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Tag: LinkedIn

  • Department Of Labor: LinkedIn To Pay $6 Million In Unpaid Overtime, Damages

    Department Of Labor: LinkedIn To Pay $6 Million In Unpaid Overtime, Damages

    The United States Department of Labor announced that LinkedIn has agreed to pay $3,346,195 in overtime back wages and $2,509,646 in liquidated damages to 359 former and current employees. The money will go to people from the company’s California, Illinois, Nebraska and New York branches.

    The DoL’s Wage and Hour Division investigated the company, finding that it violated the overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company agreed to pay all overtime back wages and due, when notified about the violations. The company has apparently also taken steps to prevent violations from occurring in the future.

    “LinkedIn failed to record, account and pay for all hours worked in a workweek, investigators found,” said the department. “In addition to paying back wages and liquidated damages, LinkedIn entered into an enhanced compliance agreement with the department that includes agreeing to: provide compliance training and distribute its policy prohibiting off-the-clock work to all nonexempt employees and their managers; meet with managers of current affected employees to remind them that overtime work must be recorded and paid for; and remind employees of LinkedIn’s policy prohibiting retaliation against any employee who raises concerns about workplace issues.”

    “Off the clock’ hours are all too common for the American worker. This practice harms workers, denies them the wages they have rightfully earned and takes away time with families,” said Susana Blanco, district director for the division in San Francisco. “We urge all employers, large and small, to review their pay practices to ensure employees know their basic workplace rights and that the commitment to compliance works through all levels of the organization. The department is committed to protecting the rights of workers and leveling the playing field for all law-abiding employers.”

    You would think the “professional” social network would know better. I guess it does now.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Sales Navigator Gets Big Refresh

    LinkedIn Sales Navigator Gets Big Refresh

    LinkedIn announced the launch of a major refresh to its Sales Navigator tool in the middle of its Q2 earnings report on Thursday. It’s described as an “enterprise-focused SaaS product.

    On the company’s earnings call, CEO Jeff Weiner had this to say about it: “This new SaaS product delivers a customized view into LinkedIn to better connect sales professionals with the right buyers by leveraging key insights and connections across the LinkedIn network. Our research shows that social selling transforms the sales process — buyers are over five times more likely to engage with sales professionals when introduced through a common connection versus a cold call. Just as the launch of our flagship Recruiter product transformed the way talent professionals recruit, we expect Sales Navigator will similarly transform the effectiveness of sales professionals.”

    The company put a post up on its Sales Solutions Blog discussing the offering further. LinkedIn’s Mike Derezin explains:

    Here’s what’s different. Users of the original Sales Navigator conducted their social selling efforts through their LinkedIn member experience. The updated version of Sales Navigator is a completely standalone experience — with a separate login — that brings comprehensive information directly to the salesperson. Many features like lead recommendation by account, news mentions, and account recommendation are being made available for the first time.

    Additionally, finding other important insights in the original Sales Navigator required complex manual searches, which is hard to scale if a salesperson is managing more than a few accounts. Now all of this information is presented to the sales professional through the new Sales Navigator.

    Features include lead and account recommendations, news mentions of key contacts through Newsle integration (LinkedIn acquired Newsle last month), notifications (job changes, common connections, etc.), CRM integration with Salesforce/Microsoft Dynamics, and advanced leads search, TeamLink, InMails, and Who’s Viewed Your Profile.

    The new Sales Navigator is now available in English on Desktop and mobile (web). It will get its own mobile apps and additional language support later.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Earnings Released, Revenue Up 47%

    LinkedIn Earnings Released, Revenue Up 47%

    LinkedIn just released its earnings report for the second quarter with revenue of $534 million, up 47% year-over-year. Net loss (attributable to common stockholders) was $1 million, compared to net income of $3.7 million for the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP net income was $63 million compared to $44 million for the same quarter last year.

    GAAP diluted EPS for Q2 was $(0.01), compared to GAAP diluted EPS of $0.03 last year. non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.51, compared to $0.38 last year.

    CEO Jeff Weiner said, “LinkedIn delivered strong financial results in the second quarter while maintaining investment in our member and customer offerings. We made significant progress against several key strategic priorities including increasing the scale of job opportunities on LinkedIn; expanding our professional publishing platform; and continuing the strategic shift towards content marketing through Sponsored Updates.”

    60% of LinkedIn’s total revenue was from the U.S. ($318 million). Revenue for the full year is expected to be between $2.14 billion and $2.15 billion.

    The company is still touting the same “over 300 million members” stat it shared last quarter.

    In addition to releasing its earnings, LinkedIn announced the launch of a new Sales Navigator, which it says enables “buyers to build relationships with the most relevant sales professionals through an enterprise focused SaaS product.”

    In the prepared comments on the earnings call, Weiner said, LinkedIn delivered strong financial results in the second quarter while maintaining continued investment in our member and customer offerings. We made significant progress against several key strategic priorities including increasing the scale of job opportunities on LinkedIn; expanding our professional publishing platform; adding to our growing portfolio of mobile apps; and successfully positioning our Marketing Solutions business for the future through the growth of Sponsored Updates.”

    He went on to say the launch of Sales Navigator and the recent acquisition of Bizo “underscore the opportunities we have to continue building a scalable, diverse business that adds value for our members and customers based on the critical mass of the LinkedIn network.”

    “We continue to see healthy member engagement dynamics across LinkedIn, especially in light of the challenging year over year comparison that we discussed last quarter,” he said. “During Q2, cumulative members grew 32 percent to 313 million, internally-measured unique visiting members to LinkedIn grew 13 percent to an average of 84 million per month, and internal member pageviews grew 22 percent to 25 billion for the quarter, well ahead of unique member growth.”

    Organic engagement is one area of particular strength, driven by our mobile and content efforts,” he said. “Homepage traffic, as measured by unique visiting members, continues to outpace overall site traffic growth, increasing approximately 40 percent faster over the past year. Mobile also continues to drive a growing share of engagement, growing more than three times as fast as overall uniques. Mobile now accounts for 45 percent of total traffic to LinkedIn.”

    67% of members come from outside the U.S.

    They surpassed 30,000 weekly long-form posts on their publishing platform, and traffic to publisher and influencer posts is up over 100% since launch in February.

    Since it launched its new search architecture, pageviews to content driven by search have accelerated.

    Here’s what Weiner said about Sales Navigator on the call:

    “Within Subscriptions, today we are pleased to announce the launch of the all-new Sales Navigator. This new SaaS product delivers a customized view into LinkedIn to better connect sales professionals with the right buyers by leveraging key insights and connections across the LinkedIn network. Our research shows that social selling transforms the sales process — buyers are over five times more likely to engage with sales professionals when introduced through a common connection versus a cold call. Just as the launch of our flagship Recruiter product transformed the way talent professionals recruit, we expect Sales Navigator will similarly transform the effectiveness of sales professionals.”

