Here are a few of the top stories in which eMarketer data and analysis were featured during the past week or so:

The Wall Street Journal – Facebook Sets Historic IPO
Facebook Inc. filed for an initial public offering Wednesday that could value the social network between $75 billion and $100 billion, putting the company on track for one of the biggest U.S. stock-market debuts of all time. Read more.

The Wall Street Journal – Advertisers’ Free Ride May End on Facebook
When the social network filed for its initial public offering on Wednesday, the spotlight shifted from the site’s exponential user growth to a metric that may have more bearing on its market value: ad sales. Read more.

The Wall Street Journal – Facebook Pads Its Lead Over Yahoo in Online Display Ads With 28% of Market
Facebook Inc. is widening its lead in the online display-advertising market, just days ahead of an expected filing for an initial public offering. Read more.

The Wall Street Journal – Changes Weighing on AOL
AOL Inc. reported a 66% decline in fourth-quarter profit as lower subscription revenue, higher costs and tax provisions more than offset improved advertising sales. Read more.

The Financial Times – A New Page Opens for Facebook
Facebook is so far succeeding in convincing advertisers that the social network is a place they must be. In the past year, it overtook Yahoo to become number one in online display advertising revenues, taking 16.3 per cent of the market, says EMarketer, a research firm. Read more.

The Financial Times – Investors Seek Things to Like On Facebook
A solid online advertising business – though not quite the juggernaut that some had hoped – and with key questions still hanging over the value of “social” and mobile advertising to the world’s big consumer brands. Read more.

The Financial Times – Tech News From Around the Web
Twitter‘s global advertising revenues are forecast to grow to $540m by 2014, according to eMarketer, up from a projected $260m this year. However, Twitter’s chief executive, Dick Costolo, indicated at a US conference this week that he was in no hurry to take the company public. Read more.

National Public Radio – Facebook IPO: Worth the Price or Next Internet Bubble?
Many investors are expecting Facebook to file papers for an initial public offering sometime later this week. The company, which was founded in a Harvard dorm room less than a decade ago, is expected to be valued at nearly $100 billion by Wall Street. Read more.

National Public Radio – Will Facebook’s Shares Be Worth the Price?
Facebook’s IPO could value the company at up to $100 billion. That would make it a very expensive stock for a company whose earnings are strong but not stratospheric. Investors who take the plunge will be making a wager that Facebook can capture a very large share of the advertising market. Read more.

CNN – Is Facebook Worth $100 Billion?
A long list of tech IPOs captured attention in 2011, but no company has been drooled over like Facebook. And finally, its debut looks to be imminent. Read more.

Bloomberg Business – Facebook’s Epic Offering by the Numbers
The ranks of the One Percent are about to get bigger. Facebook is seeking to raise $5 billion in one of the tech world’s most anticipated initial public offerings, according to a Feb. 1 regulatory filing. Read more.

The Associated Press – Facebook IPO Could Value It Among Top Companies
When Facebook makes its long-expected debut as a public company this spring, the social-networking company will likely vault into the ranks of the largest public companies in the world, alongside McDonald’s, Amazon.com and Bank of America. Read more.

The Associated Press – Status Update: Facebook to Go Public, Raise $5B
Facebook made a much-anticipated status update Wednesday: The Internet social network is going public eight years after its computer-hacking CEO Mark Zuckerberg started the service at Harvard University. Read more.

USA Today – Is $100B Valuation Too Heady for Facebook?
The social-networking giant is poised to file for an initial public offering as early as this week. The IPO could raise $10 billion and make Facebook, on paper, as valuable as McDonald’s, with a market value of $100 billion. That would rank Facebook 26th on the S&P 500. Read more.

USA Today – Facebook IPO Filing Puts High Value on Social Network
Facebook on Wednesday filed to go public and raise $5 billion in what could be the largest-ever Internet IPO. Read more.

Advertising Age – Facebook Files for IPO; Reveals $1 Billion in 2011 Profit
Facebook lifted the veil on its financials in its filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing $1 billion in 2011 profits and robust growing revenue streams that are becoming gradually less reliant on advertising as the company grows its “Payments” business. Read more.

Bloomberg – Twitter Global Expansion Increases Sales, Censorship Challenges
Twitter Inc.’s international expansion may help fuel a threefold gain in revenue, even as it raises censorship challenges for the microblogging service. Read more.

Bloomberg – Facebook May Be More Expensive Than Google
Facebook Inc. may command a valuation more than five times higher than Google (GOOG) Inc. as it seeks to raise $5 billion in the world’s largest initial public offering of an Internet company. Read more.

Bloomberg – Facebook Building Lead in U.S. Display Ads, ComScore Says
Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social-networking service, accounted for 28 percent of U.S. online display-advertising impressions in 2011, expanding its lead in the industry, ComScore Inc. (SCOR) said. Read more.

Reuters – Facebook’s Zuckerberg To Keep Iron Grip After IPO
Facebook unveiled plans for the biggest ever Internet IPO that could raise as much as $10 billion, but made it clear CEO Mark Zuckerberg will exercise almost complete control over the company, leaving investors with little say. Read more.

