WebProNews » LinkedIn

LinkedIn Provides More Insight into Who’s Looking at Your Profile

Josh Wolford — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:30:25 +0000

LinkedIn is rolling out an improved system for analyzing who is checking out your profile that adds new insights to both basic and premium LinkedIn members.

“Natural curiosity entices many people to wonder, ‘Who’s been viewing my profile?’ each day on LinkedIn. Today, we’re rolling out a new, simplified look and feel for Who’s Viewed Your Profile to make it easier for you to get a snapshot of who, what, and how you are being discovered on LinkedIn,” says LinkedIn’s Udi Milo.

Basic LinkedIn members will be able to see exactly how often people are viewing their profile over the past few weeks, and well as how many times they appeared in a LinkedIn search (and the percent change from last week).

But it’s premium members that will get the most from this upgrade. They’ll be able to get a detailed list of which keywords led to them in search, as well as which industries their profile viewers come from. Premium members will also see a geographic breakdown of those profile views. Of course, they’ll also be able to see more of the profile viewers – basic members aren’t able to see everyone who’s viewed their profile.

LinkedIn has been on an update kick as of late. Last week they finally allowed users to add photos and presentations to updates, and they also unveiled two-step verification for better account security.

LinkedIn Unveils Two-Step Verification on the Heels of Twitter

Josh Wolford — Fri, 31 May 2013 16:25:26 +0000

Following Twitter’s recent announcement, LinkedIn has just launched their own two-step verification feature.

“At LinkedIn, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the security of our members’ accounts. All LinkedIn accounts are already protected by a series of automatic checks that are designed to thwart unauthorized sign-in attempts. Now, we are introducing a new optional feature that adds another layer of security to your LinkedIn sign-in: two-step verification.

Most internet accounts that become compromised are illegitimately accessed from a new or unknown computer (or device). Two-step verification helps address this problem by requiring you to type a numeric code when logging in from an unrecognized device for the first time. This code will be sent to your phone via SMS. When enabled, two-step verification makes it more difficult for unauthorized users to access your account, requiring them to have both your password and access to your mobile phone,” says LinkedIn’s Vicente Silveira.

If you wish to turn on LinkedIn’s two-step verification, just go to your settings and click on the “Account” tab. From there, click on “Manage security settings.” You’ll see an option to turn it on there.

Two-step verification, while far from perfect, adds an extra layer to your account security. It’s becoming a popular option for companies like Google, Apple, Twitter, and now, LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Lets You Add Photos, Presentations to Updates

Josh Wolford — Thu, 30 May 2013 15:52:24 +0000

LinkedIn has just taken a significant step in making the homepage stream much more interesting. Today, they’ve announced the addition of photos, documents, and presentations to updates.

“Whether it’s a thought provoking presentation about the future of big data or it’s a picture of an inspirational quote, or perhaps it’s an infographic showing the top trends impacting your industry, the possibilities are endless for what you can share on LinkedIn to add a richer and more visual component to your professional discussions.”

Yes, your stream is about to fill up with photos:

Earlier this month, LinkedIn began to allow users to adds photos, videos, and other rich media to their profiles, but this is the first time that it’s come to the homepage.

LinkedIn says that the new sharing feature will begin to roll out globally today and will complete in the next few weeks. Once you gain access to the new functionality, you should see a little dialog box at the upper right-hand corner of your share box that asks you to “add a little something to your update.”

“We also introduced the ability to directly upload images and files to 2.9 million Company Page admins, so you can expect to see richer and more engaging visual content flowing across your LinkedIn experience. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing what you have to share and say about your professional universe through pictures, slides and more,” says LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Gets A New Navigation Bar

Chris Crum — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:38:29 +0000

LinkedIn continues to redesign various functions of its site on both desktop and mobile devices. Today, the company introduced a new navigation bar, which a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews is “designed to make it quicker and easier for members to find what they are looking for.”

“Over the last year and half we’ve had the chance to learn quite a bit from you about the types of changes that add the most value to your daily professional life, and we’ve brought some of these learnings to the new navigation,” says LinkedIn’s Amy Parnell. ” When approaching this re-design, we analyzed years of navigation data to determine which links were adding the most value for you, and which could be removed to create a more focused and streamlined experience. We also observed how useful Search was as a productivity tool, and aligned the search box with the results page, for fine-tuned search efficiency.”

