Mashable: Latest 8 News Updates - including “Twitter Ad Revenue May Reach $150 Million This Year [REPORT]”

Twitter will triple its advertising revenue to $150 million in 2011, and it might reach $250 million in revenue next year, research firm eMarketer predicts.

Twitter has so far managed to attract big advertisers such as American Express, Coca Cola, Nissan, HP and Starbucks, and companies such as Dell have proved they can promote their products well using Twitter even before it launched its promoted tweets program.

"If Twitter can grow its user base and convince marketers of its value as a go-to secondary player to Facebook, it will succeed in gaining revenue. In 2011 it must work overtime to give its early advertisers a positive experience," said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

eMarketer came to the $150 million figure by comparing Twitter with Facebook, which had ad sales of about $150 million in 2007, right after it got serious about selling ads. Although Twitter is still a lot smaller than Facebook, whose 2010 ad revenue was estimated at $1.86 billion, with 145+ million users and constant growth Twitter might soon start breathing down Facebook’s neck.

Furthermore, eMarketer predicts that the majority of Twitter’s advertising dollars in 2011 will come from the U.S., but in 2012 at least 25 million or 10% of ad revenue should come from international advertisers. Also, eMarketer sees Facebook’s ad revenue growing to an astonishing 5.7 billion in 2012, while MySpace should drop from its current $288 million to $156 million in that same time period, which would make Twitter bigger than MySpace not only in terms of traffic but also in terms of ad revenue.

Are eMarketer’s predictions for Twitter too bold, too timid or right on the money? Does Twitter’s advertising model have what it takes to keep the advertisers interested long-term? Share your opinions in the comments.

Image credit: eMarketer

[via Bloomberg, eMarketer]

More About: ad, ad sales, ads, business, MARKETING, Revenue, social media, social networking, twitter

Speaking at a panel on “Open Innovation” at the DLD conference held in Munich, Germany, Google’s VP of consumer products Marissa Mayer spoke about the recent changes in Google’s leadership.

“Well, for a long time Google has been a triumvirate … last Thursday they reshuffled,” said Mayer.

She also downplayed the importance of the CEO change, pointing out that Larry Page was already the CEO of Google once before. “There’s been a lot of people speculating about the changeover, but we’re really excited. A lot of people forget that Larry was the CEO for the first 3 years of the company.”

“Larry’s passion has always been around products and UX. He’s really gonna be focused on products and making sure we execute well across the board,” said Mayer.

More About: ceo, Conference, DLD11, Google, larry page, marissa mayer

Thanks to the wonders of social media, nowadays talent scouts are more likely to find the next big thing online than at the mall. While MySpace was once the place to be discovered, video-sharing uber-site YouTube has since taken over as the wannabe pop star’s place to post.

Whether you’re an indie kid, a pop princess or a rising rocker, it seems pretty clear that uploading your performances to YouTube might well pay off — it certainly did for the folks in the video gallery below.

Here we bring you 15 talented uploaders who found fame via the video sharing site. However, this is not an exhaustive list by any means, so please share any artists you like that made it thanks to YouTube in the comments below.

1. Avery

Teen star Avery was a big YouTube hit in 2010 with both covers and original material. The latter netted her a Universal record contract (supposedly following a bidding war) after her videos were viewed by A&R folks.

2. Alyssa Bernal

Alyssa Bernal's acoustic uploads got the attention of Pharrell Williams who was reportedly so keen to track her down, he contacted her high school. Eventually he got hold of her and signed her to Star Trak. She has since released an EP.

3. Justin Bieber

As many of you will know, Justin Bieber's pre-pubescent warblings were spotted by a talent scout who arranged for Bieber to meet with Usher. The rest, of course, is now history.

4. Ysabella Brave

Quirky vocalist Ysabella Brave was signed to Warner Music Group's digital label Cordless after her popular YouTube performances got her noticed.

5. Greyson Chance

Ellen DeGeneres championed young Greyson Chance after seeing his cover of a Lady Gaga song at a school recital on YouTube. After having him on her show, DeGeneres made Chance the first artist signed to her new record label. His debut single came out in October last year.

6. Esmee Denters

Justin Timberlake is the star sponsor behind Dutch singer-songwriter Esmee Denters. He spotted her on the site and she became the first artist to sign to his label. Denters is now working on her second album.

