Meet Glympse -- the latest LBSSS (Location-Based Social Sharing Service), which works on iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile devices. Uses share their location (aka a "Glympse"), which allows their friends to see that location on another phone or on any other Internet-connected device. Senders can customize who gets to see the Glympse they post, whether the recipient is just one person, a group, or even everyone they've added as a friend on a social network like Facebook or Twitter. Explains ReadWriteWeb: "The interesting twist to this service isn't the location-sharing aspect, of course -- there are dozens of …

Demand Media, a startup that mines online search engine data to generate thousands of videos and Web stories a day -- what some call a "content farm" -- has hired Goldman Sachs to explore an IPO. The company could file for an IPO as early as August, citing "people familiar with the plans." Founded by former MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt, Demand has created a system through which writers and programmers are assigned stories or projects based on a software algorithm, which determines the interest of Web visitors and calculates potential revenues from the content. To date, it's struck …

Android ad impressions increased by 72% from February to March, according to mobile ad network Millennial Media. Millennial, which claims that its mobile ad network reaches 83% of 72 million mobile Web users nationwide, reports that Android's OS was in the top three in the ranking of smartphone impressions in March. Android OS impressions share in the U.S. increased 3% in March alone, to bring the Google-developed mobile platform to a total of 6% of U.S. smartphone impressions for the month. Mobile connected devices like the iPad and Sony PSP displayed more than 20% of the ad networks' …

A full 6.8% of all the URLs accessed by businesses goes to Facebook, and 10% of Internet bandwidth goes to YouTube, according to a new report from Network Box. "The figures show that IT managers are right to be concerned about the amount of social network use at work," Simon Heron, Internet security analyst for Network Box, tells SC Magazine UK. "There are two real concerns here: firstly, that employees will be downloading applications from social networks and putting security at risk; and secondly, the amount of corporate bandwidth that appears to be being used for non-corporate activity." …

Google's latest pet project is a Cloud Print service, which will enable "any application (Web, desktop, or mobile) on any device to print to any printer." Still in the early days of development, Google made the code and documentation public as part its Chromium and Chromium OS projects. "The ideal experience is for your printer to have native support for connecting to cloud print services," the documentation explains. "Under this model, the printer has no need for a PC connection of any kind or for a print driver ... The printer is simply registered with one or more …

Missing some analysts' first-quarter earnings estimates, Google opened itself up to criticism and stern analysis going into the weekend. Bloomberg said it underscored "the rising cost of pursuing growth in new markets." Indeed, seeking to establish its presence in highly competitive fields like display advertising and mobile, the search giant increased hiring, made several acquisitions, and boosted capital spending. All told, the company's costs rose 18% -- double the increase in the fourth quarter.Making no apologies on Thursday, Patrick Pichette, Google's chief financial officer, said the company has a "growth agenda," and therefore needs to …

Social network platform provider Ning is doing away with its free product, and, in turn, "forcing existing free networks to either make the change to premium accounts or migrate their networks elsewhere." What's more, Jason Rosenthal -- who only last month replaced Gina Bianchini as CEO -- says the company has to cut nearly 70 employees -- or more than 40% of its staff. "Our Premium Ning Networks like Friends or Enemies, Linkin Park, Shred or Die, Pickens Plan, and tens of thousands of others both drive 75% of our monthly U.S. traffic, and those Network Creators need …

Even without Twitter's grand monetization model, the platform is lining the pockets of popular Tweeters. Indie rock band Hypnogaja, for instance, just parlayed its 1.2 million Twitter followers into $3,500 by plugging two aspiring musical acts, Daughtry and Boys Like Girls. Hypnogaja's keyboardist Mark Nubar Donikian "is one of a growing number of entrepreneurs cashing in on their Twitter popularity." But they're not doing it entirely on their own. Rather, "they got the cash from Beverly Hills Ad.ly, a business that solicits Twitter promotions." Ad.ly is part of a new breed of "brokerage firms" that have emerged to …

Foursquare is getting a new chief product officer in Alex Rainert, who -- along with Foursquare founder and CEO Dennis Crowley -- co-founded Dodgeball back in 2000. Google bought Dodgeball -- which let users share their location with friends via text message -- in mid-2005, before shutting it down in early 2009. "We've got a bunch (a ton?) of things we want to do, some of which you'll see pretty soon," Rainert wrote on blog regarding his appointment. Top VC firms are reportedly scrapping for a piece of Foursquare, which they're now valuating at $100 million. Meanwhile, Kevin …

Platforms like the iPhone and Twitter are becoming control freaks, says Digital Beat, and it knows why. "It looks like the platforms are eager to take over what appear to be lucrative business opportunities ... developers helped to build." "It may be that wresting back control from the [developer] stakeholders is imperative if a platform is to grow." In other words, "companies are recognizing that while the open nature of the Web has been a great contributor to their growth, they need to erect entry barriers one way or the other to limit competition if they want to sustain …