According to the latest reports, Facebook has picked the technology-heavy NASDAQ exchange for its much-anticipated stock market debut expected next month. Facebook will trade under the symbol 'FB' in a record-setting IPO. Facebook filed to go public in February, and could raise as much as $10 billion in the largest flotation ever by an Internet company. 

According to industry insiders, Google has been spending big sums on TV, magazine and newspaper ads to promote new services, including its Google+ social network and Chrome Web browser. Google's ad-spending as a percentage of revenue is now similar to those of rivals Apple, Microsoft, and Yahoo. According to Kantar Media, Google spent about $213 million to advertise its own products in the U.S. in 2011, nearly quadrupling the $56 million spent in 2010.

In hopes of boosting revenue from digital subscriptions, the New York Times has cut the number of articles that readers can get online for free in half. Starting in April, the Times will allow 10 free articles per month, down from the 20-article limit set when the Times introduced its digital paid model a year ago. Readers who want additional access will have to sign up for a digital subscription package. 

Google has announced that its search engine will be making some changes. Even though Google has more than half of the world’s online inquiries fed into its system, the company says it aims to improve their search feature for its millions of users. With the changes, the search engine will be able to answer questions as opposed to merely returning queries based on keywords.

Intel is developing an Internet-based TV service for consumers and has been promoting it with media companies. According to the Wall Street Journal,  the world's leading chipmaker plans to create a "virtual cable operator" that would offer TV channels in a bundle via the Internet and an Intel set-top box. The chipmaker reportedly told its potential partners it wants to start the service before the end of the year. 

Facebook will set a target of raising $5 billion in papers to be filed on Wednesday for an initial public offering. The New York Times and International Financing Review said $5 billion is only a preliminary target, and the final size could be larger. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook would seek to raise $10 billion at a valuation of $75 billion to $100 billion. At $5 billion, it would be the largest IPO ever by an Internet company, topping Google's in 2004 which raised $1.9 billion and valued the company at $23 billion.

Facebook is expected to file its IPO this week, which could set several records if the company is valued at $75bn- $100bn. A $10 billion Facebook offering would rank fourth among IPOs for U.S. companies, behind Visa Inc., General Motors Co. and AT&T Wireless.  It would also rank Facebook as the biggest U.S. Internet offering ever, replacing Google Inc., which raised $1.9 billion in 2004 at a $23 billion valuation. At a $100 billion valuation, Facebook would be worth about the same as McDonald's Corp.

According to ComScore's 'Its a Social World' Report, Social networking has become the world’s most popular online activity. According to the report, social networking sites now reach 82% of the world’s online population, representing 1.2 billion users around the world. According to the study, Social Networking ranked as the most popular content category in worldwide engagement, accounting for 19% of all time spent online.

According to industry insiders, Facebook is set to roll out its IPO next year . The company is said to be targeting 2012's second business quater for its shares to go public. According to Bloomberg, Facebook is currently considering a $10 billion Initial Public Offering valued at more than $100 billion.

According to the head of Samsung's TV division, Samsung Electronics is in last-stage talks with Google to launch a television with Google TV software . Yoon Boo-keun said the company plans to unveil its Google TV by next year. He added that Samsung's Google TV would differ from its competitors' versions. Google TV currently comes built-in on certain Sony Corp. television models and on Logitech International set-top boxes. Google TV allows consumers to access online videos, websites, specialised apps, and video games on their televisions.