A major executive shakeup at Twitter last week has people once again asking pesky questions about the company's future. Like does it have one? How will it make money? And When? But Twitter investors don't find your questions amusing, and would like you stop asking now. "It's like the stupidest question in the world: How's Twitter going to make money?," said Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson. "Eventually Google was going to make money and they figured out how to do it and they figured out a great business, and I think the same thing is true with Twitter." …

Critics scoffed at Fox when it shelled out $580 million for MySpace back in 2005, well before the company showed signs of profit or was even monetized in any significant way. But now, three years later, TechCrunch declares it money well spent. Fox Interactive Media -- which is mostly MySpace -- earned about $850 million in revenues during the fiscal year that ended in June, and is projected to hit $1 billion next year. And MySpace is profitable. It now employs 1,600 people worldwide, compared to just 150 in October 2005 -- that's more than a tenfold increase. And …

A lot of attention is paid in the trade press to in-game advertising (particularly this week, as it was revealed that Barack Obama's campaign was advertising in an Xbox 360 game). But one of the leading authorities on the category issued a warning this week that in-game advertising still faces significant hurdles to becoming a major part of anyone's marketing mix. "I've been more bearish than bullish [on in-game advertising]," John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, said. "There are hurdles before we get there, [and] those hurdles are not small." Among the hurdles: complex relationships that require that require …

The stock market is no stranger to volatility right now, but one stock got a peculiar dose of it yesterday following remarks by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Speaking at a Gartner conference in Orlando, Fla., Ballmer said that the deal still makes "economic sense." Within a few hours, Yahoo's stock had soared 20 percent. Ballmer acted immediately to tamp down expectations. An e-mail sent to Advertising Age read: "Our position hasn't changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo; there are no discussions between the companies." The stock quickly fell back to around $13. Still, it's hard not …

It's long been known that challenging mental activity helps strengthen the mind. But does searching the Web count as challenging mental activity? According to a new study of older Web surfers, it apparently does. Using some fancy MRI technology, the administrators of the test monitored the brain waves of participants-both regular Internet users and novices-when they performed several tasks, such as reading a line of text or searching the Internet for information. Those who don't frequently use the Net didn't show much brain activity when asked to search, but regular Internet users showed high levels of brain function when …

Peter Vasilev owns an iSold It store in Pleasant Hill, Calif, where people can bring in their old belongings and have them sold on eBay. As the credit crisis has worsened and the stock market has tumbled, store traffic is up among those people looking to consign items. Unfortunately, selling those items on eBay has become a challenge. "We're seeing a lot more people coming into the store who basically need money to pay bills," said Vasilev, whose sentiments were echoed by others who make their living selling on the auction site. "Fewer items are selling, and the ones …