the Herd Mentality
Investing social network Roboinvest now allows users to copy one another’s trades with a single click. They’ve prudently limited this to small dollar values, but it’s still a dangerous plan: market swings already tend to happen when investors overestimate the information content of others’ trades; letting them do this by default seems…
VCs as Lobbyists
One symptom of founders getting stronger relative to VCs is that VCs have been forced to expand their repertoire. YCombinator has an in-house designer, Sequoia has an in-house PR person, and of course many early-stage VCs are informal recruiters (in the sense that they find good employees for their hot startups, and…
Google Updates Google’s new privacy policy is now in effect. Expect the sky to fall, or for all of your ads to be slightly better-targeted. Danny Sullivan points out that although Google+’s numbers don’t look good, Google is forgoing lots of revenue to promote the service. That’s telling. This Google search screenshot is making the rounds. The…
Meanwhile, at Google
Congress is trying to figure out whether or not Google is a monopoly. This is some kind of high water mark. They’re pushing Google+ harder than any product since search, and it isn’t working.
The basic argument is that Google has the power to make or break businesses, and they tend to…
Netflix Splits DVDs and Streaming
Netflix has split its DVD business from its streaming business, perhaps in anticipation of spinning off one or the other. In the announcement, Netflix’s CEO specifically calls out AOL, which is facing exactly what he wants to avoid: half of the business belongs in some kind of asset-stripping private equity…
Baidu’s Cargo-Cult OS Strategy
Google’s move into operating systems makes sense: reducing Microsoft’s leverage over them, and increasing the aggregate number of Internet users are both great for their business, and they both directly benefit Google over competitors. None of those advantages really apply to Baidu’s decision to enter the OS market.
Fortunately, Baidu doesn’t…
You Like SEO More Than you Think
Seth Godin is dubious about SEO. But only when you call it “SEO.” When it’s “linkbait” he’s a big fan. Godin is a very smart guy, so just imagine what typical marketers and companies think.
A prediction: the most successful SEO-driven companies are the ones that can…
Zynga Delays IPO
Zynga is not likely to IPO on time, mostly due to the dicey market situation (though why they didn’t announce this during the diciness is a mystery). Dan Primack argues that it’s not a big deal.
Is Google+ an Identity Service?
According to BoingBoing, Eric Schmidt thinks so. If so, this is a more…
Skype Buys GroupMe
Skype has purchased group-texting service GroupMe for about $85mm, a nice exit for the year-and-a-half-old firm. It’s also an interesting combination: one of Skype’s big strengths is its peer-to-peer structure, which basically coopts users’ computers to keep things running smoothly. GroupMe uses Twilio, which is basically an API for anything a standard…
Quarterly Earnings Update
A few search- and social-driven companies have reported their earnings this quarter. An update:
Overstock.com had weak sales growth and lower gross margins, with a drop in sales and marketing expenses and an increase in technology spending. The press release has details. Early in the quarter, they were penalized by Google, which may be…
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