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  • Drudge Report Hits 1 Billion Pageviews In April

    Drudge Report Hits 1 Billion Pageviews In April

    The Drudge Report has hit the 1 billion pageview milestone for April 2016 according to digital insight firm SimilarWeb. The firms list of Top US Media Publishers for April shows the Drudge Report coming in at fourth with 1,044,831,000 pageviews. SimilarWeb breaks it down by Publishers, which include multiple sites and by Publications with include only one site. The Drudge Report is third on the Publications list.

    This should be comforting news to Donald Trump because of Matt Drudge’s frequent links to positive Trump related stories. It could also be that Trump supporters frequent Drudge because that’s where they can find links to the most interesting news about their candidate, thus driving up the Drudge Report’s traffic.

    The most visited US media publishers in April were Disney Media at 1.7 billion pageviews, MSN with 1.6 billion followed by Time Warner which had 1.2 billion pageviews for the month.

    Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 12.31.42 PM

    Some other popular well-known sites making the list below Drudge are Yahoo (697 million), New York Times (505 million), AOL (474 million), Buzzfeed (469 million), Gawker (418 million), Breitbart (83 million) and Mashable (80 million).

    I believe that Drudge could more than double traffic if the website simply became mobile friendly, which it is currently not as it continues to be displayed in its cool vintage format, even when viewing with a mobile device. I think Matt Drudge could keep the format but still make it dynamically work for mobile devices which would substantially increase traffic considering that most top news sites now receive the majority of their traffic from mobile. The Drudge Report gets 94% of its traffic from desktop and overall 84% of its traffic is direct, which is unheard of in the industry. The Drudge Report is truley the media unicorn of internet news sites.

    Overall, per the Drudge Report front page stats, the site has received 27,922,076 pageviews in the last 24 hours, 785 million in the last 31 days and 8.7 billion pageviews in the past year. This is an amazing accomplishment for a single page site which may only have Matt Drudge himself and possibly a few other aggregators helping him update the content.

  • Amazon Launches YouTube Competitor, Amazon Video Direct

    Amazon Launches YouTube Competitor, Amazon Video Direct

    Amazon today announced the launch of Amazon Video Direct (AVD), a head-to-head competitor with Google’s YouTube platform. Amazon touts it as a service that gives video providers a self-service way to reach Amazon’s huge customer base including the coveted Prime members. Individual creators and professional video story tellers can earn royalties based on hours streamed, videos rented or purchased and subscriptions.

    What’s interesting is that videos uploaded as part of AVD will be available to consumers via Amazon Video where there is also unique series content, movies, TV shows and Showtime and Starz programming. AVD is clearly a big part of Amazon’s strategy to be the epicenter of Internet TV where cable and satellite middlemen are replaced.

    Video providers, both professional and amateur, can have their videos included in Prime Video at no charge to Prime members, available as an add-on subscription, offered as a one-time rental or purchase or make them available to all Amazon customers with ads. If a video producer chooses the ad-supported option Amazon will give the provider 55% of the revenue which is the same as YouTube. For purchases, rentals and subscription AVD will split revenue 50-50 and for videos provided free to Prime members Amazon will pay $.15 per streaming hour topping out at $75K per year.

    “It’s an amazing time to be a content creator,” said Jim Freeman, Vice President of Amazon Video. “There are more options for distribution than ever before and with Amazon Video Direct, for the first time, there’s a self-service option for video providers to get their content into a premium streaming subscription service. We’re excited to make it even easier for content creators to find an audience, and for that audience to find great content.”

    In order to attract the best talent from YouTube and other video platforms Amazon is creating a $1 million monthly fund that will be used to distribute bonuses for producing the most watched videos above what video makers will already earn on the platform. Amazon is calling it the AVD Stars Program. This is designed to steal YouTube celebrities and will lead to bidding wars for today’s video stars.

    Launch partners include: Conde Nast Entertainment, HowStuffWorks, Samuel Goldwyn Films, The Guardian, Mashable, Mattel, StyleHaul, Kin Community, Jash, Business Insider, Machinima, TYT Network, Baby Einstein, CJ Entertainment America, Xive TV, Synergetic Distribution, Kino Nation, Journeyman Pictures, and Pro Guitar Lessons. Their content is now available on Amazon Video.

  • YouTube Connecting Brands To Viral Videos

    YouTube Connecting Brands To Viral Videos

    YouTube announced at the Digital Content NewFronts a new product enabling brands to advertise on its fastest-rising videos. The product, called Breakout Videos, identifies videos as they begin to go viral and then along with other viral videos allows advertisers to place their video ads within them. The idea is that many brands want their products to be perceived as cutting edge or cool and their association with viral videos helps them achieve this.

    Breakout Videos is part of Google Preferred which allows advertisers to reach the top 5% of videos created by YouTube stars. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki stated, “This will allow marketers to feature their brands alongside the next big thing”.

    At the NewFronts YouTube brought out over 100 of the top YouTube stars and also announced Sesame Studios, a new channel from Sesame Street.

    Big Bird also made an appearance to unveil Sesame Studios, a new YouTube kids channel from the creators of Sesame Street.

    Read all of last nights announcements on the YouTube Official Blog.

  • Millennials Hate Facebook Ads

    Millennials Hate Facebook Ads

    A new Harris poll, commissioned by Lithium, confirms what everybody knows, millennials hate ads in their social media feeds. What that really means is that they don’t want ads to appear in their Facebook news feeds because they’re expecting to see posts by their friends.

    According to the study, 56 percent of millennials are actually motivated to stop using social media platforms (Facebook obviously!) because of the ads. At least that’s what they tell survey makers, statistics on Facebook use say otherwise! More precisely, 74 percent of millennials don’t want brand posts in their social media news feeds.

    Survey results indicate that advertising on Facebook and other social media platforms can actually hurt your brand and lose you customers because of the extreme distaste some users feel over your brand interruption in their very personal social media interactions. It’s looked at as shouting rather than connecting according to Lithium.

    “I go on social media to see and know what my friends are doing. I don’t want to see ads clutter my news feed. If I’m interested in a product or service, I know where to look,” said 23-year-old recent graduate, Mallory Benham. “Social media is a place for us to connect with our friends, not be attacked by advertisements.”

    This is scary stuff for Facebook and advertisers because social media is looked at as the future of brand marketing. It still can be, but there are significant hurdles to overcome for businesses and social platforms.

     

  • It Has Begun… TV Ad Spending Shifts To Online Video

    It Has Begun… TV Ad Spending Shifts To Online Video

    Magna Global, which buys ads for Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Fiat and others announced at NewFront that they have agreed to buy $250 million in video ads from YouTube.

    But that’s not the story, it’s that Magna is shifting these ad dollars from its clients TV budgets.

    This shift is something that has been predicted for a while and it may finally be happening as the reach and capability of online video has matured, especially on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. As Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has famously pointed out, its audience size is the equivalent of three Super Bowls happening every day.

    Per the Wall Street Journal, David Cohen, president of Magna Global North America commented, “We have negotiated a meaningful share shift from linear television to digital video”.

    That’s big news and could be the beginning of a trend that should raise the hairs on every TV ad executives neck. Online video already has the reach and eyeballs, it has the data on behavior and often can target based on specific individualized information such as job title, location, income and what products and services a person has been looking at buying. This is something that TV can’t currently offer, but they are working on that capability via internet connected TV’s. Unfortunately for them, the television based ad platforms connected to the internet and therefore the data are years from mainstream adoption and implementation.

    Online video on the other hand… has that data now.

  • Instagram Launches Video Ad Carousels

    Instagram Launches Video Ad Carousels

    About a year ago Instagram launched static ad carousels and now today they’ve announced video ad carousels. Now the carousels can show up to 60 second video clips or a mix of video and static ads.