    Here’ the release in its entirety:

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 31, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD), the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, with over 300 million members, reported its quarterly results for the second quarter of 2014:

    • Revenue for the second quarter was $534 million, an increase of 47% compared to $364 million in the second quarter of 2013.
    • Net loss attributable to common stockholders for the second quarter was $1.0 million, compared to net income of $3.7 million for the second quarter of 2013. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was $63 million, compared to $44 million for the second quarter of 2013. 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 $145 million, or 27% of revenue, compared to $89 million for the second quarter of 2013, or 24% of revenue.
    • GAAP diluted EPS for the second quarter was $(0.01), compared to GAAP diluted EPS of $0.03 for the second quarter 2013; non-GAAP diluted EPS for the second quarter was $0.51, compared to non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.38 for the second quarter of 2013.

    “LinkedIn delivered strong financial results in the second quarter while maintaining investment in our member and customer offerings,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “We made significant progress against several key strategic priorities including increasing the scale of job opportunities on LinkedIn; expanding our professional publishing platform; and continuing the strategic shift towards content marketing through Sponsored Updates.”

    Second Quarter Operating Summary

    Please note, in the second quarter of 2014, we reclassified recruitment media products from Marketing Solutions to Talent Solutions. Accordingly, prior period amounts have been recast to conform to the current period presentation. See our “Selected Company Metrics and Financials” table on the quarterly earnings section of the investor relations website for additional information.

    • Talent Solutions(1): Revenue from Talent Solutions products totaled $322 million, an increase of 49% compared to the second quarter of 2013. Talent Solutions revenue represented 60% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014 and 2013.
    • Marketing Solutions(1): Revenue from Marketing Solutions products totaled $106 million, an increase of 44% compared to the second quarter of 2013. Marketing Solutions revenue represented 20% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014 and 2013.
    • Premium Subscriptions: Revenue from Premium Subscriptions products totaled $105 million, an increase of 44% compared to the second quarter of 2013. Premium Subscriptions represented 20% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014 and 2013.
    (1) Recruitment media revenue was $18 million and $12 million in the second quarter of 2014 and 2013, respectively.

    Revenue from the U.S. totaled $318 million, and represented 60% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014. Revenue from international markets totaled $216 million, and represented 40% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014.

    Revenue from the field sales channel totaled $319 million, and represented 60% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014. Revenue from the online, direct sales channel totaled $215 million, and represented 40% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2014.

    Second Quarter Highlights and Strategic Announcements

    In the second quarter of 2014:

    • LinkedIn launched “Limited Listings” to grow dramatically the number of job opportunities made available on LinkedIn for active job searchers. This initiative was accelerated by the Bright acquisition in February, and there are now one million jobs on LinkedIn.
    • LinkedIn continued to gain traction with its professional publishing platform, now generating over 30,000 weekly long-form posts after ramping posting capability to 15 million LinkedIn members. Since launching in February, traffic to publisher and Influencer posts has risen more than 100%.
    • LinkedIn added to its growing multi-app mobile portfolio with the launch of several new mobile experiences including: Connected; the LinkedIn Job Search App for iPhone; and a new SlideShare app for Android.

    Additionally, this afternoon, LinkedIn announced the launch of the all-new Sales Navigator, enabling buyers to build relationships with the most relevant sales professionals through an enterprise focused SaaS product. Also, Last week LinkedIn announced the acquisition of Bizo with the goal of creating a comprehensive B2B marketing platform.

    “LinkedIn achieved strong results across the business,” said Steve Sordello, CFO of LinkedIn. “The success of Sponsored Updates, scaling jobs, and the launch of the new Sales Navigator underscore the positive impact of recent strategic investments, and we will continue to invest aggressively in our member and customer platforms.”

    Business Outlook

    LinkedIn is providing guidance for the third quarter and full year of 2014:

    • Q3 2014 Guidance: Revenue is expected to range between $543 million and $547 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $134 million and $136 million. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be approximately $0.44. The company expects depreciation of approximately $50 million, amortization of approximately $8.0 million, stock-based compensation of approximately $80 million, and 126 million fully-diluted weighted shares.
    • Full Year 2014 Guidance: Revenue is expected to range between $2.14 billion and $2.15 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to range between $545 and $550 million. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be approximately $1.80. The company expects depreciation of approximately $202 million, amortization of approximately $28 million, stock-based compensation of approximately $305 million, and 126 million fully-diluted weighted shares.

    Quarterly Results Webcast and Conference Call

    LinkedIn will host a webcast and conference call to discuss its second quarter 2014 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.

    Upcoming Events

    Management will participate in upcoming financial Q&A discussions at industry events on September 3, 2014. LinkedIn will furnish a link to these events on its investor relations website, http://investors.linkedin.com/ for both the live and archived webcasts.

    About LinkedIn

    Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. With over 300 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 peer 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 the non-GAAP measures facilitates internal comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to peer operating results.

    Accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest. The accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest represents the accretion of the company’s redeemable noncontrolling interest to its redemption value. The company excludes the accretion 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 operating performance. In addition, excluding this item from the non-GAAP financial measures facilitates internal comparisons to historical operating results and comparisons to peer operating results.

    Income tax effects and adjustments. The company adjusts non-GAAP net income by considering the income tax effects of excluding stock-based compensation and the amortization of acquired intangible assets. Beginning in the first quarter of 2014, the company has implemented a long-term non-GAAP tax rate for evaluating its operating performance as well as for planning and forecasting purposes. This projected long-term non-GAAP tax rate eliminates the effects of non-recurring and period specific items, which can vary in size and frequency and does not necessarily reflect our long-term operations. Historically, the company computed a non-GAAP tax rate based on non-GAAP pre-tax income on a quarterly basis. Based on our current forecast, a long-term non-GAAP tax rate of 35% has been applied to our non-GAAP financial results for the current period. The company believes that adjusting for these income tax effects and adjustments provides additional transparency to the overall or “after tax” effects of excluding these items from non-GAAP net income.

    Dilutive shares under the treasury stock method. During periods with a net loss, the company excluded certain potential common shares from its GAAP diluted shares because their effect would have been anti-dilutive. On a non-GAAP basis, these shares would have been dilutive. As a result, the company has included the impact of these shares in the calculation of its non-GAAP diluted net income per share under the treasury stock method.

    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 or non-GAAP EPS guidance to net income (loss) or GAAP EPS guidance because it does not provide guidance for either other income (expense), net, or GAAP provision for income taxes, which are reconciling items between net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS. As items that impact net income (loss) 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 (loss) 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 customer and member growth and engagement, and our expected financial metrics such as revenue, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP EPS, depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation for the third quarter of 2014 and the full fiscal year 2014. 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, Asia and 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 international operations; our ability to recruit and retain our employees; the application of U.S. 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 for the year ended December 31, 2013, and additional information will also be set forth in our Form 10-Q that will be filed for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, 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 July 31, 2014, and LinkedIn undertakes no duty to update this information.

