Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Pundits continue to say that Yahoo is ripe for acquisition. But many analysts see a deal as unlikely. The major media players — Time Warner, News Corp., Viacom — are eager to build out their online media businesses, “but probably not to the tune of $33.5 billion.” (http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/who-on-earth-wo.html  1/2)

Online and DVD-by-mail service Netflix is partnering with LG Electronics to develop a broadband enabled set-top box that will deliver HD movies from the PC to the TV. While similar devices made manufacturers such as Apple and Vudu have failed to catch on, none have had such a large and dedicated subscriber base to market to. Netflix has 7 million subscribers who have collectively watched more than 10 million movies and TV shows via its “Watch Instantly” online feature. The service has cataloged more than 6,000 titles in its streaming library so far. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/technology/03netflix.html?_r=1&ref=media&oref=slogin  1/3, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119932745411164105.html?mod=dist_smartbrief&apl=y&r=403402  1/3)

Online video service CinemaNow announced a major integration effort with Macrovision‘s Connected Platform technology to make video downloads swappable across multiple platforms and devices. The latest effort to try and solve the “last 10 feet” problem of getting video content from the PC to the TV will focus on developing seamless integration between multiple software and hardware solutions. Having CinemaNow as a partner – which distributes content from many of the Hollywood majors – should help Macrovision attract device makers to join the platform in the coming months, according to Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist of Macrovision.

Plaxo, an early social-networking site that helps people keep their address books updated, is said to be up for auction, seeking as much as $100 million. Plaxo, which has been overtaken by rivals like Linked In and Facebook, aggregates data from other social networking sites. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/technology/03plaxo.html  1/3)

Plaxo 3.0 Instructional Video

After months of talk and a few weeks of invitation-only testing, Wikia Search is to open to the general public next week. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says his goal is to let volunteers improve search technology collectively. The new service “won’t dethrone Google — at least not soon.” (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVpozoN4SEv7fIbj-dSXBPinksWAD8TTR2T00  1/2)

Google took a strike at Wikipedia with Knol (still unreleased).  Wikipedia strikes back with Wikia Search.  How I do love a good online death match war.

Today, video Website Veoh.com is adding more videos from traditional TV networks, including NBC (The A-Team, The Office, Heroes), Fox (The Simpsons, Family Guy, 24), the Sci-Fi Channel (Battlestar Galactica), the USA Network (Monk), and FX (Damages). All of this new content comes from Hulu, the NBC-Fox joint venture. CBS content was already on the site through a previous deal, but now all videos from traditional TV networks can be found under a new “TV Shows” tab on its main page today, which replaces the “Series” tab. (Video series can now be found in the “Channels” tab). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/03/veoh-adds-videos-from-hulu  1/3)

Rich Skrenta, co-founder of news aggregator Topix.com, is developing a startup called Blekko, and plans to make a run at the search engine world with it. “Google and its copy-tition were designed 10 years ago,” says Skrenta. “Google was built to index a Web that no longer exists.” (http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/03/topix-co-founder-taking-on-google  1/3)

JPMorgan Internet analyst Imran Khan and his team are releasing a report that paints a bullish picture for the major Internet stocks — Google, Amazon, eBay, and others. Search advertising “will continue to dominate, rising from $22 billion globally last year to $50 billion in 2010.” (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/02/jpmorgan-predicts-2008-will-be-nothing-but-net  1/2)

MTV Networks Music Group says it delivered more than 1.2 billion video streams in 2007 via MTV.com, VH1.com and CMT.com, a 30% increase from 2006. Videos accounted for nearly half of its video streams. Britney Spears’ live performance of “Gimme More” was the most viewed clip.

Freemusiczilla is desktop based software that basically lets you download any song you can stream on the Internet. There are lots of services like it, but none are as easy to use, or work as well, as Freemusiczilla did in Techcrunch’s testing. The software is Windows only. One you’ve downloaded it, any song that plays on a site (MySpace, imeem, Pandora, Last.fm, Skreemr, Seeqpod, etc.) is noted by the program. Click a button and the song is downloaded to your hard drive. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/02/freemusiczilla-best-music-downloader-ive-tested  1/2)

Former rap star MC Hammer is choreographing a new career as co-founder of Menlo Park-based DanceJam.com. The Web site, scheduled to debut in mid-January, will try to upstage YouTube and become the Internet’s hub for sharing and watching dance videos, supported by advertising. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jYc89LbHVlAfFlEBGfmGRexIcj1gD8TTHUBG0  1/2)

Hold on.  Just HOLD on for a second.  This is MC Hammer’s return to fame?  Were all the other D-list celebrity slots taken in reality TV land?  Good look “upstaging” YouTube.

Lifetime Networks and MyLifetime.com are partnering with Paltalk, a video-based community, to produce a show for the social network’s video platform. Titled “Why Hasn’t He Called?,” the series will feature relationship expert Matt Titus and his wife, journalist Tamsen Fadal. (http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=lifetime010208.htm  1/2) 

The U.K. in 2009 will become the first major economy to seeadvertisers spend more on the Internet than on television advertising, according to media buying agency Group M. But this will not mean the demise of TV as a major ad medium: “Most of the growth is coming from search ads.” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/03/advertising.digitalmedia  1/3)

The CBS News blog PublicEye, once described as a “de facto ombudsman,” is ceasing operation. CBS Interactive cut several staff members last month, including Matthew Felling, the editor of the site. A spokesperson says: “We weren’t able to find a sustainable business model.” (http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cbs/cbs_blinks_publiceye_goes_dormant__74075.asp  1/2)