Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

News Corp.’s MySpace pulled in 76% of U.S. visits to social networking Web sites in 2007, according to data from Hitwise. Facebook, the nearest social network competitor, pulled in a mere 12.57% of U.S. visits. Still, Facebook, year-over-year, grew by some 50%. (http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/16/despite-facebook-rise-myspace-still-king  1/16)

Google and other search engines may lose advertising dollars to sites such as Facebook, as more businesses shift their marketing focus to social networking. A new report by market experts Experian/Hitwise says that social networks know far more about their users than search sites. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/01/15/bcngoog115.xml  1/16)

Facebook is being asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its Web site by the makers of Scrabble. The Facebook add-on is hugely popular on the social networking site. Lawyers for toy makers Hasbro and Mattel say Scrabulous infringes their copyright. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7191264.stm  1/16)

German Internet entrepreneurs Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer are buying a stake in Facebook. The brothers are expected to become the social networking site’s strategic partners in Europe. The Samwers also hold investments in LinkedIn, among other sites. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/15/breaking-samwer-brothers-invest-in-facebook  1/15)

Scripps is unveiling RedBlueAmerica.com, a social networking site focusing on the 2008 U.S. elections. The ad-supported network aims to serve as a public forum for user-generated content, including blogs and videos. Staff bloggers will moderate the “red” and “blue” sides. (http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/01/14/daily39.html  1/16)

A hungry online video audience offset the holiday traffic slowdown for YouTube, which grew its audience by nearly 9% in December to 68.6 million unique visitors. The video-sharing site’s growth is particularly noteworthy given that Web traffic tends to slow in the final weeks of the year. (http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/01/youtube_audience_grew_9_in_dec.php  1/15)

Mansueto Digital plans to introduce FastCompany.tv in March. The online video network will feature coverage of tech trends and reviews. Popular tech blogger Robert Scoble will serve as the site’s managing director. He will also bring his blog, Scobleizer.com, to Mansueto. (http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/FREE/379002602/1078  1/16)

Cablevision has started offering CA’s Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 for no charge to subscribers of its Optimum Online service. The security technology, which retails for about $70, protects computers against hackers, spyware and spam while enhancing data backup and file transfers. (Multichannel News 1/15)