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Tag: LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Challenges Government Secrecy in Court

    LinkedIn Challenges Government Secrecy in Court

    With the recent revelations surrounding the U.S. National Security Agency’s (NSA) widespread surveillance of the internet, online privacy concerns have become more widespread in recent months. This is especially true for social media, as the open nature of websites such as Twitter and Facebook makes it even easier for governments to compile information about citizens.

    LinkedIn this week released its bi-annual Transparency Report, something it and a handful of other social media websites do on a regular basis. However, with the nature of NSA surveillance now public, LinkedIn is attempting to come forward with the part it plays in the U.S. government’s national security-related demands for company information. Unfortunately, the government not only prevents companies from releasing such information, but it also prohibits those same companies from even acknowledging how many of those requests have been made. It’s an issue that even Google has had to deal with in recent years.

    Erika Rottenberg, general counsel for LinkedIn, revealed in a LinkedIn blog post this week that the company has been fighting to release the exact number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests it receives. From the blog post:

    Unfortunately, our Transparency Report doesn’t include requests related to U.S. national security-related matters. This is because the U.S. government prohibits us from doing so. We believe our members and the LinkedIn community deserve to know this information, especially in light of recent revelations about the nature of U.S. government surveillance. We’ve been in discussions with the U.S. government for months in an effort to convince them to allow us to release these numbers as part of our Transparency Report and these discussions recently reached an impasse.

    With no other options, LinkedIn has decided to take legal action against such secrecy. The company this week filed a petition with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to publish the exact number of FISA requests it receives. LinkedIn has also requested that its petition hearing be public. A similar request has also been filed with the FBI.

    In addition to the petition, LinkedIn has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The brief is regarding a case about the gag orders that accompany National Security Letters, and argues that such restrictions are not required to maintain national security.

  • LinkedIn Launches Redesign For Groups

    LinkedIn Launches Redesign For Groups

    LinkedIn announced today that LinkedIn Groups is getting a big redesign with new customization features. Here’s what it looks like:

    New LinkedIn Groups

    “The new streamlined interface also makes it easier for members to find content and engage in a Group,” says LinkedIn’s Jennifer Bunting. “On LinkedIn, members join Groups to share knowledge and network. Brands like Citi, Staples, and Capital One use Groups to build relationships with these members, drive advocacy, and generate engagement with their content marketing efforts.”

    LinkedIn has put together this slideshow about using Groups:

    “Today there are more than 200 conversations happening each minute across LinkedIn Groups and more than 8,000 Groups created each week,” says LinkedIn’s Daria Axelrod Marmer.

    The new look is rolling out to English-speaking members starting today. Over 2 million groups have already been created.

    LinkedIn also launched new University pages this week.

    Image: LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Opens Up to Young Students, Launches New University Pages

    LinkedIn Opens Up to Young Students, Launches New University Pages

    LinkedIn is hoping to get young students thinking about college and their eventual careers – and broaden their user base in the process. To that end, the company has just announced a brand new initiative to welcome in teens, one that involves dropping the age limit for new members and setting up special University Pages for students to use as new resource.

    “We believe University Pages will be especially valuable for students making their first, big decision about where to attend college. Therefore, beginning on September 12, we will be making LinkedIn available to high school students who can use LinkedIn to explore schools worldwide, greatly expand their understanding of the careers available, and get a head start on building a network of family and friends to help guide them at every milestone,” says LinkedIn’s Christina Allen.

    When LinkedIn says “high school students,” they mean kids entering their last leg of the educational system before college. This means that the age limits for each country will be different – for instance the new minimum age to join LinkedIn in the United States will be 14 (this applies to Canada, Germany, Spain, Australia, and South Korea as well). LinkedIn will open up to teens in the Netherlands when they turn 16, and Chinese students will have to wait until they’re 18. Every other country where LinkedIn is available will see their 13-year-old students joining the network.

    The new University Pages will allow prospective students to check out news, information, notable alumni, and more. Of course, it will also allow these younger students to make connections with people associated with any particular university.

    “Smart, ambitious students are already thinking about their futures when they step foot into high school – where they want to go to college, what they want to study, where they want to live and work. We want to encourage these students to leverage the insights and connections of the millions of successful professionals on LinkedIn, so they can make the most informed decisions and start their careers off right,” says LinkedIn’s Eric Heath.

    These younger members will be offered a few safeguards – including special customer service routing and new safety resources. All minors will have default privacy settings that are more strict than those for people 18 and over.

    LinkedIn has also made some general changes to their privacy policy:

    We have shortened the amount of time we store personal or location (IP address) data obtained through our off-site plug-ins (like the LinkedIn Share button) – and we now delete this information as soon as possible (as it comes into our system), and at the most, within seven days; We have updated the privacy policy to cover the data sharing that occurs when you choose to bind your SlideShare and LinkedIn accounts; We have updated the section of the privacy policy that allows what LinkedIn can suggest to you based on the data that you have chosen to upload from your email address books.

    All of this new privacy stuff will go into effect on September 12th. The new University Pages are already up and running, if you want to check them out.

  • LinkedIn Mobile Gets Job Application Functionality

    LinkedIn Mobile Gets Job Application Functionality

    LinkedIn announced on Monday that it has added mobile job application functionality across its iOS and Android apps, as well as its mobile site. Those members seeking jobs will start seeing a new “Apply” button if the company they’re applying for collects applications with LinkedIn Recruiter.

    If the job poster collects applications through an ATS system, job candidates will see an “Apply on Company Website” link.

