Facebook has Whopper of a problem with Burger King campaign

While Burger King Corp. execs might have thought they were being pretty funny by offering Facebook users free hamburgers if they each deleted 10 online friends, Facebook Inc. wasn't getting the joke.

A Burger King spokeswoman today told Computerworld that Facebook took exception to the Whopper Sacrifice campaign and after days of negotiations, the fast food chain halted it. On the Whopper Sacrifice site, Burger King now says simply: "Facebook has disabled the Whopper Sacrifice after your love for the Whopper sandwich proved to be stronger than 233,906 friendships."

"Basically, the Facebook team felt the application went against what

they stand for -- connecting people," said the spokesperson. "Facebook suggested changes to the application, such as not alerting people that they'd been sacrificed. They wanted that part disabled."

The spokeswoman said Burger King decided to kill the campaign rather than make Facebook's requested changes. She called the matter a "philosophical difference."

In a statement, Facebook said, "After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application."

Since Burger King launched the application last week, about 60,000 people used it to delete their online friends, she added.

Burger King, which last year released the BK Polarizer widget that gauged people's political views, was trying to ride Facebook's popularity wave to connect with its primary customers -- 18-to-34-year-olds who chow down on fast food burgers.

What better way to play with the notion of what really is an online friend than to judge his worth compared to ... a hamburger? And Burger King showed no mercy, though some good humor, by having the application send a message to the deleted friend to tell him that this person valued a Whopper more than their friendship. The app also acted as a counter, reminding the user how many more friends need to be evicted before they get that free Whopper.

On the Whopper Sacrifice site Thursday, Burger King was offering people the use of what they call an Angry-Gram, which sends people animated angry, screaming Whoppers. The site notes that Angry-Grams "are intended to be humorous and should not be used with an intent to harass."

 

Source : http://www.computerworld.com/

Blogging About the Ailing Steve Jobs

Little happens at Apple (AAPL) that isn't examined and dissected by the blogosphere in exacting and sometimes overwrought detail. After all, this is an online community that gorged itself on a blog written by the "Fake Steve Jobs."

So it's not surprising that as soon as Apple announced on Jan. 14 that CEO Steve Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence through June, speculation about Jobs' condition and the future of the company began appearing—from screeds against the company for allegedly not being up-front about the seriousness of Jobs' health to speculation that Jobs has had a recurrence of cancer and is dying.

On Wired.com's Gadget Lab, Brian X. Chen cites analysts who think Jobs is more seriously ill than the company is letting on: "The contradictory statements from Apple and Jobs are leading some to speculate that Jobs' latest missive is the first step in a phased goodbye. 'My bet is he's not coming back,' said Roger Kay, an Endpoint Technologies analyst. Despite all the protestations, I think he has cancer. They talk about digestive this and digestive that, but…forget all the buzz you're hearing. Just look at the photos."

Elegiac Entries

Many of the blogs are taking a valedictory tone, as if it's a foregone conclusion that Jobs won't be back to work in five and a half months—or at all. One commenter even posted the text of the Dylan Thomas poem arguing against accepting death, Do not go gentle into that good night.

"To call what Apple co-founder Steven Paul Jobs hath wrought a religion, of course, is easy," suggests Brian Caulfield on Forbes.com. "There are the adoring masses. There are the rituals of new product introductions. There are the signs and symbols: The famous Wired cover bearing an Apple logo enmeshed in thorns above the exhortation 'Pray' comes to mind."

The idea of mortality isn't something new in the world of Steve Jobs, of course. He famously ruminated on death, and his cancer diagnosis, in a widely republished graduation speech he gave at Stanford University in 2005.

Who Could Replace Jobs as CEO?

Leander Kahney, author of Inside Steve's Brain, says that Jobs often mentioned in articles that death was "the driving force in his life. Over and over Jobs said he was driven to make an impact before his time ran out. It was such a recurrent theme, I thought of devoting an entire chapter to the subject in the book. Jobs had an obsession with death to rival Emily Dickinson's."

