business & innovation

Always a fan of a tasty infographic and this morsel from Online MBA doesn't dissappoint, featuring a breakdown of the top-line numbers behind the daily deal giants: Groupon, LivingSocial and new entrants Facebook and Google. Amazon's announcement that it's entering the fray is too new to be included.

The figures put Groupon's eyewatering valuation in perspective: revenue of $100m, valuation of $6bn and plenty of red ink. Is there a touch of snake oil amongst the current offerings? Kevin Kelleher blogging at CNN Money seems to think so:

Following a discussion on the UK-Netmarketing discussion list, we noticed that many companies are on the hunt for interns.  We're big fans of internship / placement programmes and decided to help both companies and prospective interns by collating a Digital Internship / Placement list.

We'll be keeping this list updated as and when internships are submitted.  If you'd like to add your internship to the list, please fill out the form here.

• Neoco: Soho, 4wks - Aug
• Redberry Digital: Henley-on-Thames, 3mnths - July
• Market Sentinel: Kennington, 1 - 3 mnths - July
• Community Infopoint: Kent, Home-based, July - Aug
• ArtLyst: Home-based over Skype,12 wks - Jun/Jul
• Splendid Comms: Shoreditch, 2 - 3 mnths
• HipSnip: Shoreditch, 3 - 6 mnths
• InDigital: Farringdon, ASAP for 12 wks
• The Martingale IT: Amersham, Now for 5 mnths
• Mobitto: Madrid, 3 mnths - 20.6.11
• Thin Martian: Shoreditch, 2 - 3 mnths - July
• Visibility IQ: Covent Garden, approx 3 mnths - July
• The House: Camden, 1 - 3 mnths - Aug
• TVguide.co.uk: Covent Garden, 12 wks - July
• Taylor James: Shoreditch, 12 wks - July
• Belron International: Surrey, 6wks
• Decibel: Covent Garden, 3mnths rolling
• Seven: Farringdon, 4wks - 13.6.11

Last week, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) published guidance on changes to the laws on using cookies that will affect tens of thousands of business owners.

The new law applies to all EU websites and requires website owners to get a user's consent before cookies are saved onto a device. First,  bit of background...

Facebook this. Facebook that. Facebook blah blah blah. In digital circles that's all anyone seems to talk about these days. Over 500 million people can't be wrong? Or can they? The picture isn't quite as black and white, or should that be blue and white?

PR giant Edelman recently published two social media maps looking at social networks and social media consumption across Europe and Asia along with an analysis of the most popular social networks and online usage.

At first glance Facebook is dominant, with the majority of online time spent on social networks or consuming video, with Zuck's giant dominating the European scene. From the research:

It's that time of year - graduates are coming to the end of their university lives and school leavers are completing their final exams.  It's the perfect time to hire a fantastic intern - and we've noticed that many companies are already on the hunt.

We're big fans of intern programmes at Chinwag and have had a few successful candidates pass through Chinwag Towers.  We've recently seen such a strong interest, we've decided to gather the information together and summarise in a blog post, or something more industrial, if necessary.

Last week we promised you some exciting news about the up and coming trip to Washington and we would hate to disappoint.

Just in case the top 10 reasons to head over to DC weren’t enough, we’re excited and delighted to announce a stellar line-up of partners for the Digital Mission to DC, including the US Department of State and a range of federal government agencies, Blue State Digital, the State of Maryland, Microsoft and Deloitte.

Along with our partners, Future Gov, Bright Lemon and Kathryn Corrick we have been working away to secure some of the most influential organisations and government departments for July’s mission visiting the US capital from 11-15th July. Applications close on 10th June, with a limited number of spots available.

We've recently announced some brilliant competitions and offers exclusively for friends of Chinwag from: Social Media Results, Digital Content Monetization, Cloud Computing World Forum, Activate 2011 and GameHorizon.

We've gathered together a brief summary of all the offers and competitions we currently have on offer. Take a look through, and remember, you have to be in it to win it!

Brought to you by the Guardian newspaper, the Activate Summit 2011 will be taking place Wednesday 22nd June at Kings Place, London. 

Now in its third year, the Activate Summit is the Guardian's gathering place for leaders of a new global network focused on harnessing and employing technological and social innovation for human betterment.

We're delighted the organisers have offered two lucky Chinwaggers the chance to win a free conference ticket worth £595.00.

Digital Content Monetization West 2011 is taking place 21st and 22nd June in Los Angeles, California.

The conference brings together the most senior strategists and decision-makers in Games, Film, Sports, TV, Publishing, News and Music to help you sort out the best short and medium term strategies for delivering revenue through digital content.