“As you explore the new navigation bar, you will notice a few visually striking differences, including a simplified menu of tabs to help you quickly and easily locate the features and content that are of most value to you,” she adds. “We have also moved the search bar front and center to make easier than ever to discover and find what you’re looking for on LinkedIn.”

Settings can be found when you hover over your profile picture in the upper right.

The new navigation will be rolling out to English language users over the next month.

LinkedIn: Prostitutes, Peddle Your Wares Somewhere Else

Amanda Crum — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:47:16 +0000

LinkedIn has recently updated their terms of use policies to make it clear that they don’t want prostitutes advertising their “skills” on the social networking site.

LinkedIn, which boasts over 225 million users, has become a huge source for employers and those looking to boost their careers in the past few years. Networking used to consist of mixers and business cards; now, the site makes it easier than ever to find the right job or hire. Naturally, prostitutes want in on it.

The company has made it explicitly clear that they don’t want their site to be used for illegal activity and revised their policy to read: “Users must not create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution”. That includes anyone living in a state where prostitution is legal (we’re looking at you, Nevada). The full revision reads that no one may:

Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that, even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

The company made the changes after realizing that people were being endorsed for prostitution on the site and getting away with it because of the way their terms of use was worded.

“In the old [user agreement], we had it covered by saying that one could not use a profile to promote anything ‘unlawful,’” a LinkedIn rep told Mashable. “However, in some countries, that activity actually is lawful.”

There were several users promoting their services on the site as of this week; take a look here to see a few.

LinkedIn Tells Prostitutes to Stop Using the Service, Even If It’s Legal in Their Country

Josh Wolford — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:46:40 +0000

It appears that professional escorts have been using LinkedIn to make professional connections, and the company wants to put a stop to that. LinkedIn has just updated their terms of service and user agreement to add a good amount of new language, but one particular clause is rather interesting. Apparently, LinkedIn doesn’t want you using the service for “escort services or prostitution,” even if such activity is legal in your area.

Here’s the relevant addition to LinkedIn’s terms:

Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that, even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

Making the waters murkier, you can actually endorse users for “prostitution” on LinkedIn:

Other skills and expertise “related” to prostitution that LinkedIn offers are “extortion,” “rape,” “forgery,” “robbery” and more criminal activities. It’s clear that these “skills” are not there to endorse the commission of said activities, but for fileds related to those activities like law or social work. But still, you can technically be endorsed for prostitution on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn has always banned the promotion of illegal activities on their network, but it appears that they felt they needed to clarify their terms for legal activities that they find unsavory.

Sorry, escorts. It looks like you’ll need to find another way to make new contacts.

LinkedIn Adds Accessibility Features

Chris Crum — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:10:38 +0000

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, LinkedIn announced a few things it’s been doing to make the social network more accessible. These include improved site navigation, improvements to interaction with the service, and the addition of image descriptions.

“What started out as a few passion projects by members of LinkedIn’s web development team has now become the formation of our Accessibility Web Developer Task Force, dedicated to making LinkedIn user experiences inclusive and accessible,” says LinkedIn’s Sarah Clatterbuck (pictured).

As far as the navigation goes, she says, “Members who navigate with a keyboard can now better perceive where they are on a LinkedIn page and save time in moving between professional content and features.”

Additionally, realtime notifications are available to those navigating by keyboard, and actions like sending messages, and interacting with dialog boxes can be done quickly and easily with the keyboard or screen reader.

Image alt text is now being employed in all major areas of the site.

The company says it is currently working on an in-page navigation tool to help keyboard and screen reader users better navigate long pages.

Now LinkedIn Wants You To Follow Channels

Chris Crum — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:09:57 +0000

A little over two years ago, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, the company’s version of a social news destination. It’s been fairly popular, and last year, it got a design refresh. Today, LinkedIn announced another one.

According to Business Insider, LinkedIn is utilizing its Pulse team to build similar experiences for its mobile apps. LinkedIn announced the Pulse acquisition last month, paying $90 million.

