Patrick Riley, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ark.com, talks about Facebook Inc.’s new search tool. Riley speaks with Stephanie Ruhle on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Results due after the close of trading today will probably show that revenue rose 34 percent to $1.52 billion last quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would be the first growth acceleration since Facebook sold shares to the public in May. Revenue climbed 32 percent in the preceding two periods, a slowdown from earlier quarters.

Shares of Facebook have climbed 74 percent since slumping to a record in September, bolstered by signs of buoyant demand for marketing messages shown to users of social networks on tablets and smartphones. Mobile advertising made up 24 percent of the total in the fourth quarter, up from 14 percent in the prior period, according to Topeka Capital Markets Inc. That suggests new tools aimed at making ads more useful on small screens are having the desired effect with corporate customers.

“Mobile is definitely important to them, mainly because usage is shifting over to mobile,” said Victor Anthony, an analyst at Topeka Capital Markets who rates the stock a buy. “They’ll have to continue to show they’re making strides in monetizing mobile.”

Revenue from mobile doubled last quarter to $304 million, Anthony predicted. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. estimate that mobile contributed $384.2 million, or 27 percent of the total.

Stock Reversal

Facebook’s fourth-quarter profit excluding certain items probably rose to 15 cents a share, the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Net income slumped to $45.8 million, according to analysts’ projections.

The shares increased less than 1 percent to $30.97 at 9:38 a.m. in New York. Through yesterday, the stock had dropped 19 percent since the company sold shares at $38 apiece in a May 17 initial public offering, one of the most closely watched market debuts of the year.

Facebook fell for most of the succeeding five months, wiping out more than $40 billion in market capitalization, amid concerns that social-network and its advisers had set the IPO price too high for a company that hadn’t yet come to grips with a shift to mobile computing.

Shares reversed course beginning in early September amid signs that mobile advertising tools introduced in March were meeting with success. Zuckerberg reassured investors during a technology conference that month that mobile was a big focus for the company.

‘Misunderstood’ Mobile

The following month, the company reported that mobile ads delivered about $150 million in revenue. Estimates for fourth- quarter earnings have risen about 11 percent from the day before the previous period’s results were announced on Oct. 23 to now, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Estimates for 2013 sales jumped about 6 percent.

“Our opportunity on mobile is the most misunderstood aspect of Facebook today,” Zuckerberg told analysts during a call on Oct. 23. “Most people underestimate how fundamentally good the trend towards mobile can be for Facebook.”

Mobile ads have taken on added importance for the company as more users wield smartphones and tablets rather than personal computers to check on friends’ newest photos and status updates. In the third quarter, the percentage of users accessing the service through mobile devices rose to about 60 percent from 47 percent a year earlier and just 36 percent the year before that, regulatory filings show.

Display Leadership

Facebook led the U.S. mobile display-advertising market in 2012, beating out rival Google Inc., according to projections by EMarketer Inc. Facebook had zero market share in 2011.

Ad prices on mobile are bolstering the company’s revenue, according to Spruce Media, which provides technology to help companies buy ads on Facebook. A key advertising metric, the cost of 1,000 views by users, was $5.21 during the fourth quarter for mobile compared to the average of 38 cents for ads across Facebook. While the mobile ad price was down 10 percent from the third quarter, the decline was due to Facebook adding more inventory as the service was expanded to more users, said Lucy Jacobs, chief operating officer at Spruce Media.

“Mobile’s had really good performance,” Jacobs said. “Budgets are shifting into mobile.”

Still, Facebook needs to provide more analytics to keep companies interested in mobile advertising. These tools would offer such information as how the ads are affecting sales, she said.

While Facebook has been investing in mobile ads, it’s also boosted ad services in other areas. Last year, it rolled out the Facebook Exchange, which lets advertisers tailor marketing messages to users based on previous browsing histories on the Web.

Investment Needed

The company also is investing in new products. Earlier this month, Facebook unveiled “Graph Search,” which is designed to make it easier for users to find friends, restaurants, locations and interests based on their social connections. The company also unveiled new applications for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc.’s Android software last year. The investments should help maintain user interest on the service and push back against rival social services such as Twitter Inc. and Pinterest Inc.

“They do have to continue to invest pretty heavily in the business,” said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst at Wedge Partners Corp.

Revenue should improve in 2013 as the investments pay off, according to Aaron Kessler, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates. He raised his rating to outperform from market perform and boosted sales estimates earlier this week to $6.77 billion this year, from $6.7 billion.

“Given the early positive feedback and traction from Mobile and News Feed as well as the Facebook Exchange, we believe Facebook is poised for strong ad revenue growth,” Kessler said in the research note.

