Google vs. Facebook: Ad Wars

According to researcher eMarketer, online ad spending in the U.S. will grow 23.3% this year to $39.5 billion. Double-digit growth is projected to continue till 2014, when online ad spending in the country is projected to reach $52.8 billion. The researcher estimates that by 2016, online ad spend will account for $62 billion. The ad spending boom is already stirring up an ad war among online giants.

>>>

Featured Videos

Twitter: Phenomenon, Yes. But A Sustainable Business?

Facebook’s IPO may be round the corner, but that is definitely not pushing Twitter into IPO mode. For now, Twitter seems to prefer to watch the market’s reaction to Facebook’s going public and focus on expanding their capabilities. Twitter has made several acquisitions as it builds up momentum for their own IPO expected next year.

>>>

Workday Challenges Oracle and SAP in Talent Management

Software-as-a-service based enterprise business services provider Workday is expected to hit the market with an IPO this year. A few analysts believe that Workday’s IPO may be more worth their while than that of other Internet giants like Facebook. I certainly believe this is an organization to watch. Workday operates in the cloud computing and SaaS markets, which are both high-growth areas. According to Forrester Research, cloud computing is projected to grow to $240 billion by 2020 from $40.7 billion in 2010. Gartner estimates the worldwide SaaS market will grow 17.9% this year to $14.5 billion and to $22.1 billion by 2015.

>>>

INRIX Riding High on Apps Using Traffic Data

According to a market research report released last year, World GPS Market Forecast to 2013, from 2011-2013 the shipment of global positioning system (GPS) devices is projected to grow at more than 20% to 900 million units. Growth is fueled by technology convergence that is enabling GPS services in smartphones and other consumer electronics such as cameras. The report estimates that the number of subscribers to GPS-enabled location-based services (LBS) will translate to a market opportunity of $10 billion by 2013. Within GPS devices, there is also strong growth among the number of navigation systems that receive traffic data. Strategy Analytics believes that the number of traffic-data-receiving navigation devices will grow from 8.5 million units in 2010 to 37.6 million in 2018.

>>>

Zulily Rides High on Flash Sales Trend in Kids Category

Many analysts believe that the future of e-commerce retail lies in flash sale shopping. The model was pioneered by Vente Privee in Europe and has gradually been adopted by e-commerce players worldwide. In a flash sale, an e-retailer offers products at big discounts for a limited time and at limited quantities. According to Experian Hitwise, within the U.S., visits to flash sales sites last year grew 109% over the year. In the U.S., the flash sales market is dominated by a mom-and-kid focused e-retailer, Zulily. Data show that Zulily.com leads the pack with a 16% share.

>>>

LivingSocial Looks Scattered

Last December, LivingSocial raised $176 million in a round of funding that pegged their valuation at $6 billion. Investors included Lightspeed Ventures, Amazon, and possibly JP Morgan Digital Growth Fund. Despite the injection of money, I maintain my skepticism about their outlandish valuations. The recently revealed Amazon results, which cite LivingSocial’s performance, do little to change my opinion.

>>>

Ancestry.com Taps Into a Deep-Rooted Passion

According to a survey by Harris Interactive, 87% of American adults are interested in learning about their family histories. Researchers have also notices that the majority of genealogy website users are women aged 45 or older. Further, a Bank of America report found that of the 9 million Internet users who identified genealogy as their core passion or hobby, 7.5 million were 45 years or older. Genealogy companies in the country are targeting that demographic, which in the U.S. includes more than 120 million people.

>>>

As IPO Approaches, Facebook Addresses Weaknesses

Social networking giant Facebook finally filed their much-anticipated S-1 in February 2012. Analysts believe that the stock will probably list next month. Facebook’s IPO will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker FB and is expected to raise $5 billion, pegging the company’s valuation at more than $100 billion. That would make their IPO the biggest in the history of Silicon Valley.

>>>

Demandware Riding High on IPO

Analysts estimate that global e-commerce revenues will grow from $316 billion in 2010 to $653 billion by 2015. Further, they estimate that the market for cloud-enabled e-commerce platform services will grow 21% annually from 2010-2015 to reach $11.3 billion, from $4.3 billion estimated in 2010. Counting on this growth, e-commerce platform services provider Demandware recently made their IPO.

>>>

Accenture Benefits from Very Strong Outsourcing Growth

According to research firm Information Services Group, for the quarter ended December 2011 markets saw strong growth in global outsourcing contracts. The total contract value (TCV) of contracts executed during the period grew 7% over the year to $26.4 billion. Growth was led by deals in the business process outsourcing (BPO) space and in the European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets. The TCV of contracts in 2011 grew 3% to $95 billion, the biggest increase since 2005. EMEA markets helped drive growth as full-year TCV for the region grew 27% to $55 billion. By segment, BPO contracts grew 32% over the year to $29 billion for the year 2011. However, contracting activity within the IT outsourcing (ITO) segment fell 6% over the year to $66 billion.

>>>