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FACEBOOK IPO
Summary:
Since its birth in 2004 Facebook has managed to attract 845 million users all across the world and 483 million of those access their social network daily, over 50% of its total users (2 – Page 1). What Facebook has is not only a giant social network for people across the world to communicate but it is also is an extremely penetrable global marketing tool. In fact, majority of the company’s revenue is generated from advertisement alone. Users now have the ability to “like” a company based on their interests. This gives the user the opportunity to stay up to date on their favorite products, services, and information from their “liked” companies but it ALSO allows the company to access the user’s information and personal trends. With this information these advertising companies can curtail their marketing strategies based directly on user’s interests. Although Facebook’s opportunities seem endless there are some things that could hinder their growth.
Critique:
Facebook, the world’s number one social network, is finally going public. After several years of trading privately the company has finally decided to offer a small percentage of its shares publicly. This is great for the company because it will give them the means to grow and expand. As demonstrated recently by the company Yelp. Although they have not yet proven that they will be able to continue in their success most stock experts say that Yelp’s stock is a winner. The good news of success for Yelp has left an appealing taste in the mouths of investors; in turn boosting their confidence in Facebook’s soon to be released IPO. From positive to negative market penetration there is faith, but also concern about the company’s future.
Webvan, eToys, Pets.com, Mirant, and CIT Group are all examples of recent companies that were expected to do well with huge IPOs out of the gates

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