Articles of the Day
One In Five Teen Boys Uploads Web Video - From car races to comedy skits, Web videos are now twice as likely to be uploaded by boys than girls, according to the latest findings from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. That finding surprised researchers because teen girls are more active than boys when it comes to most other social media.
Yahoo, Microsoft, Google Settle With Feds For Gambling Ads - Google, Yahoo and Microsoft agreed to pay a total of $31.5 million to settle claims they promoted illegal gambling. None of the companies admitted they broke any laws.
McAfee: Gaming, Airlines Sites Most Likely Typo-Squatter Targets - Web users who misspell the URL of sites they’re trying to navigate to have a one in 14 chance of landing on a site operated by typo-squatters, according to a recent McAfee study. Such sites are often packed with text and display ads–and are typically a source of bad clicks and rising costs for advertisers.
FTC Clears GoogleClick - By a 4-1 vote, the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday finally approved Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of ad-serving giant DoubleClick, nearly eight months after the companies initially agreed to the deal. The commission decided that Google and DoubleClick “are not direct competitors in any relevant antitrust market.”
NetSuite Goes Public - NetSuite, a software venture from Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, goes public today in a Dutch-style initial public offering that could raise nearly $161 million, which would give NetSuite a market value of more than $1.5 billion. The software maker will sell 6.2 million shares, approximately 10 percent of the company. Its target price is $26 per share, which had been raised twice in the lead-up to today’s IPO.
FCC Reveals Auction Bidders - The FCC on Tuesday unveiled the names of those who plan to bid on the 700 MHz spectrum that goes up for auction on January 24. Google was among the 266 companies named, along with big phone companies like AT&Y and Verizon Wireless. Other interesting bidders are Vulcan Spectrum, a company started by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Cablevision, EchoStar and Qualcomm.
Trojan Hijacks Google, Redirects Browsers To Different Ads - In a development that could potentially destabilize Google’s AdSense system, antivirus experts have detected a new Trojan that hijacks Google text ads and replaces them with ads from a different provider. The threat, which was discovered by security software developer BitDefender, was identified as Trojan.Qhost.WU, causes an infected computer’s browser to read ads from a server at a “replacement address” instead of from Google.
GoogleClick Concerns Muted, Industry Execs See It As A Positive - In the aftermath of the Thursday’s Federal Trade Commission approval, online industry insiders all but pooh-poohed lingering monopoly concerns about Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick. Instead, several industry executives said the deal would actually drive innovation and increase the opportunities for all companies involved.
FTC Proposes Online Privacy Principles - The Federal Trade Commission Thursday issued proposed new privacy principles that could lead to significant changes in how Web companies notify consumers about online ad techniques.
IAB Issues Final Guidelines For Rich Media Ad Measurement - The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Thursday issued final guidelines for the measurement of rich media advertising, following a 30-day public comment period.
Top Online Activity Among Kids: Hint, It’s Not Homework - Social networks and online communities may be all the rage with the older set, but when it comes to kids, their No. 1 activity is - surprise - games. Asked by media researcher Mediamark Research & intelligence what activities they did online in the last 30 days, 78.1% of kids ages 6-11 said they played online games, which was more than double the percentage citing the next most common online activity: school/homework.
Apple Closes Rumor Site - Apple, Inc. has forced the close of tech rumor site Think Secret, after the parties agreed to settle out of court. Blog publisher Nick Ciarelli said he was “very satisfied” with the settlement, although he wouldn’t elaborate as to whether the agreement would keep him from reporting on Apple again.
Among Teens, a Content Creation Revolution - Social networking sites are inciting more teens to create content online. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly two-thirds of online teens have created something, from personal Web pages to online videos. The study credits social networks like MySpace and Facebook with furthering the trend. More than half of the survey’s respondents said they have a social networking profile. Other results: 39 percent of online teens said they’ve shared content, up from 33 in 2004. Almost 30 percent have their own online journal or blog, up from 19 percent in 2004, and a whopping 26 percent have remixed content through mashups, up from 19 percent.
The Year in Digital Music - Reuters looks back at the year in digital music. The most visible failure of 2007 was MTV’s Urge, which was replaced with a new entity called Rhapsody America, a partnership with RealNetworks’ popular online music service. Sony Corp. was the other big name to throw in the towel, announcing in August that it would gradually shut down its Connect music service, after laying off 20 employees and moving the rest to a new division.
WGA Lawyer Sees Way Out of Strike - Talks are off until January, but Writers Guild of America attorney Jonathan Handel on Thursday revealed an interesting (albeit complicated) scenario that he believes could put an end to the union’s six-week deadlock with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Meanwhile, L.A.’s economy is losing $220 million a month to the strike.
Ascentium Acquires miller.whiterunkle - Interactive marketing and technology consultancy Ascentium Corp. yesterday announced that it has acquired advertising agency miller.whiterunkle, for an undisclosed amount. The deal deepens Ascentium’s creative, interactive marketing and advertising services and further expands its national presence, said the firm’s president.
SheKnows.com Expands Content Base With LovingYou.com Acquisition - The SheKnows network, focusing on topics such as parenting, health, beauty and celebrities, currently attracts some 5.5 million unique visitors. LovingYou adds marriage and relationships advice, plus a half-million unique visitors.
Kayak Acquires SideStep - Thanks to a massive round of funding from a variety of investors, online travel site Kayak acquired rival SideStep for $200 million. The two-part deal sees Kayak raising an additional $196 million from existing investors Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst Partners and Accel Partners, new investors Oak Investments and Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, and debt lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Gold Hill Capital. Kayak will then use the money to purchase SideStep.
