In the second quarter, the Web's big four, Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN-eMarketer expects to make up more than two-thirds of online advertising in 2007, which saw a collective ad revenue increase of $1.3 billion or 42 percent in the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, ad revenue at the 15 biggest traditional media companies shrank 3 percent over the same time period, a loss of $280 million. The result: among the 19 companies, online's share of the total pie grew from $3 billion to $4.2 billion, or from 23 to 30 percent, while the traditional companies saw …

If you watch stocks, then you've probably heard a lot about the initial public offering of VMware, the most hyped tech IPO since Google in 2004. The virtualization software company went public at $29 per share, but opened Tuesday at $52 before closing Wednesday at $57.71--a near 100 percent surge. Expenses aside, VMware walked away with $957 million from its first day of trading, the largest opening for a technology stock since Google raised $1.2 billion in '04. What's so special about this company? VMware is a leader in the breakthrough market known as virtualization software, programs …

It's no secret that Yahoo's flagging display business could use a shot in the arm, and SmartAds, introduced a month ago, could be the ticket. The tactic, introduced a month ago, offers advertisers a combination of personalized and behaviorally targeted ads. Because finely targeted ads command a higher premium from advertisers, the new format could be a boon for Yahoo. But the the tactic could be an even greater success for the company's other display ventures, the newly acquired ad exchange Right Media, and its partnership sites like eBay. David Karnstedt, Yahoo's head of North American ad sales, confirmed …

Signs indicate that an economic downturn may be on the horizon, but advertising agency BBDO, whose fortune relies on the advertising budget of big, economic climate-affected clients like GE, Bank of America and FedEx, says companies should think twice before slashing their marketing budgets. In an interview with Reuters, BBDO CEO John Osborn admitted that "sometimes those experimental budgets do go" in an economic downturn, "however, I would urge our clients to do almost the opposite," he said. Indeed, experimental online advertising campaigns may be the best alternative for marketers during a downturn. Osborn said the impact of interactive …

Facebook has released a new iPhone-specific mobile site. Mashable calls it "stunning." The Facebook mobile site can be viewed at iphone.facebook.com, but if you aren't experiencing it on an iPhone, it really isn't much to look at. On the iPhone, however, critics unanimously agree the site is pretty amazing. Like the NetVibes iPhone site that launched on Tuesday, the site uses javascript, and owing to a defect in the iPhone, there's some lag in moving around the site. But this is the only black mark the site received; otherwise, navigation is seamless and the design is a perfect fit …

"Everybody's doing it!" is oft-cited reason for why U.S. kids follow their peers. It also happens to be one of the big reasons so many European kids engage in Web piracy. A European Commission study surveyed two sets of young kids, 9-10 year-olds and 12-14 year-olds from each of the 27 EU member countries plus Norway (a hot bed of Web piracy) and Iceland. The vast majority of respondents said they knew downloading movies and video games from the Web for free is illegal, but are willing to justify it. The older group was found to be more …

Municipal Wi-Fi, once hyped as the coolest new way to get Internet access on the cheap, is in trouble. Hundreds of citywide projects have been announced in the last few years, but the one with the highest profile, the one San Francisco operated by Google and EarthLink, is in limbo. Contractual disputes, the high cost of building the networks, and the potentially low margins, have caused many operators to halt the building of municipal Wi-Fi networks in other areas, too, like Milwaukee and Philadelphia. In all, 415 U.S. cities and counties have jumped on the city Wi-Fi bandwagon, which …

The Wall Street Journal asks two experts -- Professor Thomas Eisenmann, a Harvard Business School Associate, and Gary Hamel, a management consultant -- to assess one of the great Google debates: "Is Google rewriting the rules of good management? Or is it just enjoying the rewards of a single well-timed breakthrough?" Hamel has published a book on this subject, while Eisenmann debates the issue on a regular basis in class. For Hamel, Google's innovations go beyond its ingenuous search algorithm; he says its general management principle of decentralized, self-managing teams fosters the kind of innovation that's helped …

Publicity stunt or legal strategy? Google wants comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to give a deposition in the search giant's fight against their employer Viacom, which is suing Google video provider YouTube for $1 billion in copyright damages. Stewart, host of "The Daily Show," and Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report," are two of Viacom unit Comedy Central's most high-profile personalities; their shows have been illegally uploaded to YouTube thousands if not millions of times. There's no guarantee that Stewart and Colbert will be questioned, as Viacom could argue that the pair is immaterial to the case. …

After the announcement that the $6 billion aQuantive merger had been approved, Microsoft announced a huge shakeup to its Internet advertising division, which will now be headed by former aQuantive CEO Brian McAndrews, who becomes the official head of Advertiser and Publisher Solutions. Alongside McAndrews, is aQuantive co-founder Mike Galgon, who assists him as chief advertising strategist. Satya Nadella, who in March was named head of Microsoft's Search and Ad Platform Group, will continue to run the technology behind adCenter, but will also be in charge of the company's newly acquired ad exchange, ADECN. Steve Berkowitz's Online Services …