Zynga Hires Former MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta

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San Francisco – Social games developer Zynga has hired
former MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta as executive vice president of business
operations. Van Natta served at the helm of MySpace for just ten months, having
previously stepped down after five months as CEO of Project Playlist to take
the MySpace gig.


 

Related Links:
http://www.zynga.com

MOG Site to Showcase Content From 1,300 Music Blogs

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Berkeley, Calif. – MOG, the operator of a music-focused blog
network and digital music subscription service, on Monday launched a new
editorial hub to showcase the best content from its network of 1,300 music
blogs. MOGMusicNetwork.com will feature curated content from MOG blogs, which
collectively reach more than 20 million unique monthly U.S. visitors.


 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/22vtx8z

http://www.mogmusicnetwork.com

Survey: Interactive Periodical Subscriptions Worth $3B by 2014

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New York – Subscription revenues from interactive
periodicals at U.S. newspapers and magazines are projected to reach $3 billion
by 2014, according to a report conducted by Oliver Wyman for Next Issue Media,
a publishing consortium whose members include Conde Nast, Hearst, Time and News
Corp.

The survey of 1,800 U.S. consumers aimed to quantify expected demand
across some 230 periodicals.

It found subscription renewal rates of 64%
among device-owning subscribers, compared with the industry average of 55%,
while 30% of renewing subscribers favor a bundled print and interactive
edition.

Automatic renewals were found to reduce churn rates to 25%,
compared to an industry average of 45%.

Interactive periodicals were also found
to spur 17% of subscribers to make additional purchases.

The report recommends
that publishers "create new interactive products; offer a large library of
cross-sold interactive titles; develop innovative subscription packages; find
mutually beneficial partnerships with leading OEMs; carefully define future
advertising standards and metrics; and fundamentally rethink internal
workflows, capabilities and organization."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2ccvftl

http://www.nextissuemedia.com

Study: Video Game Degrees Now Offered at 300 U.S. Schools

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Washington – Three hundred American colleges, universities,
art and trade schools will offer degrees in video game design, development,
programming and art during the coming academic year, according to new research
from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

Rich Taylor, the ESA’s
senior vice president for communications and industry affairs, said the figure,
which is 20% higher than a year ago, indicates "the expanding role
computer and video games play" in fields like healthcare, education,
business and government.

This year’s list includes new programs such as the
game design and digital studies program at Dartmouth College, gaming
certificate program at Arizona State University and digital animation and
interactive media at Ohio State University.

A complete list is available at the
link below.

 

Related Links:
http://www.theesa.com/newsroom/release_detail.asp?releaseID=112

Apple Manager Charged With Selling Secrets to Accessories Makers

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Cupertino, Calif. – A manager at Apple (NASD: AAPL) faces federal charges related
to accepting kickbacks from Asian manufacturers of iPod and iPhone accessories
to whom he allegedly provided corporate secrets, the San Jose Mercury News
reported.

Paul Shin Devine, 37, has also been sued by Apple, which alleges he
received over $1 million in bribes from the unnamed Asian firms.

The corporate
information provided by Devine is said to have helped them secure favorable
contracts with Apple.

"Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards
in the way we do business," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told the Merc.
"We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the
company."

 
Related Links:

http://tinyurl.com/32yo2rv

(San Jose Mercury News)

Disney, Warner Records Sued Over Clearspring Tracking Cookies

1

Los Angeles – A federal lawsuit claims that websites owned
by Disney (NYSE: DIS), Warner Bros. Records and others that worked with widget advertising
firm Clearspring Technologies illegally tracked the Web surfing of site
visitors.

The suit alleges that Disney and other named defendants knew that
Clearspring was, through Flash cookies, tracking the Web movements of visitors
well beyond their own sites.

Data collected on these users — such as age,
gender, race, location, sexual preference, health issues and video viewing
habits — could then be sold to third parties.

The lawsuit against Clearspring
follows similar litigation filed against rival Quantcast, and clients including
NBC and ABC, over Web tracking.

Both lawsuits cite a 2009 study by the
University of California-Berkeley that found that Quantcast
cookies deleted by users being tracked could be "respawned" without
notifying or seeking consent from them.

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20013672-261.html

http://tinyurl.com/2bwlqak
(Ars Technica)

http://www.clearspring.com

Report: Hulu Considering IPO; Valuation Could Top $2 Billion

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New York – Hulu, the online video portal joint venture
between NBC Universal (NYSE:  GE), News Corp. (NYSE:  NWS) and Disney (NYSE:  DIS), is in talks with potential
underwriters on pursing an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the
company at over $2 billion, The New York Times reported, citing people briefed
on the matter. The talks with investment banks have indicated a Hulu IPO could
come as soon as this fall.

The site streams TV episodes and movies licensed from its owners and partners,
both on its own site and via distribution partners such as Yahoo, MySpace,
Comcast and AOL.

Hulu is currently ad-supported, but also plans to soon launch
a $10 per month subscription service that will offer access to a wider
selection of content.

Founded in 2007, Hulu raised $100 million in financing from
Providence Equity Partners, and generated more than $100 in revenues last year.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16hulu.html

http://www.hulu.com

Facebook Acquires Chai Labs for Reported $10 Million

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Palo Alto, Calif. – Facebook has acquired Chai Labs, the
provider of a website publishing platform, for around $10 million, All Things D
reported. Mountain View, Calif.-based Chai Labssays its platform "enables publisher to
easily customize and launch scalable, search-friendly sites in several
verticals," although All Things D describes the deal as a "talent
acquisition."

The company was founded by Gokul Rajaram, a former Google executive credited with helping launch AdSense.

Customers of Chai Labs’ content management system include
NBC Local and Yahoo’s Associated Content.

The company had to date raised about $2.4
million in funding.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/3xpy7d9

(All Things D)

http://tinyurl.com/23q4sqy
(GigaOM)

http://www.chailabs.com

Ybrant Digital to Acquire Lycos From Daum for $36 Million

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Hyderabad, India – Digital marketing firm Ybrant Digital
announced on Monday that it will acquire veteran search portal Lycos from Daum
Communications of Korea for $36 million.

Established in 1994, Lycos currently
attracts 12 to 15 million unique monthly visitors in the U.S., and nearly 60
million globally.

The company was first acquired by Terra Networks for $5.4
billion in 2000.

Daum then acquired Lycos from Terra Networks in 2004 for $95
million, and said it turned the company profitable after a restructuring in
2009.

Daum CEO William Chao said the sale of Lycos will allow Daum to
"devote its energy and corporate resources to core domestic businesses
including search, mobile services and map."

India-based Ybrant, the new
owner of Lycos, said it serves over 20 billion impressions a month, and has
partnerships with online publishers including MSN, Yahoo and Viacom.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2e8baqj

http://www.ybrantdigital.com

http://www.lycos.com

Ayeah Secures Seed Funding for "Social Reality Games"

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Boston – Ayeah Games, a developer of what it calls social
reality games, announced on Monday that it has raised an undisclosed amount of
seed funding, from angel investors and micro-cap venture capital firms.

Founded
earlier this year, Boston-based Ayeah says its games "combine social
networking, current events and breaking news to deliver a highly interactive
entertainment experience."

"Ayeah Games is about real people and real
events and capitalizes on the rapid adoption of Twitter, Facebook and other social
media platforms," said company founder Doug Levin.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/27vhpgo

http://www.ayeahgames.com