Facebook made some exciting hires this week, in addition to the usual suspects from the company’s Careers Page and LinkedIn feed, the company hired a former aide to President Barack Obama, Sarah Feinberg, and Google’s former director of product management for search, client and infrastructure products, Tom Stocky.

Feinberg was formerly a special assistant tot he president, worked as the communication director for the House Democratic Caucus, a press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and was also a press secretary for former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Now Feinberg will still work in communications, focusing on safety, security and litigation. Stocky has worked for Google since 2005 and is joining Facebook as a director of product.

The company also hired more interns, some engineers, people in Asia and Africa, marketing and more.

New hires per LinkedIn and Other Sources:

• Elke Karskens, Head of Platform Marketing & Communication EMEA – formerly the Platform marketing Manager at Skype.
• Alex Şuhan, Software Engineer – formerly a Teaching Assistant at Politechnica University of Bucharest.
• Connor Hayes, Analyst, Online Sales Operations – formerly a features editor at The Rice Thresher.
• Justin Allen, Account Executive – previously did similar work at Apple.
• Caitlin Hipskind, University Recruiting – formerly a Recruiter Coordinator at Facebook.
• Tatyana Bezuglova, MBA Intern, User Operations for EMEA – previously worked as a Senior Associate at The Boston Consulting Group.
• Jonasz Pamuła, Software Engineering Intern – formerly a Linux Software Engineer at NComputing.
• Ivan Georgiev,  Software Engineer Intern – previously did similar work at Musala Soft.
• Shomir Dutt, User Operations Analyst – formerly a student.
• Binoy Xavier, Network Deployment Engineer – previously worked as a Network QA Test Engineer at Brocade.
• Jesse Chen, Marketing & Product Analytics Intern – previously did similar work at LinkedIn.
• Heather Marquez, Asset Manager – formerly a manager of Asset Lifecycle & Logistics at eBay.

Prior listings now removed from the Facebook Careers Page:

• Business Analyst, Hyperion
• Product Manager, Tax Technology
• Product Manager, Technical Operations
• Strategic Product Manager
• Growth Manager Africa – Contract (Nigeria or Kenya)
• Strategic Partner Development, Local Monetization (Palo Alto)
• Lead, Data Warehouse Operations
• User Interface Engineer, Communication Design
• Financial Analyst – Information Technology
• Account Executive (Hong Kong)
• Account Executive (Sydney)
• Client Partner (Paris)
• Sales Associate (Sao Paulo)
• DSO Account Manager (Hong Kong)
• Strategic Partner Development, Local Monetization (Palo Alto)
• Manager, Online Sales Operations (Palo Alto)
• Associate, Ad Operations (Chicago)
• Manager of Online Sales & Operations (Austin)
• Manager of Online Sales & Operations (Palo Alto)
• Manager of Online Sales & Operations (Austin)
• Manager, Online Sales Operations (Palo Alto)
• Lead, Risk Management (Austin)
• Analyst, Platform Operations (Hyderabad)
• Monetization Product Marketing – Sales and Marketing Solutions
• Marketing Communications Copywriter
• Web Optimization Engineer 1106002

Who else is hiring? The Inside Network Job Board presents a survey of current openings at leading companies in the industry.

Facebook’s Upcoming “Awesome” Announcement Could Be Video Skype – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted to reporters that a big announcement was set for next week, specifically, something “awesome.” A press event has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 6th. Some sources and the invite to the event suggest that Facebook might unveil a video chat system built in partnership with Microsoft’s Skype. Other possibilities include Facebook’s leaked mobile photos app, it’s iPad app, or the Music Dashboard.

Antitrust Complaint Filed Against Facebook Over Credits – Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group, has filed an antitrust complaint with the Federal Trade Commission regarding Facebook’s Platform currency, Credits. Their complaint is that Credits is an “anticompetitive” virtual currency that could drive up prices of virtual goods.

Facebook Deals Coming to Three More Cities – Facebook tell us it is expanding the beta test of its prepaid coupon service Deals from its initial five cities to include Charlotte, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. Facebook says early feedback from businesses has been positive, though we haven’t seen much adoption in San Francisco.

Facebook Hires Hacker – Facebook hired George Hotz, the guy who jailbroke the iPhone. He’s now helping Facebook create its iPad app.

Photos From Facebook’s New Office – Gawker published photos from Facebook’s new headquarters in Menlo Park, which the company plans to start moving to soon. The gallery depicts an open office floor plan similar to the current Facebook HQ’s design.