    “‘Apply’ leverages the rich professional information members include in their profiles to simplify the application process down to a few simple steps,” says LinkedIn’s Vaibhav Goel in a blog post. “Filling out 30+ application fields on mobile is a pain, and enabling members to apply with their profile removes this hurdle. The whole process now takes less than a minute to complete.”

    “With this new functionality and CheckIn – our mobile app that radically simplifies how recruiters collect and manage candidate information at events – we’re making it easier for members to provide recruiters with their professional information and apply for jobs,” says Goel. “The next challenge: empowering recruiters to leverage mobile in kind. But we enjoy a good challenge!”

    LinkedIn says it’s working on a new API for ATS systems to deliver the kind of application functionality its own apply button does.

    Speaking of new LinkedIn APIs, the company also announced on Monday morning that it has opened up its new Company Page APIs. More on that here.

  • LinkedIn Opens Up Company Page APIs

    LinkedIn Opens Up Company Page APIs

    LinkedIn just announced that it’s opening up its company page APIs. This means developers can enable marketers to publish content to LinkedIn Company Pages, monitor conversations in real time and get analytics from the pages.

    “Initially available to a select group of partners, including Hootsuite, HubSpot, Spredfast, Adobe, Shoutlet, Percolate, Salesforce, and Sprinklr, the opening of LinkedIn’s Company Pages API means that all applications will have access to LinkedIn Company Pages,” a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews. “This will make it easier for marketers to generate and manage content on LinkedIn and use LinkedIn’s new Sponsored Updates solution to extend the reach of that content.”

    “We want to enable our clients to manage their content marketing from any tool they are comfortable using,” says LinkedIn’s Keith Cowing in a blog post. “Opening our Company Page APIs means that all applications will have access to LinkedIn Company Pages. This will make it even easier for marketers to generate and manage content on LinkedIn and use our new Sponsored Updates solution to extend the reach of that content.”

    A couple weeks ago, LinkedIn launched the sponsored updates, and last week, the company made them available for all advertisers.

    The company also rolled out Company Page analytics last week.

    Information for developers on getting started with the new APIs can be found here.

  • LinkedIn Q2 Earnings Out, Revenue Up 59% YoY

    LinkedIn Q2 Earnings Out, Revenue Up 59% YoY

    LinkedIn just released its earnings report for the second quarter, with revenue up 59% year-over-year at $363.7 million, beating Wall Street estimates. Net income was $3.7 million, compared to $2.8 million in the second quarter last year.

    The company also announced that its membership reached 238 million, with growth accelerated to 37% year-over-year. The growth, the company says, is mainly due to product optimization. Mobile engagement, LinkedIn says, was up 40%.

    “Accelerated member growth and strong engagement drove record operating and financial results in the second quarter,” said CEO Jeff Weiner. “We are continuing to invest in driving scale across the LinkedIn platform in order to fully realize our long-term potential.”

    LinkedIn stock is up +12.75‎ (5.99%‎) in after hours trading.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 1, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD), the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, with more than 238 million members, reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2013:

    • Revenue for the second quarter was $363.7 million, an increase of 59% compared to $228.2 million in the second quarter of 2012.
    • Net income for the second quarter was $3.7 million, compared to net income of $2.8 million for the second quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was $44.5 million, compared to $18.1 million for the second quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP measures exclude tax-affected stock-based compensation expense and tax-affected amortization of acquired intangible assets.
    • Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $88.6 million, or 24% of revenue, compared to $50.4 million for the second quarter of 2012, or 22% of revenue.
    • GAAP diluted EPS for the second quarter was $0.03; Non-GAAP diluted EPS for the second quarter was $0.38.

    “Accelerated member growth and strong engagement drove record operating and financial results in the second quarter,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “We are continuing to invest in driving scale across the LinkedIn platform in order to fully realize our long-term potential.”

    Second Quarter Financial Details and Operating Summary

    • Talent Solutions: Revenue from Talent Solutions products totaled $205.1 million, an increase of 69% compared to the second quarter of 2012. Talent Solutions revenue represented 56% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013, compared to 53% in the second quarter of 2012.
    • Marketing Solutions: Revenue from Marketing Solutions products totaled $85.6 million, an increase of 36% compared to the second quarter of 2012. Marketing Solutions revenue represented 24% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013, compared to 28% in the second quarter of 2012.
    • Premium Subscriptions: Revenue from Premium Subscriptions products totaled $73.0 million, an increase of 68% compared to the second quarter of 2012. Premium Subscriptions represented 20% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013, compared to 19% in the second quarter of 2012.

    Revenue from the U.S. totaled $224.3 million, and represented 62% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013. Revenue from international markets totaled $139.4 million, and represented 38% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013.

    Revenue from the field sales channel totaled $209.2 million, and represented 58% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013. Revenue from the online, direct sales channel totaled $154.4 million, and represented 42% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2013.

    GAAP net income for the second quarter was $3.7 million, compared to net income of $2.8 million for the second quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was $44.5 million, compared to $18.1 million in the second quarter of 2012.

    Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $88.6 million, or 24% of revenue, compared to $50.4 million for the second quarter of 2012, or 22% of revenue.

    GAAP diluted EPS was $0.03 for the second quarter based on 116.6 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding compared to $0.03 for the second quarter of 2012 based on 112.3 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.38 for the second quarter based on 116.6 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding compared to $0.16 for the second quarter of 2012 based on 112.3 million fully-diluted weighted shares outstanding.

    “LinkedIn operated at a high level in the second quarter, evidenced by strong engagement, steady growth, and increasing levels of adjusted EBITDA and cash flow,” said Steve Sordello, CFO of LinkedIn. “We continue to make long-term investments against our operating priorities in order to add increased value for our members and customers.”