    Similar to it’s mother ship Facebook, Instagram is acutely focused on video as its primary revenue source of the future. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg has often compared the power of Facebook video (and now Instagram video?) as potentially a medium that could offer Super Bowl like ad views… EVERY DAY.

    Here’s a sample of the new Instagram Video Ad Carousel:

    In the era of Snapchat, which is the primary communication platform of millennials, Instagram is promoting a similar concept that advertisers can use to reach their target audiences.

  • Digiday Doubles Revenue In Past Year, Launches Glossy

    Digiday Doubles Revenue In Past Year, Launches Glossy

    New York based buzzfeedish type tech news site Digiday says it’s revenue has doubled in the past year and is profitable. They also have an office in London, a joint venture in Japan and have a total of 60 employees. Digiday also announced the launch of a new online publication focused on fashion and luxury and they’re calling it Glossy.

    Glossy is designed to focus on technology and related modern social media implications of fashion and luxury with the goal of bringing a fresh perspective to these industries.

    Screen Shot 2016-05-03 at 2.55.40 PM
    Along with daily news they have plans for Glossy to offer summits, awards, a careers hub and a content-marketing agency that sounds similar to the advertising and revenue strategy of Buzzfeed.

  • Buzzfeed Views Up Staggering 4 Billion Per Month In Last Year

    Buzzfeed Views Up Staggering 4 Billion Per Month In Last Year

    Buzzfeed gets a bad wrap from traditional journalists but millennials apparently love it. At the IAB Digital Content NewFronts, which is the online version of TV’s upfronts for ad sellers and buyers, Buzzfeed co-founder Jonah Peretti told the audience that since last years Newfronts their audience has grown from about 2.8 billion monthly views to more than 7 billion! Peretti added that over 75 percent of BuzzFeed’s content is viewed on third party platforms such as YouTube (14%), Snapchat (21%) and Facebook (33%). Buzzfeed.com and other company owned sites account for 23% of total views.

    To illustrate their audience power for ad buyers Buzzfeed’s Tasty channel posted a video at 9 a.m. on how to make chocolate-covered marshmallow fluff balls. By the end of their 4 hour presentation the video had 8.3 million views and 75,000 shares. Just 24 hours after posting the video it has over 19 million views and 318,000 shares on Facebook.

    They are illustrating, and I might add successfully, that their videos are more powerful ad formats than typical television ads, unless you are talking about the Super Bowl or other rare TV content.

    Buzzfeed is also one of the original test partners of Facebook Live which will be part of its marketing push this year.

  • Google Introduces Page-Level Ads for AdSense

    Google Introduces Page-Level Ads for AdSense

    Google just announced a new family of ad formats called Page-level ads, which it refers to as “AdSense’s next generation ads.” They’re designed to help publishers make money from their mobile content.

    To use them, you place the same code once on each page you want to show ads on, and they’ll automatically show at the right time and in the right format. Google says this will potentially increase your earnings without interfering with your users’ mobile experience.

    Product manager Matthew Conroy says, “The benefits of Page-level ads include: optimized ads that show when they’re likely to perform well and provide a good user experience; one-time set-up that only requires you to place the Page-level ad code once on each page you’d like the ads shown; ability to adjust the settings in your account and to enable new ad formats without having to change the code on your site; [and] additional ads on your site that don’t count towards your AdSense per page ad limit.”

    For now, Page-level ad formats include anchor/overlay and vignette, but more will be available in the near future.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google Aims New Six-Second Bumper Ads At ‘Snackable Videos’

    Google Aims New Six-Second Bumper Ads At ‘Snackable Videos’

    Google just announced a new six-second video ad format called Bumper Ads, which it will sell through the AdWords auction on a CPM basis. The ads, the company says, are ideal for driving incremental reach and frequency on mobile, where “snackable videos” perform well.

    The ads are a response to evolving viewing habits among 18-49-year-olds, who are more and more watching videos on their smartphones, even in their living rooms.

    “Given the succinct nature of the format, we’ve seen Bumper ads work best when combined with a TrueView or Google Preferred campaign,” says Google video ads product manager Zach Lupei. “In early tests, Bumpers drove strong lift in upper funnel metrics like recall, awareness and consideration. We also see that Bumpers work well to drive incremental reach and frequency when paired with a TrueView campaign.”

    “As a quick and fun format, Bumpers lend themselves well to serialized content,” says Lupei. ‘Audi Germany cut up their longer TrueView ad to introduce their Q-series SUVs with evocative German ‘q’ words like querpass (cross kick) and quantensprung (quantum leap). Their early adoption of the format mirrors Audi Germany’s tagline ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ (‘advantage through technology’).”

    In a blog post, Lupei also discusses how Atlantic Records used Bumper Ads as an early tester.

    The ads will be available in May. You’ll have to talk to a Google sales representative. More ad formats with similar goals are also on the way.

  • AdWords Account Managers Get New Alerting Framework

    AdWords Account Managers Get New Alerting Framework

    Google announced a new Alerting Framework for AdWords to help account managers (particularly those managing multiple accounts) quickly solve issues and maintain ad quality.

    The framework can download AdWords report data, combine it with other data feeds, and process it according to specified alert rules and actions in the configuration.

    The framework and sample alerts can be found on the AdWords GitHub repository.

    “You can use our sample alerts to explore how it works or set up your own fully customized logic,” Google says on GitHub. “The alerts available through this tool cater to both new and experienced users. Users can set up simple alerts with sample alert entities, or implement custom alert entities through the interfaces and plug into the system.”

    Google is also looking for feedback via the project issue tracker, AdWords API forum, and Google+ page.

  • Google Helps You Eliminate Duplicate Conversions With Order IDs in Conversion Tags

    Google Helps You Eliminate Duplicate Conversions With Order IDs in Conversion Tags

    AdWords advertisers can now insert order IDs into AdWords conversion tags so duplicate conversions from the same device are automatically filtered out.

    Google quietly announced this news in a brief Google+ update this week, saying you’ll be able to review more accurate conversation data by minimizing duplicate conversions, which will help you make better budget and bidding decisions.

    “Until this update, advertisers added website code to make sure conversion tags didn’t fire again when people refreshed or returned to confirmation pages,” the post says. “For example, if you’re a hotel brand, you may notice customers returning to their booking confirmation pages, perhaps to find the reservation number or room check-in time the day before a trip. By including an Order ID into conversion tags, AdWords will not count these subsequent conversions with the same Order ID, so they won’t show up in your reporting.”

    There’s a support page available here if you have any trouble figuring out what to do.

  • Salesforce Acquires MetaMind To Add AI to Services

    Salesforce Acquires MetaMind To Add AI to Services

    Artificial intelligence startup MetaMind launched in late 2014 with $8 million in funding from Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff and Khosla Ventures. Now, Salesforce has has acquired it.

    Salesforce will integrate MetaMind’s technology into its services.

    “With MetaMind and Salesforce coming together, we’ll be able to offer customers real AI solutions with breakthrough capabilities that further automate and personalize customer support, marketing automation, and many other business processes,” says MetaMind co-founder and CEO Richard Socher. “We’ll extend Salesforce’s data science capabilities by embedding deep learning within the Salesforce platform.”

    “Over the past year and a half, we’ve been on a mission to empower business users with state of the art deep learning technology to simplify, improve and automate decision making,” he says. “And now, we’ll be able to continue our journey at Salesforce on a much larger scale, with the resources and ecosystem of one of the world’s most innovative and influential enterprise software companies.”

    While under Salesforce, MetaMind intends to continue its AI research. According to Socher, they’ll be publishing “groundbreaking discoveries” that advance the technology. They’re also hiring.

    MetaMind’s products will be discontinued on May 4 for unpaid web users with June 4 being the end date for recurring monthly users. The company says all user data will be deleted “promptly” after closing.