7. Dondria

So So Def Recordings founder Jermaine Dupri discovered Dondria on YouTube and offered her a record deal. Her debut album Dondria vs Phatfffat reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart.

8. Kim Yeo-Hee

Kim Yeo-Hee, known on YouTube as Apple Girl, became popular with her covers played on iPhones. After viral success, record labels from South Korea, China and the UK attempted to woo Yeo-Hee and in the end she signed with Seoul-based Dreamhigh-Ent.

9. Andy McKee

Back in 2006, YouTube got Andy McKee seriously noticed - noticed to the tune of 35 million views. With a new album, Joyland, out last year, McKee is now on tour.

10. Terra Naomi

"Say It's Possible" was the song that opened doors for Terra Naomi. A YouTube hit, she signed with Island Records in 2006, although she is now back to being independent with a fan-funded record in the works.

11. Julia Nunes

Julia Nunes, or "jaaaaaaa" as her YouTube fans know her, shot to online fame after posting videos of her singing covers and originals and playing the ukulele. Nunes has made three independent albums and opened for Ben Folds.

12. Chantelle Redman

UK teenager Chantelle Redman owes her YouTube success to her father who secretly filmed her singing and posted it on the video sharing site. After becoming the second most subscribed singer on the site, she signed a record deal with Agency Global Enterprises and has since released a single.

13. Ria Ritchie

Ria Ritchie's story will sound familiar by now. After recording acoustic covers and uploading them to YouTube, she got spotted by UK musician Plan B who is producing her first album.

14. Mia Rose

Portuguese-British Mia Rose began uploading her music to YouTube in 2006. She was signed in 2007, has seen success in the UK and Portugal and has since moved to Los Angeles to further her career.

15. Cody Simpson

Twelve-year-old Cody Simpson (inevitably dubbed the Australian Justin Bieber) was spotted on YouTube by Shawn Campbell, a record producer who has worked with the likes of Jay-Z and Missy Elliott. Since signed to Atlantic Records, Simpson's first single featuring Flo Rida was released last summer.

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More Video Resources from Mashable

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- 4 Ways to Find Legal Music for Your YouTube Videos
- 12 Fun Hacks for Getting More Out of YouTube
- HOW TO: Become a YouTube Sensation
- 3 Things Any Video Needs to Go Viral
- 10 Memorable Viral Videos of 2010

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, njmcc

More About: List, Lists, music, music videos, video, videos, viral videos, web video, youtube

The Altec Lansing inMotion Air Wireless Audio System is a great-sounding Bluetooth speaker that works with a Mac, PC or any Bluetooth-enabled music player or smartphone.

We tried it with a variety of devices, and were surprised by its stellar sound quality, not to mention its good looks. However, in our tests, its wireless range was nowhere near the 100 meters claimed by Altec Lansing for its Bluetooth dongle.

The $200 inMotion Air speaker has the easiest Bluetooth pairing routine I’ve ever seen. With one push of a button, the USB Bluetooth dongle was instantly synced up with the speaker.

After charging the speaker for about five hours, its lithium-ion battery was ready to power the system completely. The USB Bluetooth transceiver plugs into any Mac or PC, and any audio from the computer plays through the inMotion Air speaker, which behaves identically to any other USB sound output device. That includes any audio from an Internet browser, or any application that produces audio. So, I immediately went to my Pandora Radio account and it streamed through the speaker perfectly.

Connecting an iPhone and iPad were equally easy, and they all worked well with the speaker. It was a simple matter of turning on Bluetooth in the settings, and then selecting the inMotion speaker on the list of detected devices. I was also able to use my laptop’s internal Bluetooth radio to connect with the speaker.

The best aspect of this wireless audio system is its excellent sound quality. While it doesn’t have the thundering bass of my favorite wireless audio product, the $400 Sonos Wi-Fi audio system, the inMotion’s highs and midrange were sparkling and realistic, while its bass response was particularly powerful for the speaker’s diminutive form factor. Properly placed in a corner, it was able to deliver what I would call pleasant, high-fidelity sound.

Two minor gripes: I was slightly disappointed because the company says you can move the speaker 100 meters (328 feet) away from its Bluetooth dongle, but that’s apparently not the case unless you’re using it in a vacant lot. Going through one wall inside of a house, the best we could do was about 45 feet, and less than that with an iPhone and an iPad. That’s not bad, though, because it’s a whole lot farther away than we’ve been able to go with any other Bluetooth device.

