Report: Tech blog AllThingsD may part ways with News Corp
One of the fixtures of the tech scene, including star reporters Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg, could be on the move. Read more »
Twitter plucks ad man from Google to be research director
photo: Jeffrey Graham
Twitter’s ad operations are growing rapidly but not all brands and marketers understand them or are convinced of their value. This may explain why Twitter hired Jeffrey Graham as director of ad research. Read more »
Judge allows case over HuffPo ownership to go forward, adds fraud claim
A bitter fight over who started the Huffington Post took a major twist today after a judge not only refused for the second time to dismiss the case, but also expanded it. Read more »
Instagram says ‘self-help’ best option for woman suing over photos — and it’s right
Do you remember the huge controversy when people claimed Instagram wanted to sell your photos? In a court filing, Instagram reiterated a familiar refrain by social media companies that users can take or leave it when it comes to their policies. Read more at GigaOM »
New report says video ads are soaring — but only 5% are on mobile
photo: cybrain via Shutterstock
Online video ads are growing at a rapid rate but almost all of them are appearing on the desktop. Here’s some stats that also include a look at video ads on mobile and connected TV. Read more »
Hughes’ New Republic has 44,000 subscribers, thinks Twitter beats Facebook for news
Chris Hughes is young, wealthy and now owns a venerable but struggling magazine. Does he have a plan to make money from it? Right now, it appears he doesn’t care about the financial side of publishing. Read more »
Google stands by decision to end tablet-based ad campaigns
photo: Google
Google is making big changes to AdWords which is its main money machine and a major engine of online advertising. The company is framing the changes as a benefit — but they may shortchange advertisers and publishers. Read more »
Hearst: Women finally embracing online magazines thanks to 7-inch screens
photo: Janko R
The arrival of the iPad was supposed to boost online subscription sales for magazines. It didn’t work out that way. But smaller devices like the iPad Mini and Nook are starting to change that. Read more »
Dish chairman says Hopper ad-skipper is about tech, not leverage over broadcasters
photo: Asa Mathad, All Things D
Dish Networks is selling a controversial device called the Hopper that lets viewers skip commercials. Company chairman Charlie Ergen said TV watching is changing and that Dish is not using the Hopper to extract lower fees from broadcasters. Read more »
New York Times plugs big leak in paywall
photo: Flickr user jphilipg
The New York Times has finally closed a popular loophole that let readers circumvent its paywall by chopping off the end of a story’s website address. Read more »
Email sender Sailthru gets $19M to expand custom content offerings
photo: ra2studio
Sailthru helps sites deliver personalized content or shopping offers to their email subscribers. Now, the company has received a major investment from Benchmark as it expands its “smart data” products. Read more at GigaOM »
Can conservatives break the copyright stalemate?
photo: Viorel Sima
Cries for copyright reform have typically come from Silicon Valley liberals. But in recent months, conservatives are adding arguments of their own. This presents the chance to reach a grand bargain on fixing copyright. Read more at GigaOM »
New York Times and Wall Street Journal drop paywalls as Winter Storm Nemo hits New York
photo: Trudy Wilkerson
Want to get emergency storm updates — or just binge out on sports coverage or old David Brooks columns during the storm? Now’s your chance as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal offer free access to their websites. Read more »
LOL no more: it’s time to take AOL seriously as shares soar again
photo: Rob Hainer via shutterstock
Looking for the turnaround story of 2013? Stop looking at Yahoo — it’s AOL that’s the real deal. The company has quietly put in place a powerful strategy based on media, technology and advertising. And investors like what they see. Read more »
Aereo’s big bet to break the TV industry: CEO Chet Kanojia explains
photo: Rani Molla
To the frustration of consumers now used to digital distribution, the TV industry stubbornly refuses to unbundle its expensive channel packages. The CEO of upstart Aereo explains why he is taking them on. Read more at GigaOM »
New York Times posts ho-hum numbers, slow digital growth [updated]
photo: Flickr / Robert Scoble
The New York Times posted new earnings numbers this morning and they present a familiar, discouraging story of the Grey Lady’s inability to grow its digital business fast enough to offset other revenue declines. Read more »
Inside Aereo: new photos of the tech that’s changing how we watch TV
photo: Rani Molla
Upstart Aereo is taking on the TV industry from a single floor in Brooklyn where it has stuffed thousands of tiny antennas and top notch transcoders and servers. Here’s a primer on how it works — plus some pictures from the inside. Read more at GigaOM »
Would you watch a video to access content? Selectable Media thinks so, expands to mobile
Some people won’t pay to see online content. But there’s a chance they’re willing to watch an ad or fill out a survey instead. Here’s how one company is bringing such options to mobile devices. Read more »
“The brain of the New York Times, the body of BuzzFeed” — Slate’s third act
photo: Slate
In its 17 years, Slate has distinguished itself as a publishing innovator and a home for well-written news and ideas. But, until recently, it has been hampered by a lack of technology and a business model. Is that about to change? Read more »
WSJ moves special sections online, adds expert chatter and Google Hangouts
Special newspaper sections on topics like retirement or investment offer the chance for deep audience engagement — and major advertising opportunities. Can the Wall Street Journal replicate this experience online? Read more »
