USC Experts Available to Discuss Facebook IPO
May 17, 2012
KAREN NORTH,
director of the USC Annenberg Program on Online Communities, believes
that while the number of Facebook users continues to grow, its value as
an advertising vehicle may be in decline. "Anecdotal evidence leads us
to believe that the frequency of visits and amount of time people spend
on Facebook is declining," North said. "More and more people are
treating Facebook like a utility, as an address book, a personal and
professional photo album and contact list. The reason Facebook is
valued at $100 billion is for targeted ads. But if people are only
there for its utility, then the ads are not as valuable." North may be
reached at (310) 235-4444 (office), (310) 650-5689 (cell) or knorth@usc.edu.text
RICHARD GREEN is the director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and a professor with a joint appointment in the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Marshall School of Business. As an expert in real estate, he is available to comment on the likely affects of the potential windfall for so many Bay-area residents on local real estate prices. The IPO is expected to create overnight millionaires, many of whom are likely to sell stock and purchase homes in the Palo Alto area, driving up home prices. "It certainly creates affordability issues," Green said. Meanwhile, the state of California could rake in millions in capital gains taxes from stock sales, though the state still faces billions in budget deficits. "It's not quite a windfall, but it's not a kick in the head," Green said. Green can be reached at (213) 631-0478 (cell) or richarkg@usc.edu. Please note that he will be out of cell reception from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, May 17.
IRA KALB, assistant professor of clinical marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business, can speak to the true value of Facebook as a marketing tool: "This initial public offering is certainly the largest high tech IPO since Google. It's going to be a huge boost to the corporate image of Facebook," Kalb said. "Facebook is the only social media site that really gets all the data on all of their users. They have the data that enables advertisers to target groups of people that they couldn't really target well before. Companies have the ability to reach an audience of 850 million and growing." Kalb can be reached at (310) 729-1813 (cell), (213) 821-1886 (office) or ikalb@marshall.usc.edu.
OMAR EL SAWY, professor of information and operations management at USC Marshall School of Business, specializes in IT-enabled business strategy in turbulent environments, and business models for digital platforms. Professor El Sawy can talk about the impact on tech companies worldwide and may be reached at (310) 991-6627 (cell) or elsawy@marshall.usc.edu.
JONATHAN TAPLIN is a professor of communication with the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism with experience as an investment advisor and vice president of media mergers and acquisitions for Merrill Lynch. "I think the Facebook IPO has significant implications," Taplin said. "The first is that, unlike Google, Facebook is really attaching very granular data about likes and dislikes to the individual and thus able to sell that data to advertisers." Taplin can be reached at (310) 779-2248 (cell) or jtaplin@usc.edu.
DENNIS MCLEOD is a professor of computer science and director of the Semantic Information Research Laboratory at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. He is an expert in social networking information management and information trust, and will be available to answer technical questions about Facebook, usage issues, and the implications of releasing information via Facebook. He can be reached at mcleod@usc.edu or at (213) 740-4504.
HAMID NAZERZADEH is an assistant professor of information and operations management at the USC Marshall School of Business. His expertise includes online advertising models and he has researched market design, revenue management and optimization algorithms. He holds several patents on internet advertising and cloud computing services. Nazerzadeh can be reached at (424) 248-5063 (cell) or nazerzad@marshall.usc.edu.
Contact: USC News at (213) 740-2215 or uscnews@usc.edu
RICHARD GREEN is the director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate and a professor with a joint appointment in the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Marshall School of Business. As an expert in real estate, he is available to comment on the likely affects of the potential windfall for so many Bay-area residents on local real estate prices. The IPO is expected to create overnight millionaires, many of whom are likely to sell stock and purchase homes in the Palo Alto area, driving up home prices. "It certainly creates affordability issues," Green said. Meanwhile, the state of California could rake in millions in capital gains taxes from stock sales, though the state still faces billions in budget deficits. "It's not quite a windfall, but it's not a kick in the head," Green said. Green can be reached at (213) 631-0478 (cell) or richarkg@usc.edu. Please note that he will be out of cell reception from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday, May 17.
IRA KALB, assistant professor of clinical marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business, can speak to the true value of Facebook as a marketing tool: "This initial public offering is certainly the largest high tech IPO since Google. It's going to be a huge boost to the corporate image of Facebook," Kalb said. "Facebook is the only social media site that really gets all the data on all of their users. They have the data that enables advertisers to target groups of people that they couldn't really target well before. Companies have the ability to reach an audience of 850 million and growing." Kalb can be reached at (310) 729-1813 (cell), (213) 821-1886 (office) or ikalb@marshall.usc.edu.
OMAR EL SAWY, professor of information and operations management at USC Marshall School of Business, specializes in IT-enabled business strategy in turbulent environments, and business models for digital platforms. Professor El Sawy can talk about the impact on tech companies worldwide and may be reached at (310) 991-6627 (cell) or elsawy@marshall.usc.edu.
JONATHAN TAPLIN is a professor of communication with the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism with experience as an investment advisor and vice president of media mergers and acquisitions for Merrill Lynch. "I think the Facebook IPO has significant implications," Taplin said. "The first is that, unlike Google, Facebook is really attaching very granular data about likes and dislikes to the individual and thus able to sell that data to advertisers." Taplin can be reached at (310) 779-2248 (cell) or jtaplin@usc.edu.
DENNIS MCLEOD is a professor of computer science and director of the Semantic Information Research Laboratory at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. He is an expert in social networking information management and information trust, and will be available to answer technical questions about Facebook, usage issues, and the implications of releasing information via Facebook. He can be reached at mcleod@usc.edu or at (213) 740-4504.
HAMID NAZERZADEH is an assistant professor of information and operations management at the USC Marshall School of Business. His expertise includes online advertising models and he has researched market design, revenue management and optimization algorithms. He holds several patents on internet advertising and cloud computing services. Nazerzadeh can be reached at (424) 248-5063 (cell) or nazerzad@marshall.usc.edu.
Contact: USC News at (213) 740-2215 or uscnews@usc.edu
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