Articles of the Day
New Yorker Cartoons Available As Animated, Ad-Supported Podcasts - The New Yorker‘s famous cartoons can now be viewed as an animated, ad-supported video podcast on iTunes through RingTales, an online animation syndicator. As part of the deal with the Conde Nast publication (through its cartoon licensing arm, The Cartoon Bank), Santa Monica-based RingTales has the exclusive license to animate and distribute the New Yorker library of over 70,000 cartoons.
Google Will Use Audible Magic Technology For Filtering: Report - The Google-YouTube filter picture just got a little blurrier … after months of insistence by YouTube that it was developing an in-house filtering/anti-piracy solution and continued comments to that effect by Google since it acquired the nascent video-sharing site, the San Jose Mercury News is reporting a hook up with Audible Magic. That’s the Los Gatos company that News Corp. signed with for MySpace digital fingerprinting of audio.
UBS Forecasts Up to 45% Yahoo Revenue Boost From Panama - The launch of the long-delayed Panama search advertising platform could yield up to a 45% increase in 2007 revenue for Yahoo, UBS forecast yesterday. Advertisers, meanwhile, are reporting improved click-through rates.
Marchex Adds Conversion Tracking - Contextual advertising company Marchex has begun offering conversion tracking across two of its ad networks, Enhance Interactive and the Marchex Network. The tracking feature will allow advertisers to track sales, leads, sign-ups, views of specific pages and clicks on designated links across all sites on those networks.
Interpublic Teams With Web 2.0 Firm Spongecell - Interpublic Group has teamed up with Web 2.0 services firm Spongecell, the companies said Thursday. As part of the agreement, Interpublic will have preferred partner status in implementing Spongecell’s solutions for its clients. Interpublic will also obtain a preferred equity share in Spongecell. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Podvertising - As a rule, most widely consumed podcasts still have less than 50,000 downloaders, and most have far fewer, but podcast distribution and viewing mechanisms are proliferating and podcast advertising has marketers buzzing. Even though podcast advertising spending was a mere $3.1 million in 2005, it rose to $80 million in 2006, and eMarketer forecasts that it will grow fivefold in the next five years.
CNNMoney.com Tops In Biz News - With a bevy of business news sites out there, the competition for eyeballs is tight. New data from Nielsen/NetRatings reveals that CNNMoney.com was the most visited business destination of 2006, according to data from the Web research firm’s Financial News and Information category.
Social Network Goes Beyond MySpace - Social-networking startup Stickam seeks to benefit from going where MySpace and other social networks fear to tread: the Webcam. Its strategy is not just about enabling users to send video clips to each other; we’re potentially talking about voyeurism in the extreme, 24/7 real-time video.
Despite Complaints, AOL Expands Email Ad Program - Inevitably, AOL’s move to tack on ads to emails has drawn the ire of AOL Webmail users, according to an AOL spokesperson, who dismissed it as a “smattering” of complaints, saying the Web company plans to continue the practice. AOL began embedding email ads about eight months ago.
Vivendi Games to Buy Wanako Games For Online Downloads - Vivendi Games, the interactive entertainment unit of Vivendi, has bought Santiago, Chile-based Wanako Games, the largest game development studio in Latin America. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition will help VUG’s Sierra Online division grow its development of downloadable online console games…it will retain and Wanako’s team of developers.
Endemol USA Buys Online Animation Site JoeCartoon.com - TV production giant Endemol has done its first U.S. digital acquisition: its U.S. arm has acquired online animation site JoeCartoon.com, reports Variety. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The nine-year-old comedy content creator/site is best known for its 1999 short “Frog in a Blender,” which has been viewed more than 90 million times. The company survived the first boom an bust, partnered with Atom Films for a while but eventually returning to its indie roots.
FIM Acquires Interactive Ad Tech Company Strategic Data Corp. - Fox Interactive Media has made what the company calls its first “major” acquisition since low-profile Peter Levinsohn took over late last year, picking up interactive ad technology firm Strategic Data Corp.. The company’s home page has been turned over to the announcement. No terms disclosed, which makes it hard to gauge just how major it is. The deal is structured as an earn-out, with an upfront payment higher than “the low tens of millions”—make of that what you will—and the ability to be worth north of $100 million if FIM sees the kind of performance jump it expects.
Aegis Buys Brazil’s Top Digital Ad Agency - Global media buyer Aegis Group is buying Brazil’s largest digital ad shop AgenciaClick for $31.1 million in cash. The UK-based media company has also kicked in as many as 3.4 millions new shares of its stock over the next five years, Bloomberg reported. The acquisition is designed to build up Aegis’ Isobar digital-marketing services network.
Social Media Monitoring Firm Cymfony Being Bought By Taylor Nelson Sofres - You’re reading it here first: Cymfony, the social media market intelligence and research firm based out of Watertown, MA, is being bought by UK-based research giant Taylor Nelson Sofres. Not sure on the sale price, but I do know it is in double-digit millions. The company has venture investment from Ascent Venture Partners, Trident Capital and Hearst Interactive, and has raised a total of $24 million in four rounds.
Getty Buys Celebrity Photo Service WireImage For $200 Million - Getty Images, one of the two biggies in the editorial and stock photo has now bought out celebrity photo distributor WireImage‘s parent company for $200 million. The privately owned MediaVast also owns FilmMagic and Contour Photos. Getty said acquiring WireImage would help it share photos of celebrities, events and entertainment, all of which have become digital.
