Facebook opens doors to real-money gambling in Britain

In this photo illustration, a Facebook logo on a computer screen is seen through a magnifying glass held by a woman in Bern May 19, 2012. Picture taken May 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Thomas Hodel

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Aug 7, 2012 2:40pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will allow users in Britain to wager real money on its service, opening its doors to gambling for the first time as revenue growth slows at the world's No. 1 social network.

On Tuesday, Gamesys, an independent gaming company, launched a version of online Bingo for Facebook users in Britain who are at least 18, and which the company said will pay winners real money. Gamesys also announced plans to offer virtual slots gambling on Facebook.

Facebook confirmed that it is partnering with Gamesys to allow gambling on its service.

"Real money gaming is a popular and well-regulated activity in the UK and we are allowing a partner to offer their games to adult users on the Facebook platform in a safe and controlled manner," Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook spokeswoman Linda Griffin said there are no current plans to offer gambling in any other countries or with any other partners besides Gamesys.

She declined to disclose what portion of the revenue Facebook would take from the gambling on the Gamesys games, but acknowledged that there was a revenue sharing agreement between Facebook and Gamesys.

Facebook takes a 30 percent share of revenue for transactions on non-gambling games on its service, such as when users purchase virtual tractors and seeds in Zynga Inc's popular Farmville game.

Facebook, which makes the majority of its money from online advertising, has seen its revenue growth slow sharply during the past year. In the second quarter, Facebook reported revenue growth of 32 percent, down sharply from more than 100 percent growth it delivered at the same time last year.

Shares of Facebook were down 3 percent at $21.26 on Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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GM talking with Facebook about advertising again: sources

A giant ''like'' icon made popular by Facebook is seen at the company's new headquarters in Menlo Park, California January 11, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

By Ben Klayman and Gerry Shih

DETROIT/SAN FRANCISO | Tue Jul 3, 2012 4:47pm EDT

DETROIT/SAN FRANCISO (Reuters) - General Motors Co and Facebook Inc are discussing the return of the U.S. automaker as a paid advertiser almost two months after GM said it would stop running ads on the social networking website, sources close to the situation said on Tuesday.

Although the two companies remain far from reaching an agreement, Facebook executives have assiduously courted the world's largest carmaker. One source said Facebook was not pushing for GM's immediate return, but offered to provide data showing the effectiveness of the website's paid ads.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg sent GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson an e-mail urging the company to reconsider its decision shortly after the third-largest U.S. advertiser pulled its ads in May, a move that undermined confidence in Facebook on the eve of its highly-anticipated initial public offering, according to sources who were not permitted to speak publicly because the talks are ongoing.

At a global advertising conference in Cannes, France, last month, Facebook global sales head Carolyn Everson sought out GM's global marketing chief Joel Ewanick to continue face-to-face talks, leaving open the option of GM returning to the fold, sources said. Facebook offered the same information it provides to all of its big advertisers, but did not offer any concessions.

GM and Facebook declined comment. The news was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Three days before Facebook's May 18 IPO GM said it was dropping paid ads on the website because they had little impact on consumers.

The decision by the carmaker, which spent $10 million on Facebook in 2011, was the first highly visible crack in Facebook's strategy and underscored doubts about whether advertising on Facebook works better than traditional media.

GM emphasized at the time that it would retain its Facebook pages, for which it paid no fees, to market its cars and trucks.

People familiar with a meeting that took place before GM's announcement in May said Facebook officials failed to convince GM's top marketing executives of the value of Facebook's paid ads.

GM, which ranks behind Procter & Gamble Co and AT&T Inc in advertising spending, spent $1.1 billion on U.S. ads last year, according to ad-tracking firm Kantar Media. Overall, GM's spending on advertising rose 5.2 percent last year to $4.48 billion, according to the automaker's annual report.

It spent about $271 million on online display and search ads excluding Facebook advertising, Kantar said.

GM previously said it spends about $40 million on its Facebook presence, but only about $10 million of that was paid to Facebook for advertising. The remaining budget covers the creation of content and the advertising and media agencies involved, the newspaper said.

GM also announced in May it would not advertise in next year's Super Bowl because it was too expensive. Ewanick has led a consolidation of GM's ad agencies globally that is expected to save the Detroit company $2 billion over five years.

(Reporting By Ben Klayman in Detroit and Gerry Shih in San Francisco; Editing by Alden Bentley)

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Facebook Q2 earnings results scheduled for July 26

Monitors show the value of the Facebook, Inc. stock during morning trading at the NASDAQ Marketsite in New York June 4, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Jun 29, 2012 5:21pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) will report its second-quarter financial results after the market closes on July 26, the company announced on Friday.

The earnings results will be Facebook's first quarterly report since its initial public offering in May. Shares of the world's No.1 social networking company remain below its $38 offering price, closing Friday's regular trading session at $31.095.

Analysts, on average, expect Facebook to generate a profit of 12 cents a share on revenue of $1.15 billion. Thomson Reuters StarMine's SmartEstimates, a model that rewards accuracy and timeliness of analysts' predictions, suggests that Facebook will post earnings of 10.4 cents per share.

Facebook's announcement of its second-quarter earnings report did not specify which company executives would participate in the customary conference call with analysts that follows the release of results.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Facebook expands ad business to Zynga's website

The Facebook logo is shown at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California May 26, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO | Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:40pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc has begun showing ads on Zynga Inc's website, the first time the company has distributed ads beyond the borders of its own website and raising the possibility that Facebook could eventually launch an online advertising network.

"People may now see ads and sponsored stories from Facebook on Zynga.com," said Facebook spokesperson Tucker Bounds. He said that Facebook does not share information about people or advertisers with Zynga, and that Facebook's advertisers do not have any new "targeting criteria."

Asked if Facebook was planning to create a full-fledged online ad network that distributes ads on other sites, Bounds said "we are only showing ads on Zynga right now."

Zynga was not immediately available for comment.

Shares of Facebook, the world's No.1 social network, were up 4.4 percent to $33.25 in mid-afternoon trading on Friday.

Facebook's stock has been under pressure since its initial public offering last month, due in part to concerns about the company's slowing revenue growth.

Facebook made most of its $3.7 billion in revenue last year from ads that appear on its site.

An ad network could significantly increase the reach of Facebook ads, offering an important new source of revenue growth.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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Yahoo, Facebook seek more time for settlement talks

The loading screen of the Facebook application on a mobile phone is seen in this photo illustration taken in Lavigny May 16, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Valentin Flauraud

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