The Briefing by Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

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The Briefing

By Martin Peers, Jessica Lessin and the team at The Information

Get smarter about the day’s news in tech, media and finance by following Silicon Valley’s most-read executive newsletter.

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Recent Editions

For Google, No Silver Bullet on Payments

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 18, 2014 1:21pm PDT

Is it time for Google to pay up for payments? For years, we’ve been watching the Internet giant experiment with technology for people to pay online and in physical stores. The latter is through its mobile service Google Wallet. Google isn’t interested so much in payments as revenue stream, people who have worked on those efforts have... Is it time for Google to pay up for payments? For years, we’ve been watching the Internet...

The Information’s Latest Free Agents

By Amir Efrati · Apr 18, 2014 8:15am PDT

The third installment of our Free Agents series, which highlights notable people who are between full-time roles, features an exceptionally diverse group: the man who brought advertising to Apple; a CFO who recently left a troubled Fortune 100 tech company; an HR specialist who is surprisingly candid about her profession; and one of the rare... The third installment of our Free Agents series, which highlights notable people who are between...

Zoosk co-founder Alex Mehr. Illustration by Matthew Vascellaro

New Wave of Dating Sites Get a Market Test

By Eric Newcomer · Apr 17, 2014 11:04am PDT

When the online dating site Zoosk filed to go public on Wednesday, its competitors perked up: The IPO could validate an industry sector where there’s a lot of activity but limited investor interest. “You see a lot of hesitation among investors, and it’s because they haven’t seen a lot of validations about how big an... When the online dating site Zoosk filed to go public on Wednesday, its competitors perked up: The...

Peter Thiel. Photo by Reuters/ Yuri Gripas.

Palantir Faces Challenges on Revenue Growth

By Katie Benner · Apr 17, 2014 9:00am PDT

Peter Thiel. Photo by Reuters/ Yuri Gripas.

Palantir Faces Challenges on Revenue Growth

By Katie Benner · Apr 17, 2014 9:00am PDT

Palantir, the much-hyped data analytics company co-founded by investor Peter Thiel, has raised more than $800 million and was valued at about $9 billion in a recent funding round, making it one of the highest-priced venture-backed companies in the world. But those big numbers, while lending prestige, can also be a burden: Palantir needs to show... Palantir, the much-hyped data analytics company co-founded by investor Peter Thiel, has raised...

Oscar Salazar. Illustration by Matthew Vascellaro.

Q&A

Oscar Salazar: Tech and Government Need to Get Along

By Katie Benner · Apr 16, 2014 3:56pm PDT

When it comes to public policy and social action, tech entrepreneurs these days are often stereotyped as Ayn Rand devotees who ignore laws and regulations in the name of efficiency. Or they're dismissed as political naifs who believe that “liking” the Facebook pages of local charities is effective volunteerism. Against... When it comes to public policy and social action, tech entrepreneurs these days are often...

By Matt Vascellaro · Apr 16, 2014 12:16pm PDT

Photo by Reuters/ Carlos Allegri

Hollywood Questions Hulu as Video Landscape Shifts

By Tom Dotan · Apr 16, 2014 10:10am PDT

When the owners of the online video site Hulu pulled the company off the auction block for the second time last summer, they agreed to inject $750 million into the company to help it compete with big-spenders like Netflix and Amazon in the increasingly cutthroat online video business. A big priority was creating original programming, with some... When the owners of the online video site Hulu pulled the company off the auction block for the...

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Credit: USV/ Flickr.

Freewheeling Reddit Grapples with Ads

By Eric Newcomer · Apr 15, 2014 3:27pm PDT

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Credit: USV/ Flickr.

Freewheeling Reddit Grapples with Ads

By Eric Newcomer · Apr 15, 2014 3:27pm PDT

It’s not easy being the front page of the Internet. Just ask Reddit. The news aggregator and Internet community has attained surprising fame lately as the go-to place to taste the zeitgeist of cyberspace. Its exceptionally loyal community and massive reach—5.3 billion pageviews last month—has attracted first-tier celebrities... It’s not easy being the front page of the Internet. Just ask Reddit. The news aggregator...

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo at the NY Stock Exchange. Photo by Reuters/ Lucas Jackson.

Earnings Loom Large as Internet Stocks Teeter

By Katie Benner · Apr 15, 2014 7:32am PDT

The swift slide of high-flying growth stocks has technology investors and executives paying especially close attention to earnings season—and especially the results of a few bellwether companies—as they search for any signals about market direction. Quarterly earnings reports often spark a strong market reaction only when financial... The swift slide of high-flying growth stocks has technology investors and executives paying...

Matthew Vascellaro

Why Google and the Music Industry Want a YouTube Hit

By Amir Efrati · Apr 14, 2014 8:22am PDT

A forthcoming YouTube music service could be a turning point in the fraught relationship between Google and the major record labels over how consumers get access to digital music and how music creators get paid. The new subscription service, expected to be launched later this quarter, is designed to offer record companies a way to generate more... A forthcoming YouTube music service could be a turning point in the fraught relationship between...

