Ethan Beard

Exclusive: News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social Gaming Partnerships

Kara Swisher in News on January 3, 2011 at 11:47 am PT

Sean Ryan, who arrived at News Corp. mid-year to set up a new online gaming unit, is moving to Facebook to head partnerships at its key gaming platform, according to sources. Currently, Facebook does not create social games, but hosts third-party publishers of them on its king-making platform. Its most stunning success has been Zynga, maker of Farmville and CityVille.

Facebook Lands Former Bebo CEO (And ex-Googler) Joanna Shields

Peter Kafka in Media on April 1, 2010 at 2:06 am PT

Facebook is beefing up its European sales team with a big name in social networking circles: It is adding former Bebo CEO Joanna Shields, who will runs sales and business development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Exclusive: Facebook Poaches Yet Another Major Googler–This Time, Ad Exec David Fischer [UPDATED]

Kara Swisher in News on March 26, 2010 at 8:19 am PT

David Fischer–who was VP of Global Online Sales & Operations for Google and more recently was heading up its local efforts–is taking a job at Facebook as VP of Advertising and Global Operations, according to sources. The move by Fischer–which was also just announced internally at both Google and Facebook and has just been confirmed by Facebook–is yet another in a series of top execs at the search giant to defect to the fast-growing social networking site. And it will surely raise tensions between the companies, which are increasingly becoming rivals in several major Internet arenas and opposing poles of power in Silicon Valley.

Voices

Almost Famous: Ethan Beard of Facebook

Drake Martinet, Intern, All Things Digital in News on January 25, 2010 at 1:48 am PT

In this installment of “Almost Famous” that we call “Need to Know,” focusing on less prominent but very important tech execs you need to know better, we friended Ethan Beard, director of the Facebook Developer Network. He’s a mover inside the Web’s biggest social networking shaker. We talked Facebook platform, music, 1200-baud modems and his addiction to social gaming. Also: Don’t miss the picture of Ethan dressed as a banana.

Yahoo's "Project Rushmore" Begins With Massive Facebook Connect Deployment Across Internet Giant

Kara Swisher in News on December 2, 2009 at 5:30 am PT

A few weeks ago, several sources at Yahoo began telling BoomTown about a mysterious “Project Rushmore,” which was described as a massive integration of major social networking sites across the giant Internet portal. Now, the first unveiling of Project Rushmore comes with this morning’s announcement that Yahoo will be integrating Facebook Connect with its many properties, from its powerful media sites to its Flickr photo service to its email. One delicious irony here: Yahoo almost bought Facebook several years ago.

For the Record: The Official Yahoo New Homepage Press Release

Kara Swisher in News on July 21, 2009 at 1:20 pm PT

All the news is already out about the new Yahoo homepage, which was launched today for users in the U.S. It features customizable apps, as well as a cleaner look. But, just in case you are not satisfied yet, here is the full press release on the new front page for Yahoo.