A stolen prom kiss and speeding showgirls competed against an unexpected blackout and a clever Oreo post for online fans as the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore and head coach Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers wait on the field during a power outage that occured in the third quarter and caused a 34-minute delay during Super Bowl XLVII. Photographer: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Companies are paying as much as $4 million for a 30-second commercial spot, according to CBS Corp., which is airing the Super Bowl. Source: Twitter/BlackBerry via Bloomberg

The stakes were high for the championship football game’s advertising sponsors, who spent as much as $133,333 a second for a half-minute of airtime yesterday, a record marketers say was justified by the expected repeat viewings and buzz on the Web.

While no one could have predicted a 35-minute midgame power failure, advertisers used skills honed in the social-media era to respond immediately. Twitter Inc. said marketers started bidding on “power outage” as a search term minutes after the lights went out. Mondelez International Inc.’s (MDLZ) digital ad agency, 360i, posted a picture of an Oreo cookie on Twitter with the tagline “You can still dunk in the dark,” moving from concept to posting in five minutes.

“They saw a real-time opportunity with the power outage and jumped it, doing so in a social voice true to the Oreo brand,” Laurie Guzzinati, a Mondelez spokeswoman in East Hanover, New Jersey, wrote in an e-mail. The snackmaker separated from the former Kraft Foods Inc. in October.

The Oreo Twitter post was recirculated more than 13,100 times. Earlier in the CBS Corp. (CBS) broadcast, Mondelez ran a commercial asking viewers to decide which part of an Oreo is best, the cookie or the creme filling.

YouTube Ads

Web surfers also went to Google Inc. (GOOG)’s YouTube, a video- sharing site, to find commercials. Candy-maker Mars Inc.’s M&M’s had the most searched-for commercial, followed by automaker Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Google said in an e-mailed statement. At No. 3 was Walt Disney Co. (DIS)’s “Oz Great and Powerful,” a movie. Two automakers, Ford Motor Co.’s Lincoln and Volkswagen AG’s Audi, rounded out the top five.

The “power outage” term proved to be a draw. Twitter advertisers can bid to locate so-called sponsored tweets near popular search terms. The 140-character messages appear inside the streams of Twitter users looking for information on the Super Bowl or the blackout.

On Google, searches related to the power outage rose during the game, reaching No. 8 among most queried terms during the game. Overall, the top trending search during the game was M&M’s, which showed a commercial early in the broadcast. Performer Beyonce, who provided halftime entertainment, was No. 2 while the Baltimore Ravens were No. 3 and the San Francisco 49ers were No. 4. While the 49ers didn’t win, it was the team’s quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, who rounded out the top five.

Advertising Draw

“In the last three to four years, brands have been gearing up on the social media front ahead of the game,” Derek D. Rucker, marketing professor at the Kellogg School of Management atNorthwestern University, said in an interview. “But now more so than ever we’re seeing them take advantage of it during the game.”

On Facebook Inc. (FB)’s website, comments mentioning “Dodge” jumped 151,000 percent after the airing of the advertisement for Chrysler Group LLC’s Dodge Ram brand, while the count forYum! Brands Inc. (YUM)’s “Taco Bell” surged 140,000 percent after its commercial, the social-network operator said in a statement. Mentions of Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)’s Tide brand increased by 132,000 percent after its advertising spot.

BlackBerry, Oprah

The percentage gains were measured using the number of comments mentioning the brands made at the peak of each advertisement compared with the average made prior to the event.

The game, which Baltimore won 34-31 at the Superdome in New Orleans, drew marketers suchCoca-Cola Co. (KO) and Volkswagen AG (VOW) as well as lesser-known brands including Wonderful Pistachios and Gildan Activewear. BlackBerry, struggling to rehabilitate its faltering brand, advertised for the first time in the Super Bowl, promoting the Z10 smartphone ahead of its U.S. release in March.

Internet companies took on the role of referee, measuring viewers’ votes, “likes” on Facebook, searches and sentiments in an attempt to declare a winner among the Super Bowl sponsors.

In one surprise move, Chrysler, majority owned by Fiat SpA (F), aired a two-minute spot immediately after the halftime show narrated by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, thanking U.S. military personnel and families for their devotion. The commercial, called “Whole Again” and sponsored by the Jeep brand, recalled last year’s surprise appearance by director and actorClint Eastwood in a Chrysler advertisement.

Streaming Ads

In a post on Twitter, Winfrey said she “loved lending my voice to America’s team — our troops.” The Chrysler spot was one of the last to air before the power failure.

Many advertisers started streaming their Super Bowl spots ahead of the game to draw a bigger audience, both online and on television. Ads released before the game typically generate more than 9.1 million online views on average, compared with 1.3 million for those appearing on the Web the day of the game, according to Lucas Watson, vice president of advertising at YouTube.