    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    As of
    June 30, September 30, December 31, March 31, June 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2014 2014
    ASSETS
    CURRENT ASSETS:
    Cash and cash equivalents  $ 262,670  $ 1,396,292  $ 803,089  $ 508,850  $ 645,092
    Marketable securities  610,728  875,993  1,526,212  1,797,373  1,721,847
    Accounts receivable  203,585  208,956  302,168  328,661  347,152
    Deferred commissions  29,710  28,507  47,496  46,575  45,941
    Prepaid expenses  26,785  33,831  32,114  47,513  49,503
    Other current assets  30,672  28,259  44,391  50,933  61,042
    Total current assets  1,164,150  2,571,838  2,755,470  2,779,905  2,870,577
    Property and equipment, net  292,715  336,656  361,741  406,543  476,058
    Goodwill  150,831  150,831  150,871  228,893  228,943
    Intangible assets, net  38,284  43,209  43,046  101,597  99,175
    Other assets  41,980  41,744  41,665  44,931  46,133
    TOTAL ASSETS  $ 1,687,960  $ 3,144,278  $ 3,352,793  $ 3,561,869  $ 3,720,886
    LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    CURRENT LIABILITIES:
    Accounts payable  $ 74,605  $ 70,340  $ 66,744  $ 79,711  $ 90,728
    Accrued liabilities  106,118  139,898  183,004  142,141  164,051
    Deferred revenue  331,187  335,700  392,243  479,576  481,450
    Total current liabilities  511,910  545,938  641,991  701,428  736,229
    DEFERRED TAX LIABILITIES  22,905  15,861  14,879  23,900  24,088
    OTHER LONG TERM LIABILITIES  42,128  51,347  61,529  70,226  80,298
    Total liabilities  576,943  613,146  718,399  795,554  840,615
    COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
    REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST  —  —  5,000  5,126  5,226
    STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
    Class A and Class B common stock  11  12  12  12  12
    Additional paid-in capital  1,055,870  2,478,813  2,573,449  2,718,321  2,833,030
    Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)  (64)  470  314  682  863
    Accumulated earnings  55,200  51,837  55,619  42,174  41,140
    Total stockholders’ equity  1,111,017  2,531,132  2,629,394  2,761,189  2,875,045
    TOTAL LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTEREST AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY  $ 1,687,960  $ 3,144,278  $ 3,352,793  $ 3,561,869  $ 3,720,886
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
    (In thousands, except per share data)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, September 30, December 31, March 31, June 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2014 2014
    Net revenue  $ 363,661  $ 392,960  $ 447,219  $ 473,193  $ 533,877
    Costs and expenses:
    Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below)  49,264  53,395  57,865  62,455  69,536
    Sales and marketing  122,276  133,172  157,235  166,522  184,494
    Product development  95,608  106,223  113,140  120,622  128,731
    General and administrative  56,225  61,767  64,790  74,618  80,688
    Depreciation and amortization  32,193  33,767  42,750  49,740  56,306
    Total costs and expenses  355,566  388,324  435,780  473,957  519,755
    Income (loss) from operations  8,095  4,636  11,439  (764)  14,122
    Other income (expense), net  (252)  156  1,820  1,026  1,197
    Income before income taxes  7,843  4,792  13,259  262  15,319
    Provision for income taxes  4,109  8,155  9,477  13,581  16,253
    Net income (loss)  3,734  (3,363)  3,782  (13,319)  (934)
    Accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest  —  —  —  (126)  (100)
    Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders  3,734  (3,363)  3,782  (13,445)  (1,034)
    Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders:
    Basic  111,214  113,940  119,849  120,967  122,170
    Diluted  116,627  113,940  124,438  120,967  122,170
    Weighted-average shares used to compute net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders:
    Basic  $ 0.03  $ (0.03)  $ 0.03  $ (0.11)  $ (0.01)
    Diluted  $ 0.03  $ (0.03)  $ 0.03  $ (0.11)  $ (0.01)
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, September 30, December 31, March 31, June 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2014 2014
    OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
    Net income (loss)  $ 3,734  $ (3,363)  $ 3,782  $ (13,319)  $ (934)
    Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
    Depreciation and amortization  32,193  33,767  42,750  49,740  56,306
    Provision for doubtful accounts and sales returns  1,639  568  1,254  1,207  4,118
    Stock-based compensation  48,354  54,445  57,177  67,769  74,828
    Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation  (5,003)  (10,188)  (16,008)  (15,982)  (18,639)
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
    Accounts receivable  8,577  (7,719)  (94,627)  (26,764)  (23,462)
    Deferred commissions  1,185  1,236  (20,028)  1,116  712
    Prepaid expenses and other assets  (8,448)  3,707  2,926  (11,742)  (4,455)
    Accounts payable and other liabilities  24,313  49,591  44,307  (18,428)  24,726
    Income taxes, net  3,522  (531)  4,377  7,928  13,362
    Deferred revenue  14,099  4,513  56,543  87,333  1,874
    Net cash provided by operating activities  124,165  126,026  82,453  128,858  128,436
    INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
    Purchases of property and equipment  (93,184)  (83,158)  (57,394)  (88,871)  (96,430)
    Purchases of investments  (98,715)  (385,517)  (851,312)  (737,739)  (649,803)
    Sales of investments  17,389  34,937  68,547  72,239  117,359
    Maturities of investments  33,897  83,652  129,646  393,044  604,231
    Payments for intangible assets and acquisitions, net of cash acquired  (6,321)  (8,756)  (3,894)  (85,061)  (4,800)
    Changes in deposits and restricted cash  (3,488)  (1,355)  (6)  (1,404)  (3,357)
    Net cash used in investing activities  (150,422)  (360,197)  (714,413)  (447,792)  (32,800)
    FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
    Proceeds from follow-on offering, net of issuance costs  —  1,348,419  (360)  —  —
    Proceeds from issuance of preferred shares in joint venture  —  —  4,600  —  —
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock from employee stock options  7,681  7,408  5,678  8,147  4,759
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock from employee stock purchase plan  11,500  —  13,089  —  16,324
    Excess income tax benefit from stock-based compensation  5,003  10,188  16,008  15,982  18,639
    Other financing activities  797  (2)  (419)  (7)  31
    Net cash provided by financing activities  24,981  1,366,013  38,596  24,122  39,753
    EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS  (993)  1,780  161  573  853
    CHANGE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS  (2,269)  1,133,622  (593,203)  (294,239)  136,242
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS—Beginning of period  264,939  262,670  1,396,292  803,089  508,850
    CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS—End of period  $ 262,670  $ 1,396,292  $ 803,089  $ 508,850  $ 645,092
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED SUPPLEMENTAL REVENUE INFORMATION
    (In thousands)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, September 30, December 31, March 31, June 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2014 2014
    Revenue by product:
    Talent Solutions (1)  $ 216,938  $ 237,668  $ 261,359  $ 291,594  $ 322,227
    Marketing Solutions (1)  73,747  75,510  97,732  86,064  106,476
    Premium Subscriptions  72,976  79,782  88,128  95,535  105,174
    Total  $ 363,661  $ 392,960  $ 447,219  $ 473,193  $ 533,877
    Revenue by geographic region:
    United States  $ 224,277  $ 245,302  $ 271,140  $ 284,878  $ 317,774
    International
    Other Americas (2)  26,857  27,027  31,612  31,904  35,527
    EMEA (3)  84,691  90,087  108,309  117,871  134,930
    APAC (4)  27,836  30,544  36,158  38,540  45,646
    Total International revenue  139,384  147,658  176,079  188,315  216,103
    Total revenue  $ 363,661  $ 392,960  $ 447,219  $ 473,193  $ 533,877
    Revenue by geography, by product:
    United States
    Talent Solutions (1)  $ 140,420  $ 152,371  $ 164,207  $ 180,403  $ 197,852
    Marketing Solutions (1)  41,259  45,789  55,269  49,038  59,383
    Premium Subscriptions  42,598  47,142  51,664  55,437  60,539
    Total United States revenue  $ 224,277  $ 245,302  $ 271,140  $ 284,878  $ 317,774
    International
    Talent Solutions (1)  76,518  85,297  97,152  111,191  124,375
    Marketing Solutions (1)  32,488  29,721  42,463  37,026  47,093
    Premium Subscriptions  30,378  32,640  36,464  40,098  44,635
    Total International revenue  $ 139,384  $ 147,658  $ 176,079  $ 188,315  $ 216,103
    Total revenue  $ 363,661  $ 392,960  $ 447,219  $ 473,193  $ 533,877
    Revenue by channel:
    Field sales  $ 209,227  $ 227,588  $ 270,672  $ 275,262  $ 318,984
    Online sales  154,434  165,372  176,547  197,931  214,893
    Total  $ 363,661  $ 392,960  $ 447,219  $ 473,193  $ 533,877
    (1) Prior period amounts have been recast to conform to the current year presentation.
    (2) Canada, Latin America and South America
    (3) Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”)
    (4) Asia-Pacific (“APAC”)
    LINKEDIN CORPORATION
    TRENDED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
    (In thousands, except per share data)
    (Unaudited)
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, September 30, December 31, March 31, June 30,
    2013 2013 2013 2014 2014
    Non-GAAP net income and net income per share:
    GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders  $ 3,734  $ (3,363)  $ 3,782  $ (13,445)  $ (1,034)
    Add back: accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest  —  —  —  126  100
    Add back: stock-based compensation  48,354  54,445  57,177  67,769  74,828
    Add back: amortization of intangible assets  5,677  3,832  4,056  4,813  7,224
    Income tax effects and adjustments (1)  (13,307)  (8,120)  (16,776)  (11,914)  (17,827)
    NON-GAAP NET INCOME  $ 44,458  $ 46,794  $ 48,239  $ 47,349  $ 63,291
    GAAP diluted shares  116,627  113,940  124,438  120,967  122,170
    Add back: dilutive shares under the treasury stock method  —  5,248  —  3,884  3,087
    NON-GAAP DILUTED SHARES  116,627  119,188  124,438  124,851  125,257
    NON-GAAP DILUTED NET INCOME PER SHARE  $ 0.38  $ 0.39  $ 0.39  $ 0.38  $ 0.51
    Adjusted EBITDA:
    Net income (loss)  $ 3,734  $ (3,363)  $ 3,782  $ (13,319)  $ (934)
    Provision for income taxes  4,109  8,155  9,477  13,581  16,253
    Other (income) expense, net  252  (156)  (1,820)  (1,026)  (1,197)
    Depreciation and amortization  32,193  33,767  42,750  49,740  56,306
    Stock-based compensation  48,354  54,445  57,177  67,769  74,828
    ADJUSTED EBITDA  $ 88,642  $ 92,848  $ 111,366  $ 116,745  $ 145,256
    (1) Excludes accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest


