Welcome back to StartupDigest Social, the members-only guide to what you need to read in the social media industry every week.
 
This week’s edition focuses on how Spotify’s business works, Facebook introducing its application for Apple’s iPad, Zynga revealing more details about its upcoming initial public offering, and Microsoft appearing to be readying the formal launch of a Bing-branded daily deals website.

 

What You Need to Read This Week

How Spotify’s Business Works
By Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Business Insider

Attempting to disrupt illegal downloading isn’t as easy as it looks.

 

Finally, it’s arrived!

 

Zynga steps up its game this week, with its first big press event.

 

Microsoft has a daily deal site too.

 

 

Welcome back to StartupDigest Social, the members-only guide to what you need to read in the social media industry every week.This week’s edition focuses on a few stories that illustrate the man that Steve Jobs was, ad revenue from social networks worldwide being expected to reach $5.54 billion this year, LinkedIn finally spending some of the cash it raised when it made its stock market debut earlier this year, and Twitter officially opening the doors of its New York office.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

By Jay Yarow, Business Insider

A collection of excellent pieces written in memory of the late Steve Jobs, a man who changed the world many times over.

Global Ad Revenues From Social Networks To Reach $5.4B In 2011; $10B In 2013

By Leena Rao, TechCrunch

Very bullish growth expectations for the social ad market.

LinkedIn starts spending its IPO cash — very, very slowly

By Colleen Taylor, GigaOM

The professional social network (post-IPO) goes shopping.

Twitter’s NYC office opens with Mayor Bloomberg on hand

By Sean Ludwig, VentureBeat

The NYC tech scene just got a big name addition.

Welcome back to StartupDigest Social, the members-only guide to what you need to read in the social media industry every week.

This week’s edition focuses on Facebook’s Spartan and iPad projects being set to launch early next week, how Zynga makes money, online ads beginning to enter the financial big leagues, and Spotify now requiring new users to log into the music service through Facebook.

 

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

 

The Planets Are Aligned: Facebook’s Spartan And iPad Projects Set To Launch Early Next Week

By MG Siegler, TechCrunch

Facebook looks ready to break away from the mobile chains of the mighty Apple.

 

How Zynga Makes Money

By Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Business Insider

A high-level breakdown of how Zynga makes all that money.

 

Online Ads Are Finally Making Serious Cash

By Colleen Taylor, GigaOM

Excellent news for any social startup involved in the online advertising business.

 

Spotify’s New Deal: No Facebook, No Music

By Peter Kafka, AllThingsD

Fresh off f8, Spotify is making more bold moves.

 

Welcome back to StartupDigest Social, the members-only guide to what you need to read in the social media industry every week.This week’s edition focuses on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showing off a huge change to the service: Timeline, the daily deals industry starting to shake out, Spotify having more than 2 million paying subscribers in eight countries, and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings taking the stage at f8 to talk about the company’s new Facebook app.

 

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

At The Intersection Between Design And Data, Facebook Timeline Was Born
By MG Siegler, TechCrunch

At the heart of the huge f8 announcements were the efforts produced by the acqui-hires Facebook has been making over the last 12 months.

The great Daily Deals shake-out of 2011.

The guys behind the social music revolution are already minting serious coin and now that they are integrated with Facebook who knows how big they can go.

F8 just keeps on giving as Netflix is the next company to become integrated with Facebook’s new “watch, listen, read” mantra.

 

This week’s edition focuses on Facebook’s Product Director for Ads Gokul Rajaram explaining that majority of page views have social ads or sponsored stories on them, Electronic Arts‘ newest social game, The Sims Social, passing social gaming supergiant Zynga’s Farmville, Instagram announcing it now has 9 million users, and Conde Nast spinning out Reddit as a standalone operation.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Most Of The Page Views On Facebook Contain Social Ad Formats
By Leena Rao, TechCrunch

Great video highlight of Facebook’s Product Director for Ads Gokul Rajaram breaking down how social the ads’ product has become.

EA’s The Sims Social breezes past Zynga’s Farmville
By Matthew Lynley, VentureBeat

EA closes the gap with Zynga in the social game arms race.

How Instagram Is The Future Of Startups
By Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, Business Insider

Why lean is the new craze of the startup world.

Conde Nast Spins Out Reddit, Without Letting Go
By Peter Kafka, AllThingsD

Interested to see where Reddit goes from here.

 

Welcome back to StartupDigest Social, the members-only guide to what you need to read in the social media industry every week.This week’s edition focuses on new financial details indicating that Facebook’s situation is more than good enough to go public, Google acquiring Zagat, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo revealing the company’s active users, and Google shutting down Aardvark.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Woah, Facebook has huge 30 percent profit margins – IPO is looking pretty good
By Tom Cheredar, VentureBeat

A window into the possible financial numbers behind Facebook’s ad and credits business.