    For additional information, please see the “Selected Company Metrics and Financials” page on LinkedIn’s Investor Relations site.

    Second Quarter Highlights and Strategic Announcements

    In the second quarter of 2013:

    • LinkedIn membership grew to 238 million, as growth accelerated to 37% year-over-year. This strength was driven primarily by product optimization, and represents the first membership growth acceleration since the third quarter of 2011.
    • The Influencer Program added professional luminaries including Bill Gates, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Jamie Dimon, and Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts. LinkedIn’s professional publishing platform contributed to homepage traffic more than doubling compared with last year.
    • LinkedIn revamped its mobile phone experience with the introduction of new iOS and Android apps. Mobile activity has increased, with mobile homepage engagement rising over 40%, and increasing levels of social actions, article views, and mobile profile edits when compared to the past version.
    • LinkedIn launched a new version of its flagship Recruiter platform for Talent Solutions customers resulting in increased customer engagement. LinkedIn also launched CheckIn, which enables student members to engage with recruiters at on-campus hiring events.

    Business Outlook

    LinkedIn is providing guidance for the third quarter and full year of 2013:

    • Q3 2013 Guidance: Revenue is expected to range between $367 million and $373 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $81 million and $83 million. The company expects depreciation and amortization in the range of $38 million to $40 million, and stock-based compensation in the range of $49 million to $51 million.
    • Full Year 2013 Guidance: Revenue is revised upwards to range between $1.455 billion and $1.475 billion.  Adjusted EBITDA is also revised upwards to range between $340 million and $355 million. The company expects depreciation and amortization in the range of $135 million to $140 million, and stock-based compensation in the range of $183 million to $188 million.

    Quarterly Conference Call

    LinkedIn will host a webcast/conference call to discuss its second quarter 2013 financial results and business outlook today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Jeff Weiner and Steve Sordello will host the webcast, which can be viewed on the investor relations section of the LinkedIn website at http://investors.linkedin.com/. This call will contain forward-looking statements and other material information regarding the company’s financial and operating results. Following completion of the call, a recorded replay of the webcast will be available on the website.

    About LinkedIn 

    Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. With more than 238 million members worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet. The company has a diversified business model with revenue coming from Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions and Premium Subscriptions products. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, LinkedIn has offices across the globe.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, the company uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP diluted EPS (collectively the “non-GAAP financial measures”). The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. The company believes that they provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.

    The company excludes the following items from one or more of its non-GAAP measures:

    Stock-based compensation. The company excludes stock-based compensation because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. The company further believes this measure is useful to investors in that it allows for greater transparency to certain line items in its financial statements and facilitates comparisons to competitors’ operating results.

    Amortization of acquired intangible assets. The company excludes amortization of acquired intangible assets because it is non-cash in nature and because the company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance and liquidity. In addition, excluding this item from various non-GAAP measures facilitates internal comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to competitors’ operating results.

    Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. The company adjusts non-GAAP net income by including the income tax effects of excluding stock-based compensation and the amortization of acquired intangible assets. The company believes that the inclusion of the income tax effects provides additional transparency to the overall or “after tax” effects of excluding these items from non-GAAP net income.

    For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” table in this press release. This accompanying table has more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures. Additionally, the company has not reconciled adjusted EBITDA guidance to net income guidance because it does not provide guidance for either other income (expense), net, or provision for income taxes, which are reconciling items between net income and adjusted EBITDA. As items that impact net income are out of the company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, the company is unable to provide such guidance. Accordingly, a reconciliation to net income is not available without unreasonable effort.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release and the accompanying conference call contain forward-looking statements about our products, including our investments in products, technology and other key strategic areas, certain non-financial metrics, such as member growth and engagement, and our expected financial metrics such as revenue, adjusted EBITDA, depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation for the third quarter of 2013 and the full fiscal year 2013. The achievement of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions prove incorrect, the company’s results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements the company makes.

    The risks and uncertainties referred to above include – but are not limited to – risks associated with: our limited operating history in a new and unproven market; engagement of our members; the price volatility of our Class A common stock; general economic conditions; expectations regarding the return on our strategic investments; execution of our plans and strategies, including with respect to mobile products and features; security measures and the risk that they may not be sufficient to secure our member data adequately or that we are subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of members to access our solutions; expectations regarding our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt existing technology and network infrastructure to ensure that our solutions are accessible at all times with short or no perceptible load times; our ability to maintain our rate of revenue growth and manage our expenses and investment plans; our ability to accurately track our key metrics internally; members and customers curtailing or ceasing to use our solutions; our core value of putting members first, which may conflict with the short-term interests of the business; privacy and changes in regulations in the United States, Europe or elsewhere, which could impact our ability to serve our members or curtail our monetization efforts; litigation and regulatory issues; increasing competition; our ability to manage our growth; our ability to recruit and retain our employees; the application of US and international tax laws on our tax structure and any changes to such tax laws; acquisitions we have made or may make in the future; and the dual class structure of our common stock.

    Further information on these and other factors that could affect the company’s financial results is included in filings it makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed for the year ended December 31, 2012, and additional information will also be set forth in our Form 10-Q that will be filed for the quarter ended June 30, 2013, which should be read in conjunction with these financial results. These documents are or will be available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Relations page of the company’s website at http://investors.linkedin.com/. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of August 1, 2013, and LinkedIn undertakes no duty to update this information.