The other slight problem is the inability to launch iTunes on my laptop using the remote control, something that the company says is not possible with some configurations. Unfortunately, mine was one of those. But those are small complaints, considering the inMotion’s sound quality and ease of use.

Come along with me to the gallery for a pictorial tour of the system, where I’ll offer additional comments and observations along the way.

Front

Check out that asymmetrical shape. This is one attractive wireless speaker.

Controls

Control your music from here, streamed wirelessly from a Mac or PC, or a Bluetooth-compatible music player or smartphone. It was easy to set up our PC, iPhone and iPad.

Angular Lines

Look how the thing leans back. But it's still sturdy, even though it looks like it could tip over at any moment. And I mean that in a good way.

Back 3/4 View

The slot in the middle is a handle, and the recessed area on the right is where the remote is stowed.

Back

You can plug in its AC adapter, or it plays for seven hours on its rechargeable internal lithium ion battery.

Easy Carrying

It's light and easy to carry with its slot/handle in back.

Blue Light Peeking Through

There's a subtle blue light in the middle.

Two Speakers Inside

Those two drivers have great-sounding midrange and highs, and even though the speakers are small, the bass sounded surprisingly strong, especially when placed in a corner.

Remote Stowed Away

Here's the remote nestled in its slot...

Removing the Remote

...sliding out when you're ready to use it.

Remote

Control audio from your Mac or PC with this, and you're supposed to be able to launch your default audio program (that didn't work for my Windows 7 laptop, though). ESS is the Expanded Sound Stage technology, which does a convincing job of making it sound like the speakers are farther apart.

Crazy Remote

Even the remote has that asymmetrical theme going on.

Bluetooth Dongle

Plug this into a USB port on a Mac or PC, and it'll let stream the music about 45 feet away (that's with one wall in between).

USB

We plugged it in, and it streams music wirelessly. But the farthest away we could separate dongle and speaker without the sound breaking up was about 45 feet, far less than the 328 feet quoted by Altec Lansing.

More About: Altec Lansing inMotion Air Wireless Audio System, audio, bluetooth, review, Wireless Speaker

Sharlyn Lauby is the president of Internal Talent Management (ITM) which specializes in employee training and human resources consulting. She authors a blog at hrbartender.com.

It’s helpful to have someone with more experience show you the ropes when you’re beginning a new journey — this is especially true when it comes to entering the job market.

Having a community that shares job openings, tips, resources and words of wisdom is of real value, especially when you can ask the tough questions, such as "Do I really need to write a cover letter?" or "What are the job prospects in my industry?"

There are several career communities that focus on those initial years of your career and offer resources for you to start off strong — here are five.

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1. Intern Queen

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Intern Queen is a site managed by Lauren Berger, named by Businessweek magazine as one of the Top 5 Young Entrepreneurs Under 25. Berger shares her experience from 15 internships (hence the moniker "Intern Queen") as the foundation for her advice.

You can search for internships as well as get on the Intern Queen Hot List, a bi-monthly e-mail of opportunities. The Intern Queen has a strong social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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2. YouTern

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YouTern also focuses on the internship market. Organizations are able to post internships for free and search the resume database. Individuals are able to search for opportunities by location, position, or industry. Searches can also be filtered by paid/non-paid, virtual, school credit and others.

Its internship resources page lists other relevant blogs that help individuals rate internship opportunities and educate companies on employment law related to internships.

In addition to its blog, YouTern has a robust listing of white papers providing information about college recruiting.

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3. Experience.com

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Experience.com focuses on helping people learn from the experience of others. It promotes itself as more than a traditional job board/resume bank. The site offers something for students, alumni, employers and schools. Users have the ability to create a profile, network with other students/alumni/mentors, as well as search for opportunities.

Its blog contains insights about compensation, job forecasts and skills to succeed in today's workforce.

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4. AfterCollege

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Celebrating its 10th anniversary, AfterCollege connects college students and alumni with employers via faculty and career networks at colleges and universities around the country. It promotes a network of more than 8,200 academic departments.

Faculty can create a career network for their department or student group. After signing up for an account, users are able to search for jobs or participate in network discussions. AfterCollege provides a career resources center with information about interviews and résumés, and also hosts a salary negotiation guide.

