Facebook Inc

Social-networking site Facebook Inc. will let users post free online classified ads, creating new competition for EBay Inc. and newspapers. Facebook users can post listings in categories including items for sale, housing and jobs. The Marketplace feature also lets members add photos of the items, the Palo Alto-based company said. The Facebook classified ads are the latest challenge to newspapers, which have lost revenue to free sites such as Craigslist.

The water cooler has been replaced. We are standing around Twitter, deconstructing figure skater Evan Lysacek's long program, debating whether Evgeni Plushenko's quadruple jump was undervalued. We are gathering on Facebook pages to bad-mouth NBC for its love of tape-delayed sports or to be one among thousands of instant style critics: What were they thinking with those women's bobsled suits? How does Bob Costas get that hair color? How do I get Shaun White's tomato red? In the last six weeks, Americans have watched and talked about big sports events in numbers that have achieved record levels for television as well as online, including social media -- from the Super Bowl to Tiger Woods' public mea culpa and now the Winter Olympics.

Facebook Inc., operator of the most popular social-networking site, will allow employees to cash in on their ownership stakes in the company. Palo Alto-based Facebook didn't disclose details of the one-time program.

Uh, about that status update on Facebook last night, you may want to make sure that information isn't available to more than just your friends. The popular networking site introduced privacy settings on Wednesday that are supposed to give its 350 million users more control over what information they share and who they share it with. But public interest groups are concerned that Facebook's default settings for how far that information can travel are too broad. They also worry that the new program could expose a user's personal profile information to anyone on the Web. "Granular controls are great and we support them, but this very well could drive less privacy on Facebook," said Ari Schwartz, vice president of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Facebook Inc., operator of the world's largest social-networking site, removed a page dedicated to Bernard Madoff after some users posted comments complimenting and jeering his alleged $50-billion fraud. Facebook judges whether the content of a page is inappropriate if it gets complaints, spokesman Larry Yu said. Facebook, after inquiries by Bloomberg News, concluded that the pages may not have been authorized as required by Madoff or his representatives.

Facebook Inc., after eclipsing MySpace in global users last year, now leads its social-networking rival in the U.S. as well, according to research firm ComScore Inc. The Palo Alto, Calif., company had 70.28 million U.S. users last month, topping MySpace's 70.26 million, ComScore said. Facebook's users almost doubled from a year earlier, while MySpace lost 5%. Facebook, which became the top global social-networking site a year ago, had 307.1 million users worldwide in April, the Reston, Va.

Social-networking website Facebook Inc. acquired Parakey Inc., a company run by Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt, founders of the Web browser Mozilla Firefox. Parakey is the first acquisition for closely held Palo Alto-based Facebook. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Ross and Hewitt are joining Facebook's development team to work on its website. Parakey's software, which hasn't been released, will make it easier to transfer information between personal computers and the Web, according to a

Facebook Inc. has raised $60 million from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, adding to the list of financial heavyweights backing the online hangout's rapid growth. Li, 79, will receive a 0.4% stake in Palo Alto-based Facebook, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity. The cash is coming from Li's personal foundation, the person said. Microsoft Corp. paid $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook in October.

Facebook Inc., the most popular social-networking website, attracted twice as many users as last year after expanding overseas, extending its lead over News Corp.'s MySpace. Facebook had 132.1 million visitors in June, 6.6% more than a month earlier and up from 52.2 million in 2007, researcher ComScore Inc. said. MySpace users climbed 2.6% to 117.6 million from May. Facebook more than quadrupled its users in Europe and Asia after introducing versions of its site in Spanish, German and French this year, helping to compensate for slowing growth in the U.S.

Pressured by a lawsuit, Internet social network Facebook Inc. will adopt measures to prevent its 58 million members from sending text messages to recycled cellphone numbers. The settlement was announced Tuesday by attorneys for an Indiana woman who claimed Palo Alto-based Facebook had been profiting from text messages sent by its members after the intended recipients had given up the phone numbers. The lawsuit, filed by Lindsey Abrams of Patriot, Ind.