    Image via LinkedIn (Flickr)

  • LinkedIn Launches New Mobile Profiles

    LinkedIn Launches New Mobile Profiles

    LinkedIn announced the launch of a new look for profiles on mobile devices. Here’s a run-through:

    “Your LinkedIn Profile is your professional identity of record. It’s also the heart of LinkedIn,” says LinkedIn’s Charlton Soesanto. “Your new profile helps you tell your story to other professionals when they’re looking for you on the go. If you aren’t a master storyteller, we’ll let you know what’s missing and how you can add it. You’ll also enjoy discovering new insights about other professionals with the “in common” and endorsements sections we added. They’re great ice breakers you can use when you meet someone for the first time, so you can talk about something other than the weather.”

    The new profiles are rolling out on mobile first for Android, iPhone, and iPad. Desktop will come later.

  • Good News For Your Facebook Traffic

    Good News For Your Facebook Traffic

    Changes to the Facebook News Feed made over recent months may have angered some brands and publishers. Such changes may have even pushed some to abandon their Facebook strategies in favor of competing social platforms like Twitter or Google+, but if you’re looking for traffic, that’s probably not an entirely wise move to make.

    Has your Facebook traffic been increasing compared to that from other social platforms? Let us know in the comments.

    Much has been made of the decline of organic reach of Facebook Page posts, but the social network only continues to drive more and more traffic to websites. In fact, according to a new report, it’s the only one of the top eight social networks to actually drive more traffic from March to June than it did in the months prior.

    In April, we looked at Shareholic’s Q1 Social Media Traffic Report. It found that Facebook referrals were skyrocketing, increasing nearly 38% between December and April. Pinterest came in second place (a distant second at that), but was growing even faster at over 48%.

    Now the Q2 report is out, and Facebook and Pinterest remain in the number one and two spots respectively, but the numbers look considerably different. Facebook increased by 10.09% while Pinterest decreased over 19%.

    Wow, what happened, Pinterest? And this comes as we were just talking about how much Buzzfeed has been growing its Pinterest traffic.

    Year-over-year, Pinterest is still looking pretty good. It’s up nearly 70% for referrals. Facebook is up over 150%. The only other network to show an increase year-over-year, is StumbleUpon at 13.33%. Quarter-over-quarter, it was down over 39% by Shareaholic’s numbers.

    Facebook drove 23.39% of overall visits to sites.

    All in all, social media appears to making up a greater percentage of the referral pie. According to the report, the eight largest sources of social referrals drove 31.07% of overall traffic to sites received last month. That’s compared to 15.55% during the same time last year.

    Reddit, YouTube, and LinkedIn each saw dramatic decreases in referrals year-over-year. Reddit dropped over 65% over that time, while YouTube fell over 82% and LinknedIn over 77%.

    “Easily the largest social network, Facebook commands the most clout among marketers and publishers hungry for referrals,” writes Shareaholic’s Danny Wong. “Well-positioned for world domination, Facebook now drives nearly a quarter (23.39%) of overall traffic to sites and has no plans of stopping anytime soon. Over the last year, its “share of traffic” has skyrocketed, up 150.49% (14.05 percentage points) from 9.34% in June 2013.”

    “Users are always plugged into their feed and without realizing, tend to be highly invested in frequent check-ins and lightweight touch points with their connections. Simply put, Facebook is winning the referrals war because users can’t seem to get enough of content shared by close friends and relatable acquaintances,” he adds. “Facebook’s rich, and somewhat unpredictable feed promises anything but monotony. Multi-form media (short posts, long rants, link previews, unformatted links without previews, etc.) offers inconsistency which makes it impossible to scroll far without at least a handful of posts catching your eye.”

    You may not get very far in the New Feed with the things you post on your own Facebook Page (at least without paying for it), but it would seem that you should still be doing everything you can to encourage users to share your content on the social network from your website and any other means possible. People are clicking the links in their News Feeds.

    It just so happens that Facebook launched a new feature this past week, which should result in even more referrals for sites. The new Save feature lets users save links (as well as places, movies, TV shows, and music) they come across in their News Feed to look at later.

