Gannett to Launch More Than 100 HighSchoolSports.net Microsites

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

McLean, Va. – Gannett (NYSE: GCI), the publisher of USA Today, said its
HighSchoolSports.net business plans to launch more than 100 hyperlocal
"microsites."

The rollout will begin later this month in 38 markets,
including D.C., Atlanta and Denver, with other markets to follow by the end of
this year.

The microsites will be offshoots of local Gannett-owned media sites,
enhanced with HighSchoolSports.net content.

"This unlocks the full value
of our prep sports content for our readers and for sports marketers, including
national marketers, who are increasingly looking to reach 12- to 17-year-old
athletes and their families at the local and regional level," said Peter
Lundquist, the vice president and general manager of Gannett High School
Sports.

 

Related Links:
http://www.gannett.com/news/pressrelease/2010/pr081810.htm

http://www.highschoolsports.net

Clearspring To "Vigorously Defend" Against Web Tracking Suit

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

McLean, Va. – Clearspring, the developer of the AddThis
sharing platform and online widgets, said that it plans to "vigorously
defend" itself against a federal class action lawsuit claiming that
several major websites illegally tracked the surfing activities of site
visitors through Flash cookies developed by the firm.

"We have made an
initial review of the lawsuit and found it to be factually inaccurate with
respect to the company’s technologies and practices," wrote Clearspring
CEO Hooman Radfar on the company’s blog.

"Most importantly, Clearspring
does not and never did collect, store, or sell personally identifiable
information."

The suit was filed last week against Clearspring and several
large media firms, including Disney, Warner Bros. and Demand Media.

The
complaint alleges the defendants knew that Clearspring was illegally tracking
the movements of visitors well beyond their own sites, with the information
then sold to third parties.

"The Company used Adobe Flash local storage in
a manner consistent with other leading Flash analytics providers to deliver
standard web analytics to publishers," wrote Radfar.

 

Related Links:
http://www.clearspring.com/blog/2010/08/17/the-way-we-used-flash

http://tinyurl.com/235ooqz
(PDF of complaint)

http://tinyurl.com/2389l2p
(DMW previous coverage)

Millennial Media

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

WSJ: RIM in Talks to Buy Mobile Ad Network Millennial Media

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Baltimore – BlackBerry smartphone maker Research in Motion
(RIM) (NASD:  RIMM) has been in discussions to acquire Baltimore-based mobile ad network
Millennial Media, though the talks have hit a snag over the company’s value,
The Wall Street Journal reported.

Millennial reportedly has been seeking
$400-$500 million, based on the recent acquisition prices of rivals AdMob and
Quattro Wireless, though RIM so far has been unwilling to pay that much,
according to people familiar with the matter.

Millennial Media, which claims
the largest mobile ad network in the U.S., has raised $37 million in venture
capital since its inception in 2006.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/24jmube
(WSJ)

http://www.millennialmedia.com

Report: U.S. Search Market Steady in July; Google Nabs 71.4%

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Google (NASD: GOOG) accounted for 71.43% of all U.S. searches
in July, a month during which the major search providers mostly held steady in
their respective market shares, according to a report from Experian Hitwise.

Yahoo (NASD: YHOO), which this week began transitioning its search results to Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT)
Bing, attracted 14.43% of U.S. search traffic in July, followed by Bing itself
with 9.86%.

IAC’s (NASD: IACI) Ask.com accounted for 2.32% of searches, up 6% from the 2.19%
it held in June.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/277kvgj

Facebook Places

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Facebook Debuts 'Facebook Places' Location Feature

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Palo Alto, Calif. – Facebook on Thursday introduced a new
location-based service, Facebook Places, which will let users of the social
network "check-in" at real-world venues via their mobile phones.
Facebook Places looks to capitalize on the growing popularity of similar
services like Foursquare and Gowalla, and features offered by Yelp and others.

When Facebook users "check-in" at a venue, they can control whether
it will show up as a story in friends’ News Feeds and in the Recent Activity
section for that location.

Currently, the service is only available in the U.S.
for iPhone owners, but the company said it will soon add more countries and
mobile platforms.

Several existing location services have partnered with
Facebook to integrate the new feature, such as Booyah — whose new
"InCrowd" social game will utilize Facebook Places data.

Some 20% of
all check-ins made on Foursquare are already being pushed by users to Facebook,
Holger Luerdorf, Foursquare’s vice president of mobile, told TechCrunch.

 

Related Links:
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=418175202130

http://tinyurl.com/265wldn
(TechCrunch)

http://tinyurl.com/28w7haq
(Wired.com)

McAfee

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Intel Acquires Security Firm McAfee for $7.68 Billion

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Santa Clara, Calif. – Chipmaker Intel (NASD:  INTC) has acquired computer
software security firm McAfee in a deal valued at $7.68 billion. Founded in
1987, Santa Clara, Calif.-based McAfee saw $2 billion in revenues last year,
and counts 6,100 employees.

"In the past, energy-efficient performance and
connectivity have defined computing requirements. Looking forward, security
will join those as a third pillar of what people demand from all computing
experiences," said Intel president and CEO Paul Otellin.

The acquisition
"enables a combination of security software and hardware from one company
to ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments as
billions of devices — and the server and cloud networks that manage them — go
online," Intel said.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/382m3ck

http://www.intel.com

http://www.mcafee.com

PlaySpan Raises $18 Million for Virtual Goods Platform

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Santa Clara, Calif. – PlaySpan, the operator of a virtual
currency platform for online games and social networks, announced on Thursday
that it has raised $18 million in its third round of funding.

Vodafone Ventures
and Softbank Bodhi Fund led the investment round; previous backers Menlo
Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures and STIC also participated.

Santa Clara,
Calif.-based PlaySpan powers monetization for more than 1,000 online games,
social networks and online videos, and also operates a pre-paid game card
business.

The company, which has now raised $42 million to date, will use the
new funds to expand into Europe and Asia, and grow its publisher and user base.

 

Related Links:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/08/prweb4405654.htm

http://www.playspan.com

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