    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
     
     
      June 30, December 31,
      2013 2012
    ASSETS
    CURRENT ASSETS:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 262,670 $ 270,408
    Short-term investments 610,728 479,141
    Accounts receivable, net 203,585 203,607
    Deferred commissions 29,710 30,232
    Prepaid expenses 26,785 14,344
    Other current assets 30,672 21,065
    Total current assets 1,164,150 1,018,797
    Property and equipment, net 292,715 186,677
    Goodwill 150,831 115,214
    Intangible assets, net 38,284 32,780
    Other assets 41,980 28,862
    TOTAL ASSETS $ 1,687,960 $ 1,382,330
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    CURRENT LIABILITIES:
    Accounts payable $ 74,605 $ 53,559
    Accrued liabilities 106,118 104,077
    Deferred revenue 331,187 257,743
    Total current liabilities 511,910 415,379
    DEFERRED TAX LIABILITIES 22,905 27,717
    OTHER LONG TERM LIABILITIES 42,128 30,810
    Total liabilities 576,943 473,906
    COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
    STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
    Class A and Class B common stock 11 11
    Additional paid-in capital 1,055,870 879,303
    Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (64) 260
    Accumulated earnings 55,200 28,850
    Total stockholders’ equity 1,111,017 908,424
    TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY $ 1,687,960 $ 1,382,330
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
    (In thousands, except per share data)
    (Unaudited)
     
     
    Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
    June 30, June 30,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    Net revenue $ 363,661 $ 228,207 $ 688,366 $ 416,663
    Costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below) 49,264 30,367 91,648 55,500
    Sales and marketing 122,276 75,740 231,693 141,624
    Product development 95,608 60,080 176,280 107,173
    General and administrative 56,225 30,974 99,009 55,828
    Depreciation and amortization 32,193 17,548 57,999 32,430
    Total costs and expenses 355,566 214,709 656,629 392,555
    Income from operations 8,095 13,498 31,737 24,108
    Other expense, net (252) (668) (560) (444)
    Income before income taxes 7,843 12,830 31,177 23,664
    Provision for income taxes 4,109 10,019 4,827 15,864
    Net income $ 3,734 $ 2,811 $ 26,350 $ 7,800
    Net income per share of common stock:
    Basic $ 0.03 $ 0.03 $ 0.24 $ 0.08
    Diluted $ 0.03 $ 0.03 $ 0.23 $ 0.07
    Weighted-average shares used to compute net income per share:
    Basic 111,214 104,185 110,334 103,198
    Diluted 116,627 112,317 116,017 111,813
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
     
     
    Three Months Ended
    June 30,    		 Six Months Ended
    June 30,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income $ 3,734 $ 2,811 $ 26,350 $ 7,800
    Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization 32,193 17,548 57,999 32,430
    Provision (benefit) for doubtful accounts and sales returns 1,639 (227) 2,953 (290)
    Stock-based compensation 48,354 19,323 82,293 31,949
    Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation (5,003) (8,110) (17,559) (10,367)
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Accounts receivable 8,577 (16,949) (272) (22,457)
    Deferred commissions 1,185 (1,636) 543 (2,073)
    Prepaid expenses and other assets (8,448) (10,699) (17,846) (20,274)
    Accounts payable and other liabilities 24,313 16,144 20,815 26,816
    Income taxes, net 3,522 11,617 (726) 14,484
    Deferred revenue 14,099 17,176 73,444 52,195
    Net cash provided by operating activities 124,165 46,998 227,994 110,213
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment (93,184) (37,604) (137,467) (59,691)
    Purchases of investments (98,715) (116,065) (256,925) (179,377)
    Sales of investments 17,389 24,304 76,420 24,304
    Maturities of investments 33,897 38,361 45,127 60,726
    Payments for intangible assets and acquisitions, net of cash acquired (6,321) (40,297) (6,547) (47,900)
    Changes in deposits and restricted cash (3,488) (648) (3,543) (2,702)
    Net cash used in investing activities (150,422) (131,949) (282,935) (204,640)
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock from employee stock options 7,681 14,214 19,738 23,891
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock from employee stock purchase plan 11,500 7,718 11,500 7,718
    Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation 5,003 8,110 17,559 10,367
    Other financing activities 797 (176) 813 (140)
    Net cash provided by financing activities 24,981 29,866 49,610 41,836
    EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS (993) (787) (2,407) (81)
    CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS (2,269) (55,872) (7,738) (52,672)
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS—Beginning of period 264,939 342,248 270,408 339,048
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS—End of period $ 262,670 $ 286,376 $ 262,670 $ 286,376
    SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF NONCASH INVESTING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment recorded in accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 8,032 $ 5,984 $ 36,103 $ 17,402
    Vesting of early exercised stock options $ 256 $ 1,858 $ 547 $ 2,630
    Issuance of Class A common stock and stock options for business combinations $ 40,927 $72,461 $ 40,927 $ 72,461
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE INFORMATION
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
    June 30, June 30,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    Revenue by product:
    Talent Solutions $ 205,092 $ 121,592 $ 389,376 $ 224,152
    Marketing Solutions 85,593 63,105 160,389 111,055
    Premium Subscriptions 72,976 43,510 138,601 81,456
    Total $ 363,661 $ 228,207 $ 688,366 $ 416,663
    Revenue by geographic region:
    United States $ 224,277 $ 147,253 $ 425,680 $ 268,102
    Other Americas (1) 26,857 15,047 51,033 27,056
    Total Americas 251,134 162,300 476,713 295,158
    EMEA (2) 84,691 50,057 159,848 92,902
    APAC (3) 27,836 15,850 51,805 28,603
    Total $ 363,661 $ 228,207 $ 688,366 $ 416,663
    Revenue by channel:
     Field sales $ 209,227 $ 129,448 $ 393,198 $ 230,919
     Online sales 154,434 98,759 295,168 185,744
    Total $ 363,661 $ 228,207 $ 688,366 $ 416,663
    (1) Canada, Latin America and South America
    (2) Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”)
    (3) Asia-Pacific (“APAC”)
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
    (In thousands, except per share data)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
    June 30, June 30,
    2013 2012 2013 2012
    Non-GAAP net income and net income per share:
    GAAP net income $ 3,734 $ 2,811 $ 26,350 $ 7,800
    Add back: stock-based compensation 48,354 19,323 82,293 31,949
    Add back: amortization of intangible assets 5,677 1,851 8,518 3,159
    Income tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (13,307) (5,933) (20,302) (7,923)
    NON-GAAP NET INCOME $ 44,458 $ 18,052 $ 96,859 $ 34,985
    GAAP AND NON-GAAP DILUTED SHARES 116,627 112,317 116,017 111,813
    NON-GAAP DILUTED NET INCOME PER SHARE $ 0.38 $ 0.16 $ 0.83 $ 0.31
     
