To stay ahead of the group-buying fray, Groupon has reportedly held talks with several banks about an IPO valuing the company at a jaw-dropping $25 billion. Just 2-years-old, Groupon's IPO could happen this year, and is very unlikely to fetch under $15 billion, reports Bloomberg Businessweek, citing sources. "To give some perspective, Google was valued at $23 billion in its IPO, so that would make it a bigger IPO valuation than Google," notes Business Insider. In the context of other hot, privately-held Web companies, The Wall Street Journal writes: "Unlike dot-com companies a decade …

Facebook representatives are reportedly asking some application developers that use Google's AdSense to stop using the ad network because Google has not signed its Platform Terms for Advertising Providers. "Kicking AdSense off of Facebook directly impacts developer business," Inside Facebook writes regarding the seriousness of the reports. In the worst-case scenario for Facebook, "Some might see the policy enforcement as the precursor to further restriction ... and could cite it as a reason why not to build on the Facebook Platform." In the best-case scenario, "The restriction could push developers to switch to Facebook ads, generating revenue for …

Think a few manufactured reviews won't get you trouble? Think again. The Federal Trade Commission just hit a Tennessee-based company named Lending Learning Systems with a $250,000 fine for paying affiliate marketers to write glowing reviews about its DVD series. "Because those affiliates didn't disclose they were getting paid for the praise they heaped on the educational DVD series, called 'Learn and Master Guitar,' the FTC said the ads were deceptive and illegal," paidContent reports. Bigger picture, the case is one of several that indicate the FTC is cracking down on such practices. In 2009, the FTC made …

During last year's midterm elections, one in five adult Web users turned to social networks to get or share related information, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. But it wasn't just young liberals filling up Facebook. "During the midterm elections, Republican voters and supporters of the 'Tea Party' movement caught up with Democrats in the use of social networks for political purposes," The New York Times' Media Decoder blog notes. The study also found that 53% of Web users went online to engage in campaign-related activity, including watching political videos, fact checking political claims, …

Social movie site Flixster is in early acquisition talks with several suitors, including Yahoo, reports BoomTown. Citing sources, BoomTown's Kara Swisher says the price being discussed for the start-up is between $60 million and $90 million. Flixster oversees a network of online brands, including movie reviews site Rotten Tomatoes and the more broadly entertainment-focused BuddyTV. To be sure, "Any acquisition negotiations could always fail," writes Swisher, noting that Flixster held advanced discussions in late 2007 with IAC/InterActiveCorp. Still, "Along with Yahoo, which is interested in bringing in a strong team to bolster the entertainment offerings ... sources said …

Major League Baseball is broadcasting one spring training game per day live on its Facebook fan page. "Right now, it's only a promotion for MLB's subscription video service, but it points the way toward Facebook becoming a content distribution platform," Business Insider points out. Just a couple of weeks back, Facebook entered into an agreement with Warner Brothers to rent "The Dark Knight" for 48-hour stints. But, according to Business Insider, "Live sports actually makes more sense than movie rentals -- users are more likely to share a live event with a real-time status update like 'check this …

CBS News' Bnet.com considers a patent granted last month to Facebook, which describes an approach to search that combines any type of search engine results with the popularity of each result among members of a user's social network. "For some time, Facebook has been interested in semantic search -- using its social graph and immense amount of information about its users to deliver search results," Bnet writes. In essence, Facebook is considering combining search results for a user with how others connected to the user in a social network responded to the search results. "If most people clicked …

In what would be a company first, Netflix is reportedly angling to get into original programming. Calling it "the biggest gamble in [Netflix's] 14-year history," Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva reports that the content distributor has outbid several top cable networks, including HBO and AMC, for a new drama series House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey. The deal is estimated to be worth more than $100 million, and, according to Adreeva, "could change the way people consume TV shows." Business Insider describes the move as "one way for Netflix to become more of a ‘must have' service and …

It took a total of three years, two months, and one day for Twitter to hit 1 billion tweets, the company said in a blog today in advance of its fifth birthday next week. Today, tweeters tweet 1 billion tweets every week, while an average of 140 million tweets were posted per day. Continuing to expand its footprint, an average of 460,000 new accounts were created every day over the past month. Internally, Twitter now has 400 employees, 50 of whom have come on since January. Though enlightening, "The numbers that were missing, of course, were anything about revenues …

By early summer, CNN plans to introduce its answer to TV Everywhere -- "making it possible for subscribers of Comcast Xfinity, Dish, Cox and Verizon FiOS to watch CNN live across platforms and devices," paidContent reports. CNN.com also plans to launch a new video player, which takes advantage of the native HD now being used for most of its footage, CNN Digital announced this week. After getting a personal demonstration of the new player at SXSW, paidContent's Staci Kramer called its quality "stunning." Tthe player is designed to work across multiple platforms, including Google TV. Eventually, KC Estenson, …