Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Today, Yahoo filed a presentation detailing its three-year financial plan that management gave to its board of directors in December, before Microsoft’s unsolicited bid. Yahoo is projecting revenues after traffic acquisition costs (TAC)—i.e., what it shares with other Websites that run Yahoo ads—to grow from $5.1 billion in 2007 to $8.8 billion in 2010. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/18/yahoos-three-year-plan-grow-revenues-73-percent-by-focusing-on-display-ads-mobile-and-better-search  3/18)

 
Google is “well positioned” in case of a U.S. recession, says CEO Eric Schmidt. “We’re not particularly dependent on any particular one market. There tends to be a flight in a global slowdown to higher quality advertising, and higher quality advertising is determined by what sells.” (Iwantmedia 3/18, http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSSYD17339220080318  3/18)

 
NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker “We’re looking to use online to extend the brands we already have. And then growing mostly organically or with ventures like Hulu where we can distribute our content and make it ubiquitous.” Hulu gives advertisers “a quality environment.” (Iwantmedia 3/18, http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2008/03/17/nbcs-jeff-zucker-on-hulu-joost-internet-tv  3/17)

 
Television ratings should be combined with online video consumption, says Patrick Keane, VP of CBS Interactive. While the Grammys attracted 16.9 million TV viewers — down 15% from the previous year — the show also generated 7.9 million online video streams. (Iwantmedia 3/18, http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=78656  3/18)

 
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman more than doubled the media giant’s digital revenue last year by “managing to create a large enough audience based on aggregate impressions across its 300 Web sites.” (Iwantmedia 3/18, http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=125746  3/17)

 
With millions of people obsessed with picking the winners of the NCAA men’s hoops tournament, sports Web sites that offer bracket games are winning with audiences. ESPN.com, CBS SportsLine.com, Yahoo Sports and Fox Sports are signing up several blue-chip advertisers. (Iwantmedia 3/18, http://www.nypost.com/seven/03172008/business/sports_sites_scoring_big_with_march_madn_102382.htm  3/17)

 
Like its owner Google, YouTube has become an integral part of pop culture: Mariah Carey references the video site in her new single, “Touch My Body.” She sings: “I’d best not catch this flick on YouTube.” Unsurprisingly, the music video has snagged some 3 million views on YouTube. (Iwantmedia 3/18,

http://www.cnbc.com/id/23676004  3/17)

 
Nothing sticks out like a standard def ad sandwiched between HD video content. Video Ad network BrightRoll figures the web is actually better suited to deliver HD video advertising. The company is launching a new unit allowing advertisers to get their messages across on “high def ready” publisher sites. BrightRoll is currently working on a HD campaign with Universal McCann. (Cynopsis Digital 3/18)

 
Top 10 Social Networking Sites for February 2008 (U.S., Home and Work)
Site                  UA (000) Feb-08  UA (000) Feb-07 % Change
Myspace.com           55,419            53,362                4%
Facebook                 20,043             9,923             102%
Classmates Online    12,955            12,815                1%
Windows Live Spaces 7,882               9,253            -15%
LinkedIn                    7,392              1,990            271%
AOL Hometown           6,004             8,907            -33%
Club Penguin              4,727             3,233              46%
Reunion.com              4,323             4,348               -1%
AOL Community          3,337             4,641             -28%
Flixster                       2,619             1,591              65%
Buzznet.com               2,526             1,332              90%
Source: Nielsen Online
 
Top 10 Blogs for February 2008 (U.S., Home and Work)
Site                  UA (000) Feb-08  UA (000) Feb-07 % Change
Blogger                   37,241            23,572                58%
WordPress.com        16,510             5,340               209%
Six Apart TypePad     9,603              9,122                  5%
tmz.com                   8,102              7,932                  2%
TheHuffingtonPost.com3,749            1,098               241%
LiveJournal                3,707             4,225               -12%
Gadling                     3,637                443               721%
Thatsfit                      2,407               820               194%
Xanga.com                 2,196            2,969                -26%
Engadget                    2,114            1,175                 80%
Source: Nielsen Online