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.

Why Horizontal Content Sites Make for Attractive Models

Those new to blogging or article writing have often been told to focus on one very niche topic. One narrow vertical. That has commonly been considered the way to gain credibility, readers, links, and ultimately traffic, which assuming the blog/site itself isn't your primary source of income, could lead to sales of your products/services. But is keeping it narrow really the best way to go?

Wikipedia on Staying Relevant to a Diverse World

We recently reported on the notion that Wikipedia losing editors could lead to a decline in accuracy. Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, tells WebProNews growth in editing has slowed, but the number of editors is just flat, and not declining.

The Internet is All Over Climategate While the MSM Sleeps

Update 4:03 PM ET -- The head of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) Phil Jones is stepping down pending an investigation by the University of East Anglia. - Read Statement -

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:

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.