Sony headphones keep disconnecting

If you sony headphones keeping stopping half way through a song and disconnect and make a really loud shhhhh. Or you find you are constantly having to unplug and plug back in again the tower base to get the green light to show and start working again... then something that worked for me on my sony mdr rf865r headphones was to make sure that the sound on my computer was high and the sound on the head phones where lower. Because what caused my headphones to keep on disconnecting was that the sound on my computer was really low so there was not enough for the base to pick up.

So no more shhhhhhhhhh or disconnecting anymore!

If this helped you then please tweet or like this!

Thanks

Web hosting scammers!

When you buy web hosting no matter the cost you expect that your website will not be unavailable or offline... You pay monthly for your website to be online each day of the month. But some web hosting can con you out of your money by taking your website for no reason at all offline for one third of the month. No explanation given (note you don't have to be over the bandwidth limits or space limits).
They offer no clue to why it happens plus other peoples websites not just yours maybe offline as well.
One of the web-hosting i am with for one of my blogs took one of my websites offline without emailing me... no apologies and no estimated time when my website will be available again... only on the forums a rather arrogant announcement that they are working on it... The problem was with the MySQL database, i couldn't even export the database and move hosting either  The thing that really annoys me is I have paid for this hosting for a month yet i am obviously not getting what i paid for! No compensation, no reason...nothing! IDIOTS! I would name and shame them but counting on how law works in the world nowadays i would be probably the one being sued even though i should be suing them.

Spam another excuse for media corporations to restrict freedom of speech?

I just created a web 2.0 blog well when i say created.... on areavoices basically i created a quick 100 word intro post explaining what the blog will be about.....

smart blog is a clever blog where will will tell you lots of.....

No advertising (even though a computer cannot judge wither rhetoric is advertising or not) no outbound links nothing basically a hello message... click published bam! we have marked this blog as spam blahaha......

It seems that these web 2.0 blog are making spam control so tight that nothing can post not even humans.

First it was unreadable captcha now its when you finally can register your are told you can not.. thanks for wasting my time.

Here is the post i created for you to judge for yourselves

"Decided to set up this new smart blog because it is a smart blog that tells you smart things that you may or may not already know about! Hehe well anyway hello.. not expecting anyone to read this just yet because this is the first blog post and nobody has yet to hear about our smart blog. Well let me tell you anyway what our smart blog is about. Clever things! That what! We shall be discussing clever ways to do stuff like how to's on growing taller, improving eye sight, easing foot and back pain along with other stuff.

Smart hey!"

There is a political side to all of this that is freedom of speech is being limited more and more on the internet. Big online media company's are just using "SPAM" AS A EXCUSE!

Squidoo now no follow bad mistake

Because times are hard more and more internet business need to adapt. The latest online website that are making changes to how they run things is squidoo. Squidoo is like a article marketing website where users write articles on the squidoo website and publish them for all to see (not many people if your article doesn't get featured on squidoo).. however the articles need to be manually reviewed first before they are published.
Many online marketers use this website to help promote there website and use it as way to get higher in the search engines for there own website... by writing quality articles with a link to there own website google and other search engine bots will find this link and thus will rank higher the website that being linked too.

Now however squidoo has changed the rules on there website and all links are no follow. Basically this means links are not followed by the search engine bots and you get no credit for the link.
So in other words you will just be writing articles for squidoo for free with nothing in return....

This is just a example of greedy big businesses squeezing the small people of the internet.

Theoretically if all the web 2.0s do this then t makes no difference because they saturate the meaning of what a no follow actually means... squidoo is quite dumb to think that doing this will help in some way there own website because it drives away quality writers who will now concentrate on there own websites instead.. there are plenty other higher authority websites that have bigger traffic that can be posted on no follow or not...

What do you think of this?

SEO to make money online

Many people have been asking me how they can make money online...Lol please dont be put of by my previous post about monopoly's  yes it is true but there is still a loophole that you can use and the fact that not even these big company's have created artificial intelligence (that if they ever did no doubt they would murder us all with there robot army's . Well anyway using the fact that google has no artificial intelligence means that you are able to create blog and post to them you need a massive amount though... and if you link to your website you maybe able to get a good rank...maybe.

Big media company's monopoly

It seems that rich greedy businessmen have now fixed the internet so much in there favor that small business cannot even begin to compete... where's the government when you need them? Oh wait probably getting bribed.
Anyway so these big company's make it so hard for little company's to make a start even to earn even a tiny amount of money.
Take for example search engines....everyday there are algorithm changes aimed at making sure no business can "unnaturally" get to the top of these search engines.. meaning only big company's that have $$$millions can afford the infrastructure to get there.

Idiots! Go to hell!

A very significant day...

A very significant day...

Today could be a watershed moment in the 400 year history of newspapers. A company call Quigo has announced a deal to provide 130 newspapers in the U.S. with a pay-per-click online advertising platform.

Let's hope this moment marks a mind-shift for publisher's and introduces the reality of the threat. Publishers remain a very significant force in advertising and several more significant annoucement like this will open up the eyes of both myself and the investment market that publisher's may be able to fight back. Don't throw in the towel to Google just yet.

