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ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA by Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Google‘s YouTube is starting to test longer videos that are potentially more attractive to advertisers. Short-form video is why people visit YouTube, says a company spokeswoman. “But as we test full-length content, we are starting to see that the audience is potentially there.” (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/17/technology/youtube_long_videos.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008061804 6/17)

YouTube is primarily using these longer videos to attract indie filmmakers rather than for the average upload of you and me.

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo surpass Time Warner and News Corp. in accessing audiences on the Internet, according to a compilation based on Nielsen figures. Should NBC Universal acquire Weather.com, the move would push the New York Times out of the Top 10. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://seekingalpha.com/article/81900-the-new-top-10-media-companies 6/19)

1. Google / 128 million unique visitors
2. Microsoft / 123 million
3. Yahoo / 116 million
4. Time Warner / 108 million
5. News Corp. / 79 million
6. eBay / 66 million
7. InterActiveCorp. / 65 million
8. Wikimedia Foundation / 57 million
9. Amazon / 55 million
10. NBC Universal / 51.2 million (estimated unduplicated audience after Weather.com acquisition)

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is visiting U.S. Senate and House leaders to discuss the Internet company’s search advertising pact with Google. Lawmakers have antitrust concerns about the proposed union. Combined, Yahoo and Google will account for 80% of all U.S. search ad revenue. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/yahoo-ceo-visits-capitol-hill/story.aspx?guid=%7BE27F5A19-F082-4C34-89B4-0086716BD47F%7D 6/18)

Business oriented LinkedIn, the social networking site for grown-ups, raised a whopping $53 million in capital led by Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures and plans to use the funding to expand to overseas markets. The funding round, added to its previously raised $27 million, valuates the company at a cool $1 billion. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn claims to already be profitable. It is also one of the fastest growing sites of its kind; LinkedIn’ s uniques have tripled in the last year to 23 million members, according to Nielsen Online. (Cynopsis 6/19)

Following LinkedIn’s success and recent $1 billion valuation, Facebook is also said to have its eye on “professional networking” as a future area for development and revenue. LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, raised $53 million in its latest round of investment. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/facebook-hatches-its-own-plans-for-professional-networking–395469 6/19)

Beginning this summer, as soon as next month, wireless Internet access will arrive in the passenger cabins of some commercial U.S. airliners. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20080619/internet-a-gogo-airlines-to-offer-in-flight-access 6/19)

For a consolidated chart of in-flight Wi-Fi services updated with information from this article, click the image below:

Walt Mossberg on In-Flight Wi-Fi Services From Aircell

TMZ, the celebrity gossip site and syndicated television show owned by Time Warner, is getting traction with online live streaming. A live video of a parking lot where performer Britney Spears was expected grabbed thousands of viewers for nearly two hours. (Iwantmedia 6/19,http://www.beet.tv/2008/06/tmz-exploring-l.html 6/17)

SocialMedia, one of the leading advertising platforms for social network applications, announced today that they’ve paid out over $8 million to developers since the platform’s launch last year. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/19/socialmedia-pays-out-8-million-to-facebook-app-developers 6/19)

Veoh has imported a series of shorts from Japan featuring the loveable Domo character, a toothy cave dweller who first surfaced as a mascot for NHK in the late 90′s. Veoh will premiere 20 Domo shorts over the next 5 weeks, ending with a “Best of Domo” reel showcasing viewer’s favorites. Domo will also be a featured celebrity host on Veoh.com where he introduces his favorite picks of the Week for different genres of video.  (Cynopsis 6/19)

If you haven’t seen Domo before, now should be that time.

Music sales fell 8% last year, to $19.4 billion globally, representing at least a 10-year low as piracy and steep declines in CD and DVD purchases overshadowed gains in digital content, according to a report. Disc sales dropped 13% to $15.9 billion, compared with a 34% jump in downloaded songs and cell phone ringtones, which accounted for only $2.9 billion in revenue, the report said. (International Herald Tribune/Bloomberg 6/18)

Further legislative action during this session of Congress in relation to network neutrality or a la carte programming is highly unlikely, according to Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida, the ranking Republican on the House Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee. That news elicited cheers from a group of cable executives visiting Washington during an NCTA-sponsored day on Capitol Hill. (Broadcasting & Cable 6/18)

Verizon also announced plans to upgrade its Fios broadband service to accommodate video-happy customers’ need for speed. Rates of 50Mbps down/20Mbps up for $140/month and 20Mbps down/20Mbps up for $65/month will be available across its 16 state footprint beginning next week. Comcast launched its 50Mbp down/5 Mbps up service in Minneapolis in April for $150/month but doesn’t expect to roll it out nationally until 2010. (Cynopsis 6/19)

A new analysis by tubemogul found most online video to have a short shelf life, with 25% of views occurring within the first 4 days from a video is posted. (The test viewing period was capped at 90 days.) More than half of views were made within the first 2 weeks. In other words, if that quirky video you posted on YouTube last month hasn’t gone “viral” yet, it probably ain’t going to happen. Tubemogul statistician Aaron Growitz used his research to actually develop a calculator to help determine how many views a producer can expect to have by the end of the year. (Cynopsis 6/19)

Top U.S. Online Video Properties* by Unique Viewers – April 2008
Property                Unique Viewers(000)   Avg. Videos per Viewer
Total Internet                134,471                81.6
Google Sites                   83,720                 49.7
Fox Interactive Media       52,046                10.7
Yahoo! Sites                    37,323                 9.4
Microsoft Sites                 29,908                 9.0
Time Warner – Excl. AOL   20,627                 6.7
Viacom Digital                  19,367                10.3
AOL LLC                           19,115                 5.0
Disney Online                   10,805                 9.1
ESPN                                 9,026                 9.2
CBS Corporation                 7,993                 7.1
Source: comScore Video Metrix

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