“You’re more likely to remember the brand on the Super Bowl day if you saw the ad beforehand,” he said in an interview last week.

Online Contests

Some advertisers crafted contests ahead of the game to draw in more viewers. Carmaker Audi, owned by Volkswagen, created three different endings to an ad featuring a male prom partier who heads to the dance alone. Viewers voted for the ending where he surprised the prom queenwith a welcome kiss and drew a black eye from her official date.

Coca-Cola, one of the biggest Super Bowl sponsors, also held an online poll on an ending to a commercial. Unlike Audi, its voting was designed to continue through the game itself. The ad showed three groups — cowboys, showgirls and “badlanders” — racing across a desert to reach a bottle of Coke.

PepsiCo Inc. (PEP), also a perennial Super Bowl advertiser, held an online competition to see which fan-made commercial for Doritos should air during the game. The two that aired were “Goat for Sale,” about a man who comes to regret buying a goat that shares his insatiable appetite for the snack chip, and “Fashionista Daddy,” about a father who indulges his daughter’s desire for a dress-up party along with his buddies.

Ad Rates

Companies paid CBS an average of $3.75 million for 30- second Super Bowl spots, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, the most expensive ad rate in U.S. media, according to WPP Plc (WPP)’s Kantar Media, an industry research firm. Some sponsors paid more than $4 million, CBS Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves said in an interview.

Rates for Super Bowl spots have climbed about 60 percent over the past decade, showing how much marketers value the chance to reach the largest TV audience. Last year’s game had 78 commercials and produced ad sales of $262.5 million, according to Kantar Media.

Super Bowl sponsors get a 20 percent increase in traffic on their websites on the day of the game, and the audience remains higher than average the following week, according to an analysis from Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE)

To contact the reporters on this story: Edmund Lee in New York at elee310@bloomberg.net; Brian Womack in San Francisco at bwomack1@bloomberg.net; Douglas MacMillan in San Francisco at dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net

We told you about the world’s first driving dogs back in December when they were in training, and now a video of one of them driving around a track has reached viral status on YouTube.

Teaching dogs to drive is a project of the Auckland, New Zealand SPCA, where the organization teamed up with carmaker Mini Cooper in a social media awareness campaign.

What they’re trying to prove in this publicity stunt is that many abandoned pets are whip-smart, trainable and can even do surprising things.

Heck, they can even be molded into good drivers if you so desire (all well and good, but not in my backyard — keep that part in New Zealand).

As you can see in the video, Porter, the world’s first driving dog, is using a paw-activated accelerator and brake to pilot the vehicle. He’s doing pretty well at the wheel, albeit at a snail’s pace and requiring considerable micromanaging from his trainer. Don’t try this at home, folks — it’s a “professional driver” on a closed track. Never mind that the pro driver is being paid in dog biscuits.

SEE ALSO: 3 New Zealand Dogs Learn to Drive Mini Coopers

It’s not surprising that dogs can drive, given their enthusiasm for sticking their heads out the windows of moving cars. We’re thinking Porter is a much better driver than many we’ve seen recently. Even so, were hoping these driving dogs don’t add to the highway chaos anywhere near here.

Some restaurants have started banning customers from taking photos of their food, the New York Times reports, quoting several chefs in New York City.

If other restaurants follow suit, it may signal the demise of “foodstagramming,” a popular practice that involves restaurant-goers taking Instagram pictures of their meals, and sharing them online. While some find it silly and annoying, others just can’t stop themselves from photographing that juicy steak in front of them.

Policies around food photography vary from restaurant to restaurant; they range from restrictions on using flash to outright bans.

“Some people are arrogant about it. They don’t understand why. But we explain that it’s one big table and we want the people around you to enjoy their meal. They pay a lot of money for this meal. It became even a distraction for the chef,” said Moe Issa, owner of Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare.

While not everyone who photographs their food uses Instagram, the photo-sharing service now has 90 million monthly active users, and foodstagramming has become quite the fad.

Are you also guilty of taking photos of your meals? Do you think restaurant owners should ban the practice? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Marshall Astor – Food Fetishist

Twitter advertising has grown in manifold proportions over the last two years. While not many small businesses may be using Twitter promotion as a handy and effective marketing strategy, the big boys in any industry are reaping huge rewards. Twitter marketing is not conventional advertising hence there are various unique ways that one has to innovate. Those who have been wondering if Twitter marketing works since there is a capping to how much content you can post at a time and if external links posted in a short tweet can manage to pull in an audience to the desired web pages must consider these prospects of Twitter advertising before taking a final call.