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

  • Hoosuite Adds Sales Prodigy To Help You With Social Selling

    Hoosuite Adds Sales Prodigy To Help You With Social Selling

    Hootsuite announced that it has acquired Sales Prodigy, a mobile app aimed at helping sales organizations tap into social selling opportunities.

    The app, which was previously part of Hootsuite’s App Directory, surfaces selling opportunities for you on social media, where it helps you start conversations with prospects and customers in real time.

    Hootsuite VP of corporate development Matt Switzer commented on the news, “Many organizations have invested in social marketing and social support, but there’s a big gap in the market for social selling solutions, and we want to address it. Companies like Palms Hotel and Marketo already use Hootsuite as part of their lead generation efforts. With the addition of Sales Prodigy, we’re bolstering our platform to better align with our customers needs for social selling.”

    Sales Prodigy founder and CEO Mik Lernout added, “We started Sales Prodigy to help sales people build rewarding relationships with customers on social media. Hootsuite has been by our side every step of the way: as an inspiration, customer, and partner. We’ve been impressed by their ruthless focus on providing their customers with best in breed solutions, and could not be more excited to join their team.”

    In announcing the news Hootsuite points to a report from Altimeter, which found that 64% of organizations have or plan to have a social selling program, and that simply teaching sales teams to use social tools isn’t enough.

    You can find that “2015 State of Social Business” report here.

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Image via Hootsuite

  • Shopify Adds Sales Channels To Help You Sell From More Places

    Shopify Adds Sales Channels To Help You Sell From More Places

    A lot of businesses are about to have a lot more ways to sell their products with Shopify. The company announced that it is giving developers tools to build new sales channels to put Shopify into more and more apps. Right off the bat, eBates, Houzz, Wanelo are getting them, and more will be on the way.

    The idea is that people are shopping in all kinds of apps, and Shopify wants to give sellers a chance to get at potential customers in more places.

    “Managing several channels should be every bit as simple as managing one,” says Shopify’s Satish Kanwar. “With Shopify, you get a single place to run your business, one, unified platform for managing all your channels, products, orders, customers, and analytics.”

    “To make selling through multiple channels even easier, we’ve made some improvements to Shopify,” he adds. “These improvements, which will be rolling out over the coming weeks, refine the channels experience and make it easier to explore new ways to grow your business.”

    You can find Sales Channels from the left navigation in Shopify.

    Expect to see many more sales channels emerge in the future. Developers can find the Sales Channel SDK and everything they need to get started here.

    Last week, Shopify launched a new WordPress plugin and some new themes. This will also be a tremendous help for a lot of businesses, making it easier to sell on WordPress sites.

    Both the themes and plugin are free. You can use them to add products to any of your pages or blogposts without leaving the content management platform.

    “As usual, you’ll still manage all of your pages and posts in WordPress, but you’ll have Shopify to manage everything else: payments, secure checkout, shipping and fulfillment, inventory, and taxes—all the hard things about selling online,” says Shopify’s Daniel Patricio.

    The themes are called Hype by Themezilla, Simple by Themify, and Pulse by Ultralinx. You can see them below in that order.

    “Installing the plugin adds the ability to easily drop products with buy buttons into any sidebar, page or blog post,” says Patricio. “Plus, you’ll get a slick pop-out shopping cart for your site, so customers can purchase multiple products at once.”

    While the plugin is free to Shopify users, it does cost $9 a month for a “lite” Shopify plan. The plan will also get you Facebook Shop, Shopify POS for iOS or Android, access to the Shopify app store, and 24/7 support.

    Last month, Shopify posted its 2015 year in Review. In this, it revealed that it currently has over 243,000 businesses in over 150 countries. They added over 98,000 merchants last year alone. This was of course when they added buy buttons for Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter as well as a mobile SDK enabling the sales of products in mobile apps and Apple Pay. They also partnered with Amazon to bring Amazon services to merchants, and with Uber on local shipping.

    Images via Shopify

  • Salesforce Launches Wave for Community Cloud

    Salesforce Launches Wave for Community Cloud

    In 2014, Salesforce launched Community Cloud, propelling itself into the fast-growing enterprise collaboration market. Last year, it launched Wave Analytics.

    Now, the company is introducing Wave for Community Cloud, which gives businesses analytics tools that can be applied across their partner ecosystems.

    “We’ve heard it before: Selling is a team sport,” says Salesforce’s Jamie Domenici. “Companies across the manufacturing, high-tech, consumer packaged goods, financial services industries and more rely on an extensive network of resellers, distributors, brokers, franchises and agents to drive growth. In fact, thousands of Salesforce customers are already using the Salesforce Community Cloud to better manage relationships and foster collaborative selling, planning and knowledge sharing amongst their channel partner ecosystem. And they’re seeing results — Community Cloud customers report an 86 percent increase in cross-sell and upsell opportunities. Now with Wave, customers can further extend the power of Community Cloud by arming partners with the same sales insights that a company’s own reps leverage to accelerate growth.”

    “Wave for Community Cloud enables customers to embed Wave Analytics dashboards into any Partner Community, providing channel partners with the insights they need to optimize sales,” Domenici adds. “Previously, partner managers couldn’t see all of their data in one place and would spend time reconciling spreadsheets or searching disparate systems looking for insights on what worked in the past. And worse, partner sales reps would often be left guessing which deals to focus on or wasting time following up on the wrong opportunities. But when armed with personalized, data-driven sales insights, channel partners are able to unlock new sales opportunities and close deals faster, as if they are a true extension of a company’s sales team.”

    You can check out a demo here:

    According to the company, the offering will help channel partners better understand their own business by way of interactive performance summaries and historical trends. Dashboards can utilize data from any source, and security permissions can be personalized for visibility on a partner-by-partner basis.

    Image via Salesforce

  • Salesforce Launches Quotable Content Site For Salespeople

    Salesforce Launches Quotable Content Site For Salespeople

    This week, Salesforce announced the launch of Quotable, a new site with articles aimed at benefiting sales professionals of all types.

    According to the company, it will be full of helpful sales advice from salespeople “who’ve lived it.”

    “Let’s say you’re a vice president of sales at a startup or a company that’s just getting off the ground,” writes Sara Varni on the Salesforce blog. “You’re tasked with building a sales team from scratch and are thinking about all of the processes that involves. You could really use some practical hands-on information about how to get up and running.”

    “Or say you’re a sales account executive who has had a lot of success where you are in your career,” she adds. “You’re looking for advice on how to make the jump to the next level. What does it take to become a sales manager? Would you even make a good sales manager, or should you stay where you are and keep crushing your quota?”

    This is who Quotable is for. You an peruse the site here, and find content about technology for concept selling, how prospects can tell if you’ve done your due diligence, how to respond to a particular blow off, etc.

    Image via Salesforce

  • Yelp Discusses Its Local Ad Sales Efforts

    Yelp Discusses Its Local Ad Sales Efforts

    Yelp released its financials for Q4 on Monday. With the company’s everlasting battle to debunk “conspiracy theories” about its business practices back in recent headlines, we checked in with what the company had to say on its earnings conference call.

    Has Yelp sufficiently put this issue to rest in your opinion? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    The subject actually didn’t come up during the call – even in the Q&A portion. This is perhaps an indication that the company has convinced this particular audience of its defense or that this audience isn’t particularly interested in the narrative.

    The subject of Yelp’s sales efforts of course was very much a part of the conversation, so for those who are interested in the aforementioned battle might be interested in what the company did say.

    First, let’s rewind a bit. For years, Yelp has been accused by business owners of burying positive reviews when these owners decline to pay for advertising. Yelp has always denied anything of the sort, pointing to to studies, failed lawsuits, and an FTC investigation, but the accusations and suspicions have failed to ever subside.