    Adjusted EBITDA:
    Net income $ 3,734 $ 2,811 $ 26,350 $ 7,800
    Provision for income taxes 4,109 10,019 4,827 15,864
    Other expense, net 252 668 560 444
    Depreciation and amortization 32,193 17,548 57,999 32,430
    Stock-based compensation 48,354 19,323 82,293 31,949
    ADJUSTED EBITDA $ 88,642 $ 50,369 $ 172,029 $ 88,487

  • LinkedIn Gets Better for Businesses with New Company Page Analytics

    LinkedIn Gets Better for Businesses with New Company Page Analytics

    LinkedIn has just launched another tool to help businesses better promote themselves on the network. Starting today, everyone who operates a company page on LinkedIn will gain access to a new set of analytics.

    Company Page analytics let businesses track various metrics for each of their posts – impressions, clicks, interactions, the number of followers acquired because of said post, and the level of engagement. Also:

    “With this new set of analytics, you can identify the updates that drive the greatest engagement, filter engagement trends by type and time period, get more detailed demographic data about your followers, and see the growth of your follower base and benchmark it against similar brands,” says LinkedIn’s Aviad Pinkovezky.

    All company pages should have access to the new analytics starting today.

    LinkedIn has been putting more focus on businesses lately. Last week, they launched Sponsored Updates in users’ feeds. Much like Facebook or Twitter, these are posts that companies can pay to have featured in users’ update feeds.

    “Through Sponsored Updates, businesses aim to engage select communities of LinkedIn members with useful information,” says LinkedIn.

  • LinkedIn Sponsored Updates Now Available To All Advertisers

    LinkedIn Sponsored Updates Now Available To All Advertisers

    LinkedIn just announced that sponsored updates are now available to all advertisers. The feature was announced last week, after testing for about six months. The company initially rolled it out to a select number of companies. Now they’re available via self-serve.

    LinkedIn’s Gyanda Sachdeva says in a blog post:

    Today we’re excited to announce that Sponsored Updates are now available to all LinkedIn advertisers and Company Page administrators, through our self-serve advertising platform. All companies can now sponsor updates and reach professionals in 20 languages and across more than 200 countries and territories. Sponsored Updates will be shown in the LinkedIn feed on desktop, smartphone, and tablet devices. With this release, advertisers have the ability to select their professional target audience, choose to pay on a CPC or CPM basis, and manage an advertising budget of any size, all using our self-serve tool.

    Here’s an example of what a sponsored update looks like on LinkedIn:

    LinkedIn Sponsored Update

    If you have a LinkedIn advertising account and a company page, you should be able to get started. The above video will show you how.

    LinkedIn says it will offer best practices on how to get the most of out the ad format over the coming months.

  • LinkedIn Adds Infographic Player To Slideshare

    LinkedIn Adds Infographic Player To Slideshare

    LinkedIn announced on Thursday that it has launched a new player on Slideshare specifically for infographics. It looks like so:

    “Though we have hosted infographics in the past, our new player optimizes the viewing experience of the increasingly important content type,” explains LinkedIn’s Arpit Dhariwal. “Like all SlideShares, a viewer can easily share infographics on social channels and embed them on other sites. Uploaders can see how many views, downloads and embeds their infographics have garnered.”

    The player automatically detects infographics when they’re uploaded. It also includes it in the infographic directory. When you upload one, make sure you upload the file as a one-page PDF.

    They can be uploaded here.

    LinkedIn acquired Slideshare last year for about $118.75 million. Earlier this year, they added new tracking analytics to the product.

  • LinkedIn Launches Sponsored Updates in Your Feed

    LinkedIn Launches Sponsored Updates in Your Feed

    LinkedIn is finally following the path of other social sites like Facebook and Twitter as the professional network has just launched Sponsored Updates for your activity feed.

    LinkedIn has been testing Sponsored Updates for about six months nows, but today they’re finally pulling back the veil on the new advertising venture.

    “We know that getting relevant information at the right time can help inform the many business decisions you make throughout your day. Through Sponsored Updates, businesses aim to engage select communities of LinkedIn members with useful information. This can come in the form of an article, blog post, video or presentation that is rooted in relevant content,” says LinkedIn’s Gyanda Sachdeva.

    Sponsored Updates will appear in your activity feed and will be clearly marked as “Sponsored.” Users will have the ability to like, comment, and share the updates. They’ll also be given the option to follow the company responsible for the update.

    And if you’re not happy with any particular piece of sponsored content you find in your feed, you can always hide it.