When asked about Pulse’s role in the new experience, a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews, “Pulse is not integrated as part of the updates we announced this morning for LinkedIn Today. The existing Pulse apps are being supported as a standalone experience, as the integrated Pulse and LinkedIn teams work together to build future generations of professional content consumption products.”

The new design includes personalized content channels, new ways to sort content, and supposedly more relevant content, including more relevant emails. Perhaps it won’t be all emails about Richard Branson anymore (though he is prominently featured in the intro graphic for LinkedIn’s slideshow on the new design):

Refreshed LinkedIn Today: Discover Content in Channels from LinkedIn

“Through channels you can follow broader topic areas that cross multiple industries and professional sectors,” explains LinkedIn’s Kevin Gu in a blog post. “By following channels you will have access to timely and relevant professional news and insights that can help you stay one step ahead and be in the know on what’s trending in your professional network. Channels represent a more comprehensive way to discover, share, and engage with high-quality Influencer posts, top news sources, and SlideShare content — all in one place.”

Users can follow over 20 different channels (Your Career, Economy, Social Impact, Big Ideas and Innovation, Higher Education, etc.). Naturally, content from the channels you follow will appear in your stream. LinkedIn says it will be adding more channels in the future.

Users can sort by “Your News,” “Influencer Posts,” “All Influencers,” and “All Channels”. The emails will provide overviews of top Influencer posts, trending professional news, and Slideshare content.

The new design and features are rolling out this week in English.

LinkendIn has 225 million users. Earlier this week, it celebrated its tenth birthday. Last week, they announced their Q1 earnings, including a 72% increase in revenue year-over-year, though the forecast for Q2 disappointed Wall Street.

LinkedIn Is Ten Years Old

Chris Crum — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:16:29 +0000

LinkedIn turned ten years old on Sunday. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade, but believe it or not, the professional social network launched all the way back in 2003. It has come a long way in the meantime.

The company has put together an interesting visual timeline that you can peruse here. It begins in 2002 when Hoffman recruited a team of old colleagues from SocialNet and PayPal to work on the idea that would eventually become LinkedIn. In the early days, they were sometimes getting as few as 20 signups a day.

In 2009, Jeff Weiner joined as President, and would then become CEO, a title he currently holds. Two years later came the IPO.

Reid Hoffman writes on the LinkedIn blog:

Ten years ago, I co-founded LinkedIn in my living room with the mission of connecting the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. Inspired by the invaluable role relationships played in our own careers, we launched LinkedIn with the tagline “Relationships matter.”

At the end of our first month, we had 4,500 members in the network. 10 years later, we’re honored and humbled that so many of you have made LinkedIn a part of your daily professional lives.

Today, hundreds of millions of professionals around the world are turning to LinkedIn to connect with each other, manage their identities, get insights they need to be great at what they do, and find their dream jobs. I’m continually inspired by our members’ career aspirations and achievements.

LinkedIn currently boasts 225 million members, and says it is growing by a rate of two members every second.

The company’s stock is up 0.23% in pre-market trading.

Take a look at the evolution of the homepage:

Evolution of the LinkedIn Homepage from LinkedIn

LinkedIn Revenue Up 72%, Forecast Not So Great

Chris Crum — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:54:19 +0000

LinkedIn just reported its earnings for Q1, with revenue of $324.7 million for the quarter, up 72% year-over-year. Net income was $22.6 million, up from $5 million in the year-ago quarter.

CEO Jeff Weiner said, “Q1 was a strong quarter for LinkedIn with member engagement and financial results reaching record levels. We remained focused on delivering great products that increasingly make LinkedIn the essential daily resource for global professionals.”

Despite the revenue and earnings, LinkedIn stock is plummeting due to the company’s forecast, which didn’t meet Wall Street expectations.

Here’s the release in its entirety:

LinkedIn reports financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 2, 2013 – LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, with more than 225 million members, reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2013:

Revenue for the first quarter was $324.7 million, an increase of 72% compared to $188.5 million in the first quarter of 2012.

