Twitter's International Prospects Look Promising
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In Twitter's IPO filing, the company reported that 77% of its users last quarter came from outside the U.S., and that its international audience grew 47% compared with one year ago.
For comparison, Twitter's U.S. user base grew 35% during the same time period.
However, Twitter is generating a reported $2.17 from each U.S. user, and just $0.30 from each user outside the U.S., which means only 25% of Twitter's total revenue comes from its international business.
In justifying the inbalance between user base growth and revenue, Twitter's filing said that the company isn't very far along yet in developing an advertising business outside the U.S. We suspect Katie Jacobs Stanton, a senior executive at Twitter, was repositioned overseas to figure out that very problem. If the company can successfully build a strong ad business that expands beyond the U.S. market, then Twitter stands to generate a lot more revenue in the coming years.
Facebook powered 45% of social logins on the Web - more than any other service - in
the third quarter of this year. Social logins allow users to register on new websites with their pre-existing login information from other online services.
Trailing Facebook, Google powered 33% of social logins
this quarter, followed by Yahoo and Twitter (each with 7%).The share of social logins by service has remained fairly consistent so far in 2013 (as seen in the chart at right). (Janrain)
In Other News ...
Instagram announced that it will be bringing ads to U.S. users' feeds within the next few months. Users will be able to hide an ad if they don't like it. The news comes on the heels of Pinterest announcing its own pilot program for serving ads. (Instagram Blog)
Snapchat rolled out a new feature called Snapchat Stories that compiles your photos and videos from the last 24 hours.
The New York Times delves into the "battle for the second screen" between Facebook and Twitter. The Times acknowledges that it's not clear how much revenue social companies are generating from TV-related ads. (New York Times)
Facebook is building a luxurious housing complex in California for its employees. (Wall Street Journal)
Compass Labs, one of Facebook's preferred marketing developers (PMD), is leaving the PMD program to focus more broadly on marketing intelligence. Compass Labs CEO Dilip Venkatachari told Business Insider that his company saw only "diminishing margins" in Facebook's ad business. (Business Insider)
Twitter's founders Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Jack Dorsey returned to the company's headquarters on Thursday for an all-staff meeting. (Quartz)
Netflix updated its iOS app with high-definition video and AirPlay streaming. Netflix's Android apps were upgraded earlier this year with the same compatibility. (Engadget)
Facebook Home users can now use photos from Flickr, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest as their lock screen image. (AllThingsD)
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