Adtech has made great strides but is in a period of transition. The most pressing concern for publishers? The need for a soup-to-nuts provider that isn’t also a competitor like Google. Read more »
Is there a reason Vine videos are exactly six seconds long? Yes, and it has a lot to do with high profile court cases that almost destroyed hip hop music. Read more at GigaOM »
Social platforms like YouTube have become a rich source of “citizen journalism” about breaking news events, but media outlets don’t always provide credit. Mark Little of Storyful wants to try and change that with a public license for video news. Read more »
The great game between broadcasters and upstart services that stream TV took another turn this week as Fox and others filed a new copyright lawsuit in Washington, DC. Read more »
News Corp will officially split into two companies on June 28th. The corporation announced new details about the split, including provisions to prevent hostile takeovers. Read more »
Amazon has maneuvered to avoid collecting state sales taxes, but that’s only part of the story: This week’s Fortune cover article reveals that even when things don’t go the retailer’s way, it’s been able to turn them to its advantage. Read more at GigaOM »
Dora, Diego, Spongebob, Blue’s Clues and a number of other kids TV shows were taken offline by Netflix this week as the company’s deal with Viacom is expiring. Read more »
Apple and the federal government met on Thursday for a final hearing before their trial, which is set to begin on June 3, and features several high profile witnesses. Read more »
Journalism has been evolving away from just a repetition of facts or events and towards context and analysis, research shows — but this evolution has also created tension for media companies because it conflicts with the principle of objectivity. Read more »
Twitter is rapidly expanding its “multi-screen” ad offerings through a range of new partnerships with sports, news and other media companies. Read more at GigaOM »
Apple and the federal government are about to go to trial over an alleged conspiracy to fix ebook prices — but recent court filings show that Amazon will play a large role in determining the outcome. Read more »
When Open Road Media launched in 2009, the idea of an all-digital publisher was still fairly new. Nearly four years later, it’s encountering more competition as publishers of all sizes hone their digital strategies. Here’s what it’s doing to try to stay ahead. Read more »
Amazon is making its Kindle Fire HD tablets broadly available internationally, with preorders shipping in June. The tablets were already available in Europe and Japan. Read more at GigaOM »
The New York Times’ legal response to a startup whose software allows publishers to replicate the look of the NYT’s Snow Fall feature goes so far above and beyond a simple cease-and-desist it becomes ridiculous. Read more »
Twitter has finally joined other leading tech companies in offering two factor authentication. The move comes after high profile hacking incidents at the AP and other news outlets. Read more at GigaOM »
Netflix continues its competition with HBO by going into the stand-up comedy space. Altogether, the company may launch up to 16 original shows next year. Read more »
Comment trolls are often used as an example of why blog comments are a waste of time, but a recent series by the Climate Desk showed how they can quickly be turned into human beings. Read more »
Personalized social reader Zite is updating its iOS app with more Google Reader-inspired features, and also added seven new publishers to its publisher program. Read more »
Soo Meta redefines video storytelling by turning Storify-like content curation into great-looking video slideshows. The platform even allows producers to add polls and quizzes to their videos. Read more »
Twitter’s latest ad product provides a call to action right inside a tweet — showing the company is finally creating marketing tools closer to the “bottom of the funnel.” Read more at GigaOM »
Penguin has agreed to pay $75 million to settle the ebook pricing lawsuit with consumers and states. Meanwhile, Apple and the Department of Justice are set to go to trial on June 3. Read more »
Amazon Publishing is launching Kindle Worlds, a publishing platform that lets authors sell fan fiction based on properties like Gossip Girl. Amazon Publishing retains the rights to the works and will set the prices. Read more »
Looking for a job in digital media? Each week we highlight some of the most interesting positions posted to paidContent’s job board. Check out the latest gigs at media companies across the country. Read more »
From paidContent LIVE 2013, a re-broadcast of our panel featuring MLB Advanced Media, News Corp., Atlantic Media and ProPublica discussing digital monetization strategies. Read more »
Fans of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer say she shouldn’t be blamed for the company’s history of failed acquisitions — but there are plenty of other reasons to be skeptical about Yahoo’s $1.1-billion Tumblr deal. Read more at GigaOM »
The Internet Archive recently launched an ambitious project to collect and index all broadcasts since the start of television. This week it got a major boost. Read more »
The platform could give publishers a new tool in their quest to monetize online content. Not only does it let mobile websites issue push notifications, but it also introduces new real estate for ads. Read more at GigaOM »
The six finalists of the Publishing Hackathon held over the weekend in New York focus on discovering books in new ways — whether it’s by browsing book jackets or getting recommendations based on your web browser history. Read more »
Knewton, a New York-based adaptive learning startup, has partnered with education publisher Macmillan. Read more at GigaOM »
Many publishers treat obnoxious comments as a problem to be solved — Above the Law takes the opposite approach, and embraces readers as they are. Read more »
More news from Yahoo on Monday: The company is revamping photo-sharing service Flickr and is also opening a New York City office. Tumblr’s employees, however, will remain at their current office. Read more at GigaOM »
There are plenty of reasons why the announced Yahoo Tumblr deal makes sense for those companies. But Marissa Mayer might have seen a much greater payoff from acquiring Pinterest instead. Here’s why. Read more at GigaOM »
Pay TV providers in the US lost subscribers for the first time ever over the 12 months ending in March. Especially alarming is the slowing growth of lower-priced offers. Read more at GigaOM »
In an investor call Monday morning, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said Yahoo and Tumblr’s audiences really don’t overlap. She said that’s fine: Yahoo users will be exposed to more Tumblr content, and Tumblr gets a new ad strategy and possible Flickr integration while remaining a separate site. Read more at GigaOM »
In a speech to Columbia business school graduates, the CEO of the New York Times described the company’s role in media disruption. Read more »
Yahoo has officially acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion, the companies announced Monday morning. Tumblr will be operated as a separate business, with David Karp remaining CEO. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo’s board has agreed to pay $1.1 billion for Tumblr, according to reports. Read more at GigaOM »
The upcoming Rev3 series Distort offers not only rich, compelling footage shot at high frame rates, but the on-camera presence of former Rev3 employees, who’ve struck an unusual deal for distribution. Read more »
Recent events, tragic and triumphant, emphasize the social web’s role as a central source for disseminating breaking news. But getting the facts right continues to be a challenge, and a solution requires cooperation and technical innovation. Read more »
Fans of the social-blogging network might not like the idea much, but a $1-billion acquisition of Tumblr would arguably solve a number of problems for Yahoo — and do the same for Tumblr CEO David Karp. Read more at GigaOM »