For another take on the significance of this announcement, check out Jeff Jarvis's post.

Fox still on the prowl?

Fox still on the prowl?

Murdoch isn't finished. After scooping up scout.com and myspace.com, Rupert is making it no secret that the new internet division within News Corp, Fox Inactive Media (FIM), is still on the prowl for more acquisitions. In a recent interview Rupert talked about the potential acquisitions of Skype (VoIP) and a yet unnamed search company. Below is a summary as posted on PaidContent.org.

News Corp.'s Murdoch said he doesn't see Google Inc. as a rival because it's a pure search company. But Yahoo Inc. could be competition, "although we don't see why we can't live side by side with them very well," he said. "This is an area of enormous growth and there's room for a lot more than one or two players."

Murdoch said News Corp. plans to create an Internet portal and is in advanced discussions to acquire a controlling stake in a search engine, which he declined to name. Rumors as to the identity are flying around here.

UPDATE - Much more information on Rupert's planned "domination" of the Internet at Businessweek. The article states, "Murdoch said he expected other investments to be made, though he did not think the total amount would go far past $1 billion."

"Make no mistake," Murdoch said. "Our commitment to this space will constitute a major part of this company's growth, profits and asset building over the next several years."

Yahoo! makes moves into China

Yahoo! makes moves into China

Yahoo! makes a major investment in Alibaba in order to get a significant foothold in the Chinese market. This will put Yahoo! in direct competition with eBay and the recently public Baidu. Baidu had a tremendously successful IPO this week making them an immediate front-runner in this market.

My web is bigger than your web...

My web is bigger than your web...

NY Times has done a piece highlighting the very public, but very meaningless publicity feud happening between Yahoo! and Google since Yahoo! announced it now boosts a significantly larger index then Google.

Today advertising, tomorrow world domination!

Today advertising, tomorrow world domination!

The latest "Google will take over the world" speculation hit the pages of Business 2.0 this month. For over a year we've had sporatic reports that Google is going around buying up all the 'dark fiber' leading to many speculations as to how they will leverage that purchase. The speculation goes from free internet access across the nation to the complete collapse of the telecommunications industry. This story add the manadatory "confirmation by anonymous source" that most of these have. Regardless, it is an entertaining read. Like many others, I'm excited to hear what Google is up to...by Google themselves.

U of Texas publishes what?

U of Texas publishes what?

Is it a web site? A television show? A magazine? No...it's all three. The University of Texas launches what they claim is the world's first Internet-based video magazine. Not quite 60 Minutes who lays claim to the worlds first News magazine on television, but we'll see where it goes.

Media General buys 'advergaming' business

Media General buys 'advergaming' business

Similar to the recent purchase of PointRoll by Gannett, with this acquisition Media General picks up an interactive marketing tool to attract eyes online. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. The Washington Post gives an update.

The blurred lines - defined.

The blurred lines - defined.

Here at "Breaking the Media Code" we usually discuss how traditional media are learning to adapt to new technologies and use those weapons in the battles that are fought with the online competitors. This scenario usually results in a blurring of lines between where old media starts and where new media begins.

In a great article released today, Joe Mandesse of MediaPost takes a different angle. He defines new & old media and analyzes the trends going forward based on where the marketing spend is today. Additionally, Joe covers in great detail how consumers are driving the trends away from one-way media outlets to a vehicle that allows consumers to participate.

Tracking global news consumption

Tracking global news consumption

Measuring the publics consumption of news has never been an easy task. Now I wasn't around in the days of the old Town Criers but I can guess that it was as accurate as our weather forecasts here in New England - leaving some room for improvement (80's & sunny - yeah right).

The reporting of print circulation figures helped but it was not without it own faults. The problem is that we measure the consumption of the print product, not the popularity of individual news stories both domestically and globally. (I'll graciously skip over the circulation scandals of late)

With the advent of the Internet, a publisher's ability to measure news consumption was altered forever. Now media could measure "to the click", stories that were driving readership. To date these figures have been reported much like circulation numbers, at the site (publication) level limiting an outsiders ability to see what stories "have legs" and are driving the worlds news consumption.

How, when and where people consumed news online at a global scale was impossible to measure, let alone knowing what stories are driving that consumption. With the decline of circulation media is actively trying to prove that news consumption is growing wildly, not slowing. It is just occurring through a new distribution channel, the Internet.

Managing messy media

Managing messy media

Editor & Publisher writer Jennifer Saba has written a great article summarizing the findings from research firm Banc of America recent report on publishing. Her article concentrates on the importance of newspapers growing their online ad revenue and the significant impact that revenue is having in the companies growth.

The challenge for online publishers now is growing their online presence - major media companies like News are executing this through acquisition. Acquisitions can be messy as different cultures clash and the technological infrastructures get more complex with the addition of new properties.

According to Kevin Kelly - "The Web continues to evolve from a world ruled by mass media and mass audiences to one ruled by messy media and messy participation."

