WebProNews

Google Puts Analysts' Targets, Recession In Rearview Mirror

Experts had high expectations heading into Google's third quarter earnings report, but that was no problem for the search giant as it beat estimates in almost every way.  Google's stock is now heading up in after-hours trading. 

Expectations High Regarding Google's Q3 Report

In about 74 hours' time, Google is supposed to announce its third quarter financial results.  Holding a sort of countdown seems appropriate, too, as a lot of analysts and onlookers expect that the figures will be worth celebrating. There's something to be said for precedent, first of all; since Google's IPO in 2004, it's been very rare for the search giant to not make a positive quarterly report.  A quick glance at how Google's stock has performed over the past three months also proves that the company has done all right in recent days. 

MySpace Names First Chief Financial Officer

When News Corp. acquired MySpace in 2005, it paid $580 million, and all sorts of large figures (the $900 million Google ad deal, for example) have been attached to the social network since.  However, it's never had a chief financial officer, and this morning, MySpace changed that.

Digital Sky Buying More Facebook Shares

Two helpings of Facebook shares apparently weren't enough.  Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies has gone back to the well for a third time, spending perhaps $100 million to buy still more shares in the social networking company.

New Forecast Downplays Importance Of Mobile Ads

Google and Yahoo may not want to count on their interest in the mobile market paying off anytime soon.  A Bernstein analyst has forecast that, even by the time 2013 wraps up, mobile ads still won't generate much in the way of income for either company.

eBay CEOs Slammed For Compensation Excess

eBay investors who are wondering where their money's gone may be within their rights to hit up former CEO Meg Whitman and current chief exec John Donahoe for a few bucks.  This morning, Eric Jackson outlined some questionable compensation strategies that have seen both individuals take home a lot of money and also use a large amount for personal travel expenses.

Online Advertising is Having a Big Year

Things are looking great for the online advertising industry. Several recent reports share data that is quite optimistic for the industry as a whole. eMarketer points to research from GroupM, which claims that digital spending will be at 17% of total US ad spending in 2010. This would be an increase from 15.4% this year and 13.9% in 2008. GroupM also predicts 4% growth in US online ad spending in 2009, to $22.77 billion.

Google's Financials Praised Yet Again

Don't be surprised if you get a sense of dj vu while reading this article; except for a few details, the development it covers is the same as something that happened last week.  An RBC analyst has essentially followed in the footsteps of a Barclays analyst and improved his forecast for Google's stock.

Twitter Traffic Slows as Money Increases

You might say Twitter is "in the money." As WebProNews previously reported, Twitter has been raising funds at a $1 billion valuation. Twitter CEO Evan Williams wrote on the Twitter Blog today: There's a lot of talk today about our financing. Yesterday we closed a significant round of funding with a group of investment firms that we're excited to publicly thank: Insight Venture Partners, T. Rowe Price, Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Morgan Stanley.

Barclays Analyst Upgrades Google

Twitter's financial affairs may be receiving a lot of attention today, but at least one analyst hasn't forgotten about the search and advertising giant we all usually watch.  In fact, Doug Anmuth of Barclays Capital decided to upgrade his estimates for Google this morning. Anmuth's price target is now set at $575.00, which would represent an increase of about 16.2 percent over Google's current standing at $494.97.  That's a nice gain, especially given the still-iffy state of the overall economy.