    Yelp itself brought the subject up on its corporate blog last week pointing to what it said was the first example of “real reporting” on it, which the company says debunks the “extortion conspiracy”. What they didn’t mention is that this sole example of “real reporting” came from a source who leads strategy for an organization whose board includes the guy who leads sales at Yelp. They also apparently don’t consider an upcoming feature-length documentary full of third-party interviews an example of real reporting.

    So back to the earnings call. Again, none of this was addressed, but CEO Jeremy Stoppelman noted that Yelp’s revenue will be driven by its local advertising business over the next few years and that the company has broken past the 100,000 local advertising account milestone. He talked about how Yelp sees its Transactions business as an increasingly important component in the company’s over all business, but noted that “for the foreseeable future, we see local advertising as the core.”

    According to COO Geoff Donaker, Yelp saw 45% year-on-year growth of its sales force.

    Stoppelman said on the call, “As I think about the year ahead and the large opportunity in front of us, our three priorities are to continue to build our core local advertising business, increase awareness and engagement and grow transactions. The vast majority of local business owners continue to advertise in traditional offline channels. BIA/Kelsey projects that the Yellow Pages industry will generate roughly $7 billion in 2016. Even though according to a 2015 BrightLocal study, more than 90% of consumers read online reviews when looking for a great local business. Migrating these offline marketing budgets online continues to represent a huge market opportunity for us.”

    “As business owners evaluate their marketing options, many are coming to appreciate the value of Yelp advertising,” he continued. “For example, KinderCare Education, a childcare provider with over 1,000 locations across the country, have been a Yelp advertiser for 2 years but stopped in 2013. Based on a decline in the quality of their lead shortly thereafter, so they recently resumed advertising on Yelp to tap into our purchase-oriented consumer traffic. We are pleased to see KinderCare return to Yelp and this experience underscores the importance of communicating ROI to business owners.”

    Later in the call, CFO Rob Krolik, who announced his resignation, said, “So in terms of 2016 guidance in active local accounts and what that means, just as a reminder, our sales folks are compensated on revenue, not specifically on account growth. So while obviously, it’s important, more important is the advertising revenue that we are generating from each client.”

    “I think what I hear from our sales team is that Google and Facebook do come up, but in general, when they hear Google and Facebook from a local advertiser, that’s a really good sign,” he added. “That means that the local advertisers who has already started to shift online and it’s a great opportunity for us to talk with them about Yelp advertising as well and we are very confident with the ROI that we offer the typical advertiser. More often frankly, we are dealing with prospects who don’t advertise online at all yet and that’s a more difficult conversation, because you are trying to get somebody effectively out of print and online, which is happening over time, but is a more gradual process.”

    If you want to read what some business owners have recently said about about their experiences with Yelp advertising and sales calls, you can check out the comments on our article from last week for some of the latest.

    All Yelp quotes are via Seeking Alpha’s transcript of the conference call.

    Have you advertised with Yelp or discussed it with its sales team? What was your experience like? Discuss.

    Image via Yelp (Flickr)

  • Amazon Earnings Out, Sales up 22%

    Amazon Earnings Out, Sales up 22%

    Amazon just announced its earnings for Q4 with sales up 22% to $35.7 billion.

    Operating cash flow was up 74% to $11.9 billion over the year with free cash flow up to $7.3 billion.

    EPS was $1, which was significantly lower than Wall Street expectations.

    CEO Jeff Bezos said, “Twenty years ago, I was driving the packages to the post office myself and hoping we might one day afford a forklift. This year, we pass $100 billion in annual sales and serve 300 million customers. And still, measured by the dynamism we see everywhere in the marketplace and by the ever-expanding opportunities we see to invent on behalf of customers, it feels every bit like Day 1.”

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 28, 2016– Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2015.

    Operating cash flow increased 74% to $11.9 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $6.8 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2014. Free cash flow increased to $7.3 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.9 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2014. Free cash flow less lease principal repayments increased to $4.7 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $529 million for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2014. Free cash flow less finance lease principal repayments and assets acquired under capital leases increased to $2.5 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with an outflow of $2.2 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2014.

    Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 490 million on December 31, 2015, compared with 483 million one year ago.

    Fourth Quarter 2015

    Net sales increased 22% to $35.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $29.3 billion in fourth quarter 2014. Excluding the $1.2 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 26% compared with fourth quarter 2014.

    Operating income increased 88% to $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with operating income of $591 million in fourth quarter 2014.

    Net income was $482 million in the fourth quarter, or $1.00 per diluted share, compared with net income of $214 million, or$0.45 per diluted share, in fourth quarter 2014.

    Full Year 2015

    Net sales increased 20% to $107.0 billion, compared with $89.0 billion in 2014. Excluding the $5.2 billion unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the year, net sales increased 26% compared with 2014.

    Operating income was $2.2 billion, compared with operating income of $178 million in 2014.

    Net income was $596 million, or $1.25 per diluted share, compared with net loss of $241 million, or $0.52 per diluted share, in 2014.

    “Twenty years ago, I was driving the packages to the post office myself and hoping we might one day afford a forklift. This year, we pass $100 billion in annual sales and serve 300 million customers,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “And still, measured by the dynamism we see everywhere in the marketplace and by the ever-expanding opportunities we see to invent on behalf of customers, it feels every bit like Day 1.”

