Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA

Since launching in late 2007, Hulu has done one one thing very well: it lets you watch your favorite TV shows and movies from your computer, free of charge. But aside from improving the user experience with assorted niceties like smart thumbnails and a few social features, the site hasn’t really done much to expand its functionality. That changes today. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/so-long-cable-hulu-desktop-lets-you-browse-the-site-from-the-comfort-of-your-couch 5/28)

Today, Microsoft publicly unveiled its soon-to-launch search engine Bing. It will become available over the next few days, and be fully launched by June 3. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/28/bing-microsoft-prepares-for-war-with-a-revamped-search-engine-screenshots 5/28)

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz says she would sell the company’s Internet-search business to Microsoft for “boatloads of money.” She adds that she would agree to sell the entire company as well, though only for “big boatloads of money.” Yahoo is in talks with Microsoft now, she says. (Iwantmedia 5/28, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=auVKgc4EweDY 5/27)

News Corp. hopes to sell Google access to a greater swathe of its media properties, say senior execs Jon Miller and Owen Van Natta. An advertising deal between Google and News Corp.’s MySpace is coming up for renewal. News Corp. assets encompass television, print and online. (Iwantmedia 5/28, http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE54R0EY20090528 5/28)

HDNet chief Mark Cuban says that despite the growth of YouTube, the Internet video market is a disappointment. The problem, he says, is that when Google bought YouTube it focused on ubiquity rather than making money. The result is that the market “can’t sustain itself.” (Iwantmedia 5/28, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10250739-56.html 5/27)

Internet-based content providers cannot make sufficient revenues from advertising, says Liberty Media chief John Malone, and they must find novel approaches to get consumers to pay. “The world is evolving. Whether it’s fast enough or big enough to save CBS, I don’t know.” (Iwantmedia 5/28, http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/27/john-malone-media-technology-enterprise-tech-malone.html 5/27)

U.K. royalties collection agency PRS for Music is cutting the rates it charges music sites for artists’ music, potentially paving the way for YouTube to start carrying premium music videos again. YouTube pulled thousands of music videos in March after failing to agree terms with PRS. (Iwantmedia 5/28, http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/908802/YouTube-restore-music-videos-following-royalties-cut/ 5/27)

Best Buy is creating an investment fund that will concentrate on digital media opportunities. The fund, managed by existing and former News Corp. employees, is expected to help the retailer delve more deeply into the digital business world in sectors such as music, video and games. Financial Times (free registration) (5/28) , Dealerscope (5/28)