Google's plan to scan library book collections and make them searchable may be drawing ire from publishers and authors' advocates, but some obscure and first-time writers are lining up on the search engine's side of the dispute -- arguing that the benefits of inclusion in the online database outweigh the drawbacks.

After a year of such near-disaster moments, skeptical record executives have finally declared themselves satisfied with the new iMesh, which will relaunch Tuesday as the first unregulated peer-to-peer network to turn itself into a paid music service. But now it faces an even tougher audience: 5 million iMesh users who are used to free music.

What do online media buying newbies need to know? A Q&A with Leslie Laredo.

Time Warner has quietly extended America Online boss Jonathan Miller's contract amid ongoing discussions about selling a stake in AOL and partnering with another Internet company. This month Miller signed a new three-year deal to remain chief of AOL, a post he has held since August of 2002, according to sources familiar with the matter. His current deal was set to expire this year.

Google has quietly been running geo-targeted contextual ads in RSS feeds for several months, but many advertisers, agencies, and analysts contacted by ClickZ were surprised to learn about the placements. AdWords documentation online doesn't specifically mention ads being distributed to feeds, other than a reference to ads showing up on content sites and "products."

As the number of blogs has grown, more consumers are keeping Web diaries dedicated exclusively to their favorite brands. Most of them are written without the consent of the companies that own the brands. But some companies are starting to pay attention to blogs, using them as a kind of informal network of consumer opinion.

Blog this: U.S. workers in 2005 will waste the equivalent of 551,000 years reading blogs. About 35 million workers -- one in four people in the labor force -- visit blogs and on average spend 3.5 hours, or 9%, of the work week engaged with them.

Remember webisodes? Original minishows for the Internet were all the rage online before the Internet bubble burst in 2001. Now they're back, this time as advertising vehicles, courtesy of a robust online ad market and growing broadband audience.

Cingular Wireless is introducing a service for nonbusiness users to get BlackBerry-like mobile access to their personal e-mail accounts from AOL, Yahoo and MSN Hotmail on a cell phone. There's no monthly charge for Cingular Mobile Email, but users will need to subscribe to one of the company's wireless Internet plans with a monthly allotment of data usage. Jim Ryan, a Cingular vice president, said a $5 monthly data plan should provide sufficient capacity to check one's e-mail a few times daily.

The most ferocious battle on the Internet these days is between Microsoft Corp., the incumbent software giant, and Google Inc., the extraordinarily profitable Internet search firm. It's both an epic clash over this era's new mass medium and a cool development for people who use computers, because the companies constantly try to top each other with new products, such as mapping and desktop organizers. To strike a blow at Google and gain ground itself, Microsoft wants its MSN Search to replace Google as the search engine of choice on the Dulles-based America Online Internet service. AOL is Google's single biggest …