    Let’s face it. We all see plenty of interesting looking stories come through our News Feed every day, but we don’t always have time to stop and read them when we see them. As I said in a previous post, this is a long-overdue feature, and one that makes Facebook instantly better as a news reader (which seems to be one of Facebook’s ultimate goals anyway).

    Introducing Save on Facebook from Facebook on Vimeo.

    Users who are already using RSS readers like Feedly are going to love the feature, even if it’s lacking in some seemingly obvious features. You can’t, for example, save regular status updates, photos or videos. At least not yet. Video actually seems like something people would want to save more than anything, as it takes time to watch a video. With Facebook recently getting into video advertising, this would seem especially critical to the feature. Perhaps it will come later.

    The feature does support sponsored posts, so that’s good news for Facebook advertisers. If you’re promoting a compelling enough link, you might get the click later, even if the user doesn’t click when they first encounter the ad. In fact, this is all the more reason to promote truly interesting content.

    The lesson here is that Facebook is already driving more traffic to sites, while all the other platforms are driving less than they were before (at least according to this particular study), and that was before you could save links.

    Do you expect your Facebook traffic to increase? Do you think the Save feature is a big deal for content creators? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Images via Shareaholic

  • LinkedIn Launches Direct Sponsored Content

    LinkedIn Launches Direct Sponsored Content

    LinkedIn announced the launch of a new expansion of its Sponsored Updates product called Direct Sponsored Content. It lets brands personalize and test content in LinkedIn’s newsfeed without the posts having to appear on their Company Page.

    In other words, you don’t have to promote a post you already made. You can just create the ad from scratch.

    Direct Sponsored Content also had additional advantages.

    LinkedIn’s Ashvin Kannan explains, “Through Direct Sponsored Content, companies can make their content more relevant by sending personalized messages to specific audiences. It gives them the ability to test and retest a variety of content in real-time until they get it right. Doing so allows for enhanced performance as they aim to connect with audiences, nurture relationships and generate quality leads. Direct Sponsored Content also lifts limitations on who can, and cannot, post in the feed. Because content doesn’t have to start on the Company Page, different business units can try content specific for their audience with the Company Page administrator’s approval.”

    The product is being launched through LinkedIn’s campaign manager and Sponsored Updates partners, which include AdStage, BrandNetworks, Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud, Shift, and Unified. It’s been in pilot phase with clients like Comcast Business and NewsCred.

    LinkedIn says its Sponsored Updates product is now 19% of its Marketing Solutions revenue.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Is Acquiring B2B Marketing Platform Bizo

    LinkedIn Is Acquiring B2B Marketing Platform Bizo

    LinkedIn announced that it is acquiring B2B brand marketing platform Bizo. The price is about $175 million (subject to adjustment) in a combination of about 10% stock and 90% cash.

    Bizo offers products to help brands with their display and social advertising programs. It specifically caters to B2B customers.

    “B2B marketers use Bizo to target prospects within professional segments, and nurture them at every stage of their sales and marketing funnel,” said LinkedIn. “Fueled by proprietary data management and targeting technology, their platform enables precise and measurable multi-channel marketing programs. Since 2008, the company has been helping brands meet their marketing objectives by getting the right message in front of the right audiences on the web.”

    “It’s exciting for us to bring Bizo’s expertise and technology into our ecosystem,” said Deep Nishar, LinkedIn’s SVP of Product and User Experience. “Our ability to integrate their B2B solutions with our content marketing products will enable us to become the most effective platform for B2B marketers to engage professionals.”

    Bizo co-founder and CEO Russell Glass said in a blog post:

    We have been a LinkedIn partner for a while now, and when we started to develop that relationship a few years ago, it became readily apparent that we shared very strong and positive employee cultures, and that we both had a similar way of thinking about building out our respective businesses, with core customer-first and member-first mindsets.

    LinkedIn’s mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful, while Bizo’s is to help B2B marketers get to the right people. We realized that our respective missions are incredibly well aligned, and we believe that combining forces will accelerate our ability to execute against the huge opportunities ahead. The combination of LinkedIn and Bizo greatly increases our ability to be the most effective platform for B2B marketers to reach their audiences, nurture prospects and acquire customers.

    The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter. “Many” members of Bizo’s team are expected to join LinkedIn.

    Image via Bizo

  • Online Dating Site Tests DNA to Determine Matches

    Online Dating Site Tests DNA to Determine Matches

    A new online dating site catering to sophisticated professionals called Singldout.com offers users the opportunity to submit their DNA to bolster their chances of finding a long-term match.

    Singldout has partnered with Instant Chemistry, a service that tests DNA for “biological compatibility” in an established, long-term relationship. Instant Chemistry mentions that while relationships grow, DNA remains constant – couples are urged to submit their DNA to be tested, and then take a personality test to see if they like one another.

    Singldout adapts Instant Chemistry’s high technologies for use in the realm of dating. Singldout users sign up via their Linkedin profile, hinting at a standard of sophistication that exceeds that of Zoosk, and then submit payment. Singldout membership is $199 for three months, $249 for six months or $299 for 12 months.

    After payment is submitted, a DNA testing kit arrives in the mail, the user spits in a tube, sends it off to Instant Chemistry, and the results are posted on a Singldout dating profile, after the user takes an online psychological exam.

    SingldOut from SingldOut on Vimeo.

    The DNA tests assess two indicators to suggest compatibility – the serotonin uptake transporter, which regulates how people react to positive and negative emotions, and genes influencing the immune system. Co-founder of Instant Chemistry Ron Gonzalez points out that research has shown that there is a correlation with successful long-term relationships and different versions of serotonin and immune system genes.

    “With online dating, you have socioeconomic factors people try to match on – religion, how much you make. This is another layer on top of that so you can better find matches,” Gonzalez said.

    “America’s Relationship Expert” Dr. Wendy Walsh further explains DNA dating:

    Dr. Wendy Walsh from SingldOut on Vimeo.

    Mike Dougherty, director of education for the American Society of Human Genetics, advises the lovelorn that there are countless other genes and environmental factors that come into play. “If this is a marathon, we’re still inside the first mile,” he said, adding that Singldout is “looking at a very small number of genes, and you simply cannot extrapolate a prediction from those genes to long-term compatibility.”

    Gonzalez remarked that he does not want the Singldout service to be seen as “deterministic.” “If I could predict with 100% certainty who you will fall in love with, this would be amazing,” he said. “No technology can do that. We’re very cognizant and realistic. We know a lot of variables happen when you fall in love.”

    Image via Vimeo

  • LinkedIn Acquires Newsle To Add Features To Its Own Services

    LinkedIn Acquires Newsle To Add Features To Its Own Services

    LinkedIn just announced that it has acquired Newsle, a service that lets you connect to Facebook, LinkedIn, and your Gmail contacts, and lets you see when your connections are in the news.

    As far as I can tell, it doesn’t do a great job of showing everything, but the concept is interesting. The most recent stuff it’s showing me for my friends at the moment is from May, when I know for a fact that some of these same people have had tons of stuff since then. Perhaps the service itself will improve under LinkedIn’s wings.

