• Google To Distribute Content Via AdSense
    Google is partnering with "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane to distribute two-minute episodes of a new cartoon, "Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy" through its AdSense advertising system. The search giant will syndicate the program to thousands of Web sites that typically attract young men. Instead of static ads, clips of "Cavalcade" will appear where AdWords ads usually go on these sites. Advertising, of course, will be incorporated into the clips in a variety of ways, including prerolls, banners, or a simple "brought to you by" note appearing at the beginning of each clip. For more money, MacFarlane has been …
  • Twitter Kills Conversation, Users Move To FriendFeed
    Twitter, the popular microblogging service, had to take its "Reply" feature down when the service started to slow on Friday. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington notes that Twitter has taken to disabling certain features to keep its infrastructure from failing completely, having successfully tried the tactic out during Apple's recent WWDC keynote. "But here's the problem," Arrington says. "Replies was the wrong feature to turn off" because part of Twitter's "magic" is its ability to spawn "spontaneous, diverse conversations...that are almost synchronous, or chat like." Turn off the ability to reply and there are no more conversations, "Twitter turns into a one …
  • Reports: Facebook Valuation Below $5 Billion
    Is Facebook worth $15 billion? Nope, not anymore, according to a few reports. Last week, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington reported that one California money manager is representing a seller with a block of Facebook stock with an asking price valuing the social network in the $3-$4 billion range, far less than the $15 billion valuation it received last year after Microsoft purchased a one percent stake for $240 million. Meanwhile, a Silicon Alley Insider source floated a similar rumor earlier last week, asserting that the valuation was "less than $4 billion for sure." Then, after Arrington's report appeared, another unidentified …
  • IPhone Superiority: It's The Apps, Stupid
    As Apple prepares to unveil the 3G iPhone next week, carriers and handset makers are flooding the market with new touchscreen phones. But Read Write Web says the Apple imposters are missing the point: Touchscreen technology isn't what makes the iPhone so special; rather, it's the apps, particularly those that have been developed to take advantage of Safari's functionality on the iPhone. Indeed, according to RWW, the likes of LG's Voyager, the Samsung Instinct, HTC Touch, LG Vu, and Samsung Glyde won't be able to break the iPhone's stronghold because they have lousy browsers. And aside from being a great …
  • Rhapsody Embraces iTunes, Launches Competitor
    ITunes competitor Rhapsody is launching a DRM-free MP3 store, which means that users of the online music service will now be able to purchased and play Rhapsody songs on Apple's iPods. Before now, Rhapsody, a joint venture of Viacom's MTV Networks and Real Networks, offered users a subscription service, allowing unlimited streaming music for $13-$15 per month. Rhapsody Vice President Neil Smith said his company's service had been limited by not being compatible with Apple's iPod. "We're no longer competing with the iPod," Smith told Reuters. "We're embracing it." In conjunction with the launch of the new store, Rhapsody will …
  • Facebook: Not A Walled Garden
  • Next Chapter In The Search Trademark Wars
  • Yang, Out Of Options, Wants Microsoft
  • Obama's Steady Lead on the Web
    Early polls indicate that Barack Obama's lead over John McCain is slight, but on the Web, BusinessWeek says the Illinois Senator's lead may be insurmountable. Whereas Republicans have focused on using traditional media to reach voters, the Democrats have embraced social media to help disseminate information. For example, Senator Obama has grabbed almost 1.5 million "friends" on MySpace and Facebook; he even has 850,000 friends on his own social network MyBarackObama.com. McCain, meanwhile, has just 203,348 supporters across the Web's top two social networks, according to Web strategy tracking firm TechPresident. "The Republicans have had some success online, but …
  • Few Details Ahead Of 3G iPhone Launch
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