linkedin

Based on a nudge from Luke Kanies, I installed the TripIt application for LinkedIn. Others have been prodding me to use TripIt for at least a year, but this is the first time it made sense.

In one view, I could see my network activity, but right next to it is an upcoming trip to New York and people that I might want to reach out to while there, like my cousin.

What a perfect complement.

This is what Dopplr should have been, but it requires me to recreate my schedule (and network) just for it. I tried it for … Read more

Business-focused social-networking site LinkedIn announced Wednesday that it is cutting 10 percent of its workforce, or about 36 jobs, as part of a restructuring to focus on its revenue-producing businesses.

Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The layoffs follow LinkedIn's announcement last month that it had raised an additional $22.7 million in funding from Goldman Sachs, SAP, McGraw-Hill, and longtime investor Bessemer Venture Partners. That round followed a $53 million series D funding round in June that gave LinkedIn a valuation of $1 billion. The latest round of funding brings the total funds raised … Read more

There's nary a sheep to be tossed on business network LinkedIn's new developer platform, which has officially gone live.

The array of internal- and partner-created applications includes a "reading list" app from Amazon, a trip-tracking app from TripIt, file sharing from Box.net, and presentation apps from SlideShare and Google Presentation.

"One of the big differences between LinkedIn and some of the other platforms is that we're being very selective about the apps that are integrated onto our platform," LinkedIn vice president of platform Jamie Templeton told CNET News. Developers and companies must … Read more

LinkedIn on Thursday announced the launch of LinkedIn Surveys, a service from the LinkedIn Research Network that allows market researchers and investors to access the site's 30 million professionals for market intelligence by creating a survey, and either opening it up to the entire LinkedIn community or targeting a select group.

In order to increase the number of members participating in the surveys, LinkedIn will allow those who participate to choose from a variety of rewards, including gift cards from Amazon.com, Starbucks, or Best Buy. For those that don't want gift cards, LinkedIn is also offering participants … Read more

LinkedIn has raised an additional $22.7 million in funding, giving the business-networking site a little cushion in difficult economic times.

The strategic investment, announced Wednesday, comes from Goldman Sachs, SAP, McGraw-Hill, and longtime investor Bessemer Venture Partners. The money arrives on the heels of a $53 million Series D funding round in June that gave LinkedIn a valuation of $1 billion. The latest funding round brings the total funds raised to just more than $100 million.

LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye announced the funding in a blog posting on his company's site:

Our reservoir of embarrassing stories about Jeff is bottoming out, so we're happy to welcome his old chums from BeenVerified.com to refill the glass. Josh, Ross, and Jay are ushering in a new generation of background checks for employers and job seekers, but today they're not afraid to use their powers for evil to dish the dirt on our fellow co-host. They also help us weigh in on virtual larceny, the problem with young whippersnappers, how to answer a professional call of doodie, and Josh spouts praise for his favorite luxury gadget: the $5,000 toilet.

We spend the first half of the show talking to the guys about their brand-new company, BeenVerified. They're no strangers to starting innovative sites, and this one is no different. In an age where employers are starting to perform pseudo background checks through social networking sites like FaceBook and MySpace, BeenVerified takes it a step forward and offers a background checking service for employers and job seekers alike. After talking to Josh, Ross, and Jay, we're afraid to see how many skeletons in our respective closets, but here's the beauty of the site: users must approve the release of their information to the public before anyone can see it, so if don't want to be exposed, just say no! Of course, seekers will benefit from being an open book in general, so let that freak flag fly. Best of all, you can apply it to other transactions in your personal life, for example, screening Craigslist meetups, online daters, and nannies. Listen to today's knee-slappin' show and check out the animated short below for more about BeenVerified.

LinkedIn has long insisted that it's exempt from the common wisdom that social-network ads will never make much money: its affluent user base of networking-happy business professionals can rake in more high-end advertisers and charge more for impressions.

To that end, the company announced on Monday the debut of an ad network, the "LinkedIn Audience Network," that enables other sites to run LinkedIn's ads.

TechCrunch wrote that this will be in partnership with a third-party company, Collective Media, which powers advertising networks for clients.

Like most social-network advertising plans, the LinkedIn Audience Network focuses on targeting. … Read more

After several months of beta testing its new design, Facebook on Wednesday began rolling out its new site to all of its 100 million users.

Under the new design, the social-networking giant initiated changes designed to simplify the site's look and feel, provide greater user control over profiles, and dish up recent and relevant information, according to the company's blog posting.

To date, approximately 40 million, or 40 percent, of Facebook users have tried the beta version of the new site, which debuted in July. Of that group, 75 percent remained with the new version, according to the … Read more

Business news channel CNBC and professional networking site LinkedIn have formed a strategic alliance.

Under the deal announced late Wednesday, the CNBC will provide articles, blogs, financial data, and video across the LinkedIn network. The news channel also will integrate LinkedIn functionality into CNBC.com. That functionality will allow LinkedIn's members to share comments about the news within their network of friends and business contacts. In addition, the two companies will jointly create content, including community-generated content such as surveys, from LinkedIn members for broadcast.

The changes on the sites are set to launch in the fourth quarter.

"… Read more