Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Epix — the pay-per-view movie channel created by Viacom, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lions Gate Entertainment — initially will launch on a subscription-only broadband Web site in May, according to Mark Greenberg, chief executive officer of the joint venture. Greenberg said Epix executives were negotiating distribution deals with cable and satellite providers as well and hoped to bring the channel to television sets in October. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (1/28) , Los Angeles Times (free registration) (1/27)

The Epix channel will provide an outlet for flicks such as ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.’

Pssst.  Epix, there already is a subscription-only broadband product on the market.  It’s called Netflix and they additionally send you DVD’s if that’s the way you want to watch something.  Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone…

NBC is attempting to lure younger viewers to Heroes by building a presence on teen-focused virtual site Habbo.com. NBC.com will extend its popular Heroes’ Evolutions offshoot offering fans the ability to interact with a new avatar Hero through a variety of in-game activities. Habbos participating in a weeklong quest will discover their own “special powers” and will be recruited as new heroes. (Cynopsis 1/28)

AOL will cut its work force by 10 percent today, laying off approximately 700 employees, as a result of the struggling economy and a decrease in advertising revenue, we’ve confirmed with the company. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/28/aol-axing-700-employees 1/28)

17.1% of all clickthroughs on web advertising are the result of click fraud – the act of clicking on a web ad to artificially increase its click-through rate – according to the latest report from Click Forensics class=”snap_preview_icon”> , a company that specializes in monitoring and preventing internet crime. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/27/report-click-fraud-at-record-high 1/27)

In honor of Jackson Pollack’s birthday, Google changed their logo today to the artwork below.  If you click on the logo, you will search for Jackson Pollack.  Witty.

The preroll unit, one of five being tested by the Pool, a joint effort by marketers and online publishers to determine a standard Web video format, has been gaining currency with marketers but has its limits in terms of creativity and flexibility, according to this article. “On the one hand, you want to standardize for the simplicity of doing business and the ability to do more business,” said Randall Rothenberg, chief executive officer of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. “On the other hand, you have a medium that allows for infinite customization.” BusinessWeek (1/27)