    “We are focused on delivering posts that will be relevant to you. Just like other content in your feed, we will gauge your engagement with Sponsored Updates and aim to surface posts that will be useful to you. In the event a piece of content isn’t relevant to you, we offer the option to hide it from your feed. You can see this option on the top right by hovering on any Sponsored Update,” says Sachdeva.

    At launch, some high-profile companies have already signed on as partners to the new Sponsored Update initiative, including Allstate Insurance, Box Inc., Domo, Inc., Charles Schwab & Co., General Electric, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan Motor Company, The Weinstein Company, Wall Street Journal, and Xerox.

    “Marketers are increasingly leveraging content to inform, educate, and inspire their current and prospective customers. But the high quality content they’ve produced – slideshows, articles, videos, and whitepapers – does not always achieve enough reach and engagement on their own channels. With Sponsored Updates, marketers will be able to distribute this content directly to relevant professionals in a place their customers and prospects are already consuming professionally relevant content. Marketers can target Sponsored Updates to any segment of our premium audience based on professional profile data across more than 225 million members,” says LinkedIn’s David Hahn.

  • LinkedIn Search Gets Better on iOS and Android

    LinkedIn Search Gets Better on iOS and Android

    Like many social networks and other applications, LinkedIn’s fastest growing sector is mobile. A few months ago, when LinkedIn launched a pretty major mobile redesign, the company said that 27% of their unique visitors come from their mobile apps – up 15% from a year ago. Mobile pageviews have also increased by 250%.

    With that in mind, it’s no surprise that LinkedIn is looking for ways to make their mobile experience better. Today, LinkedIn is improving mobile search on both its iOS and Android apps.

    Starting today, you can now search, jobs, companies, and groups with the apps. Before, you could only search people. LinkedIn says that this will help users “take advantage of their ‘in between’ mobile moments.”

    “You can now search for more than just people on mobile. Find and discover more than 225 million professionals, 3 million Company Pages, 2 million Groups and thousands of job opportunities via the magnifying glass icon at the top of the navigation screen. If you’re meeting someone new at Microsoft, look up that person and the Microsoft Company Page beforehand to see things you have in common. While you’re at it, search for the Microsoft Surface group on LinkedIn to hear what people are saying about the product. And if you end up having a great meeting and loving Microsoft, you may even want to search for jobs at Microsoft,” says LinkedIn’s Tomer Cohen.

    April’s big mobile redesign brought a new activity stream that not only is more media-rich, but is also better all pulling in all types of content – updates from connections, news, and influencer posts. LinkedIn also debuted a new navigation page with a customizable menu.

    All of this mobile focus doesn’t means that LinkedIn is neglecting their desktop bread and butter, however. In the past couple of months, LinkedIn has added personalized insights to the homepage, given users more analytics into who’s viewing and interacting with their profiles, and allowed users to add photos and presentations directly inside updates.

    You can download the updates at the App Store and on Google Play.

  • LinkedIn Partners With IDG On New Group Programs

    LinkedIn Partners With IDG On New Group Programs

    LinkedIn has announced a new partnership with IDG Communications to offer IT vendors and marketers new ways to engage wit LinkedIn members. The IDG Enterprise Custom Solutions group will provide services for marketing programs and offerings, building on existing LinkedIn capabilities.

    “Based on a study LinkedIn conducted last year, LinkedIn has found that IT professionals are increasingly turning to social networks to do their work effectively, with 95% of IT decision makers saying they use LinkedIn in a business capacity,” a spokesperson for LinkedIn tells WebProNews. “The expertise and new offerings from IDG, such as the Hosted Technology Group Program and Custom Technology Group, will allow IT marketers to achieve more effectively connect with the IT professionals among LinkedIn’s members.”

    The Hosted Technology Group Program refers to a series of “highly focused groups” LinkedIn and IDG are developing for business tech buyers. These will be on topics like virtualization, security, cloud, data center, networking, unified communications, business intelligence, mobility, and converged infrastructure.

    “The one-year exclusive group sponsorship comes with LinkedIn Group platform, group recruitment, a dedicated IDG group manager, daily content and discussion posts, and discussion curation by IDG,” explains LinkedIn’s Michael Weir (pictured) in a blog post. “The sponsorship includes ad placements, client produced content assets and posts, and an expected number of group members.”

    The Custom Technology Group refers to a six month program using the same group structure and sponsor ad placement components, which LinkedIn says “enhances the experience by allowing the sponsor to set the content and topic focus.” This includes articles created specifically for the group.

    “Promotion and management are similar to the Hosted Technology Group,” writes Weir. “This program is dedicated to a client campaign and not tied to a single technology topic as is the case with Hosted Technology Groups.”

    LinkedIn has 200 million members with which IT vendors and marketers will be able to potentially engage with through these programs.

  • LinkedIn Adds More ‘Personalized Insights’ to Your Homepage

    LinkedIn Adds More ‘Personalized Insights’ to Your Homepage

    LinkedIn is making a few additions to your homepage that they say will “provide you with more personalized insights on your activities and engagement” across the network.

    Soon, you’ll see a new “Who’s Viewed Your Updates” section on the homepage. It tracks your posts from the previous two weeks and gives you a quick glance at how well they performed – this includes overall views, likes, and comments.

    “In addition to the engagement from your 1st degree connections, Who’s Viewed Your Updates will also show you how many of those members in your 2nd and 3rd degree networks, engaged with what you shared. Now you have real-time feedback on how the content you read and share resonates within your network, giving you more opportunities to build your professional brand and make connections with new professionals that share common interests,” says LinkedIn’s Caroline Gaffney.

