There are more rumors about a Digg sale, and this time, they involve Google and Microsoft. According to the report, the investment bank Allen & Co has been floating the idea to several media companies. "We hear from a source very close to the deal that four companies are in heavy due diligence with Digg - two media/news companies, and two big Internet companies - Google and Microsoft," blogger Michael Arrington says. "And Google and Microsoft are on the verge of making their bids." Apparently, the social news aggregator is prepared to accept less than the $300 million …

Social networking is moving to the cell phone, where scores of new upstarts are clamoring to become the next Facebook or MySpace. The cell phone market has a few advantages over that of the Internet: at 3.3 billion, cell phones have a larger worldwide user base, and they also provide global positioning satellite and other location-based technologies. According to market researcher Informa Telecoms, about 50 million, or 2.3 percent of mobile users, use their cellphone for social networking, from chat services to file sharing. The company estimates that the market will grow to 12.5 percent in …

There's a new type of adware invading British shores. Phorm, a self-described behavioral targeting/adware company, has passed a privacy sniff test issued by Privacy International and will go live next week. Phorm provides software-based marketing for Internet service providers like British Telecom, Virgin and Talk Talk. It places a cookie on a user's machine that tracks all the sites visited and actions taken as a user surfs the Web. It then interprets the users' behavior in order to target relevant advertising. ISPs and other companies then receive a cut of the revenue. Phorm also utilizes the ages-old adware …

Should information be shared for the common good or for wealth? That is the user-generated content question. As blogs and blog networks accrue more advertising dollars, the question of integrity inevitably arises. If bloggers depend on advertisers for a living, how can we be sure those products and services they recommend aren't somehow influenced or manipulated by advertisers? An interesting new freelance blogging service called Associated Content addresses that problem (somewhat), through a revenue-sharing plan with its community of independent writers. Associated distributes their content through a network, paying them upfront based on the potential popularity of their submissions …

Toyota Motors is bowing a new online marketing campaign that's been created in conjunction with Google's YouTube. The move is gamble for both the automaker and the video-sharing giant. YouTube worked closely with Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi LA to customize the comedy-themed marketing initiative from Toyota, which promotes the company's new Corolla sedan. The ad shop provided the creative, while the YouTube folks focused on the technology side. The result is a $4 million comedy site called "Best in Jest," hosting the best comedy routines found on YouTube. Each week, Google culls its video database for …