“‘Big Data Download’ is a daily digital program that taps into the big data revolution to deliver valuable information to everyday investors and business decision makers,” Yahoo says in an email. “The show, which will air twice each day, will draw upon sources including Yahoo! Search data, social sentiment and investing algorithms created exclusively for this program from the Yahoo! Labs team.”

“The inaugural episode of, ‘Big Data Download’ examines whether the housing market is really in recovery, by looking at both housing stocks and Yahoo! Search data,” the company says. “In the second episode, ‘Big Data Download’ drills into gas prices. Are you being ripped off at the pump? ‘Big Data Download’ explores oil, gas, distillate inventory numbers to shed light on where prices should be and which companies will get a lift when the price goes up.”

Thursday’s episodes will look at “key economic indicators that tell where the S&P 500 should really be right now,” and a controversial new program at Bank of America.

The show will air regularly Monday through Friday at 11AM and 2PM Eastern.

Last summer, Yahoo Finance and CNBC announced a partnership to reach a wider audience, and share information and ad revenues.

This will extend their reach to twice that of their closest competitor and allow them access to over 40 million people in the United States every month. They will also begin co-creating video content to be featured on both sites.

Aside from the shared ad revenues, no other money will change hands. The idea is to merely benefit from the distinctive resources each site has to offer; the broad reach of Yahoo Finance, combined with the depth of original journalism from CNBC’s news staff is no doubt a powerful combination.

Ross Levinsohn, Interim CEO of Yahoo comments on the partnership with CNBC.com:

“Our mission is to create the richest and most powerful experiences for users each and every day. Partnering with CNBC will allow Yahoo! Finance to expand its offerings instantly and enhance its position as the most viewed and utilized finance site in the world,”

“Together, we will deliver the most engaging, insightful and relevant premium and personalized real time experiences for viewers across screens.”

Mark Hoffman, President and CEO of CNBC comments on the partnership with Yahoo Finance:

“This collaboration is about two leaders in their respective spaces coming together,”

“With CNBC taking a central role on the biggest business news site in the world, we now have the ability to provide real-time news, analysis and information to a larger audience and offer unmatched advertising solutions for marketers looking for access across multiple platforms.”

Key elements of the strategic alliance include:

* CNBC will be the premier content provider for Yahoo! Finance in the U.S. – Greater access to CNBC.com’s stories and videos across the Yahoo! network, the No. 1 online finance destination in the U.S. CNBC content will be prominently integrated into Yahoo! Finance, the Yahoo! homepage and other areas across the Yahoo! network.

* Original video programming – Yahoo! and CNBC will jointly produce a slate of original videos to be prominently featured on Yahoo! Finance and CNBC.com as well as being promoted on CNBC. These programs, premiering this fall, will range from market coverage to profiles of the best minds in business. Currently, one out of every four videos viewed in the Business/Finance news category occurs on these sites.** The CNBC and Yahoo! Finance teams are experts in creating and distributing engaging and compelling video content.

* Joint sponsorship sales opportunities – Yahoo! and CNBC sales organizations will deliver powerful advertising solutions that provide advertisers access to affluent audiences viewing premium content at unprecedented scale, across platforms. CNBC will serve as the go-to-market sales lead.

The sites will maintain their current structures and editorial control, but will begin sharing content and co-producing original videos immediately. So you can look forward to enhancements from both parties ASAP.

As it stands, the general thinking around Apple’s upcoming iPad 3 is that it will be announced on March 7th. This date has been slung around by multiple sources, and of course the logical place to expect that announcement is either San Francisco or Cupertino.

Within the last hour, CNBC has tweeted that Apple will be unveiling a quad-core 4G LTE enabled iPad 3 next week. And they say that it’s taking place in New York.

Here’s some elaboration on CNBC’s site:

From CNBC’s John Ford:

What i’m hearing is that there will be an announcement next week and that actually the main location might be new york. which would be unusual, because a lot of product announcement, apple tends to do out of san francisco. but, i’m hearing new york could be a location next week. new york is a place, of course, that has plenty of media and publishing happening there. so if that is a main feature of the announcement, new york would make sense.

