Around the Net in Online Marketing

Primer For FCC Spectrum Auction
The New York Times

Google will be one of the most closely watched bidders when the highly anticipated FCC spectrum auction begins on Thursday, but the company doesn't stands much of a chance of winning any licenses. But no matter: Google already won a substantial victory in the form of the auction rules, which stipulates that the auction winners of one portion of the available spectrum open their wireless networks to makers of handsets and other mobile devices.

The radio spectrum licenses, on auction now that television broadcasters have been forced to convert from analog to digital signals, "are as coveted as oil reserves are to energy companies," the Times says, adding that the winners will build out a nationwide network that sends farther signals from cell towers using less power, over greater distances, through walls and in far-reaching rural areas.

Meanwhile, the auction is taking place at a time when mobile wireless is becoming the next big opportunity for content creators and advertisers. The minimum bid price for five blocks of licenses (a total of 1,099) is $10 billion. Analysts believe this auction will surpass the previous record of $13.7 billion in 2006. - Read the whole story...

MySpace's Retro-Evolution
The New York Times
News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch and MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe have revealed the social network's strategy for the coming year. Interestingly, the MySpace agenda for '08 smatters mostly of traditional media, including the further integration of content from News Corp.'s publishing and broadcasting arms, the creation of a new record label for musicians, a new games portal, and the development of a new online video series. Overseas expansion is also a primary concern--the company is now up to 24 different local versions of MySpace, with four or five new ones on the way. It is still the No. 1 social network, with an estimated user base of 110 million.

DeWolfe says it's become very mainstream. "It's about consuming content and discovering pop culture." In that sense, MySpace now resembles a traditional Web portal like AOL or Yahoo, but with a personal, social bent.

A huge, loyal, lingering user base is music to advertisers. Alan Rambam, a senior vice president at the ad agency Fleishman Hillard, says parent Fox Interactive Media "clearly envisioned [MySpace] as a portal." That said, he adds, "I thought they would be much further along with that today." Original content allows MySpace to sidestep the thorny problem of placing ads on profiles with sexually explicit or other questionable content. - Read the whole story...

Report: "Google Generation" Not What You'd Expect
Ars Technica
The so-called "Google Generation," or those born after 1993, aren't the Internet "super-sleuths" you would think, according to a British report. The British Library and Joint Information Systems Committee report finds that teens in the UK are only marginally better with technology than adults. They also "tend to use much simpler applications and fewer facilities than many imagine," and are far from expert searchers. In fact, this is "a dangerous myth" the report finds, adding that knowing how to use Facebook doesn't mean they know how to mine information using Google.

A literature review, which was part of the study, concludes that there has been no improvement in young people's information skills over the last decade, besides having access to instant answers through search engines. The report cites choosing search terms as a special problem for younger users.

The contention that Web sites like Wikipedia contribute to a greater collective understanding or peer knowledge is another myth, according to the report, which says kids prefer and value teachers, relatives and textbooks more than the Internet. So what is true about the Google generation? They like to cut-and-paste, they prefer visual information to text and they multitask all the time. - Read the whole story...

Microsoft Enters Virtualization Market
Reuters
Microsoft is targeting virtualization software as a new area for growth. The software giant on Monday bought startup Calista Technologies and expanded its existing alliance with Citrix Systems, moves that put Microsoft in direct competition with market leader VMware. Citrix is developing a new software virtualization software tool for Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 that makes its new Hyper-V technology compatible with Citrix's server software, XenServer. Virtualization is considered one of the most significant developments in recent software history, as it physically separates the desktop from a computer, allowing a person to call up a virtualized version of his or her computer over a network connection, while using a different machine. The technology allows companies to save on hardware costs by allowing one machine to access several different desktops.

VMware is the undisputed leader of the virtualization pack, Since the IPO in August, the stock has nearly tripled. Analysts say the virtualization wars are only just beginning, as companies test different ways to use virtualization to improve anything from security software to microchips. - Read the whole story...

eBay's Whitman Retires After 10 Years
The Wall Street Journal
The first major executive shake up of 2008 comes from eBay, not Yahoo: CEO Meg Whitman, in charge of the online auctioneer for 10 years, will announce her retirement in the coming weeks. John Donahue, whom Whitman recruited in 2005 to become president of the company's auction business, is now the leading candidate to succeed her.

Few executives who helped pioneer the commercialization of the Internet industry have remained on top for as long, except for some who can also claim founder titles, such as Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos and Yahoo Inc. CEO Jerry Yang. Indeed, Whitman helped eBay become the largest ecommerce company on the Web, although in recent years, the company has lost market share, merchants and cachet to burgeoning rivals like Amazon.com. The timing of her departure was Whitman's own choosing.

Slowing growth at eBay and the shifting dynamics of the ecommerce business are perceived as major forces in Whitman's decision. A new CEO and new efforts to reverse the slowdown could involve drastic changes, including a possible sale to or partnership with Yahoo, another flagging Internet giant. - Read the whole story...

Yahoo to Cut 700 Jobs Bloomberg News Yahoo To Cut 700 Jobs
Bloomberg News

Nielsen: Google Loses Search Share To Microsoft
Marketwatch

Will Earnings Help Apple Bounce Back?
Fortune

AT&T's Pseudo-Deal
GigaOm


Online Media Daily - Around the Net for Tuesday, January 22, 2008
http://publications.mediapost.com/?sfa=ed&t=42&d=2008-1-22


Updated By Nawaz