Facebook Pitches Social Program Guide to Media Industry – Facebook’s SVP of Strategic Partner Development Andy Mitchell spoke at at the PromaxBDA conference, telling media industry representatives about how a television program guide that showed what a viewer’s friends watch could get people to watch more.

Hulu Botches Facebook Connect Integration –  A error in how Hulu implemented a Facebook login system on its video site caused people to become logged in to the accounts of other users. Hulu claims responsibility for the problem and says no highly sensitive information was exposed. The site will remove the Facebook integration temporarily before trying another implementation.

Facebook Scores in Ownership Lawsuit – Paul Ceglia, a man in New York who claims to own most of Facebook, has been ordered to give Facebook access to his emails and computer. The company is set to accuse him of forgery.

American Express Launches Free Social Media Monitoring Tool - In a bid to help and attract small businesses, American Express launched a free tool called YourBuzz that lets businesses monitor mentions of them on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and other web services.

How the NHL Gained 2.2M Fans - AllFacebook reported an interesting case study detailing the National Hockey League’s efforts to grow its Facebook Page by 2.2 million Likes by targeting its affluent and tech savvy fans. [Screenshot Via AF]

Thailand Bans Facebook Before Vote – The Thai government has banned Facebook political campaigning the day before a Saturday vote for prime minister.

Facebook Reaches 750M Users – TechCrunch reported this week that Facebook has reached 750 million monthly active users according to a “source close to the company.” The data we recorded in Inside Facebook Gold as of June 1st showed 687 million worldwide. Facebook’s last official update was 500 million, last July.

Facebook Display Ads Pass $2B – A new report from eMarketer claims that this year Facebook will be the top online display advertiser with $2.19 billion in revenue, representing 81% growth over last year.

Skype Deepens Facebook Integration – Skype reported new Facebook features this week, including instant messaging, integrated contacts and the ability to Like or comment on statuses.

Facebook’s IPO Rumors Spur Real Estate Inflation – In light of rumors of a Facebook IPO next year, Silicon Valley home prices are surging, prompting some residents who begin to sell off their homes.

Report: 1 Like is Worth 20 Pageviews – A new report from Hitwise found that 1 Facebook fan, or Like, is equal to 20 visits to a retailer website during the course of the year when it comes to ROI.

Announcements

Techlightenment Launches Social Attribution System —This week Techlightenment launched its Social Attribution System, which anonymizes user data, tracking their actions, and then identifies the viral nature of those actions.

ShortStack Launches Free Tab App for Small Biz – Reno, Nevada-based ShortStack launched a tab design app this week free of charge for small businesses with 2,000 Likes or less to run contests, sweepstakes, create landing tabs with videos or photos, and other features.

New Rules Could Delay Facebook IPO – Congress may change laws regulating companies with shareholders, ultimately meaning that Facebook could delay its IPO if it wanted to. Fortune Magazine reported that the rules currently state that companies breaking 500 shareholders must go public, but the new rules would allow companies to remain private indefinitely.

Facebook IPO Could Surpass $100B – Facebook may make an IPO in early 2012, according to a report from CNBC. What’s more, they are saying the valuation could be more than $100 billion.

Existing Rules Apply to Political Ads on Facebook - The FEC declined to rule on creating extra regulations for Facebook political ads, reported AllFacebook. This means that ads can be bought and run with the same disclosure that applies to other online ads instead of having to state who paid for an authorized the ads, which could take up much of their character limit.

Facebook Users More Social in Real Life – A Pew Center for Internet & American Life Project study found that Facebook users tend to be more trusting, have more closer friends, are more civically engaged and get more social support from friends in real life.

Most Will Engage With Facebook Political Messages – SocialVibe conducted a study on political engagement advertising, finding among other things, that 94% of users who engaged with political messages ended up watching the entire message, and almost 40% of them shared political ads with Facebook friends.

iOS Integrated With Facebook Before Twitter - TechCrunch wrote an interesting piece this week noting that, before Apple’s iOS deeply integrated with Twitter, it was pretty obvious the company had looked into doing the same thing with Facebook.

Copious Launches Social Marketplace – Copious, co-founded by former Facebook employee Jonathan Ehrlich, launched a social marketplace this week that’s meant to incorporate Facebook’s social data into the business of buying and selling merchandise between individuals. TechCrunch reported that Copious has raised $2 million, in part from Foundation Capital, Google Ventures and BlackBerry Partners Fund.

