Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sits down with TechCrunch and reveals that the social networking giant is looking for more funding in the $15 billion valuation range, a price that was set when Microsoft purchased a 1.6% stake in the company for $240 million in the Fall of 2007. "We're not actively going around trying to raise money from a lot of different people. It's more just a follow on to that (previous round)," Zuckerberg said. However, the Silicon Alley Insider notes that Facebook had to recently cancel an employee stock sale program because it couldn't find buyers for …

Kara Swisher has the sad news that Yahoo this Wednesday will execute the layoffs that the company announced during its last earnings call on Oct. 21. The current number is 1,500, although sources tell Swisher that the eventual numbers could total 2,000 when all is said and done. "Things have changed since these layoffs were announced," said one source close to the situation. "But those additional cuts might not come Wednesday, but through attrition and a hiring freeze first." The layoffs are mostly across the board, but general, human resources and finance are expected to take the biggest hits. Sources …

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and new Online Services President Qi Lu discussed their plan for making Microsoft a more competitive force in online advertising. Lu admits it will take considerable resources to mount an effective charge against Google, the Internet advertising leader, but he says "the level of commitment (Microsoft is) investing" is one of the main reasons he decided to take the job in the first place. "They're investing resources, they're investing in our ability to distribute a product, investing in things that we can do to ensure we have at …

For years, advertising industry experts have been saying that video games would one day emerge as a major ad medium. In a new report, Reuters notes that not only is that day yet to come, but it may still be far off. Executives speaking at the Reuters Media Summit last week noted that while the tough economy will force advertisers to seek out new ways to reach consumers, video game spending is unlikely to amount to more than "a blip" in the $150 billion American advertising industry. "In the next six to 12 months as we go through this economic …

"Brands in general have found Facebook unforgiving terrain for marketing," Adweek's Brain Morrissey claims. Banner ads, in particular, have been known to perform poorly on the social networking site, but the Facebook Platform, which lets third-party developers create applications for users, was supposed to change all that, offering marketers the ability to engage consumers with their brands. However, so far, apps from Coca-Cola, Champion, Ford and Microsoft are about as popular "as desolate Second Life islands," Morrissey says. Nevertheless, Mike Murphy, Facebook's VP of global sales, defends the tactic: "We find that if a brand builds an application as their …

Consumers love to complain about advertising, but according to a new study, as much as they hate ads, they hate the idea of paying for content even more. According to Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors for Frank N. Magid Associates, only 2.4% of those surveyed said they would definitely be willing to pay around $4 per month ($39.99 per year) for access to an ad-free version of one of their favorite sites. Another 1.9% said they'd be willing to pay less than $3 per month (or $29.99 per year). Meanwhile, a whopping 84% of people said they'd …

When times were better, American automakers were known to be early adopters of new digital marketing techniques to promote their vehicles. Now, with the U.S. Big Three in turmoil, executives at Ford, Chrysler and General Motors are now turning to the Web to lobby for billions of dollars in federal aid. The Wall Street Journal reports that the American automakers have launched a series of campaigns on sites like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and various blogs to make their case for a bailout. "The automakers in general have gotten a black eye in the media, and we didn't feel like …