Marketers will now have access to improved audience targeting and Acxiom’s LiveRamp Connect, creating unique opportunities to run secure, anonymized people-based marketing campaigns on LinkedIn.

“With more than 500 million users globally, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, and we’re excited to unlock the potential that this relationship will have on the marketing industry,” said Anne Doherty, SVP Sales of Acxiom. “Our product integration with LinkedIn allows marketers to seamlessly connect customer data to this top-tier platform, complementing the powerful targeting elements LinkedIn already provides advertisers.”

Based on more than 45 years of history with major brands, Acxiom says it has developed complex and precise third-party data sets for use in the digital ecosystem.

As for this new integration, it enables marketers to expertly build, size, segment, and reach these custom audiences on LinkedIn.

“Through LiveRamp Connect, marketers will have end-to-end control of the data onboarding and distribution process as well as real-time visibility into uploads and activations against LinkedIn,” the company says.

To learn more, check out Acxiom here.

The post Acxiom Boosts ‘People-Based Targeting’ for Marketers on LinkedIn appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to MAW, the deal should close before the end of 2016.

“We are joining forces with Microsoft to realize a common mission to empower people and organizations,” a post on LinkedIn reads. “LinkedIn’s vision – to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce – is not changing and our members still come first.”
Microsoft is paying a whopping $196 per share for LinkedIn.

According to MAW, with LinkedIn posting $3 billion in revenue in 2015, it’s evident that there’s an impressive growth trajectory for the professional social network, which now boasts well over 430 million users globally.

So what exactly will Microsoft do with LinkedIn? For now, we don’t more. But chances are additional details are on the horizon.

“The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365.”

The post Microsoft to Acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The bad news? Weaker than anticipated guidance.

“The company said Thursday that it saw adjusted earnings of 94 cents per share on $862 million in revenue in its fourth quarter,” CNBC reports. “Analysts had expected LinkedIn to report earnings of about 78 cents per share on $858 million in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.”

As a result, shares of LinkedIn tumbled 28 percent in after-hours trading.

LinkedIn is experiencing the opposite of what happened to Facebook after the social networking giant reported earnings in recent days. Shares of FB exploded to record all-time highs on the strength of its mobile advertising growth and revenue.

“Our strategy in 2016 will increasingly focus on a narrower set of high value, high impact initiatives with the goal of strengthening and driving leverage across our entire portfolio of businesses,” LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner told the media in a written statement after the earnings report. “Our roadmap will be supported by greater emphasis on simplicity, prioritization, and ultimate ROI and investment impact.”

The post LinkedIn Loses Ground on Wall Street After Latest Earnings Report appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

We know — not a shocker.

But change is coming. Now some social media sites — Yelp and LinkedIn among them — are shifting away from them.

Of course, it’s not just that banner ads have lost what impact they once had. Now that people spend much more time on mobile phones, marketers are putting their resources into ads that both work on the small screen and more fully engage consumers.

“Last week, Yelp announced plans to discontinue its display-ad business by the end of this year after reporting that it ‘actually negatively’ impacted growth last quarter, according to Chief Financial Officer Robert Krolik,” reports MarketWatch. “Yelp estimates that 90 percent of its business will eventually be comprised of promoted posts from the businesses that are reviewed on the site, which are more similar to a native ad than a traditional display ad.”

This comes on the heels of an admission by LinkedIn Chief Financial Officer Steven Sordello that the site has experienced a 30 percent year-over-year decline in display-ad revenue in its most recent quarter. It also dovetails with recent eMarketer research that shows a deceleration of annual U.S. display growth over the next few years — to 13.5 percent in 2018 from 25.6 percent in 2014.

For Facebook, with its gigantic audience and high engagement numbers, banner ads are still working.

Facebook has the advantage of large swaths of personal data that can make the display ads smarter — as well as programmatic advertising software programs that make it easier to buy and sell ads. The behemoth social site now holds the largest percentage of display ad revenues at about 24 percent, the same report concludes.

As for Yelp and LinkedIn, they’re changing course. But for some sites, banners are not dead yet.

“I don’t think display is going away, I think it’s reinventing itself,” said Will Margiloff, CEO of cloud-based marketing platform company IgnitionOne.

The post LinkedIn, Yelp Ditching Display Ads, But They’re Still Working for Facebook appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

This new marketing campaign is focused on creating “inspiring” moments online, with particular attention being paid to mobile users who will be out in force for the holiday shopping season.

The goal, we’re told, is to let “the world around you” provide inspiration for holiday shopping, which eBay uses to direct consumers to their millions of listings from sellers from around the globe.

The main focus is to highlight independent eBay sellers and small retailers who provide unique holiday gift selections.

Shop The World is launching worldwide in the US, UK, Germany and Australia, and eBay plans to expand its reach further next year.

The post eBay Launches ‘Shop The World’ Marketing Campaign appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

LinkedIn recently asked the judge presiding over its case to dismiss a lawsuit which accuses the social networking site of misappropriating member names and images in an effort to expand membership.

The lawsuit was filed a year ago as a potential class-action. The case centers on allegations that LinkedIn emails users’ friends, soliciting them to join up with the professionally-oriented site. The plaintiffs who are suing contend that “LinkedIn violated a California law about endorsements by using their names and images in emails to their friends,” according to a story on the matter at MediaPost.

LinkedIn isn’t the only site that has wrestled with this law and its ramifications. Facebook was also forced to defend itself against a class-action suit alleging that the site’s “sponsored stories” ads misappropriate users’ identities.