Simon Waldman, Director of Digital Publishing for Guardian Newspapers agrees with Kevin that media continues to get more messy. But he says, "If you own a mess, at least you can tidy it up later. But if you never own it…you're just a spectator."

For media companies trying to tidy up that mess, technology will be the key. Publishers, for instance, will have to invest in systems that can bridge their print and online properties in a single infrastructure. The cost savings and efficiencies gained will be critical especially when they are still going head to head with free online advertisers like Craigslist.org. But more important will be the publisher's ability to leverage existing relationships with advertisers and provide them a healthy balance of print and online presence. The transistion is key and it must be smooth and offer advertisers more control or else publishers risk losing them forever.

!oohaY & elgooG

!oohaY & elgooG

Everything seems backwards, up is down, down is up. Google & Yahoo! are in acquisition talks with Trader Classified Media according to a report in the Times (UK) today. In a role reversal from recent acquisitions, this time it's the "new media" heavyweights looking to add an "old media" company to their portfolios.

Google Talk

Google Talk

Google will be releasing Google Talk, an IM and VoIP application, this week according to the LATimes.com

Viacom to use Yahoo! for ad platform

Viacom to use Yahoo! for ad platform

Breaking news from Dow Jones has Viacom & Yahoo! striking a deal. A very large number of publisher's currently display Google ads on their websites. Along with their recent announcement stealing iVillage away from Google, this marks the signing of another significant client for Yahoo! who has been breaking into the contextual advertising marketplace.

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Viacom Inc. (VIA) and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) signed a multiyear agreement under which Yahoo will provide search-marketing and Web-search services to Viacom's online properties such as CBSNews.com and MTV.com.
Viacom said in a press release Tuesday it will use Yahoo's search-marketing products to enhance its sites with relevant advertising and use Yahoo's search engine to return more comprehensive search results to users.

New Report: Newspaper struggle to grasp the web

New Report: Newspaper struggle to grasp the web

A new report was released by the NAA in their september '05 magazine issue. It details how many newspapers have struggled to leverage the web for ad sales opportunities.

The report, produced for the Association by The Digital Futurist Consultancy, www.digitalfuturist.com, examines whether newspapers are using their sites to promote print advertising, to share their marketing and pricing data, and to provide customer service to new and existing advertisers. The report’s findings include:

• 55 percent of the sites reviewed have an area for marketing the print edition. That still leaves lots of sites without any marketing information for potential advertisers.
• 60 percent provide visitors with advertising rates and information about deadlines, terms and ad sizes.
• Less than 10 percent provide a self-service area for advertisers. The report defines self-service as the ability to schedule and upload an advertisement

The entire report can be downloaded here. I've included some of the highlights (or lowlights) below:

Maybe it was the remote control. Maybe it was the ATM. Whatever it was that kicked it off, at some point in the second half of the 20th Century, customers started taking control. And, in concert, responsibility for service began to shift away from businesses to customers.

The Internet arrived and multiplied the change, speeding it up and deepening its reach. Now, all businesses have to contend with two linked trends:
1. We want more control over the services we use.
2. We want to exert that control through electronic, not human, intermediaries.

more...

Because media is digitally transferrable—the product itself, as well as the service that surrounds it, can be provided online—it has changed the fastest.

more..

The boundaries between industries are breaking down. When everything’s online—all contained in the same browser frame—expectations bleed from industry to industry, site to site, experience to experience. When people get used to a certain level of choice, control, freedom and flexibility in a particular domain, they begin to expect it in others—even when the domains are as disparate as music and propane, or car insurance and newspaper advertising.

more...

Newspaper companies will need to continue to evolve not only the classifieds-business models but also to restructure their classifieds section to be the “starting point” for consumers.

more...

In the 2004 Newspaper Monitor study done for the NAA by The Advantage Group, advertising agencies were asked about their impressions and feelings about newspapers as a place to do business. Among some of the findings:

• “No other medium is so complex to do business with.”
• “No other medium has such a complex pricing model.”
• “No other medium is collectively less sophisticated when it comes to selling their products.”

Dealing with the worst

Dealing with the worst

Article on how the New Orleans Times-Picayune is using the Web Editions and Blogs to continue their distribution of news dispite the devestation seen in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. Obviously no print product is being created at this time.

Making the best of an incredibly bad situation. Best wishes to everyone involved.

Can you hear me now?

Can you hear me now?

EBAY scooped up Skype yesterday for a cool $4.1 (if certain milestones are hit). Andrew Belt, a senior vice president with Adventis, a Boston-based technology consultant was quoted as saying; "This isn't about generating revenues from voice service," he said. "It's about helping [eBay] tap into the advertising and transaction revenue streams that Google and Yahoo enjoy." -

BBC: "Archives available online for free"

There has been very few companies out there that consistently try to make services available over the web that are free. Typically the MO is that if a company has content or a service that isn't available elsewhere - make people pay to access it. Content archives has been no exception. But typically consumers have refused to open their wallets and overall the revenue earned from archived content is modest at best. Revolutionary thinking is needed.