Drew Houston and Jessica Lessin at The Information's event in N.Y. Photo by Katie Benner.

The Information Events

Interview: Drew Houston Sketches the Future of Dropbox

By Jessica E. Lessin · Apr 11, 2014 3:04pm PDT

Greetings from New York, where I interviewed Dropbox CEO Drew Houston in front of a gang of 50 awesome Information subscribers. It’s been a big week, month and year for the 31-year-old Houston. On Wednesday, the nearly 700-person company launched several new products, including a new photo app, Carousel, and ways to collaborate on Microsoft... Greetings from New York, where I interviewed Dropbox CEO Drew Houston in front of a gang of 50...

Matthew Vascellaro

Open Source Developers to Industry: Help!

By Pius Uzamere and Eric Newcomer · Apr 11, 2014 7:42am PDT

Matthew Vascellaro

Open Source Developers to Industry: Help!

By Pius Uzamere and Eric Newcomer · Apr 11, 2014 7:42am PDT

Technology companies are neglecting some basic steps they could take to prevent problems like the recent Heartbleed bug, according to open source software developers. In particular, they need to provide more financial support and technical help for open source software that’s central to the Internet’s infrastructure, developers say.... Technology companies are neglecting some basic steps they could take to prevent problems like the...

Matthew Vascellaro

When the Crowd Bets on Hollywood

By Tom Dotan · Apr 10, 2014 1:10pm PDT

The world of crowdfunding had a big moment last month when Facebook purchased the Kickstarter-backed Oculus Rift for $2 billion. But hardware projects were nowhere on the horizon when Indiegogo, the first big crowdfunding platform, launched at Sundance in 2008. The focus then, and still one of the big goals now, is transforming the way... The world of crowdfunding had a big moment last month when Facebook purchased the...

Matthew Vascellaro

Biotech IPOs Begin to Show Cracks

By Katie Benner · Apr 10, 2014 7:28am PDT

Despite recent declines in high-flying growth stocks, bankers remain uniformly optimistic that the IPO window will be open for many quarters to come. But one important bellwether—the biotech sector—suggests that investor appetite for the riskiest startup companies may indeed be starting to wane. Certainly 2014 so far has been a great... Despite recent declines in high-flying growth stocks, bankers remain uniformly optimistic that...

Matthew Vascellaro

Amazon Ad Business Sparks Controversy—and Growth

By Tom Dotan · Apr 9, 2014 3:57pm PDT

There aren’t many companies that can claim to have a special competitive advantage over Google, Facebook, Yahoo and others in the cut-throat online advertising business. But Amazon.com, armed with unique customer data, a growing array of media-centric businesses, and a fledgling but fast-growing advertising platform, may be that rare... There aren’t many companies that can claim to have a special competitive advantage over...

Bug Shows Deep Problems in Industry Approach on Security

By Amir Efrati and Katie Benner · Apr 9, 2014 11:46am PDT

Bug Shows Deep Problems in Industry Approach on Security

By Amir Efrati and Katie Benner · Apr 9, 2014 11:46am PDT

A single programmer, supported by a few part-time volunteers, is responsible for managing the widely used OpenSSL encryption technology that was recently found to have a major security hole in it—a shocking illustration of the Internet industry’s heavy reliance on poorly funded, open-source Web technology. The discovery of the... A single programmer, supported by a few part-time volunteers, is responsible for managing the...

By Matt Vascellaro · Apr 8, 2014 1:45pm PDT

Matthew Vascellaro

Comcast Quietly Preps Challenge to Wireless Carriers

By Amir Efrati · Apr 8, 2014 7:22am PDT

Google isn’t the only technology giant thinking of offering new mobile phone plans to unseat wireless giants. The country’s largest cable operator, Comcast, is laying the groundwork for Wi-Fi-based wireless services just a few years after it abandoned plans to launch conventional mobile phone services over cellular airwaves.... Google isn’t the only technology giant thinking of offering new mobile phone plans to...

Photo by Reuters/ NASA

Google Eyeing Satellite, Drone Firms

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Apr 7, 2014 2:46pm PDT

Google is looking to the skies. The search giant has been in early talks to buy Skybox Imaging, one of several startups launching small satellites to sell high-resolution imagery to businesses, according to three people familiar with the talks. Google in recent weeks also expressed interest in drone company Titan Aerospace, according to people... Google is looking to the skies. The search giant has been in early talks to buy Skybox Imaging,...

Credit: Matt Vascellaro

Facebook Courts Developers with New Approach to Platform

By Eric Newcomer · Apr 7, 2014 8:37am PDT

Credit: Matt Vascellaro

Facebook Courts Developers with New Approach to Platform

By Eric Newcomer · Apr 7, 2014 8:37am PDT

When Facebook convenes its first developer conference in three years later this month, the social networking giant will be aiming to draw software makers closer to its booming mobile business—and convince them that it has learned from its often-troubled efforts to serve as a platform for third-party developers. Facebook’s new... When Facebook convenes its first developer conference in three years later this month, the social...