We create the technology for social networking and develop authoritative, content driven, high traffic web site properties, while building significant brand equity.
Despite the slumping economy, new figures indicate that at least one industry has actually increased its profitability this year. Google recently released information on a surprisingly strong first-quarter performance. Profits increased 30% from last year to $1.31 billion; sales increased 42% to $5.19 billion.
This question gets asked a lot and is often discussed by people in the ISP crowd (see today's Slashdot post). It's an especially critical question for small to medium sized ISPs who are struggling with profitability and continued investment in infrastructure to meet with the changing needs of today's technology.
On Thursday, AOL announced plans to acquire social networking site Bebo for $850 million in an attempt to be competitive in the social networking industry. While most articles are gushing over the massive return on Bebo, Kara Swisher of All Things Digital is one of the few journalists reporting on the actual revenue numbers. In 2006, Bebo pulled in a $7 million with $3 million in EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, or amortization – in other words, earnings before non-operating expenses. In 2007, the numbers increased, but it was nothing to write home about: $20 million in revenue, $5 million EBITDA.