In response to this, The Loop‘s reliable Apple expert Jim Dalrymple tweeted his rebuttals:

It’s not just the location that’s being questioned, but earlier today we heard rumors that Apple’s Quad-core A6 might not be ready for the big release.

We will update this article as necessary.

UPDATE: CNBC has released some clarifying tweets:

[h/t MacRumors]

EveryZing will also be deploying its universal search and publishing solutions across a number of NBCU’s Internet properties. The goal is to improve the video search experience for some major media sites.

CNBC would be one such site. "EveryZing’s core technology advantage and robust product offerings will assist us in taking full advantage of the content across many NBCU brands, ultimately enhancing the audience experience,” said Scott Drake, VP of CNBC Digital. "For example, CNBC’s users and viewers will be able to jump to the exact mention of their favorite guest, company or topic within the video and quickly consume the content most relevant to them."

It would not be surprising to start seeing more partnerships like the one NBCU has created with EveryZing as online video continues to take off in popularity and becomes a more important element to the web in general.

"The consumption and demand for online video continues to explode," explains EveryZing CEO Tom Wilde. "As such, media companies must continue to fully leverage their unique content assets in order to extend and enhance their business models. We are thrilled with this opportunity to have NBCU as a customer and Peacock as an investor."

The deal also brings to mind the importance for any business offering online video content to make their libraries easily navigable so usable. Ease of use and finding what they are looking for quickly are two elements that will keep users coming back. It’s something that should not go overlooked if you don’t want to get lost in an ever-growing sea of online video content.

Here’s the situation as explained on Google’s Let’s Take it Offline blog: "we’re thrilled to announce the addition of national inventory on CNBC to the Google TV Ads platform."  The arrangement "enables Google TV Ads advertisers to reach over 95 million households who watch CNBC."

 

Impressive, right?  Plus, skip down a bit and the post continues, "we are looking forward to launching MSNBC, Oxygen and SciFi in the coming months."

To be fair, all of these partnerships were announced in November 2008.  Announcing something and achieving it don’t always go hand in hand, though, and this still represents a breakthrough.  Google TV Ads presumably performed well with Sleuth and Chiller TV – the first networks NBC Universal offered access to – and is moving up in the television advertising world as a result.

Google’s investors may appreciate this fact, as its stock is down significantly less (3.20 percent) than the Dow (4.26 percent) and Nasdaq (3.99 percent) today.

“It’s true I’m banned,” Lyons said via email.

CNBC denied banning Lyons, and laid blame on an assistant producer, who, reflecting the anger of other CNBC producers, said Lyons would never be on CNBC again.

When told about CNBC’s denial, Lyons responded, “If they say I’m not banned, great.”

The rest is a lot more he-said, she-said, but the bigger issue is similar to the one that plagued the Bush Administration as Congress grandstanded about faulty intelligence: Who knew what and when?

Dan Lyons
realdanlyons.com

Other questions: If it weren’t for bloggers and the Apple faithful continually expressing their skepticism about Jobs’ health, would the news have ever come out? Could this have happened in the blogless world of 20 years ago? 

Lyons, earliest and chief among the skeptics, credits the blogosphere. “Blogs kept this story alive and wouldn’t let it die. Mainstream media for the most part were acting as Apple’s lapdogs (eg, Goldman at CNBC) and not only refusing to report the story but actually covering up when bloggers did report the story and get nuggets of truth.

“In other words, CNBC and its ilk were acting as extension of Apple’s PR operation, helping Apple kill a story that Apple didn’t want out. I’d lump in that category the guys at New York Times who got played by Apple PR too—[John] Markoff who wrote about Jobs having surgery earlier this year, based on ‘sources’ (read: [Apple Communications VP] Katie Cotton) and positioned the story that Jobs was fine, he’d just had some surgery, but he wasn’t seriously ill. Ditto for Joe Nocera of the Times who did his ‘off record’ convo with Jobs and then reported that Jobs was fine. They got played. They helped Apple kill a story instead of actually reporting the story.”

That’s a bit more specific than Lyons got back in July on his blog, but he made it clear then he felt Apple was bluffing. That gives him at least six months worth of I-told-you-so’s to dole out to his counterparts in the media, which he has been unleashing with significant (public) fervor.