    In a blog post, LinkedIn’s Ryan Roslansky writes:

    “LinkedIn and Newsle share a common goal: We both want to provide professional insights that make you better at what you do. For example, knowing more about the people in your network – like when they’re mentioned in the news – can surface relevant insights that help you hit your next meeting with them out of the park.”

    “For the last three years, Newsle has leveraged its disambiguation, natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to build an extremely compelling product that finds blogs and articles that mention you or anyone you care about – colleagues, bosses, industry thought leaders, etc. – and notifies you seconds after they’ve published. We’re excited to work with Newsle’s team to combine this technology with our core assets and build experiences that continue to make you and millions of other professionals more productive and successful.”

    The service already has 2 million users after three years. It will remain a standalone service in addition to its integration with LinkedIn’s core services.

    Image via Newsle

  • LinkedIn Launches ‘Connected’ App To Take Place Of Contacts

    LinkedIn Launches ‘Connected’ App To Take Place Of Contacts

    LinkedIn announced that it is launching a new iPhone app called Connected, which is replacing its Contacts app.

    The app lets you know when people in your network change jobs, are mentioned in the news, have work anniversaries or birthdays, and reminds you to connect with people you recently had meetings with. It has a card-based experience, which is different for LinkedIn.

    When you sync your contacts and calendars with Connected, you can turn on push notifications, which LinkedIn says are highly relevant, including reminders before meetings and “pre-meeting intelligence”.

    Here’s how LinkedIn’s David Brubacher describes Connected:

    Connected is all about providing genuine opportunities for you to strengthen your relationships. It helps you reach out to people in your network when it matters most, so you can keep your network active and warm.

    We know you’d love to reach out and catch up with everyone in your network over coffee, but that isn’t always possible. Connected gives you relevant, and timely, reasons to reach out and keep in touch with the people in your network. This app helps you invest in your relationships today, so opportunities blossom for you tomorrow.

    The app is available in the App Store. We’ll see if users really like it better than the Contacts app.

    Image via LinkedIn (Flickr)

  • LinkedIn Infographic Looks At Work Relationships

    LinkedIn Infographic Looks At Work Relationships

    LinkedIn has been sharing a lot of infographics lately. This time, we get a look at work relationships from LinkedIn’s own “Relationships @Work” study, which found that nearly half believe work friends are important to overall happiness.

    “Relationships matter because they help us feel connected, making us more motivated and productive,” says LinkedIn’s Catherine Fisher. “It’s much easier to share feedback with someone if you have built up a solid rapport, or ask someone for advice if you have invested in the relationship. We’re also seeing a shift in how personal these relationships get: 67% of millennials are likely to share personal details including salary, relationships and family issues with co-workers, compared to only about one third of baby boomers. I come from the generation where it is taboo to talk about salary, but knowing that this is changing, I won’t be so taken aback if a fellow co-worker starts dishing details on their personal life to me!”

    “With this shift towards the more personal, millennials are also comfortable casually communicating with their managers outside of the office,” she adds. “The study found that one in three (28%) millennials have texted a manager out of work hours for a non-work related issue, compared to only 10% of baby boomers. I’m not suggesting we all start texting our managers at any hour about our latest crush or favorite new shirt, but it does indicate that our growing workforce wants to have more of a connection.”

    The infographic lists some other interesting stats from the study:

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Shows You What Makes A Perfect Profile

    LinkedIn Shows You What Makes A Perfect Profile

    Link Humans has put together an interesting infographic with tips for creating the perfect profile on LinkedIn. This one’s worth paying attention to considering that LinkedIn itself is sharing it.

    LinkedIn’s Alexis Baird writes, “Your profile is the place to show off your greatest successes and future aspirations. It’s also one of the first chances you have to make a good first impression for anyone discovering you on or off of LinkedIn—whether it’s a future colleague searching for you on the Internet, a potential client looking at your past work before a meeting, or a recruiter deciding whether to reach out to you for your next dream job. Even if you understand why it’s important to have a killer profile, knowing just where to start, or what information matters most, can be a bit intimidating at first.”

    Image via LinkedIn (Flickr)

  • LinkedIn Gives Jobseekers New iPhone App

    LinkedIn Gives Jobseekers New iPhone App

    LinkedIn just announced the launch of a new Job Search app for iPhone, providing users with customizable search options, recommended jobs, and updates on companies of interest.

    “The new Job Search app is LinkedIn’s first standalone app experience dedicated to helping members find, research, and apply for jobs on-the-go without the distractions of news, content, and other updates,” a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews. “We’re making it easier for our members to never miss an opportunity and maximize every moment to stay competitive in their job search.”

    Over 40% of LinkedIn-using jobseekers are using mobile devices to look for jobs, according to the company.

    “We get it,” says LinkedIn’s Daniel Ayele. “It can be hard to search for a job while you’re at your desk, not to mention the potentially awkward conversation with your current boss. Our goal is to help make this process easier for you and to help you be discreet. Everything you do within the app will be completely private and not shared with your network.”

    Here’s the basic feature list as provided by the company in an email:

    • Find, research, and apply for your next opportunity during your mobile moments away from your desk.
    • Deeper search that provides a more customized job search through filters like title, location, company, industry, or seniority level.
    • Tailored job recommendations based on your saved searches, jobs you’ve viewed, and your LinkedIn profile.
    • Added insight on who you know at a particular company, important information about that company, as well as similar jobs to the ones you are viewing.
    • Ability to stay on top of your job search with notifications when jobs you’ve saved are about to expire, when a recruiter has viewed your application, or when there are new jobs that meet your search criteria.

    The app is only available for U.S. users for now, but it will become internationally available in future versions.

    Image via LinkedIn (Flickr)

  • Why Some Businesses Are Unsatisfied With LinkedIn Showcase Pages

    Why Some Businesses Are Unsatisfied With LinkedIn Showcase Pages

    A couple months ago, LinkedIn killed the Products & Services tab on Company pages, and upset a fair amount of companies. LinkedIn suggested that businesses use its Showcase Pages instead, but some simply don’t think this approach works so well.

    Are you finding Showcase Pages to be helpful to your business? Do you miss the Products & Services tab? Let us know in the comments.

    LinkedIn launched Showcase Pages in November. They let companies show off specific brands and products. Users can follow these individual pages just like they can with Company pages, but can follow specific brands and not the whole company, should they choose to do so. For example, a consumer could follow Microsoft Office, rather than Microsoft at large, and avoid getting Xbox updates, Bing updates, etc.

    This strategy isn’t sitting well with every company. Blogger Arik Hanson recently ran through a few reasons they Showcase Pages “actually don’t make sense for most brands.”

    For one, while the Products & Services tab lent to a more “static and promotional” nature, the new pages are “heavily dependent on dynamic content,” and require posting multiple times a week, as he notes.

    This could inspire brands to spend a little more time getting customers to engage with their brands, but it’s also one more thing to add to the social media to-do list. Frankly, there’s about too much of that as there is for some businesses (especially small businesses) to handle.

    “So, for brands that are already struggling to produce quality content on a regular basis, this means you have to add one more unique outlet to the mix,” he writes. “And, it essentially means brands would be doubling their content workload on LinkedIn. I’m not sure that’s really doable for most brands.”