    You’ll also see a new “You recently visited” section that simply shows all of the things you’ve recently interacted with on the network – articles and profiles you’ve viewed, searches you’ve performed, etc. LinkedIn says that this will make it easier to “retrace your steps.”

    LinkedIn recently added more analytics to users’ profiles – detailed info on “who’s viewed you profile” and how many times they’ve appeared in a LinkedIn search. Those analytics are even better for LinkedIn Premium members, who receive an even more detailed breakdown of how they’re being found – keywords, industry views, and geographic breakdowns.

    And they also recently unveiled two-step verification for a little bit of extra account security.

  • LinkedIn Provides More Insight into Who’s Looking at Your Profile

    LinkedIn Provides More Insight into Who’s Looking at Your Profile

    LinkedIn is rolling out an improved system for analyzing who is checking out your profile that adds new insights to both basic and premium LinkedIn members.

    “Natural curiosity entices many people to wonder, ‘Who’s been viewing my profile?’ each day on LinkedIn. Today, we’re rolling out a new, simplified look and feel for Who’s Viewed Your Profile to make it easier for you to get a snapshot of who, what, and how you are being discovered on LinkedIn,” says LinkedIn’s Udi Milo.

    Basic LinkedIn members will be able to see exactly how often people are viewing their profile over the past few weeks, and well as how many times they appeared in a LinkedIn search (and the percent change from last week).

    But it’s premium members that will get the most from this upgrade. They’ll be able to get a detailed list of which keywords led to them in search, as well as which industries their profile viewers come from. Premium members will also see a geographic breakdown of those profile views. Of course, they’ll also be able to see more of the profile viewers – basic members aren’t able to see everyone who’s viewed their profile.

    LinkedIn has been on an update kick as of late. Last week they finally allowed users to add photos and presentations to updates, and they also unveiled two-step verification for better account security.

  • LinkedIn Unveils Two-Step Verification on the Heels of Twitter

    LinkedIn Unveils Two-Step Verification on the Heels of Twitter

    Following Twitter’s recent announcement, LinkedIn has just launched their own two-step verification feature.

    “At LinkedIn, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the security of our members’ accounts. All LinkedIn accounts are already protected by a series of automatic checks that are designed to thwart unauthorized sign-in attempts. Now, we are introducing a new optional feature that adds another layer of security to your LinkedIn sign-in: two-step verification.

    Most internet accounts that become compromised are illegitimately accessed from a new or unknown computer (or device). Two-step verification helps address this problem by requiring you to type a numeric code when logging in from an unrecognized device for the first time. This code will be sent to your phone via SMS. When enabled, two-step verification makes it more difficult for unauthorized users to access your account, requiring them to have both your password and access to your mobile phone,” says LinkedIn’s Vicente Silveira.

    If you wish to turn on LinkedIn’s two-step verification, just go to your settings and click on the “Account” tab. From there, click on “Manage security settings.” You’ll see an option to turn it on there.

    Two-step verification, while far from perfect, adds an extra layer to your account security. It’s becoming a popular option for companies like Google, Apple, Twitter, and now, LinkedIn.

  • LinkedIn Lets You Add Photos, Presentations to Updates

    LinkedIn Lets You Add Photos, Presentations to Updates

    LinkedIn has just taken a significant step in making the homepage stream much more interesting. Today, they’ve announced the addition of photos, documents, and presentations to updates.

    “Whether it’s a thought provoking presentation about the future of big data or it’s a picture of an inspirational quote, or perhaps it’s an infographic showing the top trends impacting your industry, the possibilities are endless for what you can share on LinkedIn to add a richer and more visual component to your professional discussions.”

    Yes, your stream is about to fill up with photos:

    Earlier this month, LinkedIn began to allow users to adds photos, videos, and other rich media to their profiles, but this is the first time that it’s come to the homepage.

    LinkedIn says that the new sharing feature will begin to roll out globally today and will complete in the next few weeks. Once you gain access to the new functionality, you should see a little dialog box at the upper right-hand corner of your share box that asks you to “add a little something to your update.”

    “We also introduced the ability to directly upload images and files to 2.9 million Company Page admins, so you can expect to see richer and more engaging visual content flowing across your LinkedIn experience. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing what you have to share and say about your professional universe through pictures, slides and more,” says LinkedIn.

  • LinkedIn Gets A New Navigation Bar

    LinkedIn Gets A New Navigation Bar

    LinkedIn continues to redesign various functions of its site on both desktop and mobile devices. Today, the company introduced a new navigation bar, which a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews is “designed to make it quicker and easier for members to find what they are looking for.”

    “Over the last year and half we’ve had the chance to learn quite a bit from you about the types of changes that add the most value to your daily professional life, and we’ve brought some of these learnings to the new navigation,” says LinkedIn’s Amy Parnell. ” When approaching this re-design, we analyzed years of navigation data to determine which links were adding the most value for you, and which could be removed to create a more focused and streamlined experience. We also observed how useful Search was as a productivity tool, and aligned the search box with the results page, for fine-tuned search efficiency.”

    “As you explore the new navigation bar, you will notice a few visually striking differences, including a simplified menu of tabs to help you quickly and easily locate the features and content that are of most value to you,” she adds. “We have also moved the search bar front and center to make easier than ever to discover and find what you’re looking for on LinkedIn.”

    Settings can be found when you hover over your profile picture in the upper right.

    The new navigation will be rolling out to English language users over the next month.

  • LinkedIn: Prostitutes, Peddle Your Wares Somewhere Else

    LinkedIn: Prostitutes, Peddle Your Wares Somewhere Else

    LinkedIn has recently updated their terms of use policies to make it clear that they don’t want prostitutes advertising their “skills” on the social networking site.