The BBC has been a consistent online innovator and in the process has gained a reputation for being one of the most bleeding edge and successful websites on the Internet. In another remarkable move this week, they have announced that they are now opening up there vast archives to users. The plan seems obvious:

A) drive people to your site - larger audience = more advertising revenue
B) provide the content to get people hooked - larger audience = more advertising revenue

Most publishers and content providers put archived content behind walls blocked from user consumption and charge fees for distribution. It will be interesting to see who, if any, follow the lead of the BBC.

It's not new money

It's not new money

As Internet advertising growth continues to significantly outpace that of other media, I've always agreed with the view that it is not new money. Instead, for the most part, the advertising budgets fueling the online growth are the same advertising budgets that invest in print, radio and television. So how is it that two very influential reports can claim that ALL advertising mediums have room for growth?

Of course as our economy grows, advertising budgets typically follow but Corante lays out in a very insightful article that it all can't grow at the pace predicted - we have too many advertising vehicles and not enough gas to fuel them all.

Even in the best of times, our economy grows about 4% annually and a 70 year trend tells us that advertising growth has never outpaced the economy as a whole. So how can companies like Morgan Stanley and Forrester make predictions for advertising spend through 2010 that will significantly outpace our economy?

Corante quotes Morgan Stanley's report that traditional media will grow 4.3% and Forrester's report forecasting Internet advertising to grow 50% year-over-year through 2010. Add those numbers up and you significant outpace economic growth in a big way. So how can that be? Will this evolution in advertising buck a 70 year trend? Doubtful. Unfortunately this isn't the Special Olympics - they can't all be winners. This is cut-throat capitalism at its best - some of these advertising vehicles are destined to run out of gas.

On the road...

On the road...

I'll be travelling for the next week. I hope to find time to post but it will be sporatic at best. At this point I'm not sure of my accomodations and the internet access it may provide. Keep checking back!

How important is the Internet?

How important is the Internet?

Well, I'm stranded in Miami, no suitcase, no hotel, no sleep (thanks American Airlines) but at least I have the Internet.

The Rocky Mountain News apparently thinks the same way. According to maybe the most telling piece I've read in the last 6 months, John Temple, the editor at The Rocky Mountain News, talks about how the Denver newspaper elite have swallowed hard and now have the Internet in their sites as "the future of our business".

In an article that spoke more from the heart then the pen, Temple talks about the reality of the threat posed by the online players and the pinpoint focus on the opportunities that exist.

But definately the most telling piece of the article is when Temple repeats the keys to newspapers success as discussed in recent executive meetings. This information is really encouraging. Newspaper publishers are really now starting to see this challenge, understanding the potential and reacting in a way that will open the eyes of their critics, supportors and the market. These keys to success that Temple provides are not new, in fact people have been heralding these as a way forward for some time. But it does mean that newspapers are acknowledging, listening and reacting faster then ever before. Here is what Temple said:

I thought you might be interested in some of the perspective I can share from this week's meeting.

• The consensus is that we're moving away from a media world of one-way communication (think network news anchors) to two-way dialogue.

• The individual is at the center of this world, not technology.

• The three big Internet portals - Yahoo, AOL and MSN - have more than 50 million visitors a day, twice the audience of a World Series game.

• Sixty-eight percent of teens have their own home page or blog site.

• Sixty percent of Americans play computer games, and the average gamer plays for 6.5 hours per week. The gaming industry now brings in more money than Hollywood does at the box office.

• Businesses now spend more on Internet advertising than on magazine and billboard advertising.

• Internet advertising is expected to grow nearly 50 percent in Denver next year.

Honest, to the point and worthy of a significant response.

If I had more time...

If I had more time...

Things I'd love to cover in more detail but can't because I'm on the road:

1. IT'S HERE!! Google announces Google Wifi ending the months of speculation.
   
2. Scripps in major IPTV deal - Scripps Television's cable networks inked a deal with Broadstream Communications, one of the leading IPTV distributors. The Scripps/Broadstream deal includes HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living, and Great American Country. "We want our product in as many homes as possible," said John Baird, executive vp of marketing and distribution for Scripps Networks.
   
   "They can then compete with satellite and cable providers," said Scripps' Baird. Broadstream has already made over 200 video and audio deals, with nearly every major broadcaster and programmer in the country.
   
3. New research report back newspapers as the engaging media source - "The 2005 Media Engagement Study, which interviewed over 3,000 respondents online to gauge their attitudes toward advertising and content in media, found that newspaper readers are more engaged than consumers of other media, and consider papers a top source for trusted and comprehensive news and information."

Times Select gets a beating

Times Select gets a beating

The frustration is already mounting with Times Select. Certainly seems the kinks haven't yet been worked out and it is already getting consumers worked up about it. Maybe the worst part is that people are blogging about it!

Media changes its address

Media changes its address

Tom Foremski of SiliconValleyWatcher.com writes that the media industry has moved to the Silicon Valley and nobody told New York! According to his piece - "Silicon Valley's Google, Yahoo and eBay "are in fact media companies." They are technology enabled media companies.