Its "In the News" page (under the About tab) has a really terrific library of articles about the employment market for college grads.

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5. Brazen Careerist

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Brazen Careerist is a career management site with several interesting tools. In addition to looking for jobs, users are able to create social résumés, build their networks and blog from the site. Brazen Careerist also recently launched a new program called Network Roulette, giving participants the chance to connect with others in a hassle-free manner.

Part of Brazen's success lies in the fact that it taps into its existing users for expertise. It posts user success stories and has a tremendous library of resources, including the e-book "What I Know About Getting a Job" co-authored with Rich DeMatteo from Corn on the Job.

These career sites are specifically tailored for entry-level job seekers. What career communities are you finding valuable?

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Digital Marketing Job Listings

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Every week we put out a list of social media and web job opportunities. While we post a huge range of job listings, we’ve selected some of the top digital marketing opportunities from the past two weeks to get you started. Happy hunting!

• Digital Marketing Manager at Stonyfield Farm, Inc. in Manchester, NH.
• Manager, Digital Marketing at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in Anaheim, CA.
• Marketing Associate at Insight Cuba by Cross-Cultural Solutions in New Rochelle, NY.
• Online Temp Marketing Manager, Audience Development at Time Inc. in New York, NY.
• Marketing Coordinator at TMG in Washington, DC.

Images courtesy of iStockphoto, wdstock

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More Related Resources from Mashable

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- 4 Digital Alternatives to the Traditional Resume
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- 19 Resources to Help You Land a Job in 2011
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- 5 Tips for Aspiring Social Media Marketers

More About: aftercollege, Brazen Careerist, experience.com, intern queen, job search, job search series, youtern

Discovr is a new music discovery app for iPad that shows connections between bands, and with a quick double tap, you can see the musicians’ videos on YouTube and a lot more.

Launched today, the $2.99 app is described as “interactive map of the world of music for iPad,” and we took it for a spin. Take a look at the video above, and you’ll see the graceful graphics showing connections of the bands that you can drag around the screen.

Discovr is like a visual version of Pandora radio, where you can read about all your favorite artists and study the relationships between them. Search for a band or artist, and you’re presented with a diagram of that band or artist depicted as a hub, with related artists connected as circular pics resembling spokes to that hub.

By double-tapping on one of the bands, you’re presented with a wealth of information about each one, including a biography, links to blog posts, places to buy the music, and a variety of YouTube videos of the band (if it’s popular enough). As you get down to third-tier bands and musicians, biographies and videos are not quite as frequent, but even so, the depth of this application is remarkable.

Staying in its diagram mode, it’s surprisingly smart, able to make connections between different hubs, and letting you continue to drill down as the bands get more and more obscure. As I continued exploring, I was able to create a huge tangled web of musicians, with the app often making connections between them that surprised me.

I tried looking up lesser-known jazz musicians, and it was interesting to see the relationships between various soloists. Who played with who? You can often find the answer, and the results were accurate.

Another nice touch is the way Discovr finds songs you have loaded on your iPad, and includes a strip of pictures of them across the bottom of the application, inviting you to start searching your favorite musicians right away.

The application crashed a couple of times when I taxed it too much, and I’m hoping the developers will get to the root of that and fix it as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, I found this to be a fascinating application that helped me understand the relationships between bands, and assisted me in finding new music according to bands that I already like. Fix the instability, and it would be an A-list app.

Find out more about Discovr here.

More About: bands, discovr, hands-on, ipad apps, music discovery, reviews, youtube

Napster founder and Facebook founding president Sean Parker lashed out at the movie The Social Network at a conference in Europe today, calling it “a complete work of fiction.”

As you can see in the video above (skip to 5:20 for this part), Parker admires the production values of the film, but objects to the way his character was portrayed. He particularly dislikes the scene where he writes a check to Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin:

"The part of the movie that frustrated me is actually the scene at the end where the character played by Justin Timberlake — who happens to have my name — basically writes a check to Eduardo – who I’m also, I consider Eduardo a friend of mine, and I’m one of the few people at Facebook who still interacts with Eduardo – and throws it in his face and has security escort him out of the building. And I mean, that’s just rude. This guy in the movie is a morally reprehensible human being.”

Parker made the remarks in an on-stage interview at the DLD Conference 2011 in Munich, which started today.

