Danny Sullivan

Stonehenge drive-by today on way to friends I’m staying...

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:29:29 -0400

Stonehenge drive-by today on way to friends I’m staying with in our old village nearby. People come from all over to see Stonehenge, and this shows you how most locals see it, if they bother to look. I used to drive by it all the time. Usually, I looked :) (Taken with instagram)

Walt Disney Concert Hall (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:38:31 -0400

Walt Disney Concert Hall (Taken with instagram)

HL-10 Lifting Body, but I always think of it as the Steve Austin...

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:35 -0400

HL-10 Lifting Body, but I always think of it as the Steve Austin plane :) #nasasocial (Taken with instagram)

"Kid who took my son’s phone got rude surprise when I used Find My iPhone to track it to his..."

Thu, 03 May 2012 17:37:17 -0400

“Kid who took my son’s phone got rude surprise when I used Find My iPhone to track it to his classroom & make it ring. Tech is nice when it works.”

- Stole My Son’s Phone? We’ll See About That….

Coldplay. It’s pretty (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:10:04 -0400

Coldplay. It’s pretty (Taken with instagram)

End of day, end of week. Yea! (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:28:41 -0400

End of day, end of week. Yea! (Taken with instagram)

We call this the Google boat, but they’re just a sponsor....

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:23:43 -0400

We call this the Google boat, but they’re just a sponsor. It’s a tender to the Virgin Oceanic submarine. Which is never around. (Taken with instagram)

"Amazon’s not killing bookstores for me. The advance of technology is doing it, just like it..."

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:22:06 -0400

“Amazon’s not killing bookstores for me. The advance of technology is doing it, just like it killed the corner record store, the telegraph shop, and horse troughs on the sidewalk.”

- Of e-book pricing, Justice Dept. charges, DRM, and Pottermore

Google's Non-Split Stock Split

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:04:24 -0400

parislemon:

The key aspect of Google’s earnings yesterday was the don’t-call-it-a-stock-split stock split. I say “don’t-call-it-a-stock-split” because it technically wasn’t one, but it was effectively one. There will now be double the number of Google shares outstanding. It’s just that the shares won’t all be equal. Half of them will be of a different type of class, which is important when it comes to company governance. Those shares will carry no voting power.

I’m not going to pretend to understand all of the intricacies here. But I think Felix Salmon has the most interesting take on the news. He flat-out calls the maneuver evil.

He notes that for much of the 20th century, dual-class voting shares were illegal. And even when they came back in 1986, the idea was to have protections in place. The majority of independent shareholders (so, non-management and non-directors) were supposed to approve such a move.

But Google didn’t see to that. Instead, they appointed a small committee of independent directors (so, just those that don’t actually work at Google) to make the call on the proposal. And because that committee approved it, it will now go before all the shareholders for a vote in June. And, notably, that vote will include Google’s management.

Read More

"Those people deserve to be counted, to know their population, not to be ‘layerized’ simply because..."

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:54:20 -0400

“Those people deserve to be counted, to know their population, not to be ‘layerized’ simply because Google seems ashamed the numbers aren’t as big as Facebook’s. Google should be proud of those people and what it has accomplished, and giving real figures would show that pride.”

- Danny Sullivan, If Google’s Really Proud Of Google+, It Should Share Some Real User Figures (via marketingland)

searchengineland: Google Grows Revenues 24% From Last Year,...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:52:57 -0400

searchengineland:

Google Grows Revenues 24% From Last Year, Plans New Class Of Stock

Google’s revenues rose to $10.65 billion in the first quarter of 2012, resulting in net income of $2.89 billion, or $8.75 per share, the company announced after market close today. The revenue number represents a 24% increase over the year-ago period. Additionally, the board of directors proposed the creation of a new class of non-voting shares — to be distributed as a dividend to all current shareholders — effectively resulting in an two for one stock split.

“We had a very strong quarter,” said CEO Larry Page on a conference call with press and analysts, “Since becoming CEO again, I have pushed hard to focus on the big bets.”

Page described the creation of a new class of stock as enabling the founders to keep corporate decision-making amongst a small group, allowing the company to continue to take a longer-term view on the business. Though Page and Sergey Brin, in a 2012 founders’ letter, say they know some won’t be happy about the decision, “…after careful consideration with our board of directors, we have decided that maintaining this founder-led approach is in the best interests of Google, our shareholders and our users. Having the flexibility to use stock without diluting our structure will help ensure we are set up for success for decades to come.”

The decision begs speculation about what Google may be planning to do with its stock — acquisitions, perhaps? — that it wants to do without granting voting rights. But, in the letter, the founders address this, saying: “we don’t have an unusually big acquisition planned, in case you were wondering.”

Balboa Pavillion (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:30:37 -0400

Balboa Pavillion (Taken with instagram)

Ship ahoy! (Taken with instagram)

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:48:46 -0400

Ship ahoy! (Taken with instagram)

textsfromhillaryclinton: Source: Joey deVilla/Global...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:29:26 -0400

textsfromhillaryclinton:

Source: Joey deVilla/Global Nerdy

Original image by Diana Walker for Time.

SoCal Edison electric plant conveniently placed along Huntington...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:44:01 -0400

SoCal Edison electric plant conveniently placed along Huntington Beach. It does make a good landmark for the surfers offshore to know their drift. (Taken with instagram)

Once a water tower, now a Sunset Beach rental location :) (Taken...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:36:00 -0400

Once a water tower, now a Sunset Beach rental location :) (Taken with instagram)

International Tower (AKA the George Jetson building) & Villa...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:15:30 -0400

International Tower (AKA the George Jetson building) & Villa Riviera, modern & gothic side-by-side in Long Beach. I love these buildings. (Taken with Instagram at Long Beach Bike Path)

Tires in Long Beach in preparation for grand prix. I think they...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:15:27 -0400

Tires in Long Beach in preparation for grand prix. I think they look a billion dollars :) (Taken with instagram)

"What I really want is, if my TV is going to be smart on my behalf, at the very least it..."

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:37:43 -0400

“What I really want is, if my TV is going to be smart on my behalf, at the very least it shouldn’t talk down to me about what it’s doing, so I can figure out how to tell it to stop doing things I don’t like.”

- The Soap Opera Effect: When your TV tries to be smarter than you

Sunsetish :) And yeah, Instagramed (Taken with instagram)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:32:06 -0400

Sunsetish :) And yeah, Instagramed (Taken with instagram)