Bad news for Google: the video advertising market isn't going to grow as fast as previously forecast, and most of the growth will be fueled by traditional players like ESPN.com, Hulu, and CNN.com, according to a new report from Magna, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.'s Mediabrands division. Advertisers are expected to spend $699 million on online video in 2009, up 32% from the $531 million spent last year, as reported in Online Media Daily. Brian Wieser, Magna's global director of forecasting, said that while video advertising will likely outpace growth rates for other online ad formats, …

USA Today reports that Verizon and Apple are discussing the possible development of an iPhone for Verizon users, which would be introduced next year, after AT&T's exclusivity contract with Apple expires. AT&T has exclusive distribution rights to the iPhone in the U.S. into 2010. The move would mark the first time Apple has produced an iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is a different protocol from AT&T's GSM technology. According to the report, New York-based Verizon entered into "high-level" discussions with Apple management a few months ago, when Steve Jobs was still overseeing day-to-day operations at Apple. The sources …

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook will open up the stream of updates that appear on its users' pages to third-party developers so that they can build new services on top of that information. Sources say the announcement is expected sometime today. The move allows developers to build -- with users' permission -- services that access the photos, videos and comments users upload to Facebook. Says the Journal's Jessica Vascellaro, "That's a big change for the social-networking site, which has exercised tight control over the look and feel of its service and how developers can interact with it." Facebook …

A source who is "very familiar with Yahoo's advertising business" gives Silicon Alley Insider four reasons why Yahoo must not sell its search business to Microsoft. First and foremost, the source claims that the number of agencies wanting a one-stop shop for search and display advertising is growing, and that by next year, nearly 70% of buyers will prefer taking their business to Web giants like Google that offer this convergence. If Yahoo sells search to Microsoft, then Google would also be the only major Web company to sell both forms of advertising. This would drastically damage Yahoo's display business, …

TechCrunch reports that former AOL exec Mike Jones has become the new chief operating officer of MySpace, making him the number 2 executive at the newly reorganized News Corp. company. He will report to new CEO Owen Van Natta. He, Van Natta, and Jonathan Miller, News Corp.'s CEO of Digital Media, will address MySpace employees today at the social network's Los Angeles headquarters. Jones is actually the founder of Userplane, which AOL bought in 2006 while Miller was that company's CEO. As Michael Arrington notes, "Jones knows Miller well." He left AOL in 2008 to start another company, called Tsavo, …

In the U.S., "the land of free enterprise and the home of discount shopping, there can sometimes be an appalling lack of competition," notes The Economist. High-speed access to the Internet is one instance, and cable television is another. The reason for this "appalling lack of competition" is that cable television providers are also cable Internet providers, and they don't want one service cannibalizing on the other. In Japan, consumers get speeds of 160 megabits a second from their local ISPs for $60 a month. In the U.S., Comcast and Cablevision want up to $140 per month for "a stingy" …