Facebook, the popular social networking website, moved quickly Monday to take down a member's poll asking if President Obama should be assassinated. The question, "Should Obama be killed?" had received 730 responses since its posting on Saturday. The four possible answers: Yes. Maybe. If he cuts my healthcare. No. The Secret Service launched an investigation into the threat against the president. A Facebook spokesman said the Palo Alto-based company was not aware of the poll until early Monday morning and did not know who posted it or who responded to it. "At this time, we don't know," said Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for policy.

Facebook Inc., the world's largest Internet social network, said Tuesday that it made more money than it spent, attaining a positive cash flow for the first time since it was started in a Harvard dorm room nearly six years ago. The Palo Alto company also said it had increased to 300 million active users. The site reached 150 million users in only five years, a fast growth rate by any measure. But like sprinter Usain Bolt, Facebook atomized its own speed record this year by climbing to 300 million users from 150 million in a little over nine months.

Facebook Inc., after eclipsing MySpace in global users last year, now leads its social-networking rival in the U.S. as well, according to research firm ComScore Inc. The Palo Alto, Calif., company had 70.28 million U.S. users last month, topping MySpace's 70.26 million, ComScore said. Facebook's users almost doubled from a year earlier, while MySpace lost 5%. Facebook, which became the top global social-networking site a year ago, had 307.1 million users worldwide in April, the Reston, Va.

Netflix Inc. said it had linked with social-networking website Facebook, allowing subscribers of the largest U.S. mail-order movie service to share their film ratings with Facebook friends. Ratings of one to five stars will show on a user's Facebook profile if a Netflix member has enabled the Facebook Connect function, Netflix said. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

The Facebook nation is turning into a democracy. Facebook Inc. on Thursday invited its 175 million members to help govern the social network by reviewing, discussing and voting on the website's rules. "This is really about us trusting our users," Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a conference call with reporters to discuss the changes.

Facebook Inc., operator of the world's largest social-networking site, removed a page dedicated to Bernard Madoff after some users posted comments complimenting and jeering his alleged $50-billion fraud. Facebook judges whether the content of a page is inappropriate if it gets complaints, spokesman Larry Yu said. Facebook, after inquiries by Bloomberg News, concluded that the pages may not have been authorized as required by Madoff or his representatives.

Matt Cohler, a senior Facebook Inc. executive and one of the early employees of the social networking phenom, is leaving to become a general partner with Benchmark Capital. The departure comes at a crucial time for Facebook, which has risen to become one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies. Microsoft Corp. and other investors last year gave the 4-year-old venture a $15-billion valuation.

Facebook Inc. has struck back against spammers, winning an $873-million judgment against a Canadian man accused of sending millions of unsolicited messages about drugs and sex. The popular social networking site said Adam Guerbuez tricked its members into revealing their passwords to send out messages. Guerbuez did not appear in court to defend himself, Facebook said, although the company says it has video of him being served the lawsuit. U.S.

Facebook Inc. has struck back against spammers, winning an $873-million judgment against a Canadian man accused of sending millions of unsolicited messages about drugs and sex. The popular social networking site said Adam Guerbuez tricked its members into revealing their passwords to send out messages. Guerbuez did not appear in court to defend himself, Facebook said, although the company says it has video of him being served the lawsuit. U.S.

Facebook Inc., the most popular social-networking website, attracted twice as many users as last year after expanding overseas, extending its lead over News Corp.'s MySpace. Facebook had 132.1 million visitors in June, 6.6% more than a month earlier and up from 52.2 million in 2007, researcher ComScore Inc. said. MySpace users climbed 2.6% to 117.6 million from May. Facebook more than quadrupled its users in Europe and Asia after introducing versions of its site in Spanish, German and French this year, helping to compensate for slowing growth in the U.S.