In an interview with Mashable three months ago, Zuckerberg wouldn’t say whether he liked the film or not, but thought its audience size was minuscule compared with Facebook’s: "We build products that 500 million people see… If 5 million people see a movie, it doesn't really matter that much."

[via YouTube/KiTTGTR]

More About: discussion, DLD Conference 2011, facebook, interview, quote, sean parker, the social network, trending, video

A new Apple ad touts the fact that the iPhone 4 is available on both Verizon and AT&T and shows the phones on both networks performing at the same speed.

The ad features a side-by-side comparison of two iPhones, which execute functions like web surfing, e-reading and updating Facebook statuses as Johann Strauss’ “The Blue Danube Waltz” plays. There is no narration. At the end of the ad, a line of text reads: “Two is better than one.”

At the moment, the only version of the ad on YouTube is from a fan. Apple has yet to load the ad on its YouTube Channel.

Apple’s ad follows a Verizon spot that broke last week teasing the February 10 launch of the iPhone 4 on Verizon’s network.

More About: advertising, att, iphone, verizon

Despite what much of the Internet will have you believe, some things are just worth paying for. And while the theme garden over at Tumblr is chock-full of delicious freebies that will lend some personality to your blog, portfolio, or small biz website, the premium themes are worth a look for one important reason:

They’re better.

We’ve plucked out 10 that we find exceptional.

Cart Blanche

Paper themes are a dime a dozen, though why we insist on making our digital musings look like their analog ancestors is the topic of another post entirely.

If you're in the mood for a rich vintage look, check out this theme that heaves epic negative space between your entries and crinkles the edges of all your media in ways that never get old.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Carbon

If you're all about the social medias, this theme has you covered with a really solid navigation bar that sticks around as you scroll through content.

Pair that with a rich blue and some cool metallic and stone textures, and you've got yourself one classy Tumblog.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Go Fetch

This one may be a little unnerving for those who like their content along the straight and narrow, but "Go Fetch" is worth it for the animated trinkets alone.

Check out the demo to see the delightful mouseovers. And while the layout may seem cluttered at first, it's a well organized mess that your readers will likely come to enjoy.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $19

Nautical

Ahoy, ye bloggers and other scallywags! We really can't *heart* this one enough.

Everything about this theme is charming without being cheesy. The layout is exceedingly clean, but surrounds us with nautical trinkets - from sails to sea monsters. If you've ever wanted to play out your parchment writing fantasies online, this is how you do it.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Nova

Nova uses great fonts for high-impact design. The demo may sell it short though - we'd advise less clutter (simpler images, less text) if you plan to implement this theme.

One of the coolest features is the way the dates on posts follow you as you scroll, then collide with the next date to continue that cycle. You've got to check out the demo to see it up close.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Scribble

We love a good hand-drawn aesthetic, and this one is so minimalist it hurts (in a good way).

Small color accents punch out this otherwise neutral design, and the little wrap-around tabs on the navigation and posts are pure cake.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $9

Shutterbug

Challenge: Think about this theme outside of the photography box. It almost works better if those are Polaroids of your woodworking projects, your collector's plates, or even your delicious pets/children.

Whatever type of portfolio you're aiming to build, this theme hits a modernist home run.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Snippet

Our old pals over at WooThemes have been sweet on Tumblr for a little while now. This premium offering is really stellar.

Snippet offers nice clean buffers around media posts, and offsets the line just enough to keep your content looking fresh and buzzing. Click through to the demo to get a real sense of the subdued metallic textures that make this theme shine.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $19

Sunrise

If your mom could embroider a Tumblr theme, this would be it. It's so simple and warm, we dare you not to fall in love at first sight.

If you're planning a text-heavy blog, Sunrise won't do you wrong.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Zurich

Color!

Zurich takes the "page peel" look and cleans it up with sharp edges and great contrast. Hover over each post to reveal an elegant little time stamp.

See it in action here.

Buy it here.

Price: $49

Which Tumblr theme are you enjoying right now? Whether it’s paid or free, share your picks in the comments below.

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- 33 More Entertaining 404 Error Pages
- HOW TO: Get More Out of Your Fonts
- 4 Predictions for Web Design in 2011
- 8 Tools For Easily Creating a Mobile Version of Your Website
- 20 Free Social Media Icon Sets For a More Shareable Website

More About: blog, blogging, BLOGS, design, List, Lists, themes, tumblr, tumblr themes, web design