Net income for the first quarter was $22.6 million, compared to net income of $5.0 million for the first quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income for the first quarter was $52.4 million, compared to $16.9 million for the first quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP measures exclude tax-affected stock-based compensation expense and tax-affected amortization of acquired intangible assets.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $83.4 million, or 26% of revenue, compared to $38.1 million for the first quarter of 2012, or 20% of revenue.

GAAP diluted EPS for the first quarter was $0.20; Non-GAAP diluted EPS for the first quarter was $0.45.

“Q1 was a strong quarter for LinkedIn with member engagement and financial results reaching record levels,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “We remained focused on delivering great products that increasingly make LinkedIn the essential daily resource for global professionals.”

First Quarter Financial Details and Operating Summary

Talent Solutions: Revenue from Talent Solutions products totaled $184.3 million, an increase of 80% compared to the first quarter of 2012. Talent Solutions revenue represented 57% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 54% in the first quarter of 2012.

Marketing Solutions: Revenue from Marketing Solutions products totaled $74.8 million, an increase of 56% compared to the first quarter of 2012. Marketing Solutions revenue represented 23% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013, compared to 25% in the first quarter of 2012.

Premium Subscriptions: Revenue from Premium Subscriptions products totaled $65.6 million, an increase of 73% compared to the first quarter of 2012. Premium Subscriptions represented 20% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013, consistent with the first quarter of 2012.

Revenue from the U.S. totaled $201.4 million, and represented 62% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013. Revenue from international markets totaled $123.3 million, and represented 38% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013.

Revenue from the field sales channel totaled $184.0 million, and represented 57% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013. Revenue from the online, direct sales channel totaled $140.7 million, and represented 43% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2013.

GAAP net income for the first quarter was $22.6 million, compared to net income of $5.0 million for the first quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income for the first quarter was $52.4 million, compared to $16.9 million in the first quarter of 2012.

Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $83.4 million, or 26% of revenue, compared to $38.1 million for the first quarter of 2012, or 20% of revenue.

GAAP diluted EPS was $0.20 based on 115.4 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding compared to $0.04 for the first quarter of 2012 based on 111.3 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.45 based on 115.4 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding compared to $0.15 for the first quarter of 2012 based on 111.3 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding.

“Our continued focus on our operating priorities yielded strong results in the first quarter, resulting in record levels of revenue, profitability, and cash flow,” said Steve Sordello, CFO of LinkedIn. “We remain encouraged by the diversity of our business and size of our market opportunities, and we will continue to invest aggressively to realize LinkedIn’s long-term potential.”

For additional information, please see the “Selected Company Metrics and Financials” page on LinkedIn’s Investor Relations site.

First Quarter Highlights and Strategic Announcements

In the first quarter of 2013, LinkedIn:

Grew its member base to 218 million, and witnessed strong member growth through the quarter due to optimization initiatives. As a result, new sign ups increased to greater than two per second.

Introduced a new version of search, which streamlines the experience and unifies results across multiple types of content including people, companies, and jobs. Early use indicates members have responded with increased search utilization.

Improved its content offering for professionals by adding a number of Influencers including Mayor Bloomberg, Meg Whitman, Jack Welch, Jeff Immelt, and Martha Stewart. LinkedIn continues to take steps to become the definitive professional publishing platform.

Additionally, LinkedIn launched several new products since the quarter end including a new version of its smartphone applications; Contacts, a new contact management system on the web and iOS mobile devices; as well products that enhance LinkedIn’s content ecosystem including the ability for member to include rich media in LinkedIn profiles, and content channels to follow 20 different professional topics on LinkedIn. In April, the company also launched a redesigned version of Recruiter, its flagship Talent Solutions product platform.

Business Outlook

LinkedIn is providing guidance for the second quarter and full year of 2013:

Q2 2013 Guidance: Revenue is expected to range between $342 million and $347 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $77 million and $79 million. The company expects depreciation and amortization to be between $30 million and $32 million, and stock-based compensation to be between $49 million and $51 million.

Full Year 2013 Guidance: Revenue is revised upward by $20 million to range between $1.430 billion and $1.460 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is revised upward by $15 million to range between $330 million and $345 million. The company expects depreciation and amortization to be between $130 million and $135 million, and stock-based compensation to be between $190 million and $195 million.

