Determined to hold onto top talent, Google just gave a staff engineer $3.5 million in restricted stock to stay with the company. According to TechCrunch, Google made the "jaw dropping" offer - which the engineer reportedly accepted -- in response to some serious wooing by Facebook. By its own admission, Google is having a tough time holding onto talented employees. Its chief financial officer, Patrick Pichette, recently called the market for recruiting "exceptionally competitive" during a third-quarter earnings call. To keep the troops happy, word recently got out that Google plans to give its entire workforce a …

Having successfully revolutionized online communication, Facebook reportedly wants a piece of that enduring, pre-revolution messaging channel -- email. On Monday, the social network is expected to unveil a full-fledged web-based email client, along with personal @facebook.com email addresses for users. And, as most industry watchers agree, such a development has Facebook-sized implications. "Referred to as 'Project Titan' among Facebook employees, the email revamp could address criticism about deficiencies in the existing Messages product such as lack of easy forwarding, mass 'mark as read,' and attachment uploading," suggests Inside Facebook. …

Under the auspices of a 7-month-old venture called The Upshot, Yahoo is expected to debut three news blogs on Monday. According to CNN, each blog will take their own names: The Ticket for politics; The Lookout for national affairs; and The Cutline for media industry coverage. "There's a lot of noise on the Web, but Yahoo says it has unique attributes that will help it stand out," according to CNN. "In addition to a strong team that includes veterans of the Washington Post, Politico and Gawker Media, the 15-year-old Sunnyvale, California, internet company outfits its journalists with …

By the end of the third quarter, the number of Netflix subscribers who had sampled streaming online video grew from 40% to 66% year-over-year. But, what does that equate to in terms of revenue? No one knows, because Netflix doesn't differentiate (at least publically) between digital and physical movie rentals. Overall, according to research firm Screen Digest, Netflix revenues for 2010 will be $2.2 billion, projects -- "roughly equal to the amount the entire U.S. retail rental business will muster for the year," paidContent notes. Netflix's snail-mail business will account for 35% of disc-rental spending in the …

The online party planning space just became a bit less crowded as Punchbowl plans to Socializr for an undisclosed sum. Previously known as MyPunchbowl, Punchbowl offers a range of features, including gift registries, potluck planners, and a new "Digital Invitation Studio." The Framingham, Mass. company claims over 1 million registered users. Per the deal, "The best features from Socializr will be included in Punchbowl in the future," Punchbowl chief executive Matt Douglas tells SocialBeat. "Our plan is to carefully transition users from Socializr to Punchbowl over the next three-to-six months." Arguably, Socializr's best feature is its social …

In September, 24% of all online display ads in the U.S. appeared on Facebook, according to comScore. That's "more than twice as many as any other publisher," notes The Wall Street Journal. "Yet Facebook is far from capturing a quarter of the wallets of major marketers." Presently, Facebook accounts for 9.5% of the spending on display ads in the U.S., according to eMarketer. Why the large discrepancy? "Some marketers continue to question whether consumers pay attention to ads on social-networking sites, and wonder how effective they are in getting people to, say, buy cars." Says Shiv Singh, …

Along with mobile, social and local, mobile photo sharing has reportedly caught the attention of inquiring investors and acquiring tech giants. "A flurry of new start-ups is focused on mobile photo-sharing, some of which plan to make money from local advertising," according to The New York Times. Apps to watch include Instagram, Hipstamatic, DailyBooth and PicPlz. In particular, PicPiz maker Mixed Media Labs, the company that makes PicPlz is expected to announce having raised $5 million from Andreessen Horowitz, today. PicPlz offers an Android and iPhone app and a Web site where others can view …

Just over one third of the 100 top-grossing iPhone apps are now using a freemium model, GigaOm reports. In other words, the apps are free to download and use, "but make their money through in-app purchases of mostly virtual currencies as well as other premium features." Remco van den Elzen, co-founder of analytics firm Distimo, tells the tech blog that in-app purchases now represent about 30% of all iPhone App Store revenue. "We're seeing more developers implement more in app-purchases especially with games," he said. "Freemium Apps are also picking up significantly. A lot of developers realize …

This could be very interesting. Twitter plans to link its micro-blogging service with Apple's new music-centric social network Ping. Per the deal, Twitter users can now connect their accounts to Ping, allowing them to put song previews and links to buy music from the iTunes store directly in their messages, Reuters reports. Announced in September, Ping works within Apple's iTunes music program, and lets users follow artists and recommend songs to their chosen circle of friends. According to Reuters, "Twitter's deal comes after Apple failed to strike a Ping partnership with social networking leader Facebook. As All …

Digging a deeper hole for Google's Web TV ambitions, Fox just decided to take its content and go home. Following blackouts from ABC, CBS and NBC, Fox was GoogleTV's only remaining network partner. "No more Simpsons or Glee!" cries Fortune. "The feeling at Fox was that Google's 'footprint was too small,'" writes CNet, citing an unnamed source. In other words, "Google TV had yet to develop a large enough user base to make it worthwhile for the broadcaster." As paidContent notes, "The increasing number of defections …