WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – AT&T Inc said any new “net neutrality” rules imposed by U.S. regulators need to apply to Web companies like Google Inc as much as to phone companies to ensure a level playing field.In a letter Friday to the head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau, the biggest U.S. telephone company argued that Google would have an unfair advantage if its Voice service is not subject to the same rules proposed by the FCC on phone operators.”To the extent ‘net neutrality’ is animated by a concern about ostensible Internet ‘gatekeepers,’ that concern must necessarily…
Business
AT&T looks to flip net rules debate on Google
Facebook
Macy’s Promoting Facebook Page In New Online Marketing Campaign
If you’re a large brand that’s running an online ad campaign are you just going to direct consumers to a pretty landing page? That’s what most companies have been doing consistently although a few brands have begun choosing to promote their Facebook and Twitter accounts over landing pages for the opportunity to “remarket” to their fans. Macy’s is the latest brand to promote their Facebook Page through display advertising campaigns around the web.
The strategy appears to be working. Over the past month, the Macy’s Facebook page has grown from 28,000 to 67,000 fans. While the fan base is growing…
Business
Obama move on China tires could spur more requests
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s decision to restrict tire imports from China after union workers complained of a surge could lead to copycat cases in areas such as steel, clothing, paper, machinery and consumer goods, trade experts said on Monday “It’s a target-rich environment,” said Lewis Leibowitz, a lawyer who represents the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition, which opposed relief in the tires case. “There’s almost anything you can hit. And even within import categories that have gone down, there may be smaller product categories that have gone up,” Leibowitz said. However, the question of which industries could…
Business
Crisis fails to topple US as world’s top power: Study
LONDON: The United States was dealt a blow by the financial crisis but remains the world’s main power and can maintain its influence if it works with allies to achieve its goals, a study said on Tuesday. A report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank in London said that despite taking an economic hit, the downturn has highlighted how other states look to Washington for their lead. “The vivid message of the financial crisis… was that America continued to be of vital importance to other countries, including its putative rivals as pre-eminent powers,” the IISS…
Business
US SEC: Protecting long-term investors a priority
WASHINGTON: The first responsibility of the US Securities and Exchange Commision is to protect long-term investors if their interests conflict 10 most trade-friendly economiesBen Bernanke: Face of the FedMore on Financial crisisEconomies out of recession with short-term traders, the head of the SEC said in a letter revealed on Monday. “I firmly agree that the commission’s focus must be on the protection of long-term investors,” SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said in a Sept 10 letter to Senator Ted Kaufman, Democrat of Delaware. Kaufman had asked the SEC to review what he called “questionable” developments in the structure of capital markets…
Business
Washington diary: A year of crisis
“Love Sucks,” it declares. A red eyed teenage girl with a trickle of blood oozing out of the corner of her mouth leers Lolita-like at the surroundings. Creepy stuff. Today they need posters to scare people. A year ago, Times Square provided its own real life horror show. Standing square-jawed in its north-eastern corner is what once was the headquarters of Lehman Brothers, the 158-year-old firm that survived the American Civil War, two world wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War and 9/11 but not the sub-prime mortgage bubble which it helped to inflate. Gambling the houseLooking up from the…
Business
China Strikes Back on Trade
BEIJING — China indicated Sunday it would restrict U.S. imports of chicken and auto products after Washington’s move to slap punitive sanctions on Chinese tire imports, raising tensions in a trade dispute ahead of two planned meetings between the countries’ leaders. Many observers in China say ties between the nations should remain unharmed, noting that China’s measures could limit imports in two areas that it already tightly controls — and thus might not have a huge effect on U.S. exports. But the measures add to worries about trade protectionism amid rising unemployment around the world.
Business
Obama tries to reinvigorate Wall Street reform
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will try on Monday to revive a stalled push for stricter oversight of Wall Street, using the anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ collapse to argue for sweeping regulatory changes. Obama’s wide-ranging economic address in New York will also discuss plans to unwind the government’s involvement in the financial sector and call upon Wall Street firms to take responsibility and avoid reckless behavior. He is to speak at 12:10 EDT (1610 GMT). Gaps in the regulation of U.S. banks and capital markets have been blamed for the subprime mortgage crisis and global financial chaos triggered…
Business
Key group of U.S. lawmakers nearing healthcare deal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A key group of U.S. senators was “very close” to agreement on healthcare reform, one of its members said on Sunday, suggesting Congress was nearer to meeting President Barack Obama’s goal of passing a reform bill this year. “We think we are very close to an agreement,” said Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and part of the “Gang of Six” bipartisan group that is trying to forge consensus, on “Fox News Sunday.” Lawmakers have struggled to find common ground in the debate over healthcare reform, hampering Obama’s efforts to push through his…
Facebook
This Week In Facebook: September 13, 2009
This week was another busy one for Facebook who made a number of large announcements on Thursday. Facebook has been pretty consistent with rolling out relatively significant updates and announcements on a weekly basis over the past month. With Facebook beyond 275 million users, based on our internal numbers, Facebook continues the march toward 300 million. Hopefully Facebook continues pushing out weekly news stories so our job of chronicling the company’s activities can stay exciting!
Facebook for Android Launches
As we expected, Facebook for Android officially launched on Tuesday afternoon around the time of Facebook’s mobile press event. Initial reviews…
Facebook
The Key To Success With Facebook Ads: Effectively Define Your Target Market
This is Day 11 of the 30 Days to 3,000 Fans program. You can learn more about the program here.
So now that I’ve made the sales pitch to you for using Facebook advertising, let’s take a look at what it takes to get a campaign set up. The most important thing to do first is to define your target market. What’s the demographic information of your target market? What’s the average day for your target market like? Your job as an advertiser is to connect with the customer on an emotional level as quick as possible. The only way…
Facebook
Facebook Removes Ability To Browse Friends By Region (Updated)
Want to view which of your friends are located in Washington, D.C. or another city? Too bad because it appears as though Facebook has removed that feature. While the company previously announced that they’d remove regional network privacy settings, it wasn’t clear that they were eliminating the ability to browse by region. In a guide that I previously wrote about Facebook friend lists, I explained how useful the ability to browse by network was.
With over 4,000 friends, finding people in given regions has now become impossible. So is Facebook removing regional features all together? Not necessarily. According to a…
