4 reasons why DoubleClickers should ditch Google
March 31, 2008
We've been hearing that impending layoffs have DoubleClick employees fearing for their jobs after Google finishes its takeover. Why? Working there sucks. Ask any Googler. Below, four reasons why DoubleClickers should welcome their liberation from the Googleplex:
Mixx’s New Feature Aims To Get Breaking News To Home Page Faster Than Digg
March 25, 2008
Mixx, a Digg-like site that ranks news stories based on reader voting, will launch a new “breaking news” feature later today that should get real news onto the home page very, very fast. More on that below.
Since launching just last September, Mixx has been on a tear to release new products. Groups came in December, followed by private mail in Februrary. Also in February they released a clustering feature that I think would fix a big problem at Digg - duplicate stories describing the same event. With the new feature, other users could add different but related stories to the main news item. This removes the need for Duelling stories and it gives the reader more content on the stuff they just clicked on.
Read moreSlideRocket puts the ‘wow’ into online presentations
March 20, 2008
Flashy presentation tool SlideRocket is easily one of the best-looking services I've seen.
CEO Mitch Grasso's presentation at this afternoon's Under the Radar session about the virtual worker (using SlideRocket to present) got several oohs and ahhs. In many ways it takes a cue from Apple's Keynote product with great use of fonts, reflections, transparencies, and transitions to put together presentations that use hardware acceleration and cutting-edge design templates to impress clients, co-workers, and potentially your boss.
Read moreContent Marketplace Helium Officially Launches
March 12, 2008
Citizen journalism site Helium has today officially launched its content marketplace after 7 months in beta testing.
We’ve covered the service twice before, once in 2006, then last year when Helium Marketplace first opened its doors. Helium offers two services: a user generated content portal that’s part Wikipedia, part Squidoo, complete with revenue sharing. Read more
Don’t call it a wiki: Google Sites finally launches
February 28, 2008
And this from CNET gives another take on the Google tool as wiki.
Google is finally launching the wiki it's been promising since the company acquired Jotspot, 14 months ago (see Dan Farber: JotSpot reincarnated as Google Sites). The service, now called Google Sites, will be rolled out to Google Apps users starting tonight. Oddly, nowhere in the press materials does Google use the word, "wiki." Read more
Newspond takes a shot at Digg and Techmeme
February 20, 2008
Mashable is writing about a new news site called Newspond. Their about page boasts that the site is, "...the most advanced news site on the planet." That's certainly a big statement to make, given the competition that already exists. Its main function is similar to that of Techmeme, with some of the social features of Digg thrown in for good measure.
At first glance, it appears that the content that is floating to the top of Newspond is very different to what is atop Techmeme right now. It's not clear whether this is due to the sources that Newspond is drawing on, or due to differences in their algorithms. I tend to think that it is a result of the algorithm, since many of the sources for popular articles are comparable on both sites. I think that the content needs to be tweaked, although it may improve as the site matures.
Read moreLaid Off From Newspapers? Join Marketing Consultancies
February 18, 2008
That's where the jobs are...really. AdAge has done an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, and come up with some interesting numbers about employment in the media and marketing sectors. U.S. media employment in December fell to a 15-year low (886,900), led by cuts in newspaper industry. On the other hand, jobs in advertising/marketing-services broke a record in November (769,000), and in that sector, the marketing consultancies powered that growth. These consultancies over the past year added 14,500 jobs (up 10.8 percent), nearly matching staff cuts at newspapers (down 16,900 or 4.7percent), according to the analysis. Why? Well, in time of chaos and change, anyone who ties to make sense of change still wins. That's where consultancies fit in.
On the media side, employment peaked in 2000, and since then media companies have eliminated one in six jobs (167,600). The only media sectors to add jobs: magazines (up a meager 400 jobs) and internet media companies (up 9,200).
MyNetflix (beta) Vista Media Center plugin with Watch Now streaming
February 11, 2008
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs
Anthony Park just released his MyNetflix Media Center plugin. The application lets you add/remove movies from your Netflix queue, browse for movies, and view history and recommendations. The part that will tempt you into installing the beta software however is the ability to stream "Watch Now" movies from the warm comforts of your Media Center. You do have a Netflix account don't you?
[Via Chris Lanier's Blog, thanks Matt]
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Google To Acquire Stake In CNet?
February 10, 2008
Nearly completely missed amid the noise around Microsoft’s takeover offer of Yahoo was speculation Friday that Google may be looking to acquire at a stake in San Francisco-based CNet.
CNet shares were up 7% Friday based on the rumors. Last month, a group of investors began gathering shares of CNet and desired to exert influence on the makeup of the board of directors.
Google investing in CNet in exchange for control over some or all of the advertising inventory isn’t a ridiculous proposition. Microsoft recently invested in Facebook in connection with an advertising deal. And in 2005, Google took a 5% stake in AOL for $1 billion.
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