WebProNews

Fair Syndication Consortium Calls Foul On Google

In most pie charts that feature Google, the search giant dominates the circle, and a new one from the Fair Syndication Consortium follows that pattern.  Unfortunately for Google's reputation, the chart's titled "How unlicensed use of U.S. newspaper content is monetized."

Minds of the Media Gather to Discuss Future of News

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is hosting a 2-day workshop on "Journalism and the Internet Age" today and tomorrow. Featured at the event are a number of high profile media executives and gurus. The cast ranges from News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch to Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Gates Foundation Gives $3.4 Million For Library Broadband

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have committed nearly $3.4 million in grants to improve Internet connections for libraries in five states. Nationally, libraries report that demand for high-speed Internet access is growing faster than their ability to provide increased bandwidth. An American Library Association study found that 60 percent of all libraries say their current Internet speed is insufficient.

GE/Comcast NBC Universal Deal Said to Be Complete

CNBC reports that the deal between GE and Comcast over a majority stake in NBC Universal is complete, and will likely be announced officially Thursday morning. This comes from what CNBC attributes as a "source close to the merger". According to the report, GE and Comcast are waiting on Vivendi to sign an agreement, selling its 20% stake, which is worth about $5.8 billion. CNBC's David Faber outlines the deal:

Google Puts Black Friday Searches Up 20 Percent

People may or may not have mobbed stores this Black Friday - your humble author hid inside and didn't watch any live TV - but they definitely spent some time at their keyboards.  Google has stated that searches for "Black Friday" increased by more than 20 percent on a year-over-year basis. That's actually a sort of low number, too, at least among the group of them that Google tossed out.

Number of New Twitterers Declines

We've been looking at Twitter's growth on a monthly basis, in terms of new user registrations and number of tweets. In October, new Twitterers were down, but tweets were up. November's numbers paint a similar picture. Matthew Daines, the lead developer of Twellow, has shared a couple of new graphs for last month.

Google Launches AdSense Product Ideas Page

AdSense is an important fixture in a lot of people's lives; it can represent anything from spending money (hey, little splurges do the heart good) to what pays the mortgage.  And now, individuals have a chance to shape it more to their liking, as a new Product Ideas for AdSense page has launched. Try not to get your hopes up; as word spreads and more people contribute ideas, the odds of any one suggestion making it in front of an important Googler will decrease.  Also, there's no guarantee that any of the recommendations will be implemented.

Yahoo To Discontinue Direct Media Exchange Platform

Yahoo completed its acquisition of Right Media - which cost it about $650 million - two and a half years ago.  Now, it seems that the arrangement's been revisited, as Yahoo's announced that it will discontinue the Direct Media Exchange (DMX) platform. Under Carol Bartz's leadership, Yahoo's cut a lot of products and services in recent months so that it could better focus on more important stuff.  Briefcase, Farechase, GeoCities, and Go are some of the fallen that quickly come to mind.

Italian Prosecutors Request Jail Time For Google Execs

Italian prosecutors have - sort of - tried to put several Google executives (and the company's former CFO) in jail.  The prosecutors requested sentences ranging from six months to one year in connection with a case that involved a YouTube video and a disabled boy.

Link Building for Bing Rankings: Dos and Don'ts

It's easy for businesses to get caught up in Google's expectations for their sites, when trying to market through search. That's certainly a wise thing to do, considering Google dominates the search market by a huge margin. Still, there are other search engines that people are using, and it is also wise to make sure your site is performing to the best of its ability in those too.