Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

More than 60% of Twitter users stop using the microblogging service a month after joining, according to Nielsen Online. “Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty.” (Iwantmedia 4/29, http://tech.yahoo.com/news/afp/20090428/tc_afp/usitcompanyinternettwitternielsen 4/28)

Bravo is tapping into the hottest social networks to help fans participate in The Real Housewives of New York City finale. On Tuesday, May 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, fans can utilize Twitter, Facebook Connect and live mobile chat integrations on BravoTV.com to interact directly with their favorite Housewives live and the ladies will respond in kind during the finale. (Cynopsis 4/29)

MTV is joining forces with both Facebook and Twitter for its new “The Alexa Chung Show.” The show will be similar in format to MTV’s former “TRL.” Audiences — whether on the set or watching from home — will be asked to tweet their reaction to guests while the show is on the air. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002926.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 4/28)

IAC/InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller is stockpiling cash and says he aims to “spend it intelligently.” Speaking at the USA Today CEO Forum, he says Facebook is “the real deal.” However, “nobody can buy Facebook now.” Also, Web video will evolve “just like the movie business did.” (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2009-04-28-diller-ceo-forum_N.htm 4/29)

Facebook is on a “clear path to be cash-flow positive next year,” says COO Sheryl Sandberg. One indication that 2009 is an important year: Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s 24-year-old founder and CEO, has committed to wearing a tie everyday to the office, she adds. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aKLGItgfmt48 4/28)

With its new management team, News Corp.’s MySpace “looks more like a media and entertainment portal,” observers say. If MySpace comes to define itself that way, the site could incorporate social networking like Facebook, but with a focus on “consuming entertainment.” (http://www.thewrap.com/article/2736 4/28)

Network’s digital arms are beginning to get serious about monetizing their content. NBC.com will launch a series of targetable segments starting in Q2 2009 enabling advertisers to target groups of users using a menu style selection matching their target to NBC audience clusters or custom segments. The network also unveiled a whole new suite of ad delivery solutions and products geared toward attracting premium brand ad dollars. (Cynopsis 4/29)

One way to possibly track the spread of the swine flu is to look at where spikes in search activity around related terms is occurring. Google already does this with its Google Flu Trends, and has now extended that analysis on an experimental basis to Mexico with a site it just put up called Experimental Flu Trends For Mexico. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/29/searching-for-the-swine-flu/ 4/29)

The U.S. District Court for Massachusetts set aside a prior jury verdict against content delivery network Limelight, stating that Limelight doesn’t in fact infringe upon Akamai‘s CDN patents. Limelight hopes to reverse expenses of about $66 million saved for potential damages and interest in the case. Akamai promised to appeal the ruling. (Cynopsis 4/29)

Top U.S. Online Video Properties by Videos Viewed -March 2009
Property                   Videos (000)    Share (%) of Videos
Total Internet           14,468,345           100.0
Google Sites              5,919,530            40.9
Fox Interactive Media    437,098             3.0
Hulu                            380,102             2.6
Yahoo! Sites                334,724             2.3
Microsoft Sites             288,239             2.0
Viacom Digital             277,753             1.9
CBS Interactive            191,686             1.3
Turner Network            167,323             1.2
Disney Online               125,248             0.9
AOL LLC                       105,237             0.7
Source: comScore Video Metrix, Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks.  Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video

Top U.S. Online Video Properties by Unique Viewers – March 2009
Property                   Unique Viewers       Average Videos
(000)              per Viewer
Total Internet                149,410                96.8
Google Sites                  100,382                59.0
Fox Interactive Media       55,156                 7.9
Yahoo! Sites                    42,524                 7.9
Hulu                               41,564                 9.1
CBS Interactive               35,400                 5.4
Microsoft Sites                32,194                 9.0
Viacom Digital                 27,168                10.2
AOL LLC                          22,349                 4.7
Turner Network                19,644                 8.5
Disney Online                   12,965                 9.7
Source: comScore Video Metrix, Rankings based on video content sites; excludes video server networks.  Online video includes both streaming and progressive download video