In an effort to diversify its business model, Dailymotion is buying SublimeVideo parent Jilion, TechCrunch reports. SublimeVideo is a platform for distributing Web videos with customized features. For a fee, “Dailymotion says it will offer SublimeVideo customization [sic] technology to the brands, media companies and ordinary consumers who create Web-based video content.” 

Google is developing a unique ad strategy centered around its Google+ social network. They’re essentially Google+ posts that brands can turn into ads, AllThingsD reports. Yet, they “won’t be ‘native’ ads, because they won’t run on Google+, which doesn’t allow (formal) ads.” Rather, “the ads will run around the Web, on sites that use Google’s massive ad network.” 

Amid mounting privacy concerns, The Wall Street Journal counts all the ways retailers are tracking shoppers, this holiday season. “In dozens of U.S. shopping centers, small gadgets … will keep tabs on shoppers' cellphones,” it reports. “Elsewhere, trackers sprinkled around the centers identify shoppers' movements, helping mall operators and retailers tally how long people wait in line and where they shop.” 

Are shopping search engines run by Google and other tech giants doing their jobs? Recent research suggests not. Digging deeper into the matter, Search Engine Land now plans to run its own “fully documented” tests. “Every few days, we’ll search for an item and show what we found, starting with today’s test, a search for a toaster.” Given the messy state of product search, SEL’s Danny Sullivan said comparing competing service providers couldn’t be tougher. 

Twitter has signed a deal with Switzerland-based mobile software company Myriad Group to give users access to Twitter via mobile devices without using a mobile Internet connection. “The service will let users experience Twitter purely as ‘consumers’ who do not need to log in, or even have an account at all to use it,” TechCrunch reports. The move is seen as part of a larger effort by Twitter to expand its footprint in developing markets. 

Neetzan Zimmerman is having a good week. Already the subject of a fawning Wall Street Journal story -- about how the Gawker editor has apparently mastered the art of viral news sharing -- Zimmerman is now apparently getting his own sub-vertical on Gawker Media’s flagship site. “Under this plan, Zimmerman would get both his own landing page and an intern … whom he can train in his ‘dark arts,’” Capital New York reports, referring to Zimmerman’s knack for viral success. 

Supplementing its subscription model, Spotify is reportedly planning to launch a free, ad-supported version of its streaming-music service for mobile users. Critically, “The Sweden-based music company has reached licensing deals with all three of the global music companies to use their recordings on the new service,” The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources. “Until now, Spotify's free users have been able to play music on demand, with ads, on their computers -- but they can't use the service from their mobile phones or tablets.” 

AOL editor-in-chief Cyndi Stivers is reportedly leaving after less than half a year with the company. Regarding the Stivers situation, Keith Kelly reports: “One source said it is a ‘slow fire,’ which suggests it won’t go public until next year.” Lumping Stivers’ potential exit in with recent layoffs at AOL’s Patch unit, Kelly uses the word “turmoil” to describe the state of Tim Armstrong’s editorial business. 

Apple this week is rolling out iBeacon -- new mobile technology that guides users through thier in-store shopping experiences. At launch, the service will be synced with 254 U.S. stores, and be ready to send users messages about products, events and other information -- “tailored to where you are inside, provided you have downloaded the Apple Store app and have given Apple permission to track you,” The Associated Press reports. 

Think the Web, with its vast stores of information, is an accurate reflection of the real world? Well, consider the contention by one prominent linguist that fewer than 5% of the planet’s current languages are in use online. That’s according to András Kornai, who, in a paper published in October, also suggests that the Web is likely leading to the demise of all those other languages. “One thing is sad but certain: There will be far fewer than there are now,” The Washington Post writes.