    Highlights

    • Fire TV remains the #1 best-selling streaming media player in the U.S., having added over 1,000 new apps, channels, and games since September, including NBC, NBC Sports, Watch HGTV, Watch Food Network, and Watch Travel Channel.
    • The $50 Fire tablet has been the #1 best-selling, most gifted, and most wished-for product across all items available on Amazon.com since its introduction 19 weeks ago.
    • The Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice Service continue to attract innovative companies, with Ford, Invoxia, Vivint,Alarm.com, and Ooma announcing plans to integrate their products and services with Alexa. In addition, Alexa continues to get smarter with new features, including local search from Yelp, news sources from CNN andBloomberg, enhanced IFTTT support, new alarm tones, and customized sports updates.
    • Last quarter, developers added over 100 new capabilities to Alexa-enabled devices. Amazon Echo and Fire TV customers can now play Jeopardy!, get stock quotes with Fidelity, hear headlines from The Huffington Post, exercise with a seven-minute workout, and test their Star Wars knowledge with a trivia quiz from Disney.
    • Amazon announced the first devices available with Amazon Dash Replenishment Service, including products from Brother, GE, and Gmate. Additionally, new brands and devices have joined the Dash Replenishment program, including Purell and Whirlpool.
    • In 2015, worldwide paid Prime memberships increased 51% — 47% in the U.S. and even faster outside the U.S.
    • Prime Video continues to grow internationally with nearly double the streaming customers compared with fourth quarter 2014.
    • The Prime-exclusive Original Series Mozart in the Jungle received two Golden Globes for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Gael García Bernal).
    • Over the holidays Prime members made The Man in The High Castle the most watched series on Prime Video by 4.5x. The Amazon Original Series received outstanding critical acclaim, including USA Today calling it the “best new drama of the season.”
    • The second season of hit show Transparent was named as one of the top television series of 2015 by The New York Times, Variety, IndieWire, and The New Yorker.
    • Amazon Studios released its first Original Movie Chi-Raq, directed by Spike Lee, to rave reviews. The film has been included in 2015 “Best Films” lists from LA Weekly, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Slant, and Vulture.
    • Amazon launched the Streaming Partners Program, an over-the-top streaming subscription program that gives Prime members the option to add SHOWTIME, STARZ, and dozens more video subscriptions to their Prime membership.
    • In the fourth quarter, Prime Music streaming hours more than tripled in the U.S. compared with fourth quarter 2014.
    • Prime Music launched in Germany and Japan, offering Prime members more than one million songs and hundreds of playlists at no additional cost to their membership.
    • Since launching in December 2014 with one location, Prime Now has grown to more than 25 metropolitan areas across the U.S., U.K., Italy, and Japan.
    • Prime Same Day launched in the U.K. and Germany, offering Prime members unlimited free same-day delivery on a million items.
    • Amazon Pantry launched in the U.K., allowing Prime members to purchase daily essentials in everyday sizes and have items delivered for a low, flat-rate fee.
    • In 2015, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) shipped over one billion units on behalf of sellers. The number of active sellers using FBA grew more than 50%.
    • In the fourth quarter, FBA units represented nearly 50% of total third-party units.
    • Payment volume from Pay with Amazon grew more than 150% year-over-year in 2015, giving Amazon shoppers a secure way to pay on thousands of websites using information already stored in their Amazon accounts.
    • Amazon China launched the Amazon Global Store (AGS) 2.0 customer experience, which provides customers an easier and more convenient shopping experience through single login, unified shopping cart, and local payment. Additionally, AGS selection has grown to over nine million items.
    • Amazon.in was the top e-commerce site in India throughout the fourth quarter, including the busy Diwali shopping season, according to global analytics firm comScore.
    • Downloads of the Amazon.in mobile shopping app grew faster in the fourth quarter than any other e-commerce app in India, according to app analytics firm App Annie.
    • Sellers on Amazon.in sold more in the fourth quarter than in all four quarters combined in 2014.
    • Amazon Fashion, East Dane, and MyHabit return as the lead sponsor for the second season of New York Fashion Week: Men’s, hosted by The Council of Fashion Designers of America.
    • Amazon Launchpad, a program that helps startups launch, market, and distribute their products, has worked with leading venture capital firms, startup accelerators, and crowd-funding platforms to help more than 500 startups launch over 750 products in the U.S., U.K., and China.
    • Amazon entered into an agreement to support the construction and operation of Amazon Wind Farm U.S. Central, which is expected to generate approximately 320,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of wind energy on an annual basis. Amazon Wind Farm U.S. Central, combined with Amazon’s previously announced projects, Amazon Wind Farm Fowler Ridge, Amazon Solar Farm U.S. East in Virginia, and Amazon Wind Farm U.S. East in North Carolina, will be responsible for delivering more than 1.6 million MWh of additional renewable energy annually, roughly equivalent to the amount of energy required to power 150,000 U.S. homes for a year.
    • Only eight months after launch, Amazon Business, a marketplace with features and benefits tailored to businesses, serves more than 200,000 businesses ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of its Asia Pacific (Seoul) Region in Korea and its plans to open a new region in Canada. The AWS Cloud is now available from 32 Availability Zones across 12 geographic regions worldwide, with another five AWS Regions (and 11 Availability Zones) in Canada, China, India, Ohio, and the U.K. expected to be available in the coming year.
    • AWS announced the general availability of Amazon WorkMail, a secure, managed business email and calendaring service with support for existing desktop and mobile email clients.
    • AWS announced the general availability of AWS IoT, a managed cloud platform that lets billions of connected devices — such as mobile phones, cars, factory floors, aircraft engines, sensor grids, and more — easily and securely interact with cloud applications and other devices. AWS IoT can support trillions of messages, and can process, route, and keep track of those messages to AWS endpoints and other devices reliably and securely, even when the devices aren’t connected.
    • AWS announced AWS Certificate Manager (ACM), a new service that enables customers to easily provision, manage, and deploy Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) certificates for use with AWS services. SSL/TLS certificates are used to secure network communications and establish the identity of websites over the Internet. Certificates, which typically cost between $45 and $499, are provided to AWS customers free of charge through ACM and are verified by Amazon’s certificate authority, Amazon Trust Services.
    • AWS launched EC2 Scheduled Reserved Instances, allowing customers to reserve capacity for their applications that run on a part-time, recurring basis with a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule over the course of a one-year term.
    • AWS announced 722 significant new services and features in 2015, a 40% increase over 2014.

    Financial Guidance

    The following forward-looking statements reflect Amazon.com’s expectations as of January 28, 2016, and are subject to substantial uncertainty. Our results are inherently unpredictable and may be materially affected by many factors, such as fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, changes in global economic conditions and customer spending, world events, the rate of growth of the Internet and online commerce, and the various factors detailed below.

    First Quarter 2016 Guidance

    • Net sales are expected to be between $26.5 billion and $29.0 billion, or to grow between 17% and 28% compared with first quarter 2015.
    • Operating income is expected to be between $100 million and $700 million, compared with $255 million in first quarter 2015.
    • This guidance includes approximately $600 million for stock-based compensation and other operating expense (income), net. It assumes, among other things, that no additional business acquisitions, investments, restructurings, or legal settlements are concluded and that there are no further revisions to stock-based compensation estimates.

    A conference call will be webcast live today at 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET, and will be available for at least three months atwww.amazon.com/ir. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the Company’s financial and operating results.

    These forward-looking statements are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment, sortation, delivery, and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains, and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, payments risks, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services, and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

    Our investor relations website is www.amazon.com/ir and we encourage investors to use it as a way of easily finding information about us. We promptly make available on this website, free of charge, the reports that we file or furnish with theSEC, corporate governance information (including our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), and select press releases and social media postings, which may contain material information about us, and you may subscribe to be notified of new information posted to this site.

    About Amazon

    Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered byAmazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (in millions)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2015 2014 2015

    2014
    (unaudited)
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, BEGINNING OF PERIOD $ 10,709 $ 5,258 $ 14,557 $ 8,658
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income (loss) 482 214 596 (241 )
    Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash from operating activities:
    Depreciation of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development, and other amortization, including capitalized content costs 1,752 1,379 6,281 4,746
    Stock-based compensation 606 408 2,119 1,497
    Other operating expense (income), net 35 36 155 129
    Losses (gains) on sales of marketable securities, net 1 — 5 (3 )
    Other expense (income), net 79 78 245 62
    Deferred income taxes 190 185 81 (316 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 93 115 (119 ) (6 )
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Inventories (1,343 ) (1,139 ) (2,187 ) (1,193 )
    Accounts receivable, net and other (1,178 ) (1,104 ) (1,755 ) (1,039 )
    Accounts payable 6,140 5,053 4,294 1,759
    Accrued expenses and other 1,836 1,451 913 706
    Additions to unearned revenue 2,422 1,378 7,401 4,433
    Amortization of previously unearned revenue (2,303 ) (1,339 ) (6,109 ) (3,692 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 8,812 6,715 11,920 6,842
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development, net (1,309 ) (1,144 ) (4,589 ) (4,893 )
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired, and other (317 ) (53 ) (795 ) (979 )
    Sales and maturities of marketable securities 1,135 355 3,025 3,349
    Purchases of marketable securities (1,359 ) (1,623 ) (4,091 ) (2,542 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (1,850 ) (2,465 ) (6,450 ) (5,065 )
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation (93 ) (115 ) 119 6
    Proceeds from long-term debt and other 93 5,981 353 6,359
    Repayments of long-term debt and other (940 ) (183 ) (1,652 ) (513 )
    Principal repayments of capital lease obligations (724 ) (406 ) (2,462 ) (1,285 )
    Principal repayments of finance lease obligations (26 ) (68 ) (121 ) (135 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (1,690 ) 5,209 (3,763 ) 4,432
    Foreign-currency effect on cash and cash equivalents (91 ) (160 ) (374 ) (310 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 5,181 9,299 1,333 5,899
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, END OF PERIOD $ 15,890 $ 14,557 $ 15,890 $ 14,557
    SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
    Cash paid for interest on long-term debt $ 148 $ 36 $ 325 $ 91
    Cash paid for interest on capital and finance lease obligations 44 29 153 86
    Cash paid for income taxes (net of refunds) 73 30 273 177
    Property and equipment acquired under capital leases 1,332 1,214 4,717 4,008
    Property and equipment acquired under build-to-suit leases 163 214 544 920
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Operations
    (in millions, except per share data)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    (unaudited)
    Net product sales $ 26,618 $ 23,102 $ 79,268 $ 70,080
    Net service sales 9,129 6,226 27,738 18,908
    Total net sales 35,747 29,328 107,006 88,988
    Operating expenses (1):
    Cost of sales 24,341 20,671 71,651 62,752
    Fulfillment 4,546 3,424 13,410 10,766
    Marketing 1,755 1,526 5,254 4,332
    Technology and content 3,571 2,635 12,540 9,275
    General and administrative 390 442 1,747 1,552
    Other operating expense (income), net 36 39 171 133
    Total operating expenses 34,639 28,737 104,773 88,810
    Income from operations 1,108 591 2,233 178
    Interest income 13 8 50 39
    Interest expense (115 ) (74 ) (459 ) (210 )
    Other income (expense), net (68 ) (96 ) (256 ) (118 )
    Total non-operating income (expense) (170 ) (162 ) (665 ) (289 )
    Income (loss) before income taxes 938 429 1,568 (111 )
    Provision for income taxes (453 ) (205 ) (950 ) (167 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (3 ) (10 ) (22 ) 37
    Net income (loss) $ 482 $ 214 $ 596 $ (241 )
    Basic earnings per share $ 1.03 $ 0.46 $ 1.28 $ (0.52 )
    Diluted earnings per share $ 1.00 $ 0.45 $ 1.25 $ (0.52 )
    Weighted-average shares used in computation of earnings per share:
    Basic 470 464 467 462