    He also writes, “If targeting content to more distinct audiences if one of our goals, why not just use the handy targeting feature LinkedIn already provides with your company page? That tool allows you to target by geography, job function, seniority and few other criteria. More than enough, right?

    Hanson also suggests that the Showcase Pages are not ideal for recruiting purposes (a big reason many companies use LinkedIn).

    At Social Media Today, Tracy Sestili writes about three reasons “you shouldn’t create LinkedIn Showcase Pages”. She also makes the point about having to update yet another page (or pages), but also that you’ll have to build another following from scratch, starting with 0 followers.

    “The concept of Showcase Pages is a good idea, but the execution of this feature enhancement seems to not have been fully thought through,” she says. “What would have been better is community tabs within Company Pages.”

    Kevin Elliott at Kerigan Marketing Associates explains why they deleted their Showcase Pages. He writes:

    When I saw the announcement about the Products and Services tab going away, I immediately built two Showcase pages, one for web design and one for our print and logo work, then started putting content on each.

    I waited a week or so to see what would happen, and I notice two negative things right off. First, a person I had met at a business meeting followed one of our Showcase pages. Great, right? Well, I just happen to know that he thought he was following our general company page. By liking just the web design page, he would only see our content about web design. We do tons of web design, but we are a full service marketing firm, and I wanted him to see all our content, not just a piece. For him to see it all he would have to follow every one of our Showcase pages, something I could not ask. So, strike one. Consumers were confused by Showcase pages.

    The second red flag was thrown when I searched for my Company page on LinkedIn. I would write the first word, “Kerigan”, and the dropdown would give me suggestions. Sure enough, Kerigan Marketing Associates was in there, but our company page was listed after our print/logo page! Now, if you didn’t know our business and you saw that, what would you think? You would think we were a print company only, not a marketing firm that does print and logo design work. Strike two, Showcase pages were misleading about what we do.

    Yeah, that could be a problem.

    Our own readers have had additional complaints about the pages. In the comments section of an article on the feature, Debbie Waller said, “I have set up a showcase page, it’s OK but it has nowhere to publish the recommendations/reviews I had from other people on my products and services page. Contacted LinkedIn – they say I am welcome to publish whatever I want about my products. As I pointed out to them this is not at all the same as someone else saying what they think. They agreed to ‘pass on my feedback’, don’t expect this to change though.”

    Another reader replied to her post saying, “Yes Debbie, you’re right, and in fact, I contacted LinkedIn in advance of this change, and they promised to send a link where we could move our recommendations to the new showcases page. Which did not happen.”

    Others simply wondered simply why they would get rid of the Products & Services tab, which they thought was “a great feature” .

    What do you think? Are businesses better off with Showcase Pages rather than the Products & Services tab? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Reveals New Search Architecture

    LinkedIn Reveals New Search Architecture

    LinkedIn just announced a new search architecture that it has already implemented, moving away from Lucene, upon which its early search engines were built, to Galene.

    LinkedIn’s Sriram Sankar and Asif Makhani explain, “Around a year ago, we decided to completely redesign our platform given our growth needs and our direction towards realizing the world’s first economic graph. The result was Galene, our new search architecture, which has since been implemented and successfully powering multiple search products at LinkedIn. Galene has helped us improve our development culture and forced us to incorporate new development processes. For example, the ability to build new indices every week with changes in the offline algorithms requires us to adopt a more agile testing and release process. Galene has also helped us clearly separate infrastructure tasks from relevance tasks. For example, relevance engineers no longer have to worry about writing multi-threaded code, perform RPCs, or worry about scaling the system.”

    Search is obviously an important component of LinkedIn, so the better its search capabilities get, the better the service will be able to help people find the right jobs, companies, groups, people, and content with it opening up its publisher platform.

    The search platform is being used to power People Search, Job Search, and LinkedIn Recruiter, as well as some of the company’s internal applications like customer service and ad support.

    Sankar and Makhani get into the technical aspects of migrating to the new architecture in a lengthy blog post on the company’s Engineering blog.

    “Search is one of the most intensely studied problems in software engineering,” the two write. “It brings together information retrieval, machine learning, distributed systems, and other fundamental areas of computer science. And search is core to LinkedIn.”

    LinkedIn recently announced that it has over 300 million members.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Premium Members Get Some New Goodies

    LinkedIn Premium Members Get Some New Goodies

    LinkedIn is adding new features to its premium experience for new and existing subscribers, including early access to a custom background feature for your profile, which will roll out to all members in the coming months.

    Also new to Premium are some other visual updates aimed at helping users stand out, including a larger photo and expanded profile header. As pictured above, the profile page is starting to more closely resemble those of other popular social networks.

    There’s a gallery for background images that Premium members are also getting access to.

    In addition to the visuals, Premium members are now getting suggestions for profile optimization.

    “We know it can be a daunting task when you don’t know what to put on your profile,” says LinkedIn’s Dmitry Shevelenko. “We wanted to make this process easier by prompting you with top keyword suggestions to help with writer’s block. These personalized suggestions are also optimized to help you get found in search. The profile summary is a great way to showcase who you are professionally and what you care about. What you say will have a very meaningful impact on the kinds of people and opportunities you attract.”

    In search results, Premium members will now stand out more with profiles that are twice as big as other results with more info from your profile than others. Members will also have the ability to make their profile “open,” so that every LinkedIn users can see your full profile for free.

    “You will also be able to access the top 100 results for How You Rank against your first-degree connections and company,” says Shevelenko. “This can be a great way to see how your LinkedIn presence measures up against your peers.”

    LinkedIn launched the “How your Rank” feature a couple weeks ago. More on that here.

    The company is also introducing a new starter subscription package called Premium Spotlight, which consists of all of the new features, but is only $7.99 a month compared to $23.99 for Business and $47.99 for Business Plus. You can see the comparisons here.

    “This is just the beginning of many more changes and improvements we hope to make to our premium experience this year to help members stand out and be found,” a LinkedIn spokesperson tells WebProNews.

    Images via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Looks At ‘State Of Student Recruiting’

    LinkedIn Looks At ‘State Of Student Recruiting’

    With the school year wrapping up, LinkedIn has decided to put together some data to paint us a picture (an infographic actually) of the state of student recruiting in 2014. According to the company, there are over 39 million students and recent grads on LinkedIn, and thousands of companies waiting to recruit them.

    “We decided to take a closer look at how these 39M members go about building out their careers and analyzed their interactions with employers on LinkedIn,” says LinkedIn’s Maria Ignatova. “It turns out that the 10 employers that are most popular among students on LinkedIn are typically large consumer (and heavily tech) brands like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and others.”

    “While these results say a lot about the magnetic appeal and prestige of big companies, they also show that students can be swayed by an employer with a strong talent brand, regardless of the size,” she adds.

    The number one thing students 18-30 care about in a job is a good work/life balance, according to LinkedIn. This is followed by excellent compensation and benefits and a strong career path. Interestingly, only 30% said job security.

    You might also be interested in this video LinkedIn uploaded today. It talks about how talent acquisition teams can use LinkedIn data to “drive strategic recruiting decisions.”