Quarterly Conference Call

LinkedIn will host a webcast/conference call to discuss its first quarter 2013 financial results and business outlook today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Jeff Weiner and Steve Sordello will host the webcast, which can be viewed on the investor relations section of the LinkedIn website at

http://investors.linkedin.com/. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the company’s financial and operating results. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available on the website. For those without access to the Internet, a replay of the call will be available beginning at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time on May 2, 2013 through May 9 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. To listen to the telephone replay, call (855) 859-2056 within the US or (404) 537-3406 Internationally, access code 34761898.

Upcoming Events

Management will participate in upcoming financial Q&A discussions at industry events on May 16^th and 29^th, as well as June 4^th and 13^th. LinkedIn will furnish a link to these events on its investor relations website, http://investors.linkedin.com/ for both the live and archived webcasts.

About LinkedIn

Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. With more than 225 million members worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet. The company has a diversified business model with revenue coming from Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions and Premium Subscriptions products. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, LinkedIn has offices across the globe.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, the company uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP diluted EPS (collectively the “non-GAAP financial measures”). The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. The company believes that they provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.

The company excludes the following items from one or more of its non-GAAP measures:

Stock-based compensation. The company excludes stock-based compensation because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. The company further believes this measure is useful to investors in that it allows for greater transparency to certain line items in its financial statements and facilitates comparisons to competitors’ operating results.

Amortization of acquired intangible assets. The company excludes amortization of acquired intangible assets because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. In addition, excluding this item from various non-GAAP measures facilitates internal comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to competitors’ operating results.

Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. The company adjusts non-GAAP net income by including the income tax effects of excluding stock-based compensation and the amortization of acquired intangible assets. The company believes that the inclusion of the income tax effects provides additional transparency to the overall or “after tax” effects of excluding these items from non-GAAP net income.

For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the “Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Financial Measures” table in this press release. This accompanying table has more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures. Additionally, the company has not reconciled adjusted EBITDA guidance to net income guidance because it does not provide guidance for either other income (expense), net, or provision for income taxes, which are reconciling items between net income and adjusted EBITDA. As items that impact net income are out of the company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, the company is unable to provide such guidance. Accordingly, a reconciliation to net income is not available without unreasonable effort.

Safe Harbor Statement

“Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release and the accompanying conference call contain forward-looking statements about our products, including our investments in products, technology and other key strategic areas, certain non-financial metrics, such as member growth and engagement, and our expected financial metrics such as revenue, adjusted EBITDA, depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation for the second quarter of 2013 and the full fiscal year 2013. The achievement of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the company’s results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements the company makes.

The risks and uncertainties referred to above include – but are not limited to – risks associated with: our limited operating history in a new and unproven market; engagement of our members; the price volatility of our Class A common stock; general economic conditions; expectations regarding the return on our strategic investments; execution of our plans and strategies, including with respect to mobile products and features; security measures and the risk that they may not be sufficient to secure our member data adequately or that we are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of members to access our solutions; expectations regarding our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt existing technology and network infrastructure to ensure that our solutions are accessible at all times with short or no perceptible load times; our ability to maintain our rate of revenue growth and manage our expenses and investment plans; our ability to accurately track our key metrics internally; members and customers curtailing or ceasing to use our solutions; our core value of putting members first, which may conflict with the short-term interests of the business; privacy and changes in regulations in the United States, Europe or elsewhere, which could impact our ability to serve our members or curtail our monetization efforts; litigation and regulatory issues; increasing competition; our ability to manage our growth; our ability to recruit and retain our employees; the application of US and international tax laws on our tax structure and any changes to such tax laws; acquisitions we have made or may make in the future; and the dual class structure of our common stock.

Further information on these and other factors that could affect the company’s financial results is included in filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed for the year ended December 31, 2012, and additional information will also be set forth in our Form 10-Q that will be filed for the quarter ended March 31, 2013, which should be read in conjunction with these financial results. These documents are or will be available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Relations page of the company’s website athttp://investors.linkedin.com/. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of May 2, 2013, and LinkedIn undertakes no duty to update this information.