Iceland Crowdsources its Constitution – The Icelandic government has turned to Facebook, in part, to help draft a new Constitution. Members of the country’s constitutional council are posting drafts of clauses for the constitution, and fans are invited to leave their comments. The council is also streaming its meetings live.

Zuckerberg Talks to Kids – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to a graduating eighth grade class in Menlo Park, California. He told them that friendships are what make life meaningful, and gave the students some advice, “‘Everything that’s worth doing is actually pretty hard and takes a lot of work.”

Facebook has hired second-term Clinton administration press secretary Joe Lockhart, AllThingsD reported yesterday. He’s going to work as Facebook’s new vice president of global communications, starting in July.

He’ll also be working alongside another former White House staffer, Marne Levine, who recently joined to lead Facebook’s worldwide lobbying efforts.

Both will report to Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s long-time vice president of global communications, marketing and public policy. Schrage will in turn increase his focus on technology and policy issues going forward; his official comment on Lockhart’s hire, below.

Joe’s arrival brings new skills and greater depth to our incredibly busy team. His experience building and running a press office at the White House gives him particular appreciation for the demands of a global 24-hour news cycle and the challenges of responding effectively to intense scrutiny. His experience launching and scaling a communications firm will help us as we seek to build our team and continue to offer great opportunities for growth and professional development.

Lockhart is set to move to California following his daughter graduates from high school in Washington, D.C., according to the report. After leaving the White House, he founded and worked as managing director of the Glover Park Group, a well-respected consulting firm in the capitol.

ShareThis: 56% Of Sharing Is Via Facebook – ShareThis, the maker of a sharing widget available on a variety of web sites, conducted a study finding that 56% of all content shared online goes through Facebook.

Facebook, Tech Companies Back AT&T, T-Mobile Merger – Facebook, along with Yahoo and Microsoft, filed letters supporting the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T mostly because of how the merger would affect wireless broadband.

Buddy Media IPO? – It would appear that Page management giant Buddy Media is set for an IPO based on the hiring of former Yahoo-er Dennis Morgan as CFO.

Facebook Likes Flash Servers, Fusion-io’s IPO Shows – Fusion-io’s IPO this week for $1.8 billion revealed some interesting data about Facebook, specifically that the company accounts for 52% of flash memory chip maker Fusion-io’s revenue in the first quarter.

Apple Builds Facebook Integration into iOS5 – Apple’s new iOS5 for iPhones and other mobile devices allows users to add Facebook handles into the entries in its native Contacts app.

Emotions Spread Among Friends Via Facebook – A new study by Facebook’s data scientist Adam D.I. Kraner found that emotions such as happiness or sadness are contagious when shared between friends using the Facebook news feed. Writing positive words such as “happy” and “hug”, and negative words such as “sick” in status updates can impact the emotions of friends for up to three days.

TopProspect Reports Top Tech Companies – TopProspect reported that more workers are flocking to work at Google, Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Apple while Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, eBay, and Amazon are losing employees. Facebook is winning the talent war, though, with it gaining employees from most of the others tracked. It is poaching especially efficiently from Microsoft, from whom it gained 30.5 employees for each one it sent to the Seattle-based company.

Bing Mobile Enables Facebook Sharing – Bing for Mobile Browser, m.bing.com, just enabled some new social features, including allowing users to easily share some types of search results to Facebook, such as images and local business details. [Screenshot via Bing]

Facebook Expands Women in Computing Program – Facebook quadrupled, to 20, the number of Facebook Grace Hopper Scholarship recipients this year for female university students who excel in computer science. The scholarship includes full-paid trips to Facebook HQ and this year’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Portland, Oregon where COO Sheryl Sandberg will be the keynote speaker.

Postagram Launches Android App – Postagram, which allowed users to transform Instagram photos into postcards, has created an Android app that doesn’t allow users to actually take Instagram photos, but rather, make postcards from photos on their phone or Facebook accounts. The iOS version of the app can also now import Facebook photos. [Image via TechCrunch]

Facebook Activity Led to Arrest in Iran – One man in Iran was purportedly arrested for activities on Facebook, which is banned in that country. Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty reported that Houshang Fanaian was arrested for posting about his religion, which is banned in Iran.

White House Polls Facebook Fans -The White House announced this week the results of an informal Facebook and Twitter poll that found, among other things, 62% of users visit the Page on a weekly basis and about 56% share posts on a monthly basis.

France Bans Mentioning “Facebook” on TV, Radio – Due to a law banning the promotion of commercial enterprise on news programs, French broadcasters are no longer allowed to say “Facebook” or “Twitter” on the airwaves unless the social networks are part of the story. Thus, saying “Like us on Facebook” is now forbidden.

