With 12M+ Downloads, Scan Launches Scan-to-gram, A New Way To Follow People On Instagram

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="With 12M+ Downloads, Scan Launches Scan-to-gram, A New Way To Follow People On Instagram" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

Three guys from Provo, Utah set out on a mission to make QR codes, those boring pixellated, black-and-white squares come alive — in other words, to extend their functionality by turning them into realworld “like,” “follow,” and “buy” buttons. And it’s been working. In February, Scan announced a seed funding round from Shervin Pishevar, Google Ventures, CRV, Start Fund, Social + Capital, Ludlow Ventures, and more.

Continue reading...

Nick Denton is betting the future of advertising is conversational

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Nick Denton is betting the future of advertising is conversational" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

When we spoke with Nick Denton recently, the Gawker Media CEO talked about how the new commenting system he launched last month would shape the future of the company — and he hinted that this would involve the business side as well as the editorial side of the New York-based operation. Now we know what he was referring to : in an internal memo on Thursday, Denton announced the formation of a new sales unit that will focus on helping advertisers and brands take part in the new commenting system . Gawker is also launching a content-driven commerce arm that will focus on affiliate links and in-page transactions.

Continue reading...

Disrupting Media: Where Do We Go Now That We’ve Won? With Henry Blodget, Jonah Peretti And Gabe Rivera

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Disrupting Media: Where Do We Go Now That We’ve Won? With Henry Blodget, Jonah Peretti And Gabe Rivera" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

In a world where Instagram is worth more than the New York Times, old media is no longer dying, it’s dead. Instead, in its wake, we’ve got the Wild West: A chaotic morass of never-ending slideshows, puny WordPress blogs breaking big time news (and selling for tens of millions) and the merger of lolcats and politics on a site which focuses just as much on content sharing as content

Continue reading...

Microsoft search guru outlines big Bing changes

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Microsoft search guru outlines big Bing changes" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

Microsoft’s top search guy took to the Web today to show off a refreshed interface for Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Qi Lu, president of Microsoft’s Online Services Division, said the design better incorporates the user’s social media contacts in a new sidebar which brings in their Facebook and Twitter contacts’ relevant posts

Continue reading...

Mixpanel raises $10m in bid to dominate data geekery

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Mixpanel raises $10m in bid to dominate data geekery" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

Riding a new wave of growth, analytics startup Mixpanel today announced that it had raised $10 million in new funding. Led by Andreesen Horowitz (a new investor), the round also included PayPal  co-founder Max Levchin, Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff and Yammer Chairman and CEO David O. Sacks.

Continue reading...

Lessons learned from an entrepreneur electrifying rural India

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Lessons learned from an entrepreneur electrifying rural India" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

The co-founders of two-year-old startup Mera Gao Power are about a month away from generating enough revenues from their solar-power microgrid service in villages in rural India to cover all of their company’s costs. Well, all of their costs except their own salaries, which is about another year away, co-founder Nikhil Jaisinghani tells me in an interview. And Jaisinghani means that in a good way.

Continue reading...

Facebook Amends IPO S-1 To Admit Advertising Biz Hurt By Increasing Shift To Mobile, Note RSUS Grant

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Facebook Amends IPO S-1 To Admit Advertising Biz Hurt By Increasing Shift To Mobile, Note RSUS Grant" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

Facebook has just filed a sixth amendment to its S-1 filing to IPO in order to provide more transparency about how the shift of its user base from the web to mobile is causing it to show fewer ads per user, which could hurt revenue in the long term.

Continue reading...

Saygent uses mobile to help retailers get instant customer feedback

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Saygent uses mobile to help retailers get instant customer feedback" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

For businesses, getting valuable and timely feedback from customers can be like pulling teeth. But mobile technology is offering a way to make that a lot easier and more attractive to consumers

Continue reading...

Fruugo quits Helsinki, boss blames everyone else

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Fruugo quits Helsinki, boss blames everyone else" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

Troubled Finnish startup Fruugo is on the move. After burning through some €37 million ($48 million) in funding over the past few years — apparently generating only €100,000 in revenues along the way — the ambitious-but-struggling e-commerce company is shifting the remainder of its operation to the U.K. and leaving Helsinki behind

Continue reading...

Foursquare looks to personalized coupons to generate revenue

&h=75&w=75&zc=1&q=95" alt="Foursquare looks to personalized coupons to generate revenue" class="fl" style="margin-top:5px;" />

Foursquare plans to offer personalized coupons through a redesigned app in July, part of a larger effort to start making money through the location-based social network. The Wall Street Journal reported  Tuesday that Foursquare will allow merchants to pay for special placement of personalized local offers. Foursquare already offers specials for users, but it hasn’t charged merchants for special billing of those coupons.

Continue reading...