On Silicon Alley Insider, Dan Frommer raises the question, what if Jobs doesn't come back? "Will Apple have wasted five months in purgatory—potentially losing time and direction under temporary leadership? Perhaps in any other company's case. But probably not in Apple's. We strongly believe that when Apple names a new chief, it'll be someone who's already a top Apple executive, not an outside candidate. Potential CEOs include Tim Cook, iPhone software head Scott Forstall, retail boss Ron Johnson, or industrial design guru Jonathan Ive."

Unsurprising, the ghoulish speculation over Jobs' health is inspiring a backlash. The Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher says "the never-ending obsessive death watch that has centered on Apple CEO Steve Jobs" makes the "skin crawl."

And New York Times tech writer David Pogue says this about Jobs: "I really, really hope that there's light at the end of this tunnel for Mr. Jobs. Because even the most unhinged of Apple bashers will have to admit that the world is a lot more exciting place when Apple is firing on all creative cylinders. And that means having Steve Jobs at the helm."

 

Source : http://www.businessweek.com/technology

Profitable Google cuts back as ad growth slows

Google Inc. has long had the reputation of a big spender with its free employee meals, seemingly limitless hiring and an ever-growing portfolio of products.

But with the economy tanking, the Mountain View search engine is slowly scaling back its largesse.

The latest examples came Wednesday, when Google disclosed plans to lay off 100 recruiters. Additionally, the company said it would shutter or stop development of several minor products including a search engine for catalogues and Dodgeball, a social networking service for mobile phones.

"For most of the company's history, they have given their developers and staff a lot of leeway with pet projects and generating new ideas," said Richard Fetyko, an analyst with Merriman Curhan Ford. "Now they're getting to the point where they have to tighten up a bit."

Google's cuts coincide with slowing growth in online advertising, a consequence of a souring economy. Although Google executives have said that search advertising is more resistant to the recession than other kinds of marketing, they acknowledge that their business is not immune.

As a result of the downturn, analysts have revised their forecasts for Google's growth. Instead of revenue increasing 30 percent in 2009, they now expect it to rise 14 percent.

Google will report fourth quarter results on Jan. 22.

As part of its austerity plan, Google cut a significant but undisclosed number of contractors in December. It has also reduced the hours of some cafeterias, slowed hiring and clamped down on travel expenses.

Google has become more aggressive in cutting products that failed to catch on or are redundant. Many analysts have likened the company's strategy to throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but until recently, no one bothered to sweep up what fell to the floor.

In November, Google shut down SearchMash, an experimental search engine, followed a month later by Lively, a virtual world that allowed users to create 3-D characters. This week's announcements significantly expanded the list of product cutbacks.

In addition to closing catalog search and Dodgeball, Google said it will stop allowing users to post new clips to Google Video. Development of Google Notebook, for note taking; and microblogging service Jaiku will end.

"Occasionally we have to re-evaluate our efforts and make difficult decisions to be sure we focus on products that make the most sense for our users," said Matt Furman, a Google spokesman.

Relatively little money will be saved from the product housecleaning. But the effort will free up some engineers and other resources.

Google still relies on advertising for 97 percent of its revenue, the vast majority from search engine ads, according to analysts. Initiatives to expand into radio and television and online video advertising remain only minor contributors.

Despite the austerity, Google remains a highly profitable company. During the last three months of 2008, it earned $3.8 billion, setting it apart from the many other companies that are struggling.

Still, Google's stock has tumbled 60 percent from its peak 14 months ago to close Thursday at $298.99.

In recent years, Google's hiring machine has been on overdrive adding new workers, usually hundreds every quarter. But with a workforce of just over 20,000 last year, and the economy in turmoil, executives have recently slowed hiring.

Google cut 100 recruiters, a quarter of its recruiting staff, for that reason. Other than job cuts after acquisitions, analysts couldn't recall another example of Google implementing mass layoffs.

In addition to the job cuts, Google has been consolidating engineering offices, including most recently Austin, Texas; Trondheim, Norway; and Lulea, Sweden. Rather than saving money, executives have said the goal is to create a more effective work environment and that those affected will be offered jobs elsewhere within the company.

 

Source : http://www.sfgate.com/