In another effort by Facebook and other technology companies to inform developers about privacy issues — and show the world they don’t need legislation in order to stop abuses on their platforms — they’re launching an informational site together with advocacy group called the Future of Privacy Forum.

Called the “Future of Privacy Forum: Application Privacy,” the site promises information on “emerging standards, best practices, privacy guidelines, platform and application store requirements, as well as relevant laws and regulatory guidance.” For now, though, parts of the site lack content or otherwise don’t feel fully baked.

For example, under the “Learn/Resources” tab, in a section called “Hot Data Issues and Important Alerts,” an area called “1) Transmission of User IDs in Mobile Devices” provides links to a Wall Street Journal series on mobile app data leakage. Oddly, the section features Facebook’s reaction, noting that the company at one point said that it has “zero tolerance for data brokers.” The thing is, the issue was about mobile platforms, which Facebook doesn’t offer. The site appears to have conflated the mobile app incident with an earlier Wall Street Journal article that looked into data issues being passed by canvas apps on Facebook.

The site only launched in the last week, so we’re not going to judge too harshly yet. The practical benefits it does currently provide include a wide variety of links to other materials developed by governments, privacy groups and platform companies, which should be especially useful for developers who are new to platform development, and all the associated privacy issues.

Meanwhile, as active developers already know, each platform already goes well out of its way to tell developers about what they can and can’t do with user data. Facebook in particular has built out a series of policies and guides over the years to explain to developers what they can and can’t do on the platform, and it has restricted or removed some developers’ access to the platform due to abuses. By this point, any serious Facebook developer should have a clear idea about what they can and can’t do.

The same goes for Apple, Google and other companies who provide platforms, who have also become embroiled in privacy issues — and who are also sponsors of this new site, and of the Future of Privacy Forum. When questioned about their efforts to educate developers about privacy issues, the companies now have this site to point to. But in terms of making a big impact on how developers behave, it’s not clear what difference the site is going to make.

Facebook, Google Lose Mobile Patent Ruling – Wireless Ink Corp will be able to sue both Google and Facebook over alleged patent infringements related to the companies’ mobile-social services, according to a ruling in New York this week.

Facebook, Others Oppose Calif. Law – Facebook and other tech companies have been building momentum in their opposition to California’s SB 242 law that would affect consumer privacy online. In addition to Facebook signing the letter, Google, Twitter, Oodle, Identified, Zecco, and BranchOut have joined the fight against the bill.

Facebook Responds to NY Owner Claim – Facebook filed its formal legal response to New York’s Paul Ceglia, who claims he’s legally entitled to half of Facebook. In the response the company called Ceglia an “inveterate scam artist” who used “a doctored contract and fabricated evidence.”

Facebook “Not Focused” on Mobile Ads - Facebook’s EMEA Head of Mobile Partnerships Fergal Walker noted this week in London that“we are not focused on  advertising on mobile at all…Our minds are very focused on the social web.”

Industry Group Gets Into Privacy Game - Companies like Zynga, Facebook AT&T, Google, Intel and TrustE are investing money into a group, the Future of Privacy Forum, to provide developers with resources to create privacy policies in an educated way.

Zuckerberg Downplays Facebook’s Role in Middle East - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this week downplayed this social network’s role in the Middle East uprisings, saying the company’s platform was neither necessary nor sufficient for change there.

Zuckerberg Asks Europe to Relax About Privacy – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asked European leaders this week to tone down their regulation of the web, noting it could dampen innovation and governments should be investing in new technologies instead.

Zecco’s Wall Street App Allows Trading on Facebook – Zecco’s new app, Wall Street, allows users to see quotes, charts, discussions and more in real time, as well as make stock trades on the platform.

The Need for a Facebook Alternative – An interesting post on Altly notes that Facebook is not just a sterile medium, but rather, influences the way we communicate with people. This changes the way we communicate outside of Facebook too, and so, the need for a social web alternative to Facebook.

No Kids on Facebook - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg assured European leaders this week that the website is not working towards opening up the platform for users under the age of 13.

Gtrot Uses Facebook for Travel - Gtrot is a new social network using Facebook data to help users navigate traveling by using their itinerary and Facebook profile to help them get advice from fellow travelers.

Facebook Helps Tornado Victims – Facebook Pages to help people in Joplin, Missouri locate missing loved ones have sprung up, attracting thousands of Likes.

