WebProNews

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.

What Would You Change About Google Search?

Google's Matt Cutts, as you may know, frequently appears in videos for Google's Webmaster Central YouTube channel. In these videos he answers questions submitted by Google users. One of the latest ones features a different kind of (and perhaps more fun) question:

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.