Feb
2
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Facebook filed for a $5 billion IPO on February 1.
“There are more than two billion global Internet users, according to an industry source, and we aim to connect all of them,” the company said in its S-1 form, published by the SEC.
Here are some of the best stats and facts from the S-1:
Dec
17
Zynga, the social gaming company whose “Mafia Wars,” “FarmVille,” and other games have amassed millions of devoted fans, is now worth billions of dollars and, on December 16, made its debuted on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The company, which is named after founder and CEO Mark Pincus’ bulldog, “Zinga,” priced shares at $10 a piece and raised $1 billion in its IPO.According to the Associated Press, the gaming company is now second only to Google when it comes to high-value internet IPOs. The search giant raised $1.4 billion when it went public in 2004.
Zynga’s IPO is only the latest in a series of highly-anticipated initial public offerings from technology companies this year. LinkedIn, Pandora, Groupon and Zillow, among others, also made their public debuts.
But how does Zynga compare to these other companies’ IPOs? And how are these “hot” companies faring now?
Sep
28
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Zynga is partnering with Pizza Hut to help fight world hunger. Players on popular Zynga games, includingFarmVille, CityVille, Empires & Allies and The Pioneer Trail can purchase exclusive in-game items for $5. All proceeds from these specific purchases will go to the World Food Programme.
The pieces are both cutesy (see above) and educational. For example, the FarmVille item is the blue horse-drawn cart full of vegetables stamped with the World Food Programme initials. It’s a smart move by Pizza Hut and Zynga to not only have the items be helpful in-game but also support a worthy cause off-line. It’s the first time Zynga has partnered with a brand in this way.
Pizza Hut launched the partnership with Zynga as part of the annual World Hunger Relief campaign, which launches September 26. Pizza Hut has developed an entire website, called “Share a Slice of Hope,” to benefit the 2011 World Hunger Relief, including news updates, donation channels and links to similar campaigns.
Sep
20
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On Monday, researchers at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Businessreleased a report confirming that Facebook is good for the economy. At least, its apps are.
The study, led by Associate Professor of Information Systems Il-Horn Hann, found that Facebook apps have contributed at least 182,744 new jobs and $12.19 billion in wages and benefits to the U.S. economy. Not bad considering that Facebook itself employs only about 2,000 people.
According to the study, the Facebook Platform launched in 2007 with 85 applications available to its 20 million users. Today, Facebook has over 750 million users, who install 20 million apps per day. For the big app companies, this can mean big money.According to the report, social gaming giant Zynga has roughly the same number of employees as Facebook and is valued at $15 – $20 billion dollars. Between their 49 Facebook apps, among which is CityVille, which AppData reports as Facebook’s most popular app, with over 74 million monthly active users, as of September 19. Altogether, Zynga’s social games attract over 49 million active users a day.
Read More Facebook Apps is (…)
Aug
18
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Zynga Inc., the maker of popular online games such as “FarmVille” and “CityVille,” is being sued for patent infringement by a Texas gaming startup.
Agincourt claims Zynga is violating two of its patents related to systems for redeeming prizes in games. The patents were awarded in 2001 and 2004.
Zynga’s “remarkable growth has not been driven by its own ingenuity or innovations,” Agincourt said. “Rather, it has been widely reported that Zynga’s business model is to copy creative ideas and game designs … and use its market power to bulldoze the games’ originators.”
Aug
13
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Social gaming juggernaut Zynga will flip the switch later today on The Pioneer Trail, a new social adventure game within FrontierVille.
Unlike all of Zynga’s previous games, Pioneer Trail is a linear adventure with a set beginning and end. Users outfit a wagon and traverse not one, but three different maps with their own unique set of missions and achievements. It also places an emphasis on a storyline where users get to choose their own adventure.
FrontierVille general manager John Osvald explained to Mashable that Zynga wanted to use different social gaming mechanics for this extension of the FrontierVille franchise. In FarmVille, Empires & Allies and Zynga’s other social games, gameplay improves as users add more friends as neighbors or allies. In Pioneer Trail, that concept is discarded. Instead, the game only lets users travel the trail with three of their closest friends, which Zynga hopes will result in more intimate gameplay.
