Google launches new commerce platform, 'Helpouts'

San Francisco: Google on Wednesday launched a new online service called "Helpouts," aiming to connect businesses and consumers to solve problems or get advice on a range of issues.

The service is similar to Google's "Hangouts" with live video for paid services in areas ranging from computer tech support to weight loss.

"What if getting help for a computer glitch, a leaky pipe, or a homework problem was as easy as clicking a button?" Google's Udi Manber said in a blog post announcing the new service.

"What if you could get someone knowledgeable to get you 'unstuck' when you really need it?"

Manber said some of the services now are "how to fix your garage door, or how to remove a computer virus; or it might be guidance completing a project, like building a deck. "

But he added that "on Wednesday is just the beginning. We're starting small and in a few categories."

The categories being offered initially include art and music, computers, cooking, education and careers, fashion and beauty, fitness and nutrition, health and home and garden.

The Helpouts range from free to USD 240 or more. Some examples include chemistry tutoring and homework, learning to play guitar, yoga instruction, French language lessons, fixing computer problems or refrigerator repair.

"With Helpouts, you can choose who you get help from based on their qualifications, their availability, their price, their ratings and reviews," Manber said

LinkedIn Looks To Grow With Strategy, Stock Offering

Mobile is hot. And LinkedIn, which just boosted a new stock offering above $1 billion, is well-positioned to jump on the bandwagon of mobile marketing, and into other promising areas.
With 238 million registered members and new ones joining at a rate of more than two per second, the professional networking site has been expanding ways to monetize its various channels. Its $1.17 billion stock offering, detailed in SEC filings, will help fund the growth.
"Marketing solutions is probably the biggest topic of conversation this year," said Randy Reece, analyst at Avondale Partners. "Everyone noticed how Facebook (FB) went from zero mobile advertising revenue to having it be more than 40% of its total advertising revenue within a very short period of time.

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"And LinkedIn (LNKD) recently introduced its first significant efforts to sell advertising in the mobile format," Reece said. "So, in 2014, whatever advertising revenue comes in from mobile will be incremental to what the company did this year."
Growth And Green
The social networker has several areas of growth focus — among them mobile, collegiate and international expansion. LinkedIn's stock offering, to increase the company's "financial flexibility," according to the prospectus, could go not only toward organic expansion and general purposes but also for strategic acquisitions. The offering priced at $223 apiece for 5.4 million shares late Wednesday, with option for underwriters to buy about another 807,000, which would boost the offering to a total as high as $1.35 billion. It's expected to close on Tuesday Sept. 10.
During the most recent quarter, LinkedIn saw its mobile activity increase. Its mobile home page engagement rose over 40%, while social actions, article views and mobile profile edits also accelerated.
It is continuing to ramp up sponsored updates on the mobile platform where advertisers can place relevant content within LinkedIn's mobile news feed.
LinkedIn's marketing solutions represented 24% of total revenue in the past quarter. Mobile advertising took up an even smaller share.
"The company is deliberately restraining its mobile ad inventory right now while it tests different aspects of the program," Reece said. "Exactly how to sell this, how to price it, how much advertising to allow without annoying members — there are a lot of things to figure out. So, LinkedIn is trying to go slowly."
That said, analysts view LinkedIn as relatively better-positioned for the accelerating shift to mobile compared with many other Internet companies.
An emerging theme is how the shift to mobile devices negatively impacts near-term monetization, says Tom White, analyst at Macquarie Research, in a research report