Jason Abbruzzese says, “Twitter bounced back from a rough start to 2014 with a second-quarter earnings report that showed a surprise profit and user growth that beat expectations. Second-quarter earnings of $312 million in revenues and a profit of $0.02 per share beat analysts’ expectations, which forecast revenue of $283 million and a loss of $0.01 per share. Most companies would be pleased with an unexpected profit, but growth in monthly active users, which hit 271 million, proved to be the real headline. Investors had grown cautious that Twitter’s slowing growth limited the company’s... [...]

Nikhil Sonnad says, “If you mostly read English or other Romance or Germanic languages, you’ve been spoiled for choice with digital fonts. The Latin alphabet has long been the subject of intense typographical exploration, with thousands of fonts available in more styles and weights than most non-designers would ever think necessary. Readers of non-Latin scripts — like Chinese, Hindi or Hebrew — have never enjoyed such diversity. Now the globalization of fonts is erasing this disparity. Type design and delivery might seem esoteric, but the flattening world of type actually speaks... [...]

Todd Wasserman says, “Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos famously picked the $9.99 price for e-books out of “thin air.” But in a blog post published Tuesday, the company offered some numeric justification for the figure. The $14.99 and $19.99 prices for e-books is “unjustifiably high” since “there’s no printing, no over-printing, no need to forecast, no returns, no lost sales due to out-of-stock, no warehousing costs, no transportation costs, and there is no secondary market — e-books cannot be resold as used books. E-books can be and should be less expensive,”... [...]

Tessa Wegert says, “Twitter users: Have you noticed a trend? Has anything about the way companies are tweeting these days caught your eye? It seems that brands are doing a Twitter marketing about-face. In other words, brand communications on Twitter are looking up. We’ve seen a huge shift in the way brands have embraced and employed Twitter in recent years. Four years ago, just 10% of all tweets came from brands. In 2012, when Twitter had500 million registered users, major brands were buying in, but the learning curve was steep and they made mistakes, particularly with regard to customer... [...]

Jason Abbruzzese says, “Amazon is known for quick delivery, but for investors waiting for a profit, it’s been a long haul. They are starting to get impatient. The ecommerce giant posted revenue of $19.3 billion in the second quarter of 2014 but lost $126 million, or $0.27 per share. Analysts had expected the $19.3 billion of income but projected a far smaller loss of $0.15 per share. Amazon shares moved 10% lower in after-hours trading following the reports, extending the company’s downturn”. Amazon Investors Are Starting to Get Impatient Mashable  [...]

Christina Warren says, “As previously rumored, Google is reportedly going to acquire Twitch for $1 billion. The newest report comes from Dean Takahashi at GamesBeat, citing “sources familiar with the matter.” Although the terms of the deal — and the timing of the announcement aren’t known, Takahashi says the deal is a lock. YouTube will reportedly take control of the acquisition and Twitch will be used to expand YouTube’s global video dominance into the growing segment of users who broadcast — or watch broadcasts — played other users playing video games”. Google’s... [...]

Kurt Wagner says, “Facebook has earned a reputation for delivering the goods on earnings day, and Wednesday was no exception. The social giant reported record totals for revenue, profits and user figures across the board on Wednesday, beating Wall Street estimates on a day when company stock rose nearly 3%. The new numbers show that despite more than 1.3 billion users, Facebook is still growing at a steady rate. The company added more than 40 million monthly active users in Q2, and mobile monthly actives increased more than 30% over the past year”. 7 Charts With All You Need to Know... [...]

Seth Fiegerman says, “Facebook revenue surged to nearly $3 billion in the June quarter on the strength of its ad sales, handily beating Wall Street estimates. Facebook reported earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $2.91 billion for the June quarter, compared to the consensus estimate among analysts for earnings of $0.32 per share on revenue of $2.81 billion. Revenue for the quarter was up more than 60% from the same quarter a year ago thanks largely to strong growth in ad sales. Total ad revenue for the quarter hit $2.68 billion, a 67% increase year-over-year. Mobile ads, once thought... [...]

Kurt Wagner says, “With sights set on its 40 million users — many of whom are teenagers — advertisers are getting crafty in their efforts to break into ad-free Vine. The six-second video platform, which is owned by Twitter, is one of the largest social networks that doesn’t yet run paid advertisements. Marketers can’t sponsor or promote videos the way they do on Twitter and Facebook (a sponsored post is clearly marked and shows up in front of people it wouldn’t otherwise surface for). But that doesn’t mean they’re sitting idly by”. Stealth Marketing:... [...]

Todd Wasserman says, “LinkedIn on Tuesday announced it is buying Bizo, a B2B marketing firm, for about $175 million. The transaction is a combination of 10% stock and 90% cash. It is expected to close in the third quarter. Formed in 2008, Bizo provides software and services that let B2B customers reach their target audiences online within professional segments. The platform also lets marketers adjust their messaging as the target customer moves through the purchase funnel. Some 120 million professionals use Bizo’s platform”. LinkedIn Buys B2B Marketing Firm Bizo for $175 Million Mashable  [...]