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With the Facebook initial public offering (IPO) now official, industry and financial analysts say that a huge influx of cash could enable the social networking company to topple Google from its dominant position in the online world.

Facebook had been expected to file its IPO papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week, and it did just that late Wednesday afternoon. Analysts and potential investors were eagerly awaiting what is one of the largest IPOs in recent years.

With an expected valuation of $100 billion, financial analysts say the IPO is worth about $5 billion. That's a big potential war chest for a company that has been fighting for social networking users and advertising dollars with the largest Internet company on Earth -- Google.

Given the popularity of its search engine, along with services and products like Google Maps, Android, and Chrome, Google obviously is no slouch: It has 32,000 employees around the world and $37.86 billion in annual revenue. That's $1.166 million per employee in revenue.

But Facebook, with just 3000 employees, pulls in $3.8 billion in revenue; that's $1.8 million in revenue per employee.

"Facebook has 800 million users," noted Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. "How many companies have 800 million anything? The thing that's interesting is that Facebook is profitable and solidly profitable. And an IPO is a huge step for any company, but it's the validation for Facebook, their business and their social networking model."

Facebook and Google are increasingly in each other's wheel house.

Just this past year, Google launched Google+, its own social network and a new direct competitor to Facebook. (Just last week it made Google+ more available to teens, another move to broaden its appeal.) And Google CEO Larry Page has said he plans to integrate Google+ social features into the company's wide range of services and products.

With a lot of new cash, Facebook could make a lot of moves. Olds wonders whether Facebook would try to buy Yahoo, which has been struggling, or even Twitter.

And both Olds and Scott Sweet, a senior managing partner with IPO Boutique, said Facebook could use the money to hire more employees and acquire other Internet companies. Theey also pointed out that Facebook could use the cash to find partners and set up operations in China, which could dramatically increase an already immense user base.

It would take some time -- and Facebook would have to successfully pull off some big moves -- but it could one day dominate Google, according to Sweet. "I do believe that anything is possible with Facebook," he added.

Unseating Google would be no easy feat, though.

First off, according to Olds, the companies are not substitutes for each other. Google is the basis for most searches. Facebook is the basis for most social connections.

And while a profitable IPO would make Facebook stronger, Google is still substantially larger.

"It gives Facebook a ... war chest," said Olds. "Google, though, has $45 billion in cash and short-term investments. That's a really big war chest. Even with this influx of cash, Facebook still can't play in Google's league in terms of cash."

Mark Siegel, a managing director with Menlo Ventures LLC, said Google came along to surpass Microsoft as the biggest tech company. And now Facebook is poised to take the lead from Google.

"Facebook is potentially the platform company for the next 10 years," said Siegel. "I absolutely think this is a scary event for Google. Will it make [Facebook] dominant over Google? Well, Facebook already does dominate Google in terms of social networking. This will enable Facebook to compete with Google in a lot of areas."

Could Facebook push past Google?

"Well, this certainly enables Facebook to move in that direction," said Siegel.

For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2011 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.

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Will Facebook's IPO Help it Beat Google?

Houston: Facebook, the world's most popular social networking site, has turned eight.

With an estimated 845 million active subscribers, the social networking giant still continues to grow, since its launch on February 4, 2004 and is most likely to have 1 billion users by August this year.

While, the company CEO Mark Zuckerberg is best known as the man who built Facebook, the company has three other co-founders, all college roommates and fellow students of Harvard University; Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.

The four initially built the service exclusively for Harvard students, but it was soon expanded to other colleges and eventually added support for students at various other universities.

Initially before its public launch, it was called 'thefacebook.com'. However, on 4th February 2008, Zukerberg renamed to domain name and launched what we know today as 'Facebook'.

Facebook has not only put Mark Zukerberg in the list of top and youngest millionaires but also helped a lot of start ups, non profits and other companies grow, interact and increase sales.

In January 2009, Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social networking service by worldwide monthly active users.

Quantcast estimates Facebook has 138.9 million monthly unique US visitors in May 2011.

According to Social Media Today, in April 2010 an estimated 41.6 per cent of the US population had a Facebook account.

In India, Facebook has registered a growth of 132 per cent this year, which is higher than many other countries.

In some countries, such as Turkey or Chile, up to 80 per cent of Internet users are registered with Facebook. The Russian Facebook audience exceeds 5 million people.

However, company's market growth has started to stall in some regions, with the site losing 7 million active users in the United States and Canada in May 2011.

The company has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on February 1, 2012.

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Social networking king Facebook turns eight

SUNDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- More than 60 percent of American teens have at least one profile on a social networking site, and many spend more than two hours a day on social networking sites, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Like many activities, social networking sites offer both opportunities and risks for teens, and parents need to help their children use these sites wisely, the academy advises.

Potential benefits include: staying connected with friends; developing new social contacts with peers who have similar interests; sharing self-expression such as music, artwork and political views; and development and expression of individual identity.

Possible risks include: cyberbullying; sharing too much personal information; vulnerability to predatory adults; regrets about sharing certain photos or videos; exposure to large amounts of marketing that may not be age-appropriate; identity theft and reduced physical activity.

Parents can help children use social networking sites safely and appropriately and should have an open discussion with their children about the topic, the academy advised in a news release. Parents should suggest that children:

Restrict access to their page to keep control of their information. Keep their full name, address, telephone number, social security number and bank or credit card number to themselves. Post only information/photos/videos they are comfortable with everyone seeing. Talk to their parents before considering a face-to-face meeting with anyone they meet online and consider the potential risks of such meetings.

Parents need to establish rules about the use of social networking sites, how Internet usage will be monitored, and what happens if usage interferes with family time or other social activities, the academy suggests.

More information

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation offers a parent's guide to Internet safety.

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Safe Social Networking Tips for Teens

31-01-2012 15:45 What the social media giant and investors can learn from the initial public offerings of Groupon, Zynga and others. Forbes Markets: http://www.forbes.com Exile On Wall Street: blogs.forbes.com

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Facebook's Road To IPO - Video

15-10-2011 20:47 Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss recent news that the Federal Reserve will now be monitoring social media for opinions on the job their doing. Tell us what you think of the Fed monitoring the web to see what the public reaction is in the comment section below. The Largest Online New Show in the World. Google+: http://www.gplus.to Facebook: http://www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com Support TYT for FREE: bit.ly

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Federal Reserve Spying Through Social Media - Video