    Diluted

    		 481 472 477 462

    ______________________________
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Fulfillment $ 137 $ 97 $ 482 $ 375
    Marketing 57 34 190 125
    Technology and content 364 226 1,224 804
    General and administrative 48 51 223 193
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
    (in millions)

    Three Months Ended

    		 Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    (unaudited)
    Net income (loss) $ 482 $ 214 $ 596 $ (241 )
    Other comprehensive income (loss):
    Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of tax of $7, $(3), $10, and $(3) (40 ) (116 ) (210 ) (325 )
    Net change in unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities:
    Unrealized gains (losses), net of tax of $1, $1, $(5), and $1 (9 ) 2 (7 ) 2
    Reclassification adjustment for losses (gains) included in “Other income (expense), net,” net of tax of $0, $(1), $0, and $(1) 1 (2 ) 5 (3 )
    Net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities (8 ) — (2 ) (1 )
    Total other comprehensive income (loss) (48 ) (116 ) (212 ) (326 )
    Comprehensive income (loss) $ 434 $ 98 $ 384 $ (567 )
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Segment Information
    (in millions)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    (unaudited)
    North America
    Net sales $ 21,501 $ 17,333 $ 63,708 $ 50,834
    Segment operating expenses (1) 20,498 16,600 60,957 49,542
    Segment operating income (loss) $ 1,003 $ 733 $ 2,751 $ 1,292
    International
    Net sales $ 11,841 $ 10,575 $ 35,418 $ 33,510
    Segment operating expenses (1) 11,781 10,510 35,509 33,654
    Segment operating income (loss) $ 60 $ 65 $ (91 ) $ (144 )
    AWS
    Net sales $ 2,405 $ 1,420 $ 7,880 $ 4,644
    Segment operating expenses (1) 1,718 1,180 6,017 3,984
    Segment operating income (loss) $ 687 $ 240 $ 1,863 $ 660
    Consolidated
    Net sales $ 35,747 $ 29,328 $ 107,006 $ 88,988
    Segment operating expenses (1) 33,997 28,290 102,483 87,180
    Segment operating income (loss) 1,750 1,038 4,523 1,808
    Stock-based compensation (606 ) (408 ) (2,119 ) (1,497 )
    Other operating income (expense), net (36 ) (39 ) (171 ) (133 )
    Income from operations 1,108 591 2,233 178
    Total non-operating income (expense) (170 ) (162 ) (665 ) (289 )
    Provision for income taxes (453 ) (205 ) (950 ) (167 )
    Equity-method investment activity, net of tax (3 ) (10 ) (22 ) 37
    Net income (loss) $ 482 $ 214 $ 596 $ (241 )
    Segment Highlights:
    Y/Y net sales growth:
    North America 24 % 21 % 25 % 23 %
    International 12 3 6 12
    AWS 69 47 70 49
    Consolidated 22 15 20 20
    Net sales mix:
    North America 60 % 59 % 60 % 57 %
    International 33 36 33 38
    AWS 7 5 7 5
    Consolidated 100 % 100 % 100 % 100 %

    ______________________________

    (1) Excludes stock-based compensation and “Other operating expense (income), net,” which are not allocated to segments.
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Net Sales Information
    (in millions)
    Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
    December 31, December 31,
    2015 2014 2015 2014
    (unaudited)
    Net Sales:
    North America
    Media $ 3,931 $ 3,544 $ 12,483 $ 11,567
    Electronics and other general merchandise 17,325 13,529 50,401 38,517
    Other (1) 245 260 824 750
    Total North America $ 21,501 $ 17,333 $ 63,708 $ 50,834
    International
    Media $ 3,292 $ 3,406 $ 10,026 $ 10,938
    Electronics and other general merchandise 8,491 7,109 25,196 22,369
    Other (1) 58 60 196 203
    Total International $ 11,841 $ 10,575 $ 35,418 $ 33,510
    Year-over-year Percentage Growth:
    North America
    Media 11 % 1 % 8 % 7 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 28 27 31 28
    Other (6 ) 28 10 22
    Total North America 24 21 25 23
    International
    Media (3 )% (8 )% (8 )% — %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 19 10 13 19
    Other (3 ) (6 ) (3 ) (3 )
    Total International 12 3 6 12
    Year-over-year Percentage Growth, excluding the effect of foreign exchange rates:
    North America
    Media 12 % 1 % 8 % 7 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 28 27 31 29
    Other (6 ) 28 10 22
    Total North America 24 21 26 23
    International
    Media 5 % (1 )% 4 % 2 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise 31 19 29 21
    Other 5 1 10 (3 )
    Total International 22 12 21 14

    ______________________________

    (1) Includes sales from non-retail activities, such as certain advertising services and our co-branded credit card agreements.
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (in millions, except per share data)
    December 31, 2015 December 31, 2014
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 15,890 $ 14,557
    Marketable securities 3,918 2,859
    Inventories 10,243 8,299
    Accounts receivable, net and other 6,423 5,612
    Total current assets 36,474 31,327
    Property and equipment, net 21,838 16,967
    Goodwill 3,759 3,319
    Other assets 3,373 2,892
    Total assets $ 65,444 $ 54,505
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Accounts payable $ 20,397 $ 16,459
    Accrued expenses and other 10,384 9,807
    Unearned revenue 3,118 1,823
    Total current liabilities 33,899 28,089
    Long-term debt 8,235 8,265
    Other long-term liabilities 9,926 7,410
    Commitments and contingencies
    Stockholders’ equity:
    Preferred stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 500
    Issued and outstanding shares — none — —
    Common stock, $0.01 par value:
    Authorized shares — 5,000
    Issued shares — 494 and 488
    Outstanding shares — 471 and 465 5 5
    Treasury stock, at cost (1,837 ) (1,837 )
    Additional paid-in capital 13,394 11,135
    Accumulated other comprehensive loss (723 ) (511 )
    Retained earnings 2,545 1,949
    Total stockholders’ equity 13,384 10,741
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 65,444 $ 54,505
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except per share data)
    (unaudited)

    		Y/Y %
    Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Change
    Cash Flows and Shares
    Operating cash flow — trailing twelve months (TTM) $ 6,842 $ 7,845 $ 8,980 $ 9,823 $ 11,920 74 %
    Operating cash flow — TTM Y/Y growth (decline) 25 % 47 % 69 % 72 % 74 % N/A
    Purchases of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development, net — TTM $ 4,893 $ 4,684 $ 4,607 $ 4,424 $ 4,589

