Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says online services like search, email, blogging and mapping technology will be the most important technological development of the next decade, yet Microsoft's Web division perennially loses money, while Google's rival business thrives. But just because Google is winning that battle doesn't mean it has the best model. Microsoft's vision for the future of Web services very much involves software, the company's core business. Ballmer says Web services will work in tandem with PC-installed software, whereas Google thinks that everything will be Web-based, eliminating the need for software. The company has …

TiVo is coming out with a new feature that allows people to use their TiVo to watch video programming from the Web on their televisions. Remember, new media doesn't kill off old media, it just makes the landscape more fragmented. So the Internet won't kill off the television; rather, it will likely make it easier and more efficient to watch. "For a majority of people, it's not going to be television until it's on the TV set," said Tom Rogers, TiVo's chief executive. It's the first time TiVo has tried to tap into the Web video explosion, partly because …

A YouTube backlash may be coming after recent moves to secure copyrighted material have ignored the online video provider's most valuable asset: its user base. As YouTube and now Google continue to search for a way to make money from the video site's success, some of its users are feeling left behind. Now they, like the record and film studios, want compensation for the revenue they generate. Says Paul Robinett, who's created more than 130 videos under the name "renetto": "The majority of the content on YouTube belongs to people like me, yet they seem to be cutting deals …

The Walt Disney Company, like other global media giants, has begun its move into the digital sphere, but shareholders shouldn't expect a payoff from the company's investment in new media for another five years, says Bob Iger, Disney's chief executive. That's OK, especially when movies like the "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" rake in untold millions, ESPN dominates the world of sports and ABC's prime-time TV shows deliver monster ratings. In the next year, the House of Mouse plans to revamp its Web sites for Disney.com, ABC.com and ESPN.com and shift its strategy toward online video to draw …

There used to be an inventory problem in online advertising; now there are more places to advertise, thanks to user-generated content. However, such content is largely uncensored, so advertisers are waiting for an appropriate way to advertise to emerge. Instead of waiting, advertisers should tap their audiences to create user content for their brands, says Sarah Fay, president of interactive agency Isobar. The concept of control was always illusory, Fay says, and advertisers that open their brand to users' control will ultimately be better respected for it. That means letting users make commercials for them on sites …

Online ad growth projections are a staple of the Internet research business, but Yahoo chief Terry Semel says recent predictions are wildly off the mark because they haven't included advertising on video, social media, or mobile phones. Research companies like eMarketer and JupiterResearch might beg to differ, since they have tried to project spending on these platforms. Semel, in a speech in London, said he believes video and social networking will soon be an integral part of the online experience. While many of these forms still lack a "proper way to advertise," Semel says those issues will be …

The magazine asks: Is Second Life over-hyped? No. Is it a business opportunity? Yes. Is it a marketing opportunity? Absolutely. Is it the future of the Web? Maybe. So far, it's signed up 1.3 million members. For some people, the Net game Second Life is so much cooler than real life. For others, Second Life is their business. In fact, $572,005 has been spent in the game in the last 24 hours. Anyone can download the game's software (a light 4.0 KB) for free, and it's also free to play. But you can't do much until you invest …

News reports continue to focus on that burning question facing traditional, time-stuck media companies as Google forages ahead in its secret quest for media domination: Is it friend or foe? To be sure, it's a tiresome question that's gotten a ton of media play. First, for anyone who closely follows this field from the outside, Google is a media company, despite its claims to the contrary. To the world, the search giant has to bill itself as a technology and Web services provider and conduit to media companies. If it didn't, it wouldn't have any media partners at …

A new shopping site has a different take on the search model used by site like Shopping.com and Shopzilla. Like.com lets users search, based on the look of their favorite celebrity. The shopping site matches descriptions of shoes, watches, handbags and jewelry with items for sale on the Web. Bbut the engine uses artificial intelligence to search images rather than text. There are two ways shoppers can find items. One is to type an item into the search box, like "black heels" or "silver earrings," which would yield pages of images from across the Web. Another is to …

Technology companies can rejoice now that the Democrats have taken over Congress, since the 110th Congress could be the most technology-friendly in history. One reason is that Nancy Pelosi, the next Speaker of the House, hails from San Francisco. A year ago, she unveiled an "innovation agenda" that called for broadband access for all Americans. Nothing ever came of it, but something may in the future. Pelosi is friendly with Silcon Valley Democrat Anna Eshoo, whose constituents include Steve Jobs, David Filo and Hewlett-Packard. Bill Archey, President of the American Electronics Association, the largest technology lobbying group in …