The law provides for damages of up to $750 per incident, the report notes, adding that Facebook ultimately agreed to settle the matter for a cool $20 million.

While the consumers at first asserted that the company violated the federal wiretap law by hacking into their accounts to seek out their friends’ email addresses, the U.S. District Judge in the case threw out that claim, but did grant that the LinkedIn members had agreed to an initial email solicitation but not the successive follow-up emails.

What the complainants see as unapproved marketing tactics LinkedIn now portrays as a free speech rights issue.

“LinkedIn now argues in court papers filed this week that it has a free-speech right to send follow-up emails, on the theory that the service helps people to communicate with each other,” according to MediaPost.

“As a platform for creating professional networks of people, LinkedIn promotes the rights of speech and association guaranteed by the First Amendment,” the social network for professionals argues in its latest motion requesting dismissal of the lawsuit. “Accordingly, reminder emails, which refer recipients to communications from LinkedIn members expressing their desire to connect … facilitate associations among people and therefore concern matters of public interest.”

So, do you think LinkedIn will prevail? More importantly, should it? Please weigh in with your thoughts or comments below.

The post Will LinkedIn Luck Out? Networking Site Alleges Right To Email Users' Friends appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Professional Social Network LinkedIn Corp. has paid nearly $6 million in back wages and damages to 359 current and former employees. It settles a suit brought by the U.S. Labor Department, which said workers were not properly paid for overtime worked between February, 2012 and February, 2014.

According to the terms of the agreement, LinkedIn also agreed to instruct managers about overtime work policies and admonish them not to retaliate against employees who express concerns regarding workplace issues.

The social network, which serves as a professional networking site for professional workers, said its payouts included more than $3.3 million in overtime back wages and $2.5 million in damages to workers in California, Illinois, Nebraska, and New York.

“This company has shown a great deal of integrity by fully cooperating with investigators and stepping up to the plate without hesitation to help make workers whole,” David Weil, administrator of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, is quoted by the WSJ. “We are particularly pleased that LinkedIn also has committed to take positive and practical steps toward securing future compliance.”

LinkedIn attributed the violations to “not having the right tools in place for a small subset of our sales force to track hours properly,” adding that it had begun to remedy the problem in advance of the Labor Department inquiry.

“LinkedIn has made every effort possible to ensure each impacted employee has been made whole,” a spokesman said in a statement.

The post Not Good for Its Resume: LinkedIn Pays $6 Million in Back Wages, Damages appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to a story by Brian Nichols at The Motley Fool, “The big three social networking sites — Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter — all blew the doors off earnings expectations during the second quarter.

Of course, Facebook has been a kingpin for a while.

Just how profitable was it?

“To see the degree of improvement for both Twitter and LinkedIn, one needs to look no further than each company’s respective first quarter,” says Nichols. “For example, LinkedIn gets about one-fifth of its revenue from advertising, and in the second quarter its revenue growth from this segment accelerated to 44 percent from 36 percent in the quarter prior.”

LinkedIn added 2,200 new accounts, notes Nichols, up substantively from the 1,400 created in the first quarter.

Whither Twitter?

“Meanwhile, Twitter’s advertising revenue was far from being a problem, as it increased 129 percent versus last year and accounted for just about 90 percent of its $312 million in total revenue. Notably, these metrics were higher than the first quarter’s growth rate,” Nichols explains.

Social media is proving to be a rich environment for monetization — once companies figure out how to do it to best advantage. In addition, better targeting has allowed these companies to put a finer point on consumers, offering marketers both more specificity and more accountability.

The Motley Fool story has much more detail on the machinations of the three social media platforms. To read more, click here.

The post Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn: Social Media Cleans Up in Second Quarter appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

To that end, LinkedIn has just acquired Bizo, a formidable player in business audience marketing.

“Bizo offers technology and products that enable measurable display and social advertising programs specifically focused on professional audience segments,” LinkedIn said in a written statement.

The transaction is valued at approximately $175 million.

LinkedIn says B2B marketers use Bizo to target prospects within professional segments, and nurture them at every stage of their sales and marketing funnel.

“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.”

To read Thacker’s full post on the LinkedIn acquisition, click here.

The post LinkedIn Hopes to Boost B2B Marketing with Latest Acquisition appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

LinkedIn has introduced a new job search app for iPhone, which offers its users the ability to filter position openings sorted by categories such as title, location, and industry. The app can also seek job opening info based on a LinkedIn member’s prior employment searches. More than 40 percent of users are already using mobile to look at jobs on LinkedIn, company execs say.

The app is currently available only in the U.S. for iOS. An Android version will be coming later this year, LinkedIn said. No defined time frame for other platforms (such as Windows or BlackBerry) has been announced.

LinkedIn’s main site currently provides filtering search tools and ways to save a user’s searches and jobs. The new app provides these tools, too, but will also notify users of jobs in which they might be interested.

Four tabs at the bottom: search, discover, track, and notifications help job seekers use the app. The discover tab surfaces jobs that are popular among those who have a profile similar to the user’s. Track lets people see the jobs they’ve viewed or saved, as well as postings for which they’ve already sent an application.

LinkedIn is hoping its new job app — as well as its recent foray into content marketing on the site — will boost the company’s bottom line.

Hopefully, the new directions at LinkedIn will improve job seekers’ bottom lines, too.

The post New LinkedIn App: Looking for a Job on the Go appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.