Disney Media Networks -- which includes ABC, ESPN, ABC Family and Disney XD -- is adding ad research as a fresh focus of intense inquiry into online advertising analytics. The New York Times goes inside Disney's new clandestine research facility where they're testing to see, for example, how consumers respond to ads of varying size on ESPN.com. Disney is expected to unveil some of the lab's early findings, "including some surprises about new forms of online ads," on Tuesday in a presentation to about 200 advertisers in New York. Disney and other companies say they believe that …

Endeavoring to change buying trends on iTunes, Apple has tapped four top record labels to increase digital sales of albums by bundling an interactive booklet, sleeve notes and other features with music downloads. As The Financial Times reports, physical album sales have fallen precipitously as music retailing has moved from compact disc sales in shops to digital downloads, while consumers are buying large amounts of digital music, but individual tracks rather than full-length albums. In partnership with with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group, Apple working towards a September launch date …

News Corp. will eventually charge customers for access to its content, Jonathan Miller, the company's chief digital officer, said Thursday. Speaking at a Fortune magazine conference, Miller said, the Web "will become a have and have not world" in which some companies have material people are willing to buy and others don't. He added that journalism would increasingly become a "paid model" on the Web, in the same way that News Corp.'s Wall Street Journal charges for online subscriptions. News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rupert Murdoch hired Miller in April in an overhaul of MySpace …

In an interview with Kara Swisher, Twitter cofounder Biz Stone reveals that the microblogging sensation is set to unveil a new homepage next week. Stone says the current page is confusing to those who've been made aware of Twitter by the massive media coverage the site has received over the last year. The new homepage will consist of a search box, information on Twitter trends, and specific information for newbies about how they can use Twitter. "We need to do a better job of explaining ourselves to people who hear about us and then have no idea …

AT&T will not have an exclusive contract with Apple's iPhone forever, CEO Randall Stephenson admitted Thursday. Speaking at a Fortune magazine conference, Stephenson said, "There will be a day when you are not exclusive with the iPhone." However, he did not go in detail about the company's ongoing negotiations with Apple over extending AT&T's existing exclusivity contract, which runs out at the end of the year. The issue of when the telecom giant loses the exclusive on the iPhone has become a major issue for the company and its investors, Cnet's Ina Fried says. Asked whether he …

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong on Thursday revealed that the company is back on the acquisition trail even as it overhauls its advertising and content businesses. "We're in the process right now of looking at a number of companies," Armstrong said, speaking at a Fortune magazine conference. The former Google exec has already acquired MMAFighting.com, a martial arts site, Going Inc., an events site, and Patch Media Corp., a neighborhood news provider. Armstrong said AOL would bring a "Silicon Valley sensibility" to its content, loosely based on the same strategy Google built underneath its search engine, allowing the …

Reuters reports that News Corp. is planning to reposition MySpace, the Web's second largest social network, as more of an entertainment destination with a distinct focus on online video gaming. Speaking at a Fortune magazine conference on Thursday, Jonathan Miller, the company's chief digital officer, said he sees an opportunity to make MySpace's gaming platform better geared towards video game suppliers who will want to launch their products on the site and employ its user data to better develop games. "MySpace is and will be more in the future a gaming platform, a space for people to …