Google Buys Zagat Review Service to Target Local Businesses
By Brian Womack and Danielle Kucera, Businessweek

Google buys Zagat?

Twitter CEO: We have 100M active users
By Erica Ogg, GigaOM

Dick Costolo gives us the straight goods on how Twitter is doing.

Google Kills Aardvark, Which It Bought For $50 Million Last Year
By Matt Rosoff, Business Insider

First Slide, now Aardvark, I guess we can assume almost every social startup Google has ever bought will eventually be shut down. Who is next?

 

Welcome back to StartupDigest Social, the members-only guide to what you need to read in the social media industry every week.This week’s edition focuses on Facebook launching its long-rumored music service at its annual developer conference f8 this year, Zynga debuting Adventure World (its newest Facebook game), Twitter’s ad business, and the future of group buying.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Facebook to launch music service at f8

By Matthew Lynley, VentureBeat

Brand advertising, social games and now music. Will f8 gives us a window into Facebook’s next billion dollar revenue stream?

Zynga Debuts Most Feature-Rich, Multi-Dimensional Facebook Game To Date: Adventure World

By Leena Rao, TechCrunch

With a fall IPO on the horizon, Zynga needs another blockbuster hit to keep pace with its huge expectations.

Twitter Ramps Up Its Ad Plan Again, With Ads You Haven’t Asked To See

By Peter Kafka, AllThingsD

Twitter slowly adds more ads.

Special Report: The Future Of Group Buying

By Dan Frommer, Business Insider

A comprehensive report that highlights the more subtle aspects of the daily deal business and why you should still be bullish about the industry.

This week’s edition focuses on Groupon CEO and co-founder Andrew Mason taking up a pen to counter critics of the social buying service, Google bringing the hammer down on Slide, an opinion piece on Quora announcing that Topics (collections of questions and answers on Quora) will soon have locations associated with them, and blogging startup Tumblr being close to raising between $75 and $100 million, with an incredible $800 million valuation.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Exclusive: Groupon’s Mason Tells Troops in Feisty Internal Memo: “It Looks Good.”
By Kara Swisher, AllThingsD

Groupon pushes back against recent speculation and criticisms from the press.

Bloody Thursday: Google Deadpools All Slide Products Except One

By MG Siegler, TechCrunch

$200 million later and Slide is no more.

TechCrunch is Wrong: Here’s the Real Location Opportunity for Quora

By Marshall Kirkpatrick, ReadWriteWeb

Interesting opinion of how Quora can take itself to the next level with mobile.

Tumblr on verge of raising up to $100M with massive $800M valuation

By Sean Ludwig, VentureBeat

Huge new funding for Tumblr on the horizon?

 

 

This week’s edition focuses on some newspaper and media sites seeing a big traffic boost from implementing Facebook comments, Activision being skeptical of the numbers being put forth for competitors like Zynga and Rovio, an interview with one of Silicon Valley’s best known entrepreneurs and investors Reid Hoffman, and Facebook trying to create some sort of Android-based “Facebook phone.”

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Handing comments over to Facebook is a double-edged sword
By Mathew Ingram, GigaOM

Facebook’s continued push against the anonymous web.

Activision: Social Game Company Valuations “Out Of Whack”
By Devin Coldewey, TechCrunch

One major game company is not into the social/mobile hype…

Reid Hoffman Talks About LinkedIn and VC Life and Gives Five Tips to Start-Ups (Video)
By Kara Swisher, AllThingsD

Reid Hoffman knows a thing or two about startups.

Time For Facebook To Buy WebOS From HP For A Couple Bucks
By Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider

Google’s acquisition of Motoralla this week has given Facebook another great reason to launch their own mobile OS.

 

 

This week’s edition focuses on bringing games to Google+, Facebook announcing its own game enhancements, the reality that most startups don’t succeed, and the British government saying it’s considering shutting down access to social networks in the wake of the riots.

 

 

What You Need to Read This Week

Google Wastes No Time Putting Games On Google+: Angry Birds, Bejeweled, Zynga On Board
By MG Siegler, TechCrunch

Google makes the first strike in the platform wars.

Facebook strikes back at Google with its own game enhancements
By Dean Takahashi, TechCrunch

Facebook comes back swinging!

What Kinds Of Silicon Valley Companies Are Dying Right Now?
By Matt Rosoff, Business Insider

Interesting opinion piece on the other side of the current social web boom.

Blaming the tools: Britain proposes a social-media ban
By Mathew Ingram, GigaOM

UK government takes extreme measures to quell riots.