U.S. and European private equity firms have their sights set on the media industry these days. While certain media stocks are languishing in the midst of the broadband revolution, investors are biding their time, keeping a close eye on both the media and tech sectors. "Media is hot," said Mark Epley, the head of financial sponsors coverage at Deutsche Bank, at a Reuters conference in New York, adding that the mergers and acquisitions spotlight should be placed squarely on media. He expects several private equity deals to be forthcoming, somewhere in the range of $25 billion, as media firms shun …

Big brands are not used to having their advertisements posted on pages containing sexually explicit or illegal material, but that's exactly what's happening on the Web, says The Wall Street Journal, which singles out Verizon Communications, Walt Disney Co., and Monster.com for unknowingly placing ads alongside questionable content. After finding out, all three yanked their ads. Of course, large Web advertisers aren't always privy to where their messages end up because of the way ads for smaller sites are sold through middlemen, who themselves don't closely monitor where they're posted. Offline, advertisers and their agencies can make lists of shows …

The turbulent march of the Net Neutrality Bill through the Washington legislation process continues. According to CNET, Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton has agreed to revise the bill, bowing to pressures from Internet and software companies who said it provided ISPs too much latitude in its current version. Barton said the revision will give the FCC more flexibility to address violations of so-called Net Neutrality mandates. Net Neutrality refers to the idea that the federal government should prevent broadband providers from granting faster access and more bandwidth to some Web publishers on their networks than others. The revised bill would …

Anti-spyware crusader and Harvard researcher Benjamin Edelman has placed his microscope over Internet media giant Yahoo, Inc, reporting that he's found traces of what appears to be click fraud, starting with adware vendors and ending with the Web portal. Edelman claims adware vendors, including 180solutions, displayed pop ads on his computer that appear to commit click fraud, a practice that involves using an automated program to repeatedly click on an ad, usually deployed by competitors to drive up an advertiser's costs and eventually shore up their budget. In this instance, Yahoo, which sells display ads through syndication agreements with partners, …

Perhaps Chevy is getting what it deserves by asking consumers to create ads for them, writes Stuart Elliott of The New York Times. As a new means of "engaging" consumers with brands, some advertisers have asked consumers to make their marketing messages for them, offering some kind of incentive to the user who creates the best ad. Chevrolet, using video shot for a 30-second TV commercial for its 2007 Tahoe, in which the vehicle careens down a sunflower-lined country road, did just that, and some of the responses they've gotten haven't exactly been what a media agency would like …

MIPTV, one of the world's biggest schmooze-fests for content producers, creators, and distributors is underway in Cannes, France. This year, of course, all the buzz is about digital distribution channels, be they Internet TV, video on demand, mobile phones or HDTV. One noticeable difference, The Hollywood Reporter notes, is that big-time execs at international media companies are actually sitting on panels about new media. Things have moved along quickly since last year: one Buena Vista International exec noted that mobile TV, for example, wasn't even discussed at the 2005 show; this year the mobile panel is standing-room only. However, very …

Verizon Communications recently settled a court case for deploying an over-zealous spam filtering system and is now proposing an interesting way to make it up to its customers: a refund. For those who found legitimate e-mail from friends and businesses blocked by the company's spam filters, Verizon is willing to dole out $3.50 per month, or up to $28 for the period in which the filtering system was active: Oct. 1, 2004 to May 31, 2005. Verizon has refined its junk e-mail blockers since then. During that time period, the prosecuting attorney said Verizon blocked e-mail altogether from certain overseas …

Two, maybe three short years ago, the Web's biggest publishers assured the advertising community that the upfront model, long used and some might say abused by television and cable networks, would be dead in the Internet era. Hmm. As the cable and TV networks gear up for another upfront hunting season, many Web publishers have also jumped on the bandwagon, which you could argue is rather curious given the time-shifting nature of the new media world. The upfront ploy is more likely an attempt by Web publishers to detract advertiser attention away from overpriced TV and cable offerings, a reminder …

The Web is transforming political advertising and marketing, reports The New York Times. The days when campaign managers forked over most of their budgets to TV   are dwindling, as politcos find a new voice on the Web through Web sites, e-mail, blogs, podcasts, and chat. Simply put, the Web is more efficient and less costly than the traditional tools of politics, which have been TV, phone banks and door-to-door salesmanship. Perhaps most powerful (and most precarious!) for politicians is the viral nature of the Web. Online donations can bring in big bucks in incremental campaign revenue, but negative buzz …

The array of social networking choices on the Web for kids these days is exhausting: MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Connexion, MSN Spaces, etc. etc, but what about social networking for older folks? According to a Reuters report, German media group Bertelsmann is planning to transform its Direct Group of book, CD, and DVD clubs into an Internet networking destination for older people. The media conglomerate aims to unify Direct Group's aging customer base of around 35 million users in 22 countries by changing its traditional clubs into little Internet communities organized by cultural interests. The initiative would have to be supported …