And our media industry is growing like gangbusters while New York's is not. Our media industry is hiring like crazy (Yahoo has 700 new positions to fill, Google a similar number) while New York's media industry continues to cut jobs and budgets.

See "A Media Industry in decline"

Google Video Goes Primetime?

Google Video Goes Primetime?

Google Video just made it's first significant play. They have recently signed a deal w/ UPN to promote the new primetime series "Everybody Hates Chris" starring Chris Rock. The show is being touted as a "feature" on the Google Video homepage for the next couple days.

I took the bait and watched the show...something I didn't do when it aired because I don't have UPN stored as one of my "favorites" on my television remote...an early strike against UPN. But thanks to Google, I gave it a go and enjoyed the show and may even check it out next time it airs.

What is exciting for me is the fact that I tend to travel a lot and much of that is international travel. Sometimes after being gone for a week or more you look for those familiar things to make you feel at home. Yes, TV is one of those things and as more and more sitcoms and dramas launch into the world of Google Video, I can have that comfort sitting in a hotel room in Germany, South America, wherever.

This launch also underscores another significant attack Google has engaged with cable companies. In the coming years companies like Comcast will just be remembered overpriced delivery mechanisms that gauged their customers with price increases year-over-year. They have become one of those necessary evils that consumers would love to see die a painful death...one that a company like Google or Yahoo! could provide.

Yahoo! does journalism

Yahoo! does journalism

According to the New York Times today:

Yahoo, the most-visited Web site, said yesterday that it had hired nine financial writers to supply columns on topics including personal finance, investments and economics.

Ben Stein, TV personality, lawyer and economist, will write the Common Sense column on personal investing, Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said yesterday in a statement. Mr. Stein also writes the Everybody's Business column for The New York Times Sunday Business section.

Yahoo also hired Stephen R. Covey, author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People."

The new columnists will bolster Yahoo's original content, part of the company's effort to draw more users and advertisers to its sites.

Yahoo also hired David Bach, Robert T. Kiyosaki and Charles Wheelan. Jeremy Siegel, Laura Rowley, Ken Dychtwald and Daniel Pink will also provide columns.

Tracking jobs

Tracking jobs

There are many ways to measure the ongoing battle between the publishers of the world and the major web engines like Yahoo! and Google. Each has it's own complications. One of the stats that has been tracked is the job market for these companies and the results appear to be shockingly one-sided. At the present time Google and Yahoo! each currently boast about 700 job opportunities. While many of these jobs may not be in direct competition with the publishers it does speak well of the companies overall health. In stark contrast the publishers in the US are shooting people like fish in a barrel. Here is a summary of the layoffs in 2005 as posted on stltoday.com:

The New York Times Co.* 700

San Francisco Chronicle 120

Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.** 100

San Jose Mercury News 52

Newsday (New York) 45

Post-Dispatch - About 260 employees are eligible for retirement buyouts

*Includes The New York Times, The Boston Globe and other publications.

**Includes the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News

Coming soon: Google classfieds?

Coming soon: Google classfieds?

Classified Intelligence, one of the foremost consulting firms on the classified marketplace in the US, has issued a news alert adding "substance" to the rumors that have been floated that Google will be entering the competitive (and lucrative) world of classified ads.

"Google is aggressively moving to include classifieds listings in its organic search results, making the rounds of classified advertising Web sites, requesting a direct feed of listings."

Integrating classified ads into the organic results of Google's wildly successful search engine creates an incredibly powerful service for sellers.

You can speculate that Google would follow a similiar model to Oodle.com and act as an aggregator of classified ads across multiple classified provider's like newspapers, craigslist, kijiji, etc. then sending the buyers to the newspaper or craigslist website to complete the transaction.

One thing is for sure, newspapers who rely on classified revenues for between 40%-60% of their revenues will be watching very closely.

Time, time, time

Time, time, time

Not enough of it. At Web 2.0 this week and will write more about that later. Here are some things i'd love to comment on if i had more time.

• Big Mess for media - Can traditional media mount a comeback on wall street?
• Media, media everywhere - People use of media per day explodes to 9 hours a day.
• News Corp - Says no to Trader Media

Sounding desperate..

Sounding desperate..

I make my living off the newspaper industry so I certainly have a lot invested in their success. But sometimes they just rub me the wrong way. For instance, take theJanesville Gazette and this article on their website - does it sound a little desperate to anyone else?

You can't afford not to read us

...Ignore your newspaper if you want. But ignorance could cost more than a subscription.

Have newspapers been relegated to scare tactics?

Yahoo! goes to local events

Yahoo! goes to local events

Yahoo! trying to eat away at another slice of newspaper content as they continue to drive toward more local content has announced that they purchased upcoming.org.

What's Upcoming at Yahoo! Local

As readers of the Yahoo! Search blog know, our vision is a far-reaching one -- to enable people to find, use, share, and expand all human knowledge.