    (6

    )%
    Principal repayments of capital lease obligations — TTM $ 1,285 $ 1,537 $ 1,832 $ 2,144 $ 2,462 92 %
    Principal repayments of finance lease obligations — TTM $ 135 $ 132 $ 155 $ 163 $ 121 (11 )%
    Property and equipment acquired under capital leases — TTM $ 4,008 $ 4,246 $ 4,710 $ 4,599 $ 4,717 18 %
    Free cash flow — TTM (1) $ 1,949 $ 3,161 $ 4,373 $ 5,399 $ 7,331 276 %
    Invested capital (2) $ 21,021 $ 23,090 $ 25,289 $ 27,425 $ 29,694 41 %
    Free cash flow less lease principal repayments — TTM (3) $ 529 $ 1,492 $ 2,386 $ 3,092 $ 4,748 797 %
    Free cash flow less finance lease principal repayments and assets acquired under capital leases — TTM (4) $ (2,194 ) $ (1,217 ) $ (492 ) $ 637 $ 2,493 N/A
    Common shares and stock-based awards outstanding 483 483 488 489 490 1 %
    Common shares outstanding 465 466 468 469 471 1 %
    Stock-based awards outstanding 18 17 20 20 19 7 %
    Stock-based awards outstanding — % of common shares outstanding 3.8 % 3.8 % 4.4 % 4.3 % 4.1 % N/A
    Results of Operations
    Worldwide (WW) net sales $ 29,328 $ 22,717 $ 23,185 $ 25,358 $ 35,747 22 %
    WW net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 18 % 22 % 27 % 30 % 26 % N/A
    WW net sales — TTM $ 88,988 $ 91,963 $ 95,808 $ 100,588 $ 107,006 20 %
    WW net sales — TTM Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 20 % 20 % 22 % 24 % 26 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ 591 $ 255 $ 464 $ 406 $ 1,108 88 %
    Operating income/loss — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X 22 % 90 % N/A N/A 84 % N/A
    Operating margin — % of WW net sales 2.0 % 1.1 % 2.0 % 1.6 % 3.1 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) — TTM $ 178 $ 287 $ 765 $ 1,715 $ 2,233 N/A
    Operating income/loss — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (79 )% (56 )% 35 % N/A N/A N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of WW net sales 0.2 % 0.3 % 0.8 % 1.7 % 2.1 % N/A
    Net income (loss) $ 214 $ (57 ) $ 92 $ 79 $ 482 125 %
    Net income (loss) per diluted share $ 0.45 $ (0.12 ) $ 0.19 $ 0.17 $ 1.00 121 %
    Net income (loss) — TTM $ (241 ) $ (405 ) $ (188 ) $ 328 $ 596 N/A
    Net income (loss) per diluted share — TTM $ (0.52 ) $ (0.88 ) $ (0.41 ) $ 0.69 $ 1.25 N/A

    ______________________________

    (1) Free cash flow is cash flow from operations reduced by “Purchases of property and equipment, including internal-use software and website development, net” which is included in cash flow from investing activities.

    (2) Average Total Assets minus Current Liabilities (excluding current portion of Long-Term Debt) over five quarter ends.

    (3) Free cash flow less lease principal repayments is free cash flow reduced by “Principal repayments of capital lease obligations,” and “Principal repayments of finance lease obligations,” which are included in cash flow from financing activities.

    (4) Free cash flow less finance lease principal repayments and assets acquired under capital leases is free cash flow reduced by “Principal repayments of finance lease obligations,” which are included in cash flow from financing activities, and property and equipment acquired under capital leases. In this measure, property and equipment acquired under capital leases is reflected as if these assets had been purchased with cash, which is not the case as these assets have been leased.
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Change
    Segments
    North America Segment:
    Net sales $ 17,333 $ 13,406 $ 13,796 $ 15,006 $ 21,501 24 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 21 % 24 % 26 % 29 % 24 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 50,834 $ 53,432 $ 56,233 $ 59,540 $ 63,708 25 %
    Operating income (loss) $ 733 $ 517 $ 703 $ 528 $ 1,003 37 %
    Operating income/loss — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X 77 % 111 % N/A 36 % N/A
    Operating margin — % of North America net sales 4.2 % 3.9 % 5.1 % 3.5 % 4.7 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) — TTM $ 1,292 $ 1,520 $ 1,893 $ 2,480 $ 2,751 113 %
    Operating margin — TTM % of North America net sales 2.5 % 2.8 % 3.4 % 4.2 % 4.3 % N/A
    International Segment:
    Net sales $ 10,575 $ 7,745 $ 7,565 $ 8,267 $ 11,841 12 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 12 % 14 % 22 % 24 % 22 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 33,510 $ 33,371 $ 33,598 $ 34,154 $ 35,418 6 %
    Net sales — TTM % of WW net sales 38 % 36 % 35 % 34 % 33 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ 65 $ (76 ) $ (19 ) $ (56 ) $ 60 (7 )%
    Operating income/loss — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X N/A N/A N/A 65 % N/A
    Operating margin — % of International net sales 0.6 % (1.0 )% (0.2 )% (0.7 )% 0.5 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) — TTM $ (144 ) $ (188 ) $ (205 ) $ (86 ) $ (91 ) (36 )%
    Operating margin — TTM % of International net sales (0.4 )% (0.6 )% (0.6 )% (0.3 )% (0.3 )% N/A
    AWS Segment:
    Net sales $ 1,420 $ 1,566 $ 1,824 $ 2,085 $ 2,405 69 %
    Net sales — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 47 % 49 % 81 % 78 % 69 % N/A
    Net sales — TTM $ 4,644 $ 5,160 $ 5,977 $ 6,894 $ 7,880 70 %
    Net sales — TTM % of WW net sales 5 % 6 % 6 % 7 % 7 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) $ 240 $ 265 $ 391 $ 521 $ 687 186 %
    Operating income/loss — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (13 )% 314 % 353 % 161 % N/A
    Operating margin — % of AWS net sales 16.9 % 16.9 % 21.4 % 25.0 % 28.5 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) — TTM $ 660 $ 680 $ 993 $ 1,417 $ 1,863 182 %
    Operating margin — TTM % of AWS net sales 14.2 % 13.2 % 16.6 % 20.6 % 23.6 % N/A
    Consolidated Segments:
    Operating expenses (5) $ 28,290 $ 22,011 $ 22,110 $ 24,365 $ 33,997 20 %
    Operating expenses — TTM (5) $ 87,180 $ 89,951 $ 93,126 $ 96,777 $ 102,483 18 %
    Operating income (loss) $ 1,038 $ 706 $ 1,075 $ 993 $ 1,750 69 %
    Operating income/loss — Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X 22 % 45 % 168 % N/A 67 % N/A
    Operating margin — % of Consolidated sales 3.5 % 3.1 % 4.6 % 3.9 % 4.9 % N/A
    Operating income (loss) — TTM $ 1,808 $ 2,012 $ 2,682 $ 3,811 $ 4,523 150 %
    Operating income/loss — TTM Y/Y growth (decline), excluding F/X (10 )% (1 )% 34 % 134 % 149 % N/A
    Operating margin — TTM % of Consolidated net sales 2.0 % 2.2 % 2.8 % 3.8 % 4.2 % N/A

