Archive for September, 2009
MySpace, Hulu working on new video service
September 21st, 2009 | 
Author: Rupert Murdoch said in July he wanted to reshape MySpace into more of an entertainment hub, and sources say the site now plans to launch a new video service sometime in the next several months with the help of sister site Hulu, CNET News has learned.
The big question is whether MySpace’s service will offer downloads or a subscription service.
Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman
(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET Networks)
Murdoch, the chairman of media conglomerate News Corp., intends to overhaul MySpace Video by bringing in a larger number of feature films, TV shows, and music videos. The social network’s new video area will be given a major face lift, more exposure, and be re-branded so as to make it more attractive to advertisers, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans.
A MySpace spokeswoman declined to comment.
Murdoch’s News Corp. owns MySpace and a large chunk of Hulu, which also boasts NBC Universal and Disney as its other stakeholders.
MySpace already streams some of Hulu’s TV shows and a tiny number of full-length movies to users. But MySpace Video, as it is now, can’t come close to competing with the Web’s top video services, such as YouTube, Netflix’s Watch Now, or Crackle.
A visit to MySpace Video on Monday evening revealed a section that provided few clues that feature films or prime-time TV shows were even offered there. Besides being buried, the content is displayed on a jumbled Web page. The links to the few long-form films and shows are mixed in with the much more plentiful short clips and trailers. To be frank, the site is a mess.
“MySpace’s intention is to do a much better job of monetizing the video area,” said one source.
What isn’t clear is whether MySpace Video will offer downloads and subscriptions. Last week, Murdoch and and Jeff Zukor, CEO of NBC Universal, said ad-supported Hulu is considering whether to offer pay-per view and a subscription service.
Whether a new MySpace video service would also offer these isn’t clear.
But it seems logical to set up a Hulu storefront at MySpace, which would enable the site’s users to purchase a movie download or rent a flick without having to hop over to Hulu.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10358200-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google hoping history repeats itself with display ads
With a new display ad exchange developed by its DoubleClick subsidiary, Google is hoping to give its one-trick pony another act.
Google has turned into one of the Internet’s largest and most influential companies on the popularity of its search engine and the profitable text ads it sells alongside those search results. This business generates the vast majority of its revenue and profits and gives Google the resources to tackle a variety of other projects from Google Apps to Chrome OS to Google Books.
But like just about anything, that business can only grow so fast. Google will need another profitable, growing business to maintain its spot atop the Internet world, hence the motivation for its $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick a year ago and the launch of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange Friday.
The DoubleClick Ad Exchange is sort of like a stock exchange, where buyers and sellers meet to haggle over prices for display ads, such as banner ads or video ads. Companies that sign up to participate in the exchange can search for open spaces in which to place their ads and bid on that space just like Google’s text-ad auction system for search keywords. It will also plug into Google’s existing infrastructure for AdWords–ads sold on Google search results pages–as well as AdSense–ads hosted by Google but displayed on third-party Web sites, giving those customers another option for their marketing campaigns.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10356697-265.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Communication, Google, Internet | 
Tags: Adsense, Adwords, DoubleClick, Google | 
Comments Closed
AT&T customers, check your plan once in a while
I’ve been a customer of AT&T every since 2003, when I got myself my first cell phone ever, and I’ve been a very good one. The proof: I set my bill to autopay from day one and even convinced a few friends to move to AT&T (mostly so that we don’t have to use the minutes to talk to each other.)
I found out Thursday that AT&T hasn’t been very nice to me.
I called the company’s customer service as there was a noticeable increase on my August bill. A helpful customer representative named Gilbert immediately took care of the false charge without much ado. While waiting for him to get the job done, I ran through my online bill and found a monthly charge of $9.99 for MobileTV service, which I had no idea existed in my plan.
Must read full story :
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10355892-233.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Google rolls out revamped DoubleClick Ad Exchange
Having conquered the Web’s text-based ad market, Google is setting its sights on graphical display ads–a market dominated by rival Yahoo.
The search giant on Thursday took the wraps off a revamped DoubleClick Ad Exchange, a public exchange that allows publishers to offer excess ad inventory they can’t sell to advertisers looking for a bargain. Google said the exchange will meld DoubleClick’s ad exchange with Google’s own technology.
“Better technology can help make display advertising work better for all involved,” Neal Mohan, Google’s vice president of product management, said in a statement. “We’re focused on growing the display advertising pie for everyone. The DoubleClick Ad Exchange is a major part of that goal.”
The revamped exchange will incorporate Google’s AdWords and AdSense programs, as well as feature real-time bidding and a new API (application programming interface) designed for ad networks.
Yahoo, which runs the largest online ad exchange through RightMedia, an exchange it purchased in 2007 for $680 million, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Google’s dominance of the search engine advertising market has been fueled by text ads. In 2008, it completed its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick in hopes of expanding its presence in display ads. Display ads–banners or image-based advertisements–haven’t produced the same return that search text ads have to this point but are still an important part of most Web sites.
Internet display advertising accounted for $7.6 billion in 2008, roughly a third of the $23.4 billion in revenue generated by all Internet ads for the year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10356263-93.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Eee PC maker Asus goes gadget
It made a splash with the Eee PC. Now Asus, once known chiefly as a components maker, is looking to make the leap to consumer gadget maker.
One of the largest manufacturers of motherboards for two decades, albeit it a largely unsung one, the Taiwanese company finds itself smack in the middle of a transition from components maker to serious contender in PCs and accessories. Asus (pronounced “ah-soos”) is attempting to establish itself as a brand name worldwide while making new forays into software and design.
The original Eee PC, launched in 2007.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)
In addition to creating a new line of consumer products like TVs, VoIP phones, e-readers, and streaming Web video gadgets, the company’s leadership has its sights squarely set on being the third-largest notebook manufacturer in the world by 2012, while remaining the world’s largest supplier of motherboards. While it sounds somewhat ambitious for a company known more for nuts and bolts, there’s precedent: Fellow Taiwanese company Acer was in a very similar position a few years back and was able to transition from microchip maker to one of the largest laptop producers in the world.
Could Asus could be another Acer in the making?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10356079-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20