Forbes
Forbes says the newest version of Internet Explorer, out today, marks Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's latest plot to foil Google. That might sound strange, considering that Google doesn't have a Web browser, but the report claims that many of IE's new features have been designed as a way for people to get around using the search giant's popular services. For example, the new browser comes with a search box in the upper right hand corner -- Live Search, that is -- and just below the box is a customizable row of tiny logos providing quick links to familiar destinations like …
Los Angeles Times
"West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin is setting his sights on Facebook for an upcoming movie, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Hollywood screenwriter has apparently started a Facebook group that he's using as research for the film, which is being written for Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin. Facebook, however, denied any affiliation with Sorkin's project. "We are routinely approached by writers and filmmakers interested in telling the Facebook story or the stories of the more than 100 million people who use Facebook to share and make the world more open and connected," a spokesperson said. "At this …
Dow Jones
MySpace owner Fox Interactive Media has overtaken Yahoo as the top display advertising property in the U.S., according to new data from comScore. In June, 56.8 billion display ads were viewed on the News Corp. company's sites, giving it a 15.2% share of the total U.S. display market. Yahoo, meanwhile, served 53.1 billion display ads in the same time period, accumulating a 14.2% share. The data represents a rather big change from May, when Yahoo was still top of the display pile with a 15.9% share, compared to FIM's 13.5%. Dow Jones points out that the June data will raise …
Press Gazette
The Internet is set to overtake radio in global advertising spend this year, says a new report from Carat. The media agency claims that the Web's share of global spending will rise to 8.6% this year, up from 7.3% last year, overtaking radio, which is set to drop from 7.5% to 7.4%. While this is certainly an important move, Web spending is still miles behind TV and print, which account for 41.2% and 36.0% of worldwide spending, respectively. Jerry Buhlmann, chief executive of Aegis Media, which owns Carat, said: "Internet advertising is continuing to drive spending ahead of other …
The San Francisco Chronicle
Tough times are hitting Silicon Valley, The San Francisco Chronicle reports, particularly as the rich get richer. "Working people in Silicon Valley are walking an economic tightrope, and any unexpected medical bill or even a car breakdown can push them over the edge," says Louise Auerhahn, author of a special report, "Life in the Valley Economy", which likens the area's economy to a barbell or an hourglass--lots of weight at the top and bottom, but very little in the middle. "This report does an excellent job documenting what people outside the region have been slow to understand - that …
Fortune
Google reps are shilling the heck out of Google Apps to business owners, but with relatively little success, Fortune reports. Indeed, the search king has a long, long way to go before it cracks the market for corporate software that Microsoft so thoroughly dominates. As one IT professional said recently (after declining an offer from Google), "I don't know if [Google Apps] is ready for prime time yet." Eighteen months into its corporate push, Google Apps is only being used by a handful of Fortune 500 and mid-sized companies--and none of these embraced the Google software suite in its entirety, …
TechCrunch
The WB, long gone from your television, is being resurrected on the Web. Tomorrow, Warner Bros. will relaunch the defunct television network as a Web hub for its television shows. According to TechCrunch, TheWB.com will be more "feature-rich" than competitors like Hulu, allowing users to mashup clips from each show, for example. The report says its most impressive feature is video search, which allows users to search for specific words or phrases used in any show. Digitalsmiths, the search provider, uses technology that automatically transcribes and indexes dialogue from each episode. TechCrunch claims the search engine only works …
Adweek
A new report from Forrester claims that TV advertising will start to look more like Web advertising, as the industry embraces the kind of targeting techniques deployed on the Web to more accurately reach specific groups of people. According to Forrester, this will be a decade-long evolution that will result in most programming being delivered on-demand with targeted ad messages based on location and behavior. The research firm calls it "Personal TV," delivering programming through a "portal-like" menu with all the options and search functions you'd find on the Web. Forrester claims the shift would give TV the …
BusinessWeek
Forbes