Mixpanels Raises $1.25M - Mixpanel, which provides analytics solutions for companies, raised $1.25 million this week from Sequoia Capital and angel investors. The company is going to beef up its engineering team with the funding.

Milyoni Raises $3M – Milyoni, a Facebook commerce company, raised $3 million in Series A funding this week from ATA ventures and Thomvest Ventures, according to a release. The company is set to use the money to enhance social commerce products.

Half Facebook Profiles Contain Incriminating Evidence - Kaplan conducted a survey of third-year law students, finding that 49% of them reported seeing legally compromising material on others’ Facebook profiles.

About Half Profiles Contain Profanity – Reputation management company Reppler did a study, finding that about 47% of profiles contain some type of profanity.

To date, Facebook has taken a slower pace with building up its presence in Washington, D.C. But now it looks like that’s about to change. Privacy issues in particular have given politicians new reason to assert their role in protecting users and controlling industry.

With the hires earlier this week of experienced political staffers Joel Kaplan and Myriah Jordan, the company has connections deep into both parties, in position to dampen new efforts to regulate it. Here’s a quick sketch of the people and the structure of the growing organization. It’s important to note that Facebook is just starting to fill positions around the world, even as it appears to have completed significant hiring already for the US.

“Facebook’s new global policy team will monitor the local political landscape and act as multilingual, TV-friendly communicators in countries and for cultures that, in many cases, have very different values and laws about privacy and personal communications than the U.S.” as the Mercury News described the new effort in a recent article.

The issues aren’t just about privacy, although various pieces of legislation continue to work their way through parts of Congress, and Facebook occasionally continues to get upset letters from politicians. The bigger picture is that the nature of the Facebook product itself provides both a new platform for politicking and alternatives ways for people to organize themselves, that some have attributed to helping people overthrow governments in Tunisia and Egypt, and create unrest elsewhere. The company needs to show individual politicians how they can benefit from it and win them over before the political body finds ways to curb its power and score .

Because it is based in the US, Facebook has to answer most directly to the US government. Hence the operations headquarters location. Yet it has also been aggressively hiring around the world, especially to combat negative attention from governments in India, Brussels and individual European countries that tend to focus on privacy issues, like Germany.

Here’s a quick look at some of the most visible people on Facebook’s current public policy team, including information on their current jobs and backgrounds. Facebook is clearly following the long-standing US tradition of the “revolving door” of leaders going between top positions in government and industry. Note that the list is meant more to illustrate the trend, rather than to provide complete detail on the people and the organization.

Still, Facebook’s overall staffing and spending are dwarfed by more established lobbying groups in DC, whether traditional industries, unions or other causes who may seek legislation that impacts Facebook. It disclosed spending only $6,600 to help kill a California state privacy bill recently, for example, and a total of $230,000 in the first quarter of this year in DC — the latest part of a trend of increased spending.

Executives

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer — While not directly managing public policy, she served as the chief of staff of the US Treasury under Bill Clinton before becoming a business executive at Google.

Elliot Schrage, vice president of global communications, marketing and public policy — Joining Facebook in 2008, he previously served as Google’s vice president of communications and public affairs under the executive who hired him on to Facebook — Sandberg.

Ted Ullyot, vice president and general counsel — Although he’s been an out of private practice over the years before joining Facebook, Ullyot has held a variety of positions in government, including in the White House as a deputy assistant to George W. Bush, and as the chief of staff at the Justice Department.

Public Policy Team

Marne Levine, vice president of global public policy — Came from being the chief of staff to the White House’s National Economic Council, under Lawrence Summers, in the middle of last year. Kaplan and the other offices around the world report to her, via a stint doing business development at Revolution Money. She reports to Schrage.

United States

Joel Kaplan, vice president of US public policy — Rather than going straight into the tech industry after serving as an aid to George W. Bush, and as the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, Kaplan is coming from an industry background. He was the top lobbyist for Texas-based electrical utility Energy Future Holdings. Going by our past coverage of Facebook job openings, it appears the company has been looking to fill this position since September of last year.

Myriah Jordan, congressional relations policy manager — A former Bush aide, who was the “deputy general counsel for the office of the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction,” most recently general counsel for Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina.

Tim Sparapani, director of public policy — In contrast to the centrist Democrat and solidly Republican staffers on the list, Sparapani’s background is as a “privacy hawk” at the ACLU. When he was hired more than two years ago, the move was clearly meant to increase the perception in DC that Facebook cared about privacy. It’s unclear how his role is changing as a result of the other hires.

