TweetUp -- the Twitter-centric search and adverting network - announced its official debut on Monday. According to TechCrunch, TweetUp's destination site ranks Twitter search results by time (and a proprietary algorithm) to determine if a result should be ranked higher than other more recent tweets containing queried keywords. Users will also receive targeted paid-advertiser results within that stream. According to TechCrunch, TweetUp's business model is based on a 50/50 revenue share system, which it considers to be "a pretty compelling offer for advertisers." TweetUp also offers publishers embeddable widgets, and other contextual layers filled with relevant live …

Meet Pip.io -- the latest startup to be positioned by The New York Times as a potential alternative to disgruntled Facebook users. (Earlier this month, the paper profiled Diaspora*, which let users set up their own personal servers, create their own hubs, and more securely control the personal information they share.) Portraying itself as a social operating system, "Pip.io is similar to Facebook and Twitter in that it allows its members to post status updates, send messages and connect with friends," writes The Times. "But unlike its counterparts, the service allows its users to keep more …

So, what happens when AT&T's iPhone-exclusivity expires, and Apple starts selling the device through a second U.S. carrier (Verizon)? First of all, nearly 17% of that carrier's customers would upgrade to an iPhone, according to a research note from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, citing an Alphawise U.S. consumer iPhone survey. "There is substantial pent up iPhone demand within the Verizon installed base as 16.8 percent of Verizon subscribers said they are 'very likely' to purchase an iPhone if offered on the Verizon Network," writes Huberty. "This 16.8 percent is higher than AT&T subscriber's 14.6 percent extreme …

Google just released the exact revenue share that AdSense publishers are given for placing the ads on their Web sites. Publishers can expect a 68% revenue share for content ads, i.e., the ads one sees on Web sites. Therefore, as Search Engine Land clarified, "publishers keep 68% of the revenue earned, while Google takes the rest." Meanwhile, publishers get a 51% revenue share for search ads, i.e., the search ads one sees for using Google search on their web site. Why is Google opening up? "Earlier this month, it promised to do so in response to an …

Twitter has up and decided to block any and all third-party ad networks from running ads on its service. "We will not allow any third party to inject paid tweets into a timeline on any service that leverages the Twitter API," the company clearly explained in a blog post. For its part, Media Memo said it "sort of" saw this coming. "When Twitter launched its own ad system last month, COO Dick Costolo made it clear that Twitter would be restricting the way that rival ad systems could use the service's data feed." It appeared to some …

Can you chant via Twitter? We might soon find out as the Dalai Lama on Friday is expected to hold his first chat with Chinese Web users using the microblogging service. The hour-long chat session is expected to be broadcast on the Twitter account of Chinese writer Wang Lixiong -- a longtime critic of Beijing's policies in Tibet. The Dalai Lama himself reportedly joined Twitter earlier this year. While is Twitter is blocked in China, Chinese users are expected to be able to access the chat with the Dalai Lama, because Twitter allows third-party applications and servers …

Earlier this week, Microsoft filed a federal lawsuit against online software company Salesforce.com of alleged patent infringements. On Thursday, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff said that, while he couldn't comment on pending litigation, "The reality is that these patent trolls are unfortunately just part of doing business and technology these days ... They're basically the alley thugs." If it's not clear, the 'they' that Benioff was referring is Microsoft. "Personally, I'm just disappointed to see this from a former leader of our industry." Ouch! Either way," Benioff added, it's eminently resolvable and it's not material to our day-to-day …

In a rare display of humility, Microsoft head Steve Ballmer is finally admitting that the company made key mistakes in its development of the Vista operating system. Vista "was just not executed well," Ballmer said during a keynote speech this week at Microsoft's annual CEO Summit. Furthermore, "It was just not executed well, not the product itself, but we went a gap of about five, six years without a product." According to Computerworld, Ballmer then set the five points that most matter to him as Microsoft's CEO: "Recruiting talented employees, making balanced investments, innovating in the right …

Whoa. In light recent privacy concerns, "at least" 60% of Facebook users are considering canceling their personal accounts, according to a new survey conducted by IT security firm Sophos. Meanwhile, 16% claim to have already stopped using Facebook as a result of inadequate control over their data. Granted, the poll only included 1,588 Facebookers, but, according to PCWorld, it still suggests "the extent of member concerns ... over the network's privacy settings." Sophos said user concerns center on the complexity of Facebook's settings, and the "opt-out" approach to sharing member information with wider networks. Graham Cluley, senior …

On Monday, Yahoo is going to announce a broad mobile partnership with Nokia, sources tell BoomTown's Kara Swisher. Per the deal, the Finland-based mobile phone giant will build Yahoo email, search and other applications and services into its various devices. Nokia had reportedly considered making a Yahoo-centric phone, but sources says that idea never materialized. Codenamed "Project Nike," Swisher reports that the project had been on the backburner for "many years." In the meantime, Yahoo has had a range on various mobile initiatives, along with many -- "mostly failed, according to Swisher -- partnerships with carriers and …