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Facebook spending millions to make friends in Washington

Facebook is spending fast and furious to advance a social-network-friendly agenda with U.S. lawmakers.

In its first quarter of this year, Facebook, according to its lobby disclosure form, shelled out $2.45 million on lobbying costs. The figure amounts to a 75 percent increase from the $1.4 million it spent in the previous quarter, and a 277 percent increase from the mere $650,000 it spent in the first quarter of 2012. In 2012, Facebook spent a total of $4 million on lobbying efforts.

The company's lobbying budget is now in the same ballpark as that of … Read more

Facebook borrows from Yelp with refreshed design of mobile Pages

Facebook announced Tuesday that it has spruced up the mobile version of Pages, which serve as the Facebook identities of brands and businesses, to better match the needs of people who access them on smartphones.

Pages accessed via mobile browser or iOS app now feature a fresh design and layout that pushes essential business information such as location to the top of the page and better promotes consumer actions such as "likes," check-ins, and shares.

The social network has simplified and enhanced the mobile Pages experience for administrators, who can now more easily switch between public and admin … Read more

Google execs' 'New Digital Age' resists cyber-siren song

When two executives at the world's most optimistic technology company write about humanity's digital future, you might expect a book brimming with excitement about the wonders to come.

Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen offer plenty of that, but what makes "The New Digital Age" worth reading is the correspondingly healthy dose of pessimism. The book, released today, ultimately is persuasive in making the case that people can steer technology so it helps us more than it harms us.

The book, with straightforward writing and compelling details, seeks to predict what happens as today's online population … Read more

Securities regulators balk at employee social-media privacy

Securities regulators are advocating for special exemptions to new and pending state laws that prevent employers from snooping on employee Twitter or Facebook accounts.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an independent U.S. securities regulator that seeks to protect investors, is asking lawmakers in around 10 states to amend their legislation to allow financial firms to peak at social media accounts when employee misuse is suspected, a spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.

The fear seems to be that brokers could use their social media accounts to spread information that would influence stocks, and that misdeeds would go unchecked without … Read more

Facebook reportedly the mystery mover behind 'Project Catapult'

Facebook seems to be behind what one ubertechie blog calls "one of the longest-running mysteries in the data center industry."

The company is reportedly looking at building a $1.5 billion data facility in Altoona, Iowa -- an effort previously referred to by state and local officials as the rather cloak-and-dagger sounding "Project Catapult."

The Des Moines Register cited legislative sources in reporting the news, in a story that was picked up by insider data blog Data Center Knowledge.

The Register reported that the facility is being touted as "the most technologically advanced" in … Read more

Larry Page ducks question on impact of Facebook Home

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt gave Facebook glowing marks for endorsing the Android platform with its just-released Home suite of social-networking software. Chief Executive Larry Page doesn't appear quite as enthused.

When asked Thursday about the possible impact of Facebook Home on engagement with Android applications, Page ducked the question.

"I think that Google...we're really focused on building and creating great Android experiences within the strong ecosystem that we have," Page said during Google's first-quarter earnings call. "And it's really great to see developers really focused on building for Android."

Though one … Read more

Facebook gives U.S. users free calls in Messenger for Android

Facebook is bringing its voice-over-IP calling feature to even more of its users on the Android platform.

On Thursday, the company added the free calling functionality for U.S. users of Facebook Messenger for Android -- and Facebook Home, which runs Messenger, by association. The rollout will take place throughout the day and does not require an application update, a company spokesperson told CNET.

The addition introduces a "Free Call" button accessible from a Facebook buddy's contact page. Those with Facebook Home also can initiate calls from Chat Heads, although it requires several clicks to do so: … Read more

Facebook 'hacks' teen safety with Project:Connect

Facebook is applying its "Hacker Way" to help youngsters be more responsible in the social-networking realm.

On Thursday, the company announced Project:Connect, a partnership between the social network, the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, and the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) that's designed to shed light on what it means to participate responsibly in digital environments. Together, the partners will host an all-day hackathon in New York on May 9.

"We need to give youth the tools they need to become engaged and responsible digital citizens," Connie Yowell, director of education at the MacArthur Foundation, said … Read more

Will video ads supercharge Facebook's revenue engine?

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer describes her scheme for fueling company growth as a kind of chain reaction. It goes like this: great people leads to great products and increased ubiquity, which drives user growth and higher engagement, leading to higher advertiser spending and ultimately more revenue.

That chain reaction underlies almost every business offering free services dependent on advertising to pay the bills. Like Mayer, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is seeking ways to get his chain reaction into a higher gear. Last year, Facebook generated more than $5 billion in revenue, but spent more than $4.5 billion to produce … Read more