PBS tweet entices SuperBowl watchers to Downton Abbey: how it happened
photo: PBS
PBS showed quick social media instincts on Sunday night with a tweet inviting people to ditch the “Blackout Bowl” for some British drama. Here’s how it happened. Read more »
Outbrain wants to be the Google AdWords of content recommendation: here’s its plan
photo: ollyy via Shutterstock
Outbrain wants to dominate the business of suggesting stories to readers while helping publishers buy and sell web traffic. But now competition is coming and the company has to protect its turf. Read more »
Antigua’s threat to plunder American intellectual property: Video explains it all
photo: NMA
Antigua says it can disregard American patent and copyright law, thanks to a trade ruling. Here’s a quick summary plus a funny Taiwanese video to explain it all. Read more at GigaOM »
Giddyup! Horse betting site DerbyJackpot lets casual gamers play the ponies at work, the bar and everywhere
photo: Alexia Khruscheva
DerbyJackpot combines the feel of casual social gaming with real life betting on horse tracks across the country. Thanks to a legal exception bets on horse-racing, the company is one of the few that can offer online gambling in the US. Read more at GigaOM »
New York Times contest brings tech startups into its headquarters
photo: Flickr user jphilipg
Do you have new ideas about advertising, social media or publishing that you’d like to try out at the New York Times? Now’s your chance. The company will take in three to five companies for a 4-month, in-house partnership. Read more »
Same old Yahoo: why better earnings don’t equal a turnaround
The arrival of Marissa Mayer at Yahoo is fueling the desire for a comeback story. Despite press reports suggesting the turnaround has come, Yahoo’s modest earnings improvement this week are not that story. Read more »
Facebook’s privacy payout: how you’ll get $10, $5 — or nothing
photo: Sergey Mironov
Did you get a mysterious email from Facebook about a lawsuit? You’re eligible for some money but, alas, chances are the lawyers and privacy groups will keep it instead. Here’s the odds. Read more at GigaOM »
HuffPo’s new ‘Conversations’ will improve comments — and make money for AOL
photo: siSSen via Shutterstock
The Huffington Post’s new Conversations feature rounds up individual discussions taking place within comment sections and gives them a webpage of their own. It’s an attempt to fix comment chaos and could be an ad goldmine for AOL. Read more »
New York Times editor to take 75,000 Twitter followers out the door with him
photo: steveball
The New York Times is cutting 30 staff — some of them with deep backgrounds in social media. This means the paper could lose a number of its Twitter readers. It also shows how media outlets and journalists need to work out Twitter issues by contract. Read more »
Robot news curator NewsCred launches human editorial team
photo: F.Schmidt
NewsCred has become a big player in the news business by using algorithms to bring relevant stories to clients looking for content. Now, the tech intensive company is adding a new product to its mix — humans. Read more »
Facebook ad partner AdRoll boasts 700 clients on FB exchange, says revenue tripled
AdRoll, a firm that places “retargeted” ads on Facebook had a very good year. Does that provide any hints as to what Facebook will say about its ad earnings next week? Read more »
Google releases new government surveillance data, Facebook stays mum
photo: Flickr / Thomas Leuthard
Google published its latest report about how often governments are asking for data about individuals. The growth of this type of surveillance means that Facebook should consider publishing a report of its own. Read more at GigaOM »
iPads replace newspapers in Boston Globe’s school donation program
For years, newspaper subscribers who go on vacation have donated their papers to classrooms where students would do things like cut out pictures. Now, Boston readers will be donating iPads instead. Read more »
Online dictionary Wordnik launches story suggestion engine Reverb
Content recommendation services are becoming big business. The latest entrant is Reverb, a site that draws on its experience as a dictionary maker to offer useful story suggestions. Read more »
Conversation site Branch launches “profile cards,” personal recommendations
Branch, the site that wants to improve the quality of discussions on the internet, is offering new community-like features that could make the site more approachable and conversations easier to discover. Read more »
Report: Google made €50 million copyright offer, French publishers want €100 million
As Google gets bogged down with the French government over a so-called “internet tax,” the newspaper Le Monde reports that the search giant tried and failed to reach a large-scale copyright deal before Christmas. Read more »
The new Mega: a privacy triumph or just more content theft?
photo: Kletr
Flamboyant entrepreneur Kim Dotcom is marketing his new file-sharing locker as “the privacy company.” Is he for real or are the privacy claims just a cynical cover-up for a new piracy business? Read more »
No short-term payday for Oprah and Deadspin from Lance, Te’o trainwrecks
photo: Fer Gregory
Oprah Winfrey and sports site Deadspin had two of the year’s biggest stories this week and attracted millions of people to their websites. Too bad they didn’t have an ad plan in place. Read more »
The little paywall that could: Tinypass gets a CEO and some money
photo: Shutterstock / Luiz Rocha
More publishers of all stripes, including star blogger Andrew Sullivan, are charging visitors for content. This has translated into good news for paywall provider Tinypass. Read more »
Amazon opens music store for Apple devices, songs start at 69 cents
Amazon is getting more aggressive in its attempt to muscle into the online music space. On Thursday, it announced a HTML5-based MP3 store that allows consumers to buy and play songs on their Apple devices. Read more »