Catherine Martin, director of public policy — A former top aide to Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, Jordan was hired in February to be the second director of public policy.

Andrew Noyes, Manager, public policy communications — A former political journalist with the National Journal, Noyes moved over to Facebook in late 2009 to handle US press relations for the team.

Adam Conner, Washington office — The first Facebook hire in DC, his efforts have been aimed at education congresspeople about using Facebook.

William Gonzalez, California — An experienced lobbyist in Sacramento, Gonzalez began representing Facebook at the state capitol in June of last year. As of his hiring, he was reporting to Sparapani.

Worldwide

Richard Allan, director of policy, Europe — Having previously served as a member of parliament in the United Kingdom, Allan is now in charge of European and other international public policy.

Open Positions

Just as striking is Facebook’s new effort to hire around the world. Here’s a list of the lobbying and public relations positions it currently has open on its Careers page. The DC opening below is focused on state-level issues.

• Director of Policy (Brussels)
• Director of Policy (Central and Eastern Europe)
• Director of Policy (France)
• Director of Policy (Germany)
• Director of Policy (Italy)
• Director of Policy (Middle East)
• Director of Policy (Scandinavia)
• Director of Policy (Spain)
• Director of Policy (UK & Ireland)
• Director of Safety (Pan-Euro)
• Head of Public Policy – India
• Manager, Communications and Public Policy (Australia & New Zealand)
• Manager, Public Policy (Washington, D.C.)
• Pan-Euro Policy Communications Manager (London)

Positions Filled Since December

• Manager, Policy and Growth – Contract (Vietnam)
• Manager, Public Policy (Washington, DC)
• Associate, Corporate Communications
• Policy & Privacy Manager (Brussels)
• Manager – Privacy and Policy, Europe North (Hamburg or Berlin)
• Manager, Policy Communications
• Manager, Policy – New Delhi

[Image credit: jesse owen/Flickr.]

Facebook IPO “Inevitable” – Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg said this week that a Facebook IPO is “inevitable.” [Image via Facebook]

Facebook, Others Oppose California Privacy Bill – A proposed bill in the California legislature, SB 242 the Social Networking Privacy Act, would change the information that companies like Facebook could provide about users under 18. Facebook and other tech companies submitted a formal letter of opposition in response.

Study: Like Button Gathers User Data – The Wall Street Journal published a story on a report the publication completed on social widgets such as Facebook’s Like button. The report notes that such widgets appear on 20-25% of the 1,000 most-visited sites and that Facebook claims it anonymizes this data, deleting it within 90 days.

Facebook’s Acquisitions Mostly for Talent – A New York Times story scrutinizes Facebook’s acquisitions (a long-running trend that we’ve covered in detail before), specifically looking at whether the company paid too much in some cases. The story notes that the $47 million FriendFeed acquisition cost about $4 million per employee and Drop.io brought in only one employee to the company for several million dollars. The point is talent. Engineers today “are worth half a million to a million” dollars, explained Vaughan Smith in the interview.

Facebook Wants Help Section to Go Viral – Facebook is asking users who visit the site’s Help section to share information about how to avoid malicious script scams. [Image via AllFacebook]

New Technology to Fight Child Porn – Facebook is using the Microsoft-created PhotoDNA program to fight child pornography amongst the 200 million images uploaded to the social network daily.

Eventbrite Raises $50M – Eventbrite, a startup that leverages social networks to sell tickets, raised $50 million in Series E funding this week led by Tiger Global. This brings the total funding for Eventbrite for $79.5 million, and the company said the money is set for domestic and international expansion.

Facebook on GigaOm’s Structure 50 List – GigaOm’s Structure 50 list of companies influencing the cloud includes Facebook, in light of its advances in server and database hardware and software. You can find out more about the Structure conference here.

Jive Facebook Connector Syncs Discussion Forums – Jive Software has launched Jive Facebook Connector to allow Facebook Pages to create a version of the Jive community forum found on their website as a tab application. Comments on either instance of the forum are synced with the other, reducing the need to push users from one online presence to the other, and pulling Facebook content offsite to assist with SEO.

Fan Appz Launches Fan Tabz – Fan Appz launched a new custom tab application, Fan Tabz, this week for $19.95 a month.

Baseball Fans Share Team Love on Facebook - Facebook’s Data Team wrote an interesting blog this week detailing the different ways in which fans share their love for baseball teams on Facebook.

Winklevoss Bros Lose Another Court Move – The Winklevoss brothers, who have been suing Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook for several years, lost a bid to have their case heard again in the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.