Facebook is expected to file for their initial public offering any day now, and it has created so much hype over the social networking giant.  It’s such a big deal that Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange are fighting over which should hold the listing.  FYI, Facebook reserved the $FB ticker in both Nasdaq and NYSE, so it’s anybody’s game.

Though the social network’s IPO had been talked about for years now, some are still questioning whether it’s the right time, since some of the recent tech IPOs aren’t doing too well in today’s market.

Scott Sellers, CEO and Co-Founder of Azul Systems stated that, “The timing is good now for an IPO for Facebook.  The public markets have long awaited this IPO, and the market is healthy enough to justify the high valuation that Facebook certainly will attain.  Their growth rates of users continues to impress, as they close in on the magic one billion number sometime this year.  Their growth will inevitably slow however, and their valuation will be impacted by that, so now is the time to become public before that happens.”

Sellers also pointed out that there are drawbacks to going public, as it “can be quite limiting to long-term strategies, given Wall Street’s maniacal focus on short-term results.” Furthermore, he assumes  that the stock will have a nice bounce after the IPO sinc they seem to be playing their cards right by “creating stability in the stock and enabling subsequent offerings to raise additional capital in the future.”

When asked whether he thinks an IPO will lead to revenue growth, Sellers simply stated that he doesn’t see the relation of an IPO to Facebook’s revenue since the social networking giant has been doing well financially but asked “how they most effectively monetize their user base, and being a public company arguably reduces their ability to maximize this since they’ll be under such closer scrutiny.”

Display Ads

But aside from the IPO, Faebook’s footing on the display-advertising market is becoming firmer as the years pass.  Facebook’s share in banner advertisements on the Internet grew from  21% in 2010 to 27.9% for 2011.  The latest data was released by comScore.

This propels Facebook for a massive lead over Yahoo! which only has 11% of the display-ad market and lagging behind are Microsoft and Google, both have less than 5% share.
eMarketer estimated that Facebook’s advertising revenue at $3.8 billion and other revenue, including Facebook Credits at $470 million.  It’s clear that Facebook is earning a great deal from advertising as well as their partnership with brands connecting to consumers with Facebook Credits.

John Casaretto describes Facebook as a “driving innovation in monetization, technology, and marketing by providing their brand of platform, a brand that is known the world over and is now on the precipice of a potentially monumental event,” in terms of advertising which leaves Yahoo!, a company contented with their click-based ads, in “survival mode.” Though there are talks of some innovation in the company, we’re yet to see them actually happen.

Timeline Movie Maker

And finally, since you cannot fight Facebook’s mandatory roll out of Timeline, all you can do now is either stop using the service or learn to love it.  Marketing Agency Definition 6 and Facebook came up with something to alleviate users’ rage and released the Timeline Movie Maker app, which automatically parses your Timeline profile to create about a 55-second movie from your memories stored in the social network.

“We think there will be lots of companies that come up with fun, innovative ways for people to extend the Timeline experience,” a Facebook official told PCWorld in an interview.

In short, Facebook is telling you that you cannot fight the Timeline, but they’re doing everything to make the transition fun and exciting for everybody.  So if you’re willing to try it, here are just a few things to know about the app:

• You permission will be asked to access your basic information, e-mail address, other profile data such as hobbies, your posts, and your News Feed but the app does not ask for permission to post anything to your profile automatically.
• It’s automatic so after giving the app permission you don’t really have to do anything but just stare at the screen while it’s “parsing nostalgia”, “rendering: laughs/smiles” etc.
• After the movie is created, it will be played and after that you can edit the content of the movie, like changing the soundtrack or replacing the photos and videos by clicking the “Remake Your Movie” button until you’re satisfied and voila!  You have a personalized Timeline movie.

A little heads up; the movie created will be similar to the introductory video of Timeline released September last year, especially the part where it flies over your whole Timeline, you’ll notice that some of the photos aren’t from your account, so don’t get your hopes up and expect some Steven Spielberg magic in your personal timeline movie.  Still, I must admit, it was fun seeing some parts of my life flash before my eyes.