Internet

M.Stanley falls victim to China’s web freedom

19 Jan 2011

Dangdang's founder launched an online tirade against the Wall Street bank for undervaluing the Internet retailer's IPO. The episode is evidence of the challenges facing foreign firms trying to win deals in China. It's also a reminder of the limits of Chinese Internet censorship.

Cheap start-up costs leave VCs with poor choices

19 Jan 2011

Cheezburger Network, the publisher of a site that posts absurd pictures of cats and bad English signage, just raised $30 mln. That venture capitalists are skirmishing to fund oddball businesses that don t really need cash helps to explain the venture capital industry s problems.

Goldman perceptions shape Facebook reality

18 Jan 2011

U.S. investors can no longer buy into the social network after media scrutiny made a private placement seem too public. Inevitable interest in Facebook was amplified by the glare on Goldman. For all its focus on clients, the firm still has a blind spot about its own public image.

Apple needs more formal delegation of Jobs’ power

17 Jan 2011

Steve Jobs is handing daytoday control of Apple to chief operating officer Tim Cook due to health issues. Yet he retains the CEO title. It's the third such move, and this time it is indefinite. However painful, a more formal transfer to an acting CEO would have been better.

Wikipedia’s non-profit status is two-edged sword

14 Jan 2011

The Web encyclopedia has grown huge, and increasingly useful, thanks to many thousands of volunteer contributors. The ultimate online collaboration is now the fifth most visited website anywhere. Yet a reluctance to take advertising could hamper its plans to reach 1 bln users.

Apple again turns iPhone buzz into gold

11 Jan 2011

Despite all the talk of possible bells and whistles, Verizon looks to be offering the iconic smartphone on roughly the same terms as AT&T. So rather than giving one of the U.S. carriers an obvious edge, the only clear winners will be Apple's masters of hype.

Facebook might just pay off for Goldman’s clients

7 Jan 2011

The bank and its clients are paying an astronomical 25 times the social network s 2010 sales. How can they ever hope to make a profit? Well, Facebook s margins are astonishingly vigorous, and should strengthen as it grows. Consider the bull case for Mark Zuckerberg s baby.

Goldman Facebook coup embarrasses rest of Wall St

6 Jan 2011

Though small beans financially, it s a big win in franchise terms. After the lumps Goldman took last year, its investment deal with Facebook shows the firm can still wrap its tentacles around a key client for mutual benefit. Goldman s rivals should be kicking themselves.

Goldman’s old-school Facebook deal sets new tests

3 Jan 2011

The bank is raising $1.5 bln from clients to invest in the social network while putting in $450 mln itself. Like Morgan Stanley s reported Groupon deal, it looks like classic merchant banking. But with hot firms in the driver s seat, banks could wind up in sticky situations.

Apple still looks a bargain after $100 bln run

30 Dec 2010

Large companies rarely grow quickly. Nonetheless, Apple increased sales by more than 50 percent in 2010. That sent the company's value up by an astonishing $100 billion. Yet the stock's valuation still looks oddly subdued once adjusted for the company's cash pile.

Will 2011 be the year Facebook’s value gets real?

28 Dec 2010

Though the social network doesn't need money to grow, an IPO should come next year. Trouble is, trading in unlisted shares suggests it's already worth some $40 bln. To justify that number requires some astonishing, if just about possible, growth assumptions.

Net neutrality compromise won’t calm new Congress

21 Dec 2010

The FCC's ruling will give telecom operators a reason to keep investing in their networks, while also protecting consumers. But that balance won't please purists who either deny government's regulatory role or want to make the Internet a utility. So expect a political pushback.

Privacy is the Person of Last Year

15 Dec 2010

Mark Zuckerberg has been crowned Person of the Year by Time. Julian Assange topped a reader poll. A certain arrogance and superior coding abilities aren't the only parallels between the Facebook and WikiLeaks bosses. Both are also leading the technological assault on privacy.

What’s the true measure of China’s growth?

9 Dec 2010

China's likely next premier believes electricity consumption is a better guide to economic activity than GDP. As China reduces dependence on energy, such data may be less effective in measuring growth. Still, it's good that leaders acknowledge the flaws in official GDP numbers.

Wikileaks exposes corporate cowardice

9 Dec 2010

Financial companies are cutting services to the website, saying it behaves illegally. But they won't sever lucrative ties with media publishing the controversial cables. Hacker attacks are the price they pay for what looks like a disturbing eagerness to pander to Washington.

Investors may find Xmas TV shopping bargains

7 Dec 2010

HSN and QVC built their success in the preInternet days by enabling consumers to buy costume jewelry and kitchenware any time, any day with a TV and a telephone. An increasing amount of their revenue now comes from the Web. But the valuations don't necessarily reflect that.

IAC pays high price for Diller’s Malone divorce

2 Dec 2010

Getting rid of a controlling shareholder in the shape of John Malone should benefit shareholders of the Internet grabbag over time. But there's a high immediate financial cost to the deal and Diller increasing control in the near term just replaces one mogul with another.

Google’s innovation engine sputtering big time

1 Dec 2010

The search giant's willingness to spend $6 bln on a startup in a business with almost no barriers to entry is the most damning evidence yet. In the past, Google would've tried to create a Groupon of its own. But these initiatives rarely panned out. It now has to buy innovation.

EU antitrust pile-on overshadows Google’s Groupon

30 Nov 2010

The European Commission is examining whether Google is using its dominance in search to unfairly extend its reach into related areas the way Microsoft once did. The probe is auspiciously timed: Google is contemplating a near$6 bln bid to enter the ecoupon business.

Global risk of U.S. impotence at heart of Wikileak

29 Nov 2010

The site's classified document dump gives the impression the cozy 1990s world of American hegemony and peaceful globalization is irrevocably ending. The risk is that without U.S. leadership, regional rivalries turn nasty, trade barriers rise and fiscal policies destroy wealth.