Facebook to buy Instagram for $1 billion

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook will pay $1 billion in cash and stock for Instagram, a 2-year-old photo-sharing application developer, in its largest-ever acquisition just months before the No. 1 social media website is expected to go public.

The price was stunning for an apps-maker without any significant revenue, even when measured by the lofty standards of Silicon Valley, where startup valuations have soared in recent years. It highlights the rising stakes in the social networking market in which services such as Facebook need to constantly excite consumers with new features and mobile applications.

Facebook could be the next e-commerce giant

San Francisco: Conventional wisdom says there is no F (as in Facebook) in e-commerce.

But some enterprising firms — small-time merchants who would have just signed up with eBay Inc a few years ago — are now enjoying early success on the world’s largest social network.

These e-commerce startups, some backed by major financiers, are betting Facebook can become an e-commerce power to rival Amazon.com Inc and eBay. BeachMint, Yardsellr, Oodle and Fab.com are coming up with novel ways to persuade Facebook users to not just connect with friends on the social network, but to shop as well. an e-commerce power to rival Amazon.com