Forbes – Four Ways Big Media Can Survive In The Tablet Era
Tablets are the new PC. No question. A new survey released by the Pew Research Center reports that 29% of all U.S. adults already own a tablet or e-reader, thanks to a massive holiday gift-giving push. At this pace we should see a majority of American adults owning tablet devices by the end of 2012. Read more.

Forbes – Why Are Twitter’s Revenues So Puny? Time to Grow Up
With all the commotion about Facebook’s (FB) planned IPO filing tomorrow, you might have missed another study that came out yesterday from some outfit called eMarketer saying that Twitter’s revenues were going to “hit” $540 million in 2014. Read more.

Los Angeles Times – Investors Aren’t All Sold on Facebook IPO
Facebook Inc. has opened its books to eager investors, but some don’t like what they see. Read more.

Here are a few of the top stories in which eMarketer data and analysis were featured during the past week or so:

The Wall Street Journal – Yahoo’s Board Games Risk Shareholder War
Silver Lake may be the yin to Yahoo’s Jerry Yang, but shareholders should at least get a say in the matter. The Internet giant is not-so-giant anymore. Its business, not to mention its stock, have been depressed for years as rivals Facebook and Google have leaped ahead in online advertising. Read more.

The Wall Street Journal – The $100 Billion Question That Looms for Facebook Fans
As initial valuations go, $100 billion is a big number to ask. But at least Facebook has a business model to buy into. Read more.

The New York Times – ‘Ford’ of Tech Companies, AOL, Must Keep Innovating, C.E.O. Says
Analysts at the research firm eMarketer estimated that AOL’s portion of display revenue in the United States would decline to 4.2 percent this year, from 4.8 percent in 2010. At the same time, AOL subscriptions have sagged. Read more.

Agence France Presse – “Cyber Monday” sizzles with US online shopping
“Overall, it is certainly shaping up to be a good season,” said eMarketer principal analyst Jeffrey Grau. “E-commerce is sort of reshaping the holiday shopping landscape.” Read more.

Associated Press – Twitter simplifies in bid to engage more users
The research firm eMarketer estimates that Twitter’s ad revenue will approach $140 million this year and rise to $260 million next year. As a privately held company, Twitter doesn’t disclose its revenue. Read more.

Reuters – Amazon’s advertising push gains steam
Amazon.com Inc is known as the world’s largest online retailer, but the company is aggressively expanding in online advertising, putting it on course for a clash with Google Inc, the leader in the space. Read more.

Bloomberg – Google’s AdMeld Deal to Clear U.S. Antitrust
Google Inc.’s $400 million acquisition of AdMeld Inc. has been recommended for antitrust approval by U.S. Justice Department staff attorneys, two people familiar with the matter said. Read more.

Advertising Age – Twitter Launches Self-Serve Ad Platform With Small Group
Twitter began the roll-out of its long-awaited self-serve ad platform with electronic payments enabled — a cornerstone of its revenue model — in mid-November with a group of fewer than 20 advertisers. Read more.

MediaPost – M-Commerce To Hit $6.7B In 2011
Mobile commerce will nearly double to $6.7 billion this year — fueled by rising smartphone adoption and growing mobile Web use, according to a new eMarketer forecast. Read more.

According to eMarketer data from January through June, Facebook’s share of US online display ad revenues will grow to 17.7% in 2011, up from a 12.2% share last year. Facebook is expected to see $978 million in additional display revenues in 2011—more than display revenues will grow this year at Yahoo!, AOL, Microsoft and Google combined.

US display advertising revenues at Google will top $1 billion for the first time in 2011, as the company’s share of overall US display revenues grows to 9.3%, eMarketer estimates. That’s up from an 8.6% share in 2010, when Google’s US display revenues grew an estimated 140.5% to $855 million.

See more of eMarketer’s coverage on US display advertising revenues at top ad-selling companies.

In light of Carol Bartz’ exit from Yahoo!, here’s a brief look at ad revenues at the top five ad-selling companies:

Google’s projected $16.53 billion net US ad revenues in 2012 will be about 60% greater than the other four companies combined. Those deep financial reserves, which Google is using to expand its display and mobile ad offerings, suggest how the “Google vs. Facebook” war that’s often hyped in the media is still not much of a contest.

Yahoo! will continue to be a distant second to Google in total net US ad revenues. While eMarketer doesn’t have company forecasts beyond 2012, Facebook will likely pass Yahoo! in the next two or three years.

A complete report, US Online Ad Spending: The Floodgates Are Open, is available for eMarketer Total Access subscribers. Learn more.

Facebook’s share of US online display ad revenues will grow to 17.7 percent in 2011, up from a 12.2 percent share last year, according to eMarketer.

US display advertising revenues at Google will top $1 billion for the first time in 2011, as the company’s share of overall US display revenues grows to 9.3 percent.

For more of eMarketer’s insights and analysis on the display ad competition, click here.