Events are a particularly exciting area of human knowledge -- chock full of rich local, social, and temporal data. People want to find out what's going on near them, know what their friends are seeing and doing, and plan their outings. And they want to do it when they want, wherever they are, on any device, in a way that's relevant to them.

Today we've taken a big step toward helping users in this area. We've acquired upcoming.org, a leader in this emerging space.

In just a few years, most of it spent on nights and weekends, the Upcoming team has built an excellent site with a loyal and growing following. Now that they’ve joined Yahoo!, together we’ll build a social events platform that will integrate with our existing events offering and other areas of Y!, and will continue to support all web users in an open, participatory way.

Does Wifi mean local ad revenue?

Does Wifi mean local ad revenue?

Mediapost speculates that it does and if Google is successful in getting the San Francisco WiFi freely available it could set the standard for all other cities looking to capitalize on the economic growth of broadband.

Announcing Google Reader

Announcing Google Reader

Here at Web 2.0 Google just announced Google Reader. Briefly it is a way to organize your blog subscriptions and a new way to get your news. It includes ability to play podcasts and integrates w/ gmail and blogger (Gmail this item/Blog this item).

Google Maps goes local

Google Maps goes local

From "The Motley Fool"

Google announced last week that Google Maps will mark its emergence from beta testing into full-fledged usefulness by changing its name to Google Local.

more...

This new product has the makings of a killer application. "Local information is huge," said Jared Cosulich, who operates his own Google-mapping service at CommunityWalk. "The decision to combine the two services recognizes the fact that the user's experience is significantly increased when he or she can see information in the context that ties it all together."

The first step to capitalizing on all this local information will likely involve Google's AdWords program, which provides ads based on the keywords used in a given search. But Google Local's real promise lies in "in-map" advertising. For example, as you zoom into areas of a map, Google may serve up ads based on businesses in the surrounding streets or neighborhoods -- and perhaps display them within the map itself. "Whatever advertising medium is chosen," said Mike Pegg, who operates Google Maps Mania, "I'm confident it will be relevant and non-intrusive to the map you are viewing."

Old meet new

Old meet new

Yahoo! has just combined "old" traditional journalism with "new" world blogs in their news section further blurring the lines between new and old media.

Yahoo Inc.'s online news search tool on Monday added Internet journal entries as a supplement to professional media offerings - an experiment that figures to test the public's appetite for information from alternative sources.

Under Yahoo's new approach, a keyword search for online news will include a list of relevant Web logs, or "blogs," displayed in a box to the right of the results collected from mainstream journalism.

Google Inc., which runs the Internet's leading search engine, so far has treated blogs differently.

"Drop Dead" - Who us?

"Drop Dead" - Who us?

The New York Times tries to hang on to Hollywood. Can it be in direct response to the recent Hollywood threat to significantly lessen the amount of advertising spend in newspapers.

Not keeping up

Not keeping up

Working for a vendor that provides newspapers advertising systems, I know how "tight" they can be with their money especially in the difficult times they had of late. But one troubling trend that continues is that they still don't invest in critical areas for their long term success. An example of this is a new report issued by the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Thank you Craig!

Thank you Craig!

I don't know why but the concept of Oodle.com has always troubled me. I've always seen it as a parasite eating away at businesses that worked hard with clever business plans to sell (or provide at no charge) a valuable service in classified advertising. In a previous post a few months ago I questioned the legality of these site scrapers in a post call "Is aggregration of content legal?" While there is no legal precedent yet, the practice of scraping ads walked a fine line. For one, it threatens the larger newspapers that can currently charge more money for ads because of their larger circulation or prestige because the Oodle concept flattens the availablity of ads to the consumer. While I do see some benefit for the consumer (having a single search environment for all classified ads) it doesn't do enough for me to justify the questionable practice.

This is why I was thrilled to learn that Craigslist.com, a site I think has revolutionized the classified marketplace, has banned Oodle.com from indexing their content. I think this move will start a trend that will certainly put Oodle back on the defensive and significant hurt the companies viability going forward.

Craig Newmark continues to impress me by keeping true to "Local community classifieds and forums all for free and in a relatively non-commercial environment."

Future of News - friend or foe?

Future of News - friend or foe?

Great article on the impact of new channels to receive your news and how they will affect not only the delivery of that news but also the writing.

Is it true?

Is it true?

I've spent a good amount of time in Finland on business visiting local and national newspapers and it is hands down one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Mobile phones, Internet, GPS, everything electronic...you'll find it in Finland. That is why I was dumbstruck today to see an article saying that 70% of Finnish young adults subscribe to a newspaper. If true, that is a remarkable stat and very encouraging:

Helsinki, 17 October, 2005 — According to a study by Taloustutkimus for the Finnish Newspapers Association in May 2005, almost 70% of young adult households in Finland subscribe to a newspaper. In addition, 56% of young people read newspapers every day, and 64% use the Internet almost daily. On weekdays, young people use 19 minutes a day on average to read newspapers, and 30 minutes during weekends. Young people spend 52 minutes online on weekdays, and 46 minutes during weekends. One fourth of young people visit the sites of online newspapers once a week, and about one third never visits these sites.

