Friday, November 20, 2009
Consumers: We Don’t Absolutely Hate Mobile Ads
Here’s your half-empty/half-full stat for the day: Four in 10 consumers don’t want to see ads on their phones. Is that good or bad for the nascent mobile ad business?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
How to See a Handball: Watch France Cheat Its Way Into the World Cup
In the U.S., this is no big deal, but in much of the world this is now the sports equivalent of the Zapruder film: French soccer star Thierry Henry cheating, via a handball, and propelling his team past Ireland and into next year’s World Cup.
The Web is full of chatter about yesterday’s game, but video is hard to come by: YouTube has shut down most of the clips. But dedicated searchers–and there are lots of them right now–can find them.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Done Deal: MySpace Buys Imeem for Up to $10 Million
It’s official: MySpace has closed on its acquisition of Imeem, the streaming music service. It is paying a fire-sale price of $1 million, sources familiar with the situation tell me, and could pay up to $7 million to $9 million in earn-outs for key employees, who will likely include CEO Dalton Caldwell. Investors like Sequoia and Warner Music Group had pumped at least $25 million into the venture.
Court Kills Preposterous Pirate Beatles Site
It’s official: You still can’t buy the Beatles’ songs on the Web, despite the efforts of a site that attempted to do so by rewriting copyright law on the fly. In other news: Have you seen this clip of Richard Pryor reading the alphabet on Sesame Street? Awesome.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Who’s Going to Pay for Online Content? A) A Few of You B) Barely Anyone C) You’re Already Paying
The new conventional wisdom is that sooner or later, consumers will have to start paying for some of the stuff they currently get for free on the Web.
But will they actually pay up? Here, the conventional wisdom is not so helpful. Nor are studies predicting consumer behavior.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
More Money for “Real Time” Ad Tech: AppNexus Raises $5 Million
AppNexus, an ad-buying “platform,” has raised $5 million in round led by Kodiak Venture Partners, along with Venrock and First Round Capital. The company is one of many trying to take advantage of “real-time” bidding for Web display ad inventory.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Why Time Inc. Is Slashing Jobs: The Chart
Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes kicked off his quarterly earnings call by explaining why the company is cutting hundreds of jobs in its Time Inc. magazine unit.
But if you’re impatient, you can simply look at this grim chart, which details the publisher’s Q3 performance
Comcast Won’t Talk About NBCU, Will Talk About Internet Video
Comcast couldn’t mollify Wall Street about its pending deal to buy NBC Universal this morning, because it refused to talk about the deal at all. The company did spend time, though, explaining the peril and possibilities that Web video poses for the cable giant.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Bad News From the Washington Post: Ad Sales Slide Again
Many newspaper publishers say the ad sales slump has stopped, but not at Wapo: Both print and Web ad declines accelerated over the last quarter. Newsweek, meanwhile, saw its ad sales drop by half.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
CBS Digital Boss Quincy Smith’s Not-Quite Exit Interview: “Hulu’s a Great Service. That’s Part of the Problem.”
The man who helped shape CBS’s standalone Web video strategy explains himself, for the record.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
NBC Grabs a High-Profile Blogger to Boost Its Local Site: Eater Co-Founder Ben Leventhal
News for the foodie/NY blog scene: Ben Leventhal, co-founder of the influential Eater blog, is headed to GE’s NBC Universal, where he’ll oversee “lifestyle content” for NBC’s growing local Web unit.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Jeff Bezos, Spark Capital, Bet on Aviary, a Web-Based Would-Be Adobe
Last week, Jeff Bezos made $2 billion in one day, courtesy of a massive spike in Amazon shares. That gives him more money to plow into the likes of Aviary, a Long Island-based company that makes design software. The Amazon CEO has made a second investment in the company as part of a $7 million round led by Spark Capital.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Investors Bet on Another Real-Time Start-Up. Next Up for Hot Potato: Product, Users.
Here’s a good way to get your hands on scarce venture capital money: Create a start-up geared around Twitter-like “real-time” sharing and conversations. The newest entrant: Hot Potato, a buzzy start-up that’s supposed to let users converse about a particular event, whether they’re attending it in person or watching from afar. When it’s up and running, that is. The five-man crew doesn’t have users or a product just yet. But it has just raised around $1 million.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Is Everyone Using Twitter Yet? Nope.
It’s easy to get the impression that everyone uses Twitter. And many people do! But new statistics indicate that four of five Web users are still Twitter-free. Worth keeping in mind as Google and Microsoft start plugging tweets into search results.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Condé Nast Tries Turning the App Store Into a Newsstand: Will You Buy GQ for Your iPhone?
Condé Nast is still in layoff mode, but that hasn’t stopped the publisher from putting together an app worth writing about. It’s part of a digital magazine strategy that actually makes some sense.
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About Peter
Peter Kafka has been covering media and technology since 1997, when he joined the staff of Forbes magazine. Most recently, he has been the managing editor of the tech and media Web site, Silicon Alley Insider. Read more »
Ethics Statement
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