    ______________________________

    (5) Represents cost of sales, fulfillment, marketing, technology and content, and general and administrative operating expenses, excluding stock-based compensation.
    AMAZON.COM, INC.
    Supplemental Financial Information and Business Metrics
    (in millions, except inventory turnover, accounts payable days and employee data)
    (unaudited)
    Y/Y %
    Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Change
    Supplemental
    Supplemental North America Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 3,544 $ 2,969 $ 2,620 $ 2,963 $ 3,931 11 %
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 1 % 5 % 7 % 9 % 12 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 11,567 $ 11,711 $ 11,867 $ 12,096 $ 12,483 8 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 13,529 $ 10,250 $ 10,987 $ 11,840 $ 17,325 28 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 27 % 31 % 32 % 35 % 28 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 38,517 $ 40,938 $ 43,559 $ 46,606 $ 50,401 31 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of North America net sales 76 % 77 % 77 % 78 % 79 % N/A
    Other $ 260 $ 187 $ 189 $ 203 $ 245 (6 )%
    Supplemental International Segment Net Sales:
    Media $ 3,406 $ 2,320 $ 2,094 $ 2,320 $ 3,292 (3 )%
    Media — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X (1 )% 2 % 3 % 6 % 5 % N/A
    Media — TTM $ 10,938 $ 10,615 $ 10,329 $ 10,140 $ 10,026 (8 )%
    Electronics and other general merchandise $ 7,109 $ 5,378 $ 5,425 $ 5,901 $ 8,491 19 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — Y/Y growth, excluding F/X 19 % 21 % 31 % 32 % 31 % N/A
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM $ 22,369 $ 22,559 $ 23,072 $ 23,814 $ 25,196 13 %
    Electronics and other general merchandise — TTM % of International net sales 67 % 68 % 69 % 70 % 71 % N/A
    Other $ 60 $ 47 $ 46 $ 46 $ 58 (3 )%
    Balance Sheet
    Cash and marketable securities — ending $ 17,416 $ 13,781 $ 14,001 $ 14,428 $ 19,808 14 %
    Inventory, net — ending $ 8,299 $ 7,369 $ 7,470 $ 8,981 $ 10,243 23 %
    Inventory turnover, average — TTM 8.6 8.8 8.9 8.6 8.5 (2 )%
    Property and equipment, net — ending $ 16,967 $ 17,736 $ 19,479 $ 20,636 $ 21,838 29 %
    Accounts payable — ending $ 16,459 $ 11,917 $ 12,391 $ 14,437 $ 20,397 24 %
    Accounts payable days — ending 73 70 74 79 77 5 %
    Other
    WW shipping revenue $ 1,701 $ 1,299 $ 1,399 $ 1,494 $ 2,328 37 %
    WW shipping revenue – % of net sales (6) 6.1 % 6.1 % 6.6 % 6.4 % 7.0 % N/A
    WW shipping costs $ 3,049 $ 2,309 $ 2,340 $ 2,720 $ 4,170 37 %
    WW shipping costs – % of net sales (6) 10.9 % 10.9 % 11.0 % 11.7 % 12.5 % N/A
    WW net shipping costs $ 1,348 $ 1,010 $ 941 $ 1,226 $ 1,842 37 %
    WW net shipping costs — % of WW net sales (6) 4.8 % 4.8 % 4.4 % 5.3 % 5.5 % N/A
    WW paid units — Y/Y growth 20 % 20 % 22 % 26 % 26 % N/A
    WW seller unit mix — % of WW paid units 43 % 44 % 45 % 46 % 47 % N/A
    Employees (full-time and part-time; excludes contractors & temporary personnel) 154,100 165,000 183,100 222,400 230,800 50 %

    ______________________________

    (6) Includes North America and International segment net sales.

    Amazon.com, Inc.
    Certain Definitions

    Customer Accounts

    • References to customers mean customer accounts, which are unique e-mail addresses, established either when a customer places an order or when a customer orders from other sellers on our websites. Customer accounts exclude certain customers, including customers associated with certain of our acquisitions, Amazon Payments customers, AWS customers, and the customers of select companies with whom we have a technology alliance or marketing and promotional relationship. Customers are considered active when they have placed an order during the preceding twelve-month period.

    Seller Accounts

    • References to sellers means seller accounts, which are established when a seller receives an order from a customer account. Sellers are considered active when they have received an order from a customer during the preceding twelve-month period.

    AWS Customers

    • References to AWS customers mean unique AWS customer accounts, which are unique e-mail addresses that are eligible to use AWS services. This includes AWS accounts in the AWS free tier. Multiple users accessing AWS services via one account are counted as a single account. Customers are considered active when they have had AWS usage activity during the preceding one-month period.

    Units

    Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

    Image via Amazon

  • Salesforce Introduces Updated App Cloud

    Salesforce Introduces Updated App Cloud

    Last fall, Salesforce announced Salesforce App Cloud, which it called the “next evolution” of the Salesforce1 Platform. It brought together Force.com, Heroku Enterprise, and the previously announced Lightning user interface, in addition to a learning resource called Trailhead, which includes tutorials and guides.

    App Cloud falls under the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) category aimed at enterprise businesses focusing on building apps, whether they are for company use or for customers. It’s essentially a consolidation of several of Salesforce’s products that unifies the experience and makes things less confusing for enterprises and developers.

    The company just announced the updated App Cloud with the general availability of Heroku Enterprise. From the Salesforce blog:

    Since launching App Cloud in 2015, we’ve noticed many of our customers growing their business by creating a superior customer experience through digital technology. Apartment List has saved renters time and money through an elegant, multi-device app experience. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines engaged fliers through social and mobile tools they already use. So in September 2015, we announced Heroku Enterprise as the next step in helping organizations create the new Internet consumer experience.

    Since then, the Age of the Customer has exploded–with businesses of all sizes racing to build and deliver the elegant, unified and digital customer experience once only seen from the Ubers of the world. Our mission with App Cloud is to give everyone, from citizen developers to CIOs, the tools to deliver modern and innovative customer experiences. Heroku Enterprise is a key part of how we enable that, joining App Cloud’s already best-in-class stable of services that range from the democratizing power of point-and-click programming tools to extra levels of trust and control around business-critical applications.

    You can learn more about Heroku Enterprise features here.

    Salesforce will host a webinar about App Cloud and Heroku Enterprise on February 18.

  • Salesforce Announces Global Launch of SalesforceIQ CRM for Small Businesses

    Salesforce Announces Global Launch of SalesforceIQ CRM for Small Businesses

    Back in September, Salesforce unveiled SalesforceIQ, which it referred to as “the future of selling for every business.”

    It was designed to help both large and small businesses and included two SalesforceIQ products: SalesforceIQ for Small Business and SalesforceIQ for Sales Cloud’s iOS, Android, and Chrome apps. The former is obviously geared toward small businesses, helping them manage deals, accelerate pipelines, and guiding them through the sales process. SalesforceIQ for Sales Cloud sees relationship intelligence integrated into sales reps’ email.

    At first, SalesforceIQ for Small Business was available in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. The company announced today that it is now available worldwide and that it is now called SalesforceIQ CRM from SalesforceIQ for Small Business.

    The product, the company says, makes the predictive capabilities of Relationship Intelligence available to all.

    SalesforceIQ CEO Steve Loughlin says, “As small business owners ourselves, we knew all too well that salespeople don’t have the time or the resources to keep track of all of the crucial information on their customers and prospects. To solve this problem, we developed Relationship Intelligence technology that automatically captures, analyzes and surfaces information for customer relationships from email, calendars and more. Relationship Intelligence seeks out the patterns needed to surface insights into future outcomes and proactively recommends actions for teams to build stronger relationships with customers and accelerate sales.”

    “Startup customers, such as Peerspace and Storyful, have been leveraging SalesforceIQ to work more efficiently, with the technology matching their fast-growing pace,” a spokesperson for Salesforce tells WebProNews. “A survey of current customers found 70 percent increased the number of deals closed per month and on average saved over 4 hours per week from manual data entry using SalesforceIQ.”

    The company is offering the product to businesses with a fourteen-day free trial.

    Image via Salesforce