Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Google is posting a first-quarter profit that soundly beats Wall Street’s estimates, driven by strong global sales. Many on Wall Street had expected a weaker report due to fears that the slowing economy was weighing on sales. Google’s net income rose 30% to $1.31 billion. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/17/news/companies/google_earnings/index.htm 4/17)

Yahoo hopes the threat of a search deal with Google and the prospect of strong first-quarter earnings next week will force Microsoft to raise its offer before going fully hostile. Microsoft insiders expect Yahoo to somehow beef up its earnings to defend itself against a takeover. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://www.nypost.com/seven/04182008/business/yahoo__sets_up_msoft_defense_107043.htm 4/18)

Yesterday, Yahoo made a significant change to its advertising bidding system by removing the minimum bid for sponsored search keywords. The minimum bid used to be $0.10 per keyword. Now, the minimum bid will be set more dynamically based on two factors: the quality of the advertiser and the value of the keyword. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/18/yahoo-tweaks-its-advertising-algorithm 4/18)

“88 Minutes,” a thriller starring Al Pacino, opens in theaters on Friday. But that hasn’t stopped SurfTheChannel.com from already playing it 51,000 times. SurfTheChannel, which uses an Internet service to hide its location, is seen as “the beginning of what happened to the music industry.” (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aMUkXLjdEcfI 4/18)

A year ago Wednesday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt promised to roll out a system that would mean the end of piracy at YouTube. Today, the video-sharing site’s filtering technology is nowhere near perfect. Countless clips from feature films and TV shows continue to be available. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9921916-7.html 4/18)

NBC Universal became the latest TV studio to unveil a purely digital production outfit. Based in Burbank and led by VP Cameron Death, the NBC Universal Digital Studio formed a flagship strategic partnership with OMG Digital to line up sponsors for its shows right out of the gate. Multiplatform Sci Fi conspiracy series Gemini Division will be the studio’s first release coming this summer, developed with Sony Pictures Television International. It stars Rosario Dawson as a New York City cop who uncovers an underworld of “genetically fabricated life forms,” produced with Electric Farm Entertainment (the team behind Afterworld.) Woke Up Dead, also from Electric Farm, is the studio’s next project about a college student who wakes up one day as a zombie. NBC Universal Digital Studio retains domestic distribution rights for both series while SPTI retains all international rights including television, theatrical and DVD releases, internet, digital sell-through, gaming and mobile rights.  (Cynopsis 4/18, http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6552456.html 4/17)

Gemini Division

While most networks are hastening to get their shows up online as quickly as possible, The CW has decided to discontinue streaming for the final 5 episodes of Gossip Girl, returning on Monday at 8 pm ET. The CW promises past episodes and other exclusive content around the show will still be available, including contests, trailers and character-based widgets. (Cynopsis 4/18, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gossip18apr18,1,1364751.story 4/18)

Yah. . .I don’t get it either.

Gossip Girl

YouTube figured prominently in Hulu CEO Jason Kilar’s presentation at the National Association of Broadcasters conference. Kilar displayed the video-sharing site to illustrate how unauthorized clips aren’t good for content owners. His message: Hulu is a better video host than YouTube. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9921354-7.html 4/17)

I personally applaud Kilar for having the intelligence to include Felicity in his presentation.

Universal’s Blu-ray announcement comes on the back of a new study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman suggesting studios can wrangle $7-$9 for high def VOD and online day-and-date rentals, $4 more than the current going rate. The study suggests consumers are also willing to pay up to $5 more for digital ownership with interoperability and storage issues worked out. The firm sees HD VOD and online rentals as a $5 billion growth opportunity overall. (Cynopsis 4/18)

Silicon Valley high-tech entrepreneurs at an off-site hearing told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that there needed to be more oversight of phone and cable companies. None of the largest ISPs — Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner — attended the hearing. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041704136.html 4/18)

AOL plans to launch a new women’s lifestyle site skewing toward a younger demographic than its existing AOL Living property. The new site is part of a broader plan by AOL to launch a dozen niche sites by August. Yahoo recently launched its own women’s portal, Yahoo Shine. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=80916 4/18)

Music blogs are finding partners in Universal Music and print magazines like Fader and Paste. Rcrd Lbl, an advertising-supported indie music downloading site from Engadget founder Peter Rojas, is partnering with music mag Fader, with clients such as Puma and Virgin America in tow. (Iwantmedia 4/18,   http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=126499 4/17)

I recommend Bishop Allen’s clickclickclickclick for a spring day with a glass of Sangria in hand.

Rumors about the acquisition of Farecast are accurate – in a very brief blog post CEO Hugh Crean says they’ve been acquired by Microsoft.  SeattlePI, which first broke the rumor last week, says the price tag was $115 million. While the two companies are an understandable fit given their proximity and partnership over MSN Travel, SeattlePI reports that Farecast entertained multiple offers before accepting Microsoft’s. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/17/microsoft-acquires-farecast-for-115m 4/17)

(Below) I fully support anyone who wants to pay me more.

Bloggers tend to be young, have a lower income and are better educated than the general population, says a survey by BIGresearch. They also use most forms of new media more than the average market. Conventional media often trigger bloggers’ Internet searches, led by magazines. (Iwantmedia 4/18,  http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1686 4/18)

As if Blockbuster didn’t have enough problems trying to justify its existence by making an ill-conceived buyout offer for Circuit City. Now, it is being sued for privacy violations related to its Beacon ads on Facebook. The plaintiff is a woman in Texas, who is suing under that law and seeking class-action status. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/17/first-facebook-beacon-lawsuit-hits-blockbuster 4/17)

Facebook nearly doubled its U.S. unique user base in the last year, according to the latest social networking metrics from Nielsen Online, increasing from 12.6 to 24.9 million users. The site still trails MySpace by a wide margin, however, which registered over 60 million uniques in March. (Cynopsis 4/18)

Top 10 Social Networking Sites for March 2008 (U.S., Home and Work)
Site                     Unique Audience    Unique Audience   %
(000) Mar-08       (000) Mar-07    Change

MySpace.com             60,398           55,937             8%
Facebook                   24,940           12,622             98%
Classmates Online      13,599           12,991             5%
LinkedIn                      7,877             1,878          319%
Windows Live Spaces    7,852             9,076          -13%
Reunion.com                5,940             5,217           14%
AOL Hometown             5,785            9,246          -37%
Club Penguin                4,623            3,482           33%
AOL Community            3,229            4,640          -30%
Buzznet.com                 2,717            1,822            49%
Source: Nielsen Online