WebProNews

Rumor: StumbleUpon To Be Acquired By eBay

Reports surfacing about a possible eBay/StumbleUpon deal have created quite a buzz throughout the blogosphere over the last 24 hours. Forsaking the significance that such a deal could have in the silently mounting animosity between Google and eBay, the rumored details of acquisition weave an interesting tale in and of themselves. Headlines on the acquisition front have, by in large, been dominated by Google over the last six months, starting with the company’s highly publicized and now much scrutinized purchase of YouTube.

Google Steps on eBay's Toes

Google has set up a system to provide content recommendations and random site navigation based on information contained within a user’s search history and preferences, which would seem to be a step onto StumbleUpon’s turf. If the eBay purchase of StubmleUpon goes through, we could have a classic confrontation.

Virtual Gambling Could Bring Down Second Life

In the virtual world of Second Life, one can engage in just about every imaginable sort of commerce. Industries spanning from standard retail to prostitution offer the average Second Lifer a veritable cornucopia of possibilities, but it’s the virtual casinos that exist in the online world that are drawing the attention and ire of government agencies in the United States.

Yahoo Challenges Google On Analytics Front

Search engine marketers rely heavily on website metrics to determine what adjustments need to be made to advertising campaigns in order to increase time on site and conversion. Google has offered free analytical tools to webmasters for some time, but now site owners are starting to take notice of the new measurement tools contained within Yahoo’s Project Panama.

Blinkx Remote Serves Up TV Shows

The landscape of online video becomes more interesting by the day. While YouTube find itself bogged down in a quagmire of takedown requests and DMCA notices, Blinkx has decided to roll out a new search tool specifically aimed at directing users to television content that they can view and/or download.

Death Knell Chimes For Internet Radio

In March, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board approved a proposal by SoundExchange, working on behalf of the RIAA, which would implement a significant increase in royalty rates for streaming audio providers. Realizing that these rates would put them under, online radio stations banded together in one last desperate appeal to the CRB to reconsider the decision. Unfortunately for Internet radio providers, and for music lovers around the world, the judges at the CRB denied the appeal headed up by NPR and joined by several online radio stations.

Atari To Develop Its Own Virtual World

Second Life has inspired numerous other start-ups looking to take advantage of the hype surrounding the user-generated virtual world phenomenon. While many companies are looking to make a name for themselves with such aspirations, Atari just wants to reclaim its piece of the video gaming pie. Just what sort of unmitigated chaos has been wrought in the wake of Second Life’s popularity?

Coke Expands Viral Marketing Efforts Online

Crayon has been working closely with Coca-Cola to expand its brand awareness within the virtual world of Second Life. Coke is now taking its online campaign to the next level with the “Virtual Thirst” contest, which is being promoted across multiple social avenues, including Second Life, MySpace and YouTube. The contest is simple: design a new Coke machine for Second Life. The execution of the challenge, however, is the unique factor that bears mentioning.

Search Engines Build Blog Traffic, Not Popularity

Optimizing your blog for search will certainly increase the amount of search engine referrals that will come through, which sounds great on the surface to anyone looking to monetize that traffic. When it comes to retaining users and garnering popularity, however, search becomes less important. Inbound traffic is the most commonly employed metric in determining the value of a website property. In calculating market share, analytics firms almost exclusively base their figures on the volume of traffic a site receives.

Google Pulls Imus Related Keywords?

It hasn’t been a good week for long-time shock jock Don Imus. After his controversial comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, his Imus in the Morning radio show was quickly dumped by both MSNBC and CBS. The events surrounding the scandal have had an interesting impact on the search world as well. Prior to CBS axing the Imus program, several major sponsors pulled their advertising from the show, which no doubt was a major factor in the network’s decision to pull it from the airwaves.