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Shows You How Your Profile Ranks Compared To Others In Your Network

    LinkedIn Shows You How Your Profile Ranks Compared To Others In Your Network

    LinkedIn introduced a new feature of its Who’s Viewed Your Profile page showing you “how you rank” compared to others in your network. It’s almost like LinkedIn’s own little Klout score.

    Unsurprisingly, the Who’s Viewed Your Profile feature is one of the most popular parts of LinkedIn, according to the company. This should add another layer of obsession to the mix.

    “Take a look at the top profiles in your network to gain inspiration for changes you can make to your own profile, or content you can share to increase views to your profile and drive opportunities for advancement,” says LinkedIn’s Dmitry Shevelenko. Or, take a look at the suggestions LinkedIn offers on the right-hand side of the page for ways you can begin increasing views to your profile immediately.”

    “Professionals come to your LinkedIn profile from all over the web, but rich data insights such as the keywords that led people to your profile, can help you determine how to effectively position yourself to attract new business and make valuable new connections,” he says. “You can now also use the “How You Rank” tab to better understand who in your network can help increase visibility for your business.”

    The How You Rank feature will be coming to mobile soon.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Makes Another Move That Irritates Business Users

    LinkedIn Makes Another Move That Irritates Business Users

    About a month ago, LinkedIn angered some of its business users when it announced that it would get rid of the Products/Services tab in favor of Showcase Pages. Now it’s irritating users again by shutting down its business card scanning product CardMunch in favor of new integration with Evernote.

    Do you like the direction LinkedIn is going with business cards? Let us know in the comments.

    LinkedIn made the announcement on Wednesday. It said it is “deepening” its partnership with Evernote, and shutting down the CardMunch app. Going forward, LinkedIn members will be able to scan business cards using Evernote’s mobile app, and directly connect it with contacts on LinkedIn.

    “In Evernote, our members will be able to view profile photos, job titles and company information from LinkedIn right in the notes created when they scan business cards,” said LinkedIn’s Bob Rosin. “LinkedIn members will now also be able to enter comments related to the scanned card and geo-tag the location where the card was scanned.”

    “All LinkedIn members who use CardMunch and choose to transfer their existing scanned cards into Evernote will receive two free years of Evernote’s premium business card scanning service. Members will be able to quickly and easily migrate their CardMunch data to Evernote,” he said.

    Data from CardMunch is available in the LinkedIn Contacts feature/app as well. It can also be downloaded for those who don’t want to transfer it to Evernote.

    Even if you don’t use CardMuch, you can get a year of free Evernote business card scanning if you connect your LinkedIn account to the app.

    Evernote put out this tutorial on business card scanning:

    As mentioned, LinkedIn’s move from CardMunch to Evernote isn’t sitting too well with some users. Here are some things people have said in the comments sections on various tech blogs covering the news.

    On TechCrunch:

    I am sorry but this is just LAME on the part of LinkedIn. What kind of “Business network” does not care about adding new connections quickly and easily? They should have built this into the core LinkedIN app not dumped it.

    I have tried the Evernote version and it is way slower harder to use. ( I am an evernote Pro user)

    …

    Such a bad call of LinkedIN. they prove again and again they really don t get mobile. Cardmunch was a killer service, blowing away any competition (including current evernote card scanning service). It should have been part of the main linkedin app, and would have been helpful to become the #1 killer app for business events…

    …

    I did the transfer, and they simply dumped all the cards as individual notes in my general Evernote folder. Would it have been hard to create a “CardMunch” notebook and put them in there?? I’ll use LinkedIn less as a result of this.

    …

    It is a shame that Cardmunch, the ‘holy grail’ of business card scanners, is being put under the bus. At least someone should save it and make it available cross-platform all users, not just iOS? LinkedIn is making a serious mistake here. What about Blackberry 10 users? Lot’s of potential there.

    From TheNextWeb:

    Unfortunate, and interesting all at once. CardMunch was great. Scanning business cards into Evernote? Not so great.

    From The Verge:

    This is disappointing. The great advantage of CardMunch was that with the human transcription you got near 100% accuracy with every scan. I tried Evernote’s business card OCR and it works but is not nearly as accurate.

    …

    CardMunch was awesome. I’m so pissed LinkedIn abandoned it. I thought they would take the opportunity to leverage CardMunch into a suite of professional contact management services that would sync with their apps and websites. What a blown opportunity to give LinkedIn members something that is actually useful instead of basing their whole model around spam and job hunters.

    There are plenty more on various articles around the web.

    CardMunch will be discontinued as of July 11th.

    At least LinkedIn continues to add features to Company Pages and Showcase Pages.

    What do you think of LinkedIn’s move to Evernote? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Deepens Partnership With Evernote, Shuts Down CardMunch

    LinkedIn Deepens Partnership With Evernote, Shuts Down CardMunch

    LinkedIn announced that it is “deepening” its partnership with Evernote and shutting down its own CardMunch app. Going forward, LinkedIn members will be able to scan business cards using Evernote’s mobile app, and directly connected it with contacts on LinkedIn.

    “In Evernote, our members will be able to view profile photos, job titles and company information from LinkedIn right in the notes created when they scan business cards,” says LinkedIn’s Bob Rosin. “LinkedIn members will now also be able to enter comments related to the scanned card and geo-tag the location where the card was scanned.”

    “All LinkedIn members who use CardMunch and choose to transfer their existing scanned cards into Evernote will receive two free years of Evernote’s premium business card scanning service. Members will be able to quickly and easily migrate their CardMunch data to Evernote,” says Rosin.

    Data from CardMunch is available in the LinkedIn Contacts feature/app as well. It can also be downloaded for those who don’t want to transfer it to Evernote.

    CardMunch will be discontinued as of July 11th.

    Even if you don’t use CardMuch, you can get a year of free Evernote business card scanning if you connect your LinkedIn account to the app.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • LinkedIn Adds Company Page Features

    LinkedIn Adds Company Page Features

    LinkedIn angered some businesses with the removal of one feature recently, but is now introducing some new features for company pages.

    Businesses can now utilize language preference targeting and a personalized page feed. The features work for Company Pages as well as Showcase Pages.

    The company killed the Products & Services tab on Company Pages, telling businesses instead to use the Showcase Pages, which were launched late last year. This hasn’t gone over very well with some.

    At least the Showcase Pages are getting better.

    “Sixty-seven percent of our 300 million members on LinkedIn are located outside of the United States, and our site is available in 22 different languages,” says LinkedIn’s Aviad Pinkovezky. “We also have several million brands using Company Pages and Showcase Pages, with the vast majority created internationally. We know relevance is a big part of the equation when it comes to successfully capturing the attention of professionals. This is why it’s important to simplify and streamline the member experience to enable even more relevant communication between companies and members.”

    “Through language preference targeting, brands with an audience from around the world can now target their Company Updates by the users’ selected language,” he adds. “For example, a U.S. based company targeting Portuguese-speaking professionals in Brazil can now share updates in Portuguese with followers who have selected it as their preferred language on LinkedIn.”

    The personalization feature enables users to see only updates intended for them when they visit Company Pages. Such personalization is based on things like company size, industry, function, seniority, geography, and language.

    Image via LinkedIn