Steve Jobs
Apple CEO

Goldman denied covering up anything on Apple’s behalf and said he reported only what he had solid evidence for. The root of the scuffle between Lyons and Goldman is Goldman’s proclamation that Jobs was in good health and his subsequent mocking of Gizmodo, a popular gadget blog, just two weeks ago. While live-blogging at Macworld week later, Goldman again went after speculation and cautioned investors to “tread lightly when considering speculation from a doctor not directly connected Jobs’ treatment.” Said doctor was quoted in the Wall Street Journal.

Yesterday, Goldman blogged that he stood by his reporting because he relied on a source he’d “known for years” who assured him Jobs was fine. “All this company had to do was be upfront with everyone from the beginning,” he wrote. “Not telling us what we all wanted to know. But what we needed to know. Apple could have broken new ground on this front, ignited a new realm of transparency. Instead, it chose a different path. And shareholders, fans, and the Apple community are paying the price."

On the air, Lyons told Goldman he should apologize to his viewers “for having gotten it so wrong.”

Apple, Cotton, and Markoff did not return requests for comment. Nocera and Goldman could not be reached.
 

Yet LinkedIn has still had a strong subscriber-base. In fact, it is often cited as the network of choice for business professionals. Perhaps the lack of the aforementioned features played to LinkedIn’s advantage in that respect, alienating a potential reputation for being a haven for teenagers and adolescent goofery. The fact is that LinkedIn users make money. Last week, Mike Sachoff reported on a study looking at the correlation between LinkedIn use and personal wealth. He wrote:

The study found a direct relationship between the number of connections and high personal income. Those members with personal incomes between $200K-$350K were seven times more likely than others to have over 150 connections.

The survey found that senior executives, who make up about 8.4 million members, have the highest average personal income with $104,000. Savvy networkers, also described as consultants have the second highest averaged income with $93,500 and consist of 9 million LinkedIn members.

Business Owners Prefer LinkedIn

Another study I reported on a couple weeks ago from FaceTime Communications showed that 62% of business owners consider LinkedIn to be their preferred network. "Over 30 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities," reads the tagline on LinkedIn’s home page, and such data appears to confirm LinkedIn’s reputation as the "professional" social network.

A Potential Outlet for Business News Coverage

Social media content has been working its way more and more into mainstream news coverage, and LinkedIn is no exception. Business news establishments see LinkedIn as a potentially relevant information source. A couple months back, LinkedIn struck a deal with CNBC that sees LinkedIn content on CNBC’s site. Janet Meiners notes that it makes for a good source of quotes from business professionals to use in feature stories as is often done on news television, radio, or (of course) the web.

 "CNBC.com could run a feature article on how the recession is affecting workers and quote from some of the best answers," says Meiners. "If you were featured in the article, it should show up somewhere on your LinkedIn profile with a link and recognition that you were quoted in a story. In could help build the reputation of members of LinkedIn, which could in turn help their job searches and careers."

Benefiting From the Network

To benefit from LinkedIn, you’re going to have to "develop a network that lasts," and LinkedIn VP of Marketing and Advertising, Patrick Crane has shared some tips on how to do just that:

1. Upload your address book.

2. Focus on nurturing your network by seeing what questions their asking and helping them when you can.

3. Check your network updates frequently.

4. When you find someone you want to work with, pick the strongest connection you have to introduce you. (try advanced search).

5. Write recommendations for the people you trust and respect.

"The great thing about only connecting to people you know, trust, and have experience working with, is that when you need to find that expert, get that answer, reference check a potentially great hire, get that introduction, then the trusted network of people you’ve proactively created on LinkedIn can help you out," writes Crane. "I find that a simple but useful analogy is a tapestry.  The stronger and tighter the individual threads, the stronger the overall piece of cloth becomes."

This is likely the strategy that all of these wealthy LinkedIn users are applying. When it comes down to it, it’s just good old-fashioned networking. LinkedIn is just a convenient tool that eases the process. The fact that LinkedIn is geared toward business professionals, makes it an attractive network for those looking to enhance their professional relationships.