Question - Why are these "positive" studies always done by the newspapers, NAA or any other vested interest? I'd pay money to see a neutral party giving these stats. It's not that I don't trust the NAA, well maybe, they have too much to lose, but having an unbiased opinion speaking positive news on this industry would be very welcomed. It just seems that those people (market analysts, etc) hardly ever have anything nice to say about the future of traditional news. So who too believe?

Up, up and away!

Up, up and away!

The numbers are in...

Google revenue grows 96%
Google profits rise 7 fold.
Goolge market cap jumps to $106 Billion!
Google price target $445 (Piper)

Wow.

Google Base - Beyond Classifieds

Google Base - Beyond Classifieds

Google's going deep. Well beyond the simple Google classifieds listing service that has been rumored for some time. Today Google let the news leak out that they are launching a new service called Google Base. In this case "Base" is short for database. It seems that Google will allow people to post just about any type of content in this new database and make it searchable online.

This approach is bound to ruffle many more feathers, especially that of the major incumbents in this area like eBay, Craigslist, Monster and especially newspaper publishers. Many people thought Google might go the Oodle/Google News route and aggregate, index and push user to the appropriate website from Google search engine (or Froogle). But now with the announcement of Google Base they are much more in direct competition with some serious players.

The questions remain:

1. Can Google get users to generate a significant amount of content in the Google Base? So far, with the major exception of Google Search, the other Google services are significantly behind in consumer adoption (Google News, Froogle, Google Talk, etc).
2. The concept of Google Base seems tremendously broad. People so far have been comfortable going to verticals for classified listings like Monster.com and Cars.com, etc. Google is not only planning on including any type of classified listing (like Craigslist), they are allowing any type of content! Can something that broad become that useful? Or will it be similar to Google.com or any other search engine where sifting through the junk becomes half the battle and overwhelms users?

The Motherload

The Motherload

Comedy Central embarks on it's first major foray into the world of convergence of TV and Internet content. While they have made certain segments of their programming available over the web for some time now, they have recently announced a new initiative called "The Motherload" where they will repurpose a significant amount of short segments aired on the main Comedy Central TV station. They will also include some unique content for the web only.

Comedy Central is taking a very unique approach by mostly limiting the online video clips to about 3 minutes in length. They have an advantage here because many of their most popular shows like Jon Stewarts Daily Show and The Colbert Report have short segments that can easily be chopped up for this type of distribution.

This works well for Internet surfers who tend to be multi-tasking (like talking on IM) and have short attention spans because they are active and jumping around unlike TV viewers who are relaxing on the couch and tend to want to settle down with a particular program.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this experiment works.

CBS News: Drama

CBS News: Drama

Months after the CBS News Rathergate debacle and the retirement of Dan Rather, you would think that some significant progress had been made in revamping the CBS News division. Eh, not so much...it was announced today that the President of CBS News, Andrew Heyward is stepping down and will be replaced by Sean McManus, the head of CBS Sports.

This comes at a time when CBS News is trying to reinvent the format of the nightly news cast to compete with cable news stations like Fox News and CNN as well as the surge of those going to Internet portals like Yahoo!

As more young people turn to blogs and blogging, the have been allured by the "spirit of conversation" that exists in them. They can choose to participate and contribute, making their thoughts and feelings known to others. Obtaining news through a one-way dialouge doesn't have the same appeal. This type of interactivity has clearly been an influence on Leslie Moonves as he tries to revamp the format. According to the New York Times:

It has been nearly a year since Mr. Moonves said he was seeking to blow up what he has described as the "voice of God" single-anchor format for the nightly news in favor of something more innovative - a quest that has thus far proved elusive.

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Mr. McManus will face challenges that simply did not exist in Mr. Arledge's time, as CBS - and other television news divisions, to say nothing of newspapers - struggle to find new ways to captivate viewers who are increasingly defecting to newer outlets like Fox News and Yahoo, and increasingly skeptical of journalists as a whole.

The Future of Advertising

Bill Gates has seen the future of advertising, and the future is the Internet. Well, it's a little unfortunate that Bill makes a comment that has been talked about for some time by many others and he seems to get credited for these 'bold visions of the future'. The difference of course is prominence. When Bill Gates, notourious for designing and developing technology that will have drive industries world-wide, says something about trends going forward, it gives it that does of realism that this isn't just a bunch of tecnologists that are trying to spin an angle to make their products worth more money. (yeah, yeah - Can you say MSN Ad Center?)

At the IAB Engage conference in London this week, Gates told delegates that traditional media such as television, newspapers and magazines would move to being delivered via the internet within the next decade, making debates about the role of internet advertising moot.

A couple interesting things

A couple interesting things

First, in the Czech Republic the first paperless internet daily has been launched.

Director of mainstream portal Centrum.cz, Ondrej Tomek, said the publication compiled by reputed journalists aimed to become the leader in the sector.

"The internet needs more than the offspring of written newspapers," he said.