    LinkedIn, which boasts over 225 million users, has become a huge source for employers and those looking to boost their careers in the past few years. Networking used to consist of mixers and business cards; now, the site makes it easier than ever to find the right job or hire. Naturally, prostitutes want in on it.

    The company has made it explicitly clear that they don’t want their site to be used for illegal activity and revised their policy to read: “Users must not create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution”. That includes anyone living in a state where prostitution is legal (we’re looking at you, Nevada). The full revision reads that no one may:

    Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that, even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

    The company made the changes after realizing that people were being endorsed for prostitution on the site and getting away with it because of the way their terms of use was worded.

    “In the old [user agreement], we had it covered by saying that one could not use a profile to promote anything ‘unlawful,’” a LinkedIn rep told Mashable. “However, in some countries, that activity actually is lawful.”

    There were several users promoting their services on the site as of this week; take a look here to see a few.

  • LinkedIn Tells Prostitutes to Stop Using the Service, Even If It’s Legal in Their Country

    LinkedIn Tells Prostitutes to Stop Using the Service, Even If It’s Legal in Their Country

    It appears that professional escorts have been using LinkedIn to make professional connections, and the company wants to put a stop to that. LinkedIn has just updated their terms of service and user agreement to add a good amount of new language, but one particular clause is rather interesting. Apparently, LinkedIn doesn’t want you using the service for “escort services or prostitution,” even if such activity is legal in your area.

    Here’s the relevant addition to LinkedIn’s terms:

    Upload, post, email, InMail, transmit or otherwise make available or initiate any content that, even if it is legal where you are located, create profiles or provide content that promotes escort services or prostitution.

    Making the waters murkier, you can actually endorse users for “prostitution” on LinkedIn:

    Other skills and expertise “related” to prostitution that LinkedIn offers are “extortion,” “rape,” “forgery,” “robbery” and more criminal activities. It’s clear that these “skills” are not there to endorse the commission of said activities, but for fileds related to those activities like law or social work. But still, you can technically be endorsed for prostitution on LinkedIn.

    LinkedIn has always banned the promotion of illegal activities on their network, but it appears that they felt they needed to clarify their terms for legal activities that they find unsavory.

    “In the old [user agreement], we had it covered by saying that one could not use a profile to promote anything ‘unlawful,’” a LinkedIn rep told Mashable. “However, in some countries, that activity actually is lawful.”

    Sorry, escorts. It looks like you’ll need to find another way to make new contacts.

  • LinkedIn Adds Accessibility Features

    LinkedIn Adds Accessibility Features

    In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, LinkedIn announced a few things it’s been doing to make the social network more accessible. These include improved site navigation, improvements to interaction with the service, and the addition of image descriptions.

    “What started out as a few passion projects by members of LinkedIn’s web development team has now become the formation of our Accessibility Web Developer Task Force, dedicated to making LinkedIn user experiences inclusive and accessible,” says LinkedIn’s Sarah Clatterbuck (pictured).

    As far as the navigation goes, she says, “Members who navigate with a keyboard can now better perceive where they are on a LinkedIn page and save time in moving between professional content and features.”

    Additionally, realtime notifications are available to those navigating by keyboard, and actions like sending messages, and interacting with dialog boxes can be done quickly and easily with the keyboard or screen reader.

    Image alt text is now being employed in all major areas of the site.

    The company says it is currently working on an in-page navigation tool to help keyboard and screen reader users better navigate long pages.

  • Now LinkedIn Wants You To Follow Channels

    Now LinkedIn Wants You To Follow Channels

    A little over two years ago, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, the company’s version of a social news destination. It’s been fairly popular, and last year, it got a design refresh. Today, LinkedIn announced another one.

    According to Business Insider, LinkedIn is utilizing its Pulse team to build similar experiences for its mobile apps. LinkedIn announced the Pulse acquisition last month, paying $90 million.

    When asked about Pulse’s role in the new experience, a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews, “Pulse is not integrated as part of the updates we announced this morning for LinkedIn Today. The existing Pulse apps are being supported as a standalone experience, as the integrated Pulse and LinkedIn teams work together to build future generations of professional content consumption products.”

    The new design includes personalized content channels, new ways to sort content, and supposedly more relevant content, including more relevant emails. Perhaps it won’t be all emails about Richard Branson anymore (though he is prominently featured in the intro graphic for LinkedIn’s slideshow on the new design):

    “Through channels you can follow broader topic areas that cross multiple industries and professional sectors,” explains LinkedIn’s Kevin Gu in a blog post. “By following channels you will have access to timely and relevant professional news and insights that can help you stay one step ahead and be in the know on what’s trending in your professional network. Channels represent a more comprehensive way to discover, share, and engage with high-quality Influencer posts, top news sources, and SlideShare content — all in one place.”

    Users can follow over 20 different channels (Your Career, Economy, Social Impact, Big Ideas and Innovation, Higher Education, etc.). Naturally, content from the channels you follow will appear in your stream. LinkedIn says it will be adding more channels in the future.

    LinkedIn Today Redesign

    Users can sort by “Your News,” “Influencer Posts,” “All Influencers,” and “All Channels”. The emails will provide overviews of top Influencer posts, trending professional news, and Slideshare content.

    The new design and features are rolling out this week in English.

    LinkendIn has 225 million users. Earlier this week, it celebrated its tenth birthday. Last week, they announced their Q1 earnings, including a 72% increase in revenue year-over-year, though the forecast for Q2 disappointed Wall Street.