Sidenote: Dave Taylor has a potentially helpful article about adding LinkedIn search to your company site.

Currently on LinkedIn you can email other professionals, ask them questions, and give or get recommendations from people in your network. Now you’ll also be able to share information with them – something that is happening informally anyway.

One way to build up your network is to send relevant news stories, blog posts, or videos that you think they’ll benefit from. With this partnership, that could be easier if the content is on CNBC. On CNBC’s site there is a section devoted to LinkedIn – though right now it’s at the very bottom of the page and it’s a poll. To answer the poll, you must be a member of LinkedIn.

Perhaps the most exiting part of this agreement is that CNBC will broadcast information gathered from LinkedIn on their programs. So the results of surveys will be covered on the news (on tv).

In a blog post about the deal, LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye asked for any ideas, so here’s one. I would use LinkedIn Answers as the basis for new stories or feature articles to cover what’s going on in business.

For example, Jason Alba, CEO of Jibberjobber.com, a site that focuses on building your career through networking, asked his LinkedIn network and community, how they are being personally affected by the economy.

CNBC.com could run a feature article on how the recession is affecting workers and quote from some of the best answers. If you were featured in the article, it should show up somewhere on your LinkedIn profile with a link and recognition that you were quoted in a story. In could help build the reputation of members of LinkedIn, which could in turn help their job searches and careers.

There is a link to today’s poll on CNBC that asks how the economy is affecting job security. It asks: Is your job impacted by current economic conditions? and then it said you must be a registered LinkedIn member to participate.

The poll also shows up on my LinkedIn profile. After voting I can see the results like that men and women answered simliarly that they are either worried or there is no change. However, it clearly shows that professionals over 55 are the most nervous about losing their jobs right now.

Jason says the relationship is especially good for LinkedIn: “This is a great relationship for LinkedIn, as it really helps differentiate the offerings from Facebook and other social networks. LinkedIn has a special userbase, and the CNBC relationship could add valueable content to LinkedIn users as well as get more members from CNBC’s audience. This is a huge win for LinkedIn.” Alba is the author of I’m on LinkedIn — Now What???

I’m sure the relationship will continue to evolve. And if this relationship proves valuable for the LinkedIn community, Jason may need to add another chapter to his book.

Comments

LinkedIn will benefit by being exposed to any CNBC watchers who haven’t heard about it yet.  An official statement declares, "[C]ommunity-generated content from LinkedIn will be broadcast on CNBC including survey results and on-air Q&As with CNBC guests and reporters."  LinkedIn functionality will be integrated into CNBC.com, too.

 Mark Hoffman

As for what CNBC will get from the deal, access to information from those 27 million LinkedIn members isn’t such a bad thing.  In addition, its articles, financial data, and video content should get promoted on LinkedIn.  More clicks and advertising revenue are bound to result.

Mark Hoffman, CNBC’s president, observed of the arrangement, "This is the perfect collaboration between CNBC’s viewer base of well-educated and affluent professionals and LinkedIn’s powerful professional network.  For quite a while, CNBC has been asked when will it enter professional networking.  This question has been clearly answered today with the announcement of this alliance between two companies that provide news, information and products to the highest end audience available on TV and the Internet."

The only flaw in the grand announcement is the fact that Hoffman’s LinkedIn account has just four connections.

In an interview with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo, Schmidt said," If we show fewer ads that are more targeted, those ads are worth more. So we’re in this strange situation where we show a smaller number of ads and we make more money because we show better ads. And that’s the secret of Google."

When questioned about display ads Schmidt said," Well, it’s fair to say that that Google is not the leader in display ads, but our customers want to be able to purchase text ads and display ads and other advertising in one purchasing bundle." He also said that he believes Google’s technology is better.

Schmidt complimented Yahoo for its new forms of advertising saying its "much more participative, much more creative, much more–much more interesting in and of themselves."

As for Google, Schmidt said the ads are valuable not only to advertisers but consumers as well. He emphasized the importance of targeted ads, "When they’re targeted. When they’re the right ad for what you’re doing or what you care about," people will want to look at them.