Articles of Day
PE Investment En Route For NBCU-NWS NewCo? - We’ve been told that the NBCU-News Corp. JV variously known as NewCo and NewSite is in discussions with private equity firms about selling as much as a 10 percent stake in the video distribution enterprise slated to launch this summer. The goal would be $100 million for a valuation of $1 billion. I’m getting a “no comment” from NBCU on this, which could be interpreted any number of ways.
Interpublic’s Digital Makeover: Repopulates Senior Team, Struggles To Replenish Younger Talent - Interpublic Group has been quietly repopulating itself with a management team steeped in digital media as part of a repositioning of its marketing and media services that is finally beginning to pay off.
Relevance, Measurement Key To Email Industry Health - In a world of phishers, spammers and tension with ISPs over deliverability, the state of the email marketing industry is mixed. But marketers need look no further than their own practices to begin to change that.
Video Ads Generate Highest European Click-Throughs; Overall Rates Down - According to an analysis by ADTECH AG, video ads generate the highest click-through rates in Europe, amidst declining click-through rates overall.
More Retail E-Mail, But Delivery, Open And Click-Through Rates Lag - Internet Retailer reports that even though pay-per-click advertising and social networking are gaining status in retail marketing circles, E-mail remains one of the best one-on-one marketing tools retailers can use to attract and retain customers. The Internet Retailer latest monthly survey finds that merchants are expanding both the size and scope of their e-mail programs. The April survey of all subscribers of IRNewsLink, analyzed by Vovici Corp. finds that, of the 302 merchants taking part in the survey, 94.5% are building bigger opt-in lists and 64.7% are conducting more e-mail campaigns than a year ago.
Social Network Marketing - eMarketer estimates that companies will spend $900 million in the US — and $330 million outside the US — on social network advertising this year. The lead players, MySpace and Facebook, will continue to perform strongly, accounting for 72% of all US revenue in the category, and with hundreds of new social networking ventures coming online, the intense activity in the space will continue into 2008 and beyond.
Facebook Adds Free Classifieds - Social networking Web site Facebook today will introduce Marketplace, a free classified ads service to compete with similar listings on Craiglist — and, as of this week, Facebook rival Friendster. Facebook members will be able to advertise offerings in four categories: housing; jobs; for sale, for items like concert tickets; and “other,” which would include things like solicitations for rides.
What’s Next For Yahoo? - Yahoo Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Semel has the backing of company board members to continue Yahoo’s “transformation” into a more competitive rival against Google. The picture painted on Wall Street, however, is that Semel has been one step behind the behemoth, out-Googled on potential acquisitions that would have narrowed the gap between Yahoo and Google.
MySpace Acquiring Photobucket; Pricing Around $250 Million - We have confirmed it through a reliable source and the deal has happened. The pricing is in the $250 million range in cash, though there might be a performance-based cash component for the next two years as well, from what we hear. This means the pricing came in close to the lower end of what the company and the bankers were expecting.
Liberty Media Buying Control In Outdoor Sports E-Commerce Network Backcountry - Cable operator Liberty Media hopes to enhance its web strategy with the purchase of “controlling stake” (not sure if that means fully or majority stake) e-commerce network Backcountry.com, which runs a series of sites focused on the sports and the outdoors. Liberty hopes to ally Backcountry with its TV and other e-commerce sites. Financial terms were not released.
About.com Buys Reviews Site ConsumerSearch.com For $33 Million - About.com has been making small, strategic acquisitions over the last year: now it has bought ConsumerSearch.com, a product meta-reviews site, for $33 million in cash. The site focused on consumer products in 250 categories, ranging from digital cameras to snow blowers. The site generated 25 million page views in Q1, with 3 million unique monthly visitors, the company said.
Card Industry News/Info Site CardWeb.com Bought - CardWeb.com, a news and info service aimed at credit card, debit card and payment card executives, has been bought by Radcliffe Sherman LLC. CardWeb.com launched its daily online news service for the payment card industry in 1995. Radcliffe is a privately-held company headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida.
Microsoft Buys Minority Stake In CareerBuilder; Four Percent Could Be Worth $60M-$70M - It’s not as big as last week’s short-lived rumor about a merger with Yahoo, but Microsoft has in fact purchased a minority equity stake in jobs-site CareerBuilder.com. Microsoft becomes the first non-newspaper co-owner of Careerbuilder, joining its other parents Gannett, Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company. Terms were not disclosed.
SonicMountain Buys Podcast Aggregator Odeo - Digital hosting company SonicMountain has acquired podcast aggregator Odeo. The company had been looking for a buyer since February. Odeo’s parent Obvious said in an earlier blog post that it was unable to devote enough focus to developing the podcast venture since it was consumed by the takeoff of its widget product Twitter.
