Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Disney.com is announcing that for the first time ever the site will stream full-length movies. The family films will first air on ABC as part of the network’s “Wonderful World of Disney” presentation on Saturdays, then will be available for free streaming the following week. (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080610005595&newsLang=en 6/10)

YouTube’s latest scheme for monetizing its massive audience is to let content creators sell their own ads via click-to-expand overlays that run across the bottoms of YouTube videos, per AdAge. Professional content producers have shared in revenue from ads sold by Google so far on their own branded YouTube channels. YouTube will demand the same revenue split for creators’ own ads. Ad revenues at YouTube have nowhere to go but up. The online video juggernaut is expected to earn just $90-$200 million this year, while Google is expected to take in $22 billion overall. (Cynopsis 6/10)

Facebook has launched a feedback feature for ads on its site, reports robwebb2k.  Each Facebook ad now comes with a pair of “StumbleUpon style thumbs,” he writes. Rating a Facebook ad “thumbs down” results in the ad being changed. (http://www.marketingvox.com/myspace-critiqued-for-offensive-advertising-facebook-launches-ad-feedback-feature-039082/?camp=newsletter&src=mv&type=textlink 6/9)

This morning, Hitwise came out with its search market share numbers for May, 2008. In the U.S., Google was up slightly to 68.3 percent percent versus 20 percent for Yahoo and 5.9 percent for Microsoft. All the fighting over the fate of Yahoo cannot be helping matters. In the month of May, Google gained 0.39 points from April, while Yahoo was down 0.33 points and Microsoft was down 0.37 points. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/10/hitwise-google-up-yahoo-down-in-search-for-may-2008 6/10)

Google, Yahoo and other desktop brands could become “roadkill” — outclassed by a new generation of mobile phone-based rivals, say tech observers. The matchbox-size screens of handheld devices aren’t hospitable to the advertisements that are the lifeblood of current search engines. (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2008-06-09-mobile-search_N.htm 6/9)

Google and Salesforce can’t seem to get enough of each other: over a series of announcements the companies have aligned their product strategies more and more closely over time. Now the companies are planning something new together, to be announced by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Google VP Engineering Vic Gundotra at Salesforce’s upcoming Tour de Force developer event on June 23 in Santa Clara. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/09/google-and-salesforce-cooking-up-something-new-together 6/9)

A Yahoo employee severance plan meant to protect workers after a merger with Microsoft should be scrapped, according to a shareholder lawsuit. Both the plaintiffs and activist investor Carl Icahn, who is seeking control of the Yahoo board, criticize the plan as an obstacle to any merger. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/technology/10yahoo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin 6/10)

Time Warner is considering a possible sale of AOL businesses and certain Time Inc. magazines, says CEO Jeff Bewkes. Celebrity and lifestyle magazines are outperforming news and business titles “by a significant margin.” (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://www.thedeal.com/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1212755507067&pagename=hpa&c=TDDArticle&p=M4YD5AR1 6/11)

MyToons.com upgraded its site to enable streaming of original animated content in HD format, a first for an online animation site. (Cynopsis 6/10)

Sony’s Crackle announced a line up of 9 original short-form shows including renewals of The Purple Onion as well as three new series launches. (Cynopsis 6/10)

Hulu has added full-length episodes of two Comedy Central series – The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. Additional new series to be included later on this month come from PBS: such as NOVA, Carrier, Scientific American Frontiers, and Wired Science, later this month. (Cynopsis 6/10, http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0929694520080610 6/10)

Microsoft Live Expo, their experiment with classified listings that launched in early 2006, will be shut down on July 31, says a notice posted on the site. New listings have already been suspended. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/09/microsoft-exits-classified-listings-business 6/9)

Consolidation of the online video sector continues as Toronto-based JumpTV is merging with Plainview, NY-based NeuLion, a start-up that powers online to TV video streaming for clients such as the NHL. (Cynopsis 6/10)

AOL is revamping its online radio service, adding streams from all 140 CBS-owned radio stations and upgrading its player to add more functions. AOL is looking for new ways to boost revenues from online music streaming a year after copyright judges sharply increased royalties for online. (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080610/ap_on_hi_te/aol_cbs_online;_ylt=AiN_1o1wC9dtoW.P7If7Muf6VbIF 6/10)

AOL’s social networking site Bebo is partnering with Universal Music for an online drama set in the record label’s London headquarters. “The Secret World of Sam King” will draw on real-life experiences and incorporate cameos of Universal recording artists. (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/06/09/bebo-teams-with-universal-music-for-online-drama 6/9)

A group of cable-television firms is unveiling plans for Project Canoe, a U.S. platform for targeted advertising, which is intended to be cable’s solution to the growing amount of ad dollars flowing to the Internet. Ad-industry figure David Verklin will serve as CEO. (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB121305869367359447.html 6/10)

GigaOM blogger Om Malik’s NewTeeVee.com is spinning off a new site, NewTeeVee Station, a guide to “quality online video” from video sites such as YouTube. Editorial reviews will be written by a team led by Liz Shannon Miller, formerly of Variety and the Daily Reel. (Iwantmedia 6/10, http://newteevee.com/2008/06/09/newteevee-spins-off-newteevee-station 6/9)