Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

After years in denial, Redmond has finally decided to stop trying to fight open-source software. In a series of moves announced today aimed at making its products more interoperable with other software and the Web in general, Microsoft is releasing 30,000 pages of documentation for Windows (both desktop and server products) that were previously available to partners only through a trade secret license. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/21/microsoft-sings-a-new-tune%e2%80%94wants-to-play-nice-with-open-source 2/21)

Google is planning to announce the details of its AdSense video ad solution this morning, which serves contextual InVideo overlay ads dynamically to a group of trial programming partners, including entertainment portals Revver, blip.tv and My Damn Channel as well as how-to-video sites BobVila.com and ExpertVillage.com. The system searches metadata embedded within each clip, then serves an appropriate overlay relating to the subject matter or theme. While this may not be the killer application for online video advertising, it should go a long way in helping to monetize goofy user generated video that spreads like wildfire around the web before a sponsor can be premeditatedly attached to it. (http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120356348207882167.html  2/21, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120356207523882041.html  2/21)

Click the logo below for examples of video ad solutions from the Google Adsense product.

News Corp. is said to be continuing its discussions to combine its Internet assets with Yahoo. News Corp. and Yahoo are “still hung up on how to make the merger work without getting Google involved. … It’s possible that at the end of this ordeal we’ll see a combined Yahoo/MySpace.” (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/21/news-corp-yahoo-discussion-continue  2/21)

Facebook is suffering its first ever drop in unique users after 17 months of growth. New figures from Nielsen Online reveal a 5% drop in U.K. numbers between December 2007 and January 2008. Rival social network MySpace also saw a drop, which some blame on the holiday season. (http://www.nma.co.uk/Articles/36983/Facebook+users+fall+over+Christmas.html  2/21)

(Below) Welcome to the con of all that open source.  The environment is fun and interesting to all until one finds themselves subject to tons of unnecessary spam and application requests.  For more on my take on the application burden, click here.

Facebook announced a number of steps today to battle the growing problem of application spam - stuff that is sent from your Facebook friends asking you to try out new services. Generally, applications force users to send these invitations in order to get access to the more interesting features. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/friend-spam-is-the-worst-kind-of-all  2/20)

Bebo’s interactive social networking series Kate Modern will go on the road this week shooting 7 episodes from 3 different locations in the UK as part of a brand integration with Toyota’s Aygo Platinum. The show has attracted over 5 million views during the first two weeks of its second season, according to Bebo.

Viacom’s MTV is allowing the boys of “Jackass” to take over the network for 24 hours straight, starting Saturday at noon ET. The special is intended to drum up interest in the launch of Jackassworld.com, where the “Jackass” gang will take the act full-time with “uncensored” video clips. (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/02/21/2008-02-21_jackass_dislocating_mtv_sked_for_a_day.html  2/21)

Break.com reports that its new action oriented original series What Would Kimbo Do? starring Mixed Martial Artist Kimbo Slice had close to 900,000 views in its first week.

Notice that the end of the video promotes a former Showtime fight featuring Kimbo.  Nice marketing Showtime.  Very well done.

Here’s another alternative to the CPM (cost per thousand impression) model. Video ad network VideoEgg is launching the AdFrames Brand Response Network that charges marketers only if users initiate an ad and spend a set amount of time with it. The AdFrames system distributes video or rich media overlay ads dynamically to a page, widget or online game then considers it activated only after users literally engage with the optional overlay. Meebo and Flixster have already signed on to participate, along with Microsoft in a long-form MS Office commercial starring Amy Sedaris.

Click below for a demo.

Since launching four and half years ago, Skype users have talked to each other for 100 billion minutes, and that is just counting free Skype-to-Skype phone calls. Of course, many of those calls would never have been made if Skype didn’t exists, so you cannot count the entire 100 billion minutes as a loss for the phone companies. But a significant chunk of that has got to be eating away at phone company profits. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/02/20/skype-100-billion-free-phone-calls-and-counting  2/20)png