Google can’t be compared to Facebook because Google’s business is so diverse; Facebook doesn’t make money from as many sources as Google. Apple isn’t to the same extent as Google, but better than Facebook.
Unless Facebook plans on expanding somehow into something new then they won’t be in the same league as Google & Apple and don’t see much growth potential at this point. Sure they make a lot of money right now and it’s not going away anytime soon, but I need to see a reason why it’s going grow and expand before I buy and hold it for 5+ years.
I see this IPO as more of a way for them to cash in before they’re required by law to publicly disclose their financial information anyway due to their high number of private shareholders.
Google is still largely a one-horse company. The diversity of their business is a hindrence on their financial performance and stock price. Essentially, they make so much money on advertising that they can afford to buy all these companies and lose money in the short term for potential long term gain but it hasnt happened (think driverless car, google earth, street view etc.) Notice they missed their last earnings mark and the stock took a hit.
Android is growing rapidly but still not a notable share of their revenue, i think under 12% still. Youtube has taken billion in cash and is still only marginally profitable but that’s an uncertainty because they don’t fully disclose youtubes performance.
Facebook is largely thought to be under-monetized at the moment. They can absorb other business models into their own or make the current incumbents pay to integrate… think of companies like google, and ebay (auction and paypal) whose business models can be co-opted into facebook or ebay can pay big $$$ for non-competes and exclusivity into facebook just like microsoft did with the Bing search engine. Google wanted Facebook’s search but couldnt get it. Facebook is taking display add share away from Google and is also a large player in web search… google HAS to compete with google+ because facebook is taking share in google’s core.
ebay has to fear facebook credits as a viable alternative to paypal. this will become more and more true as FB integrates retail purchasing of tangible products into the network…
everything done anywhere on the internet can be absorbed into facebook because that is where most people start their day. they are in a better position to do what AOL wanted to do 15 years ago, control your internet experience, and most people will willingly accept it.
It’s going to take some new technology to bump off facebook
It was the same thing that happened to AOL back when everyone had it…they portalized the internet then there was a massive technology shift in web technology and it pushed everyone off of AOL very quickly.
The big difference was you could dump AOL and leave all your buddies on there and still chat with them on AIM and email them @ their @aol.com email addresses. AOL was just a way to get on the internet, the same internet you could get on when you left AOL for a better provider. Facebook is a destination though. If you leave Facebook you need to get all your Facebook contacts to leave with you to what ever new social network you think is better to continue the same user experience. There are 800 million active users on Facebook, so getting a majority of that large of a population to do anything is pretty much impossible.
Lmao… I dont think anyone was hanging on what you had said…
And youre an idiot if you have a personal thing against facebook. If you dont like it, dont use it… but there are a million reasons why facebook makes life better and if you cant even cling on to one of them you can have fun in the stone age.
Lots and lots of peoples still play angry birds your circle of tech friends is probably ahead of the curve but there are still millions that glom onto that stuff.
I would love to see the break down for Zynga/Facebook by demographic
People on Facebook
More than 800 million active users
More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
Average user has 130 friends
And because you dont use it means you have to want it to fail?
I would argue you that the 800 MILLION USERS (thats 1/7th of the WORLDS population), 50% of which log in at least once a day, would presumably have my back but then again, im sure those numbers do the talking.
But in case they dont, im sure anybody shy of being a total hermit would find value in the ability to formally or informally connect with old friends, connect with new friends, connect with family, connect with long lost family, share and backup pictures of daily outings, share and backup pictures of meaningful lifetime events, plan and organize social gatherings, recreational events and meetings, manage clubs and groups, connect and receive news updates on products, services, teams, bands, clubs, movies, groups, etc., pass time when bored, play mindless games, take polls and I could go on.
Thing is… I know people who use almost all of these features and I know people who will only use one… but either way just try to argue me that even if you find a niche using just one, that FB doesnt simply just make life better/easier/convenient/interesting!
maybe we can now speculate on how facebook can/will fail?
it would likely not be from a better substitute product becuase of the massive barriers to entry (scaling up). it would take a real shift in the way people use the internet and it would have to be a sudden and unexpected one that a random company happened to be positioned for. you gotta think facebook has already undergone the risk analysis of its own potential demise.
when we all have RFID embedded in our bodies and don’t need an FB-branded platform to connect with one another, rather a series of individual apps, then we could move away from fb. android will probably be our human-OS…lol [/tinfoil hat]
as for angry birds, i play it all the time and buy the eagle and pay for the ad-free versions of every version that comes out. my kids absolutely love it. Kingston is 19 months and asks for the ipad to play angry birds… now i have to buy the toys.
i give the ipad to ving in the backseat of the car and every 2 minutes he tells me to turn around and shows me how he got 3 stars plus beat my high score… kids barely 4…
Haha I used Spambook for years. Let me be a hipster for a sec and say I was on it before it was cool. I think I joined in 2005. It was awesome as a way to meet friends and talk to classmates from college.
Now it’s nothing but a spam-filled shit show that poses a serious privacy risk. I was absolutely paranoid and anal about mine, locked it down tighter than a nun’s box, but people who I was trying to keep it from still found it because we coincidentally had a mutual friend.
It’s funny because most people who love facebook are over 30 now. It’s like it only persists because old people just found out about it and think it’s the greatest thing ever.
Huh? Who gives a fuck if someone sees your limited profile? You don’t have to put your social security number in there. YOU limit the amount of information that is available so if something gets out that you didn’t want to, it’s probably your own fault.