The founders believe the initial investment of 35-million korunas ($1,41-million) will be recouped within a year, with 90% of the magazine's revenues coming
from advertising.

Second, NBC announces plans to air the Nightly News w/ Brian Williams online. Mixed reviews on this one so far. While I applaud them for making an attempt, BuzzMachine nails it here. The 3 1/2 hour delay after the original broadcast leaves for some second guessing. Jeff Jarvis rants:

Old news is not news, it’s just old. Why didn’t they give the affiliates all the right to show the news on their own sites? Why didn’t they all say that if they can get anyone under the age of 60 to watch their news anywhere anytime, they should thank their lucky news stars. This is why the future of news cannot come from the past of news: It is weighed down with deals and issues and precedents and contracts like Marley’s ghost.

ePaper impact

Everyday our children our getting more and more concerned with what we our doing to our environment. Regulations around greenhouse gases and wetlands get tighter and tighter as we all learn the dangers of what we are doing to our planet. The newspaper industry certainly is not excused. The numbers are staggering.

Of course environmental concerns is only one of many reasons for the long and steady decline in overall circulation at newspapers but it can't be overlooked. That is why their is so much riding on" ePaper". Some publishers have been putting money aside for years so that when (not if) this tecnology becomes mainstream, they will be able to give away an ePaper reader to every subscriber they have. Several companies, LG, Philips LCD and E Ink, have made some substantial progress and even have early prototypes.

But the question remains, how much of a difference will ePaper make? Certainly it will make a difference since any significantly penetration can save millions in costs of labor, paper and the substantial amount of logistics that it takes to produce and distribute the paper everyday. But can it reverse the tough times ahead? Will people be willing to pay for a subscription to the news "paper" 5-10 years from now? Today's youth expect news to be free and that is a difficult trend to reverse. Just ask the RIAA.

A cut above

Grant it, Murdoch has a lot more money then most, but this man changes the rules of the game. While most publishers have remained on the defensive as the world changes around us, Murdoch is on the offensive and breaking down walls that publishers have lived by for hundreds of years.

Previously Murdoch's acquistion trail of Internet companies amounted to a land grab, or what some call "messy media". He was out buying many of the sites that attract the younger demographic that the publishers so desperately covet. This week though, Murdoch made a surprise announcement that he may now be looking to not just provide content, but deliver that content through a broadband network. According to PCMag.com Murdoch stated:
"Here (in the United States), we don't know," Murdoch told the newspaper. "We may be forming a company with partners to build something out here that would give you broadband."
This isn't really a surprise. Publishers need to become much more of a technology company, these days just owning the content isn't enough. In Murdoch's running of News Corp., it's amazing to watch an industry over 300 years old transforming itself seemingly overnight.

Google Unearths Real-estate

Countless amounts of people have downloaded Google Earth and have stood in awe of the experience. They stare in amazement at the clarity of the satellite images while they take virtual trips around the world. But many have wondered, where's the business model that will drive this amazing technology?

Well, Google is doing what Google does, scare the **** out of every industry as their tentacles continue to disrupt the status quo. Whose watching their backs now as Google Maps and Google Earth continue to gain in popularity? Realtors. Google is developing technology that could substantially alter how people shop for and potentially purchase a new house. According to the Seattle Times:
Among the many projects being developed and debated inside Google is a real-estate service, according to a person who has attended meetings on the proposal. The concept, the person said, would be to improve the capabilities of its satellite imaging, maps and local search, and combine them with property listings.

NYTimes source: "complete utter panic"

What is happening at the New York Times? If you believe one source quoted in a recent Media Post article, it's all out war - Print vs. Online:
One source close to the Times Co. paints the for-pay service as one step in the direction of making the Times' entire content well for-pay, similar to Dow Jones & Co.'s Wall Street Journal Online, which charges for nearly all access to its content. The source says that the integration between print and online was driven by the print side of the Times, which was making a "hostile takeover" of the Web out of panic that online was eating into print circulation.

"Online newspapers will eventually be online products for a price, and online magazines will be online for a subscription price," the source explains. "Print will be a luxury item. But I don't think we're there yet. What's driving this is panic on the print side. This is not being done to help the online side. This is complete, utter panic on the print side. Their circulation is dropping, the stock is dropping, they're seeing competition from every other medium."
Can this be true? Murdoch stated in April 2005 that the most difficult part of the Internet revolution will be the transformation of the minds, not the technology. Maybe this is denial in the print newsroom rearing its ugly head. But it fells more like someone sticking their head in the sand and hoping everything will go back to 1940...the good 'ol days.

Meanwhile readers of the Buzz Machine see things quite differently:
"This business of pureeing trees and wringing cuttlefish to make the day’s transient news permanent seems positively archaic, doesn’t it?"
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It’s a product you have to go and get in the rain, snow or wind and pull out of the hedge, the leaves or a coin-eating box on a dirty street corner. It’s heavy. It’s big. You’re not interested in 90% of its content. And when you’re done with it, you — literally — have to wash your hands and figure out how to properly dispose of the thing.