Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA by Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

After making all that fuss about bringing an offer, Yahoo spurned another proposal from Microsoft on Saturday, this one brought jointly with Carl Icahn as a 24 hour take-it-or-leave-it ploy. The deal called for a complex restructuring of the company that would have given Microsoft control of Yahoo’s search business and what was left to Icahn and his dissident slate of replacement board members. So in other words, they were asking Roy Bostock and Jerry Yang to sell off its most valuable asset then fire themselves. And Microsoft sent a man they view as a shameless corporate raider as the messenger. In its rejection letter Yahoo dismissed the proposal as “erratic and unpredictable” and questioned Mr. Icahn and his alternative board members’ ability to run the technology firm in the wake of such a fire sale. (Cynopsis 7/14)

In the background throughout Microsoft’s neverending Yahoo courtship has been the News Corp factor. Yahoo ran to Google to avoid an MS tie-up first time ‘round; could it also seek solace in Rupert Murdoch’s arms? It’s “very unlikely”, Rupe said (via Reuters) at Allen & Co’s Sun Valley shindig. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-murdoch-on-yahoo-microsoft-will-walk-away-deal-with-us-unlikely 7/11)

Time Warner’s AOL is “definitely looking prettier” to both Yahoo and Microsoft this morning, as the latest round of talks by the tech giants to partner in some way have collapsed yet again. AOL is described as “the number two choice of both of them.” (http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080714/is-jeff-bewkes-now-the-belle-of-the-microhoo-ball 7/14)

TechCrunch is said to be in off-and-on acquisition talks with Time Warner’s AOL. Heather Harde, CEO of the tech industry blog founded by Michael Arrington, says: “My policy is not to comment on rumors.” AOL acquired Jason Calcansis’s Weblogs Inc. in 2005. (Iwantmedia 7/14,http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080711/paidcontents-rafat-ali-speaks-so-heres-whos-next/ 7/11)

If behavioral targeting is the great hope for display advertising on the Web, can it work for videos as well? Web video startup Veoh thinks it can and is bringing its behavioral targeting advertising program out of beta today. The ads are targeted at one of nine groups, including viewers interested in action videos, cars, pop culture, sci fi, anime, and family fare. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/14/veoh-targets-video-ads-based-on-past-viewing-patterns 7/14)

Viacom wants to know which videos YouTube employees have watched and uploaded to the site, and Google is refusing to provide that information. The dispute is said to be the reason the two companies have failed to reach a final deal on anonymizing the personal data of YouTube users. (Iwantmedia 7/14,http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9989783-93.html?hhTest=1 7/12)

VH1 will pay tribute to The Who on Tuesday streaming sneak peek performances by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Incubus and Jack Black’s Tenacious D taped on Saturday at UCLA, two days before the performances air in a tribute show on July 17. Rainn Wilson will host the coverage on Rock.VH1.com, featuring an exclusive jam session with The Who.  Additionally VH1 has launched a new Facebook app called VH1 Framed You, allowing users to insert their own images in photos and videos of rock stars. It’s sort of digital version of those cut outs you see at beach. (Cynopsis 7/14)

I advise not adding the Facebook app which only gives you a few frames to choose from.  Among them, only 1 is female.  Lame.

Chelmsford, MA-based online music discovery service OurStage unveiled a new matchmaking tool to help musicians find and apply for gigs. The OurStage Marketplace will work in conjunction with promoter Live Nation using the site’s user-based “Mojo” rating system to help national bands scout up-and-coming local acts to open their shows. The system will serve venues in New England, Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area to begin with. (Cynopsis 7/14)

Walt Disney Co. in October will release a 50th anniversary edition of the classic “Sleeping Beauty” animated movie on Blu-ray disc. The disc will showcase a half-century of progress in consumer-electronic technology: It will enable viewers to interact with each other via a new system called BD Live that links the disc with the Internet. (The New York Times 7/14)

Kevin Martin, head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, says he will seek “enforcement action” against Comcast for slowing down heavy Internet users who are downloading movies and other large data files. The cable giant used “too blunt an instrument,” says Martin. (Iwantmedia 7/14, http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/24585014.html 7/12)

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