The so-called "opening" of mobile wireless access is likened to companies like AOL, Earthlink and other ISPs be allowed to license the high-speed data services of big telecoms like Verizon and AT&T. The latter proved a complete failure for dial-up ISPs, because the expense of licensing DSL service kept them from making any money. Why? Because in the end, phone companies could sell DSL service directly to their customers at the same price or cheaper than what AOL and Earthlink could offer, because they had the added expense of the license. Meanwhile, the telecoms could conveniently tack on several …

The Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN has taken a bold stance against ad networks that rely heavily on arbitrage and algorithms to place ads on Web sites, having recently cut ties with Specific Media and other ad networks. ESPN is trying to galvanize other publishers to take a similar stand. Of course, ESPN is a seller of premium inventory; smaller sites with smaller sales forces depend on ad networks for monetization. In the wake of the famous warning that publishers should not sell Web ads like "pork bellies," issued last month by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia President Wenda …

Google might have lost the FCC spectrum auction--and happily so, by most accounts--but less than a week later, the search giant has unveiled new plans to use the so-called "white spaces" that exist between TV channels to provide Internet service. Of course, Google will do no such thing without the consent of the Federal Communications Commission. In a letter to the spectrum regulator, Google requested that the white spaces be opened up for unlicensed use to spread more affordable, widespread Internet access. In particular, Google seeks to use the white space located between channels 2 and 51 …

What can Google expect from DoubleClick this year? In a research note, Lehman Brothers analyst Doug Anmuth forecasts that DoubleClick will sell $300 million worth of its advertising products on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $50-$60 million for the year. Full year earnings will also be slightly diluted thanks to the ad-serving giant's hefty price tag of $3.24 billion. Anmuth says the real opportunity for Google is in leveraging DoubleClick's relationships with publishers and advertisers. The search king will want to convince advertisers to buy more ads across its AdSense network. Conversely, it …

Imeem has become the latest social media site to release its software development kit to programmers. It's also the latest OpenSocial member to do so, putting the social music provider in the company of AOL's Bebo and News Corp.'s MySpace. But why are OpenSocial members bothering to release their owns SDKs? Isn't a universal platform the point of OpenSocial? Instead, imeem's move leads to more splintering. Even though imeem claims that support for the Google-led initiative is "coming soon," OpenSocial is still limited in what it can offer programmers. For example, the networked platform initiative wouldn't enable …

New York state assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky thinks it should be a crime for certain Web companies to use personal information about consumers for advertising without their consent. And Brodsky has taken action, sponsoring a bill that would make using personally identifiable information for advertising purposes punishable by fine. He's not alone, either: the General Law Committee of the state assembly of Connecticut has also introduced a bill that focuses on data collection rules for third-party advertising networks, which interpret such data in order to serve advertising across a network of publishers they do not own. …

Wikipedia is one of the 10 most popular Web sites in the U.S., but it makes almost no money. In fact, all the money that the community-edited encyclopedia makes comes from donations-a great irony when you consider the company Wikipedia keeps as one of the most visited Web destinations: Amazon, News Corp., Yahoo, Google, etc. It comes as little surprise, then, that Wikipedia, more mature now, has started to look longingly at the success of its neighbors. Right now, the Wikimedia Foundation, the encyclopedia's parent, is pondering a number of changes to the site to help …