• Twitter advertising is one of the best direct marketing avenues. When you post an offer or a discount deal, perhaps the proposed launch of a new service using Twitter promotion tactics, you inevitably get a target audience. The followers of your Twitter handle would invariably come across the tweet and if there are any links, they are right up front to be noticed and clicked. In this regard it is even better than email marketing since the time taken to open up an email, to read the content therein and then click on any link that may be provided is by far too much in comparison with viewing a quick post on Twitter. Given the times we live in when audiences and consumers are fed with colossal quantum of information, short, crisp and precise Twitter marketing works big time.
• Twitter marketing benefits from the fact that these days, to get a certain promotion viral one does not need a thousand people to forward emails or text messages and hundreds of people to talk about an offer, product or service over several weekend parties. With just a re-tweet, the post can be visible to not just one person but everyone who is following the user who re-tweets your content. Users do not have to forward, mark addresses or do anything, nor type in phone numbers as in forwarding texts, a simple re-tweet takes your promotion to an audience you did not even anticipate.
• Twitter advertising does not cost you per minute of airing as in televisions and radio or the number of issues you advert appears on as in newspapers. You can post the content as many times as you choose to which increases exposure and naturally its prospects of getting viewed, clicked and yielding results.

If you are wondering how to get started with Twitter advertising then www.socibuzz.com is an effective resource.

We can’t go into the EXACT method used to prevent click fraud, but we can discuss the broad scope of how SociBuzz.com maintains click quality.

There are several mechanisms by which we check quality.

#1 – Once (you) the advertiser sets the referral – publishers can not send traffic from any other referral. So if you choose Twitter – then the link will only accept traffic from Twitter. Since it’s impossible to fake the referal due to enhanced browser security this is the most effective way to make sure you are getting the type of traffic SociBuzz.com was designed to deliver. If you pay for Facebook traffic, then we can ensure you that all traffic originated from a real facebook referral.

#2 – We use a 1 by 24 rule for all IP’s – This means that no publisher can click repeatedly their own ad. Only 1 visitor per 24 hour period is ever calculated against your campaign budget. So even if the same visitor comes back through your ad, it only counts as 1 “click”.

#3 – SociBuzz.com uses global black list that are made available from sources such as Click Forensics and other click fraud prevention houses. We constantly grow this black list and check each week against possible infringes.

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In short – we have MANY mechanisms in place to check against click fraud and it is something we take very serious.

Payments are made weekly with 7 days in rears, during this 7 day “hold” period, we are manually checking data records and looking for specific click patterns.

If as an advertiser you ever question the quality, the line is always open.

Social media marketing is nothing more than a method to get traffic to your site. The traffic is generated from social media sites. The tools used are PPC advertising, referral marketing and what we like to call the SociBuzz.com difference.

Referral marketing is basically word of mouth. People pass along the word about a company or services, and more people hear about the company or services than normally would have. Social media makes this process easier and more effective.

PPC is Pay per Click. People get paid for clicks on the links that drive others to your site. This gives people the initiative to promote the site. I mean, who doesn’t want to get paid?

So, what is the SociBuzz .com difference? They help you maintain and control your entire social media buzz. This is all backed with a publisher friendly network.

What is social media marketing? It is the most effective way to promote your company, products or services. You will have a company working for you that guarantees you traffic, and all of the traffic that you drive to their website will be guaranteed revenue.

SociBuzz.com is the best social media marketing agency available on the web today. It is now taking traffic from all of the major social media networks and the top blogging sites. What it all comes down to at the end of the day is SociBuzz.com is the clear authority when it comes to social media marketing.

In the world today everything is technological. If you are not up to date on your marketing methods then you can seriously be left behind. Companies have folded for things as simple as not having a strong online presence and a lack of effective marketing.

You have to understand that almost everything is researched online before it is bought. If you are not coming up in the top results, and you do not have enough marketing going on to come across as creditable then people are likely to go with a company who does. SociBuzz.com is a must have tool that should be incorporated to enhance your online presence and revenue. Nowadays you just cannot afford to let a deal like this pass you by.

The whole process easy, customer service is impeccable and your payment information is always safe. This is the best, no-nonsense way to get your business, services or product on the map. Don’t wait to get this revolutionary tool incorporated into your marketing campaign. You will see the difference almost immediately, and that is a guarantee.

Social media is, in the most basic terms, a channel for people to communicate in many different ways. Through social media websites, users can share information by long form and short form messages (Facebook, Twitter), video sharing (YouTube), photo sharing (Pinterest) and even music sharing (Last.fm).

Here is the new Pinterest for business infographic. This graphic provides a super easy (visual) understanding of how you can leverage Pinterest for business.

Some of the interesting stats are that Pinterest has now made it to the 3rd most popular Social Networking site in the world!

Also that the user base is 80% woman (I can vouch for this – since my wife is hanging out on Pinterest every night before bed).