Google today launched an official blog about the social web. Mendel Chuang, Product Marketing Manager for Google Friend Connect, writes: “We think the web is better when it’s social. …[W]e are developing tools to make ‘any app, any site, any friends’ a reality…. “We will write about social initiatives within Google, such as Google Friend […]

Todd Mundt, longtime public radio guy (and a favorite former Iowan) who writes as The Mediavore, is featured today in a CNN Money article about Americans’ changing media consumption habits. Mundt’s changing media consumption habits are reflective of similar changes taking place throughout many U.S. households. Many families are economizing on entertainment costs, as they […]

Internet traffic measurement company comScore today released data from their December 2008 “comScore Video Metrix” service, indicating a huge jump in Internet video-viewing among US Internet users. A record 14.3 billion online videos were viewed during the month, representing an increase of 13 percent over November’s viewing stats. YouTube led the Internet video portals, accounting […]

On its “Traditional Media” blog today, search engine giant Google said it was “turning the page” on its print media advertising sales program, which will end Feb. 28. Google had been working with 800 U.S. newspapers, up from about 50 papers at the time of its late-2006 launch. Spencer Spinnell, Director of Google Print Ads […]

Google has announced YouTube For Televison – its initiative to bring Internet TV to your living room – is now available on Sony PS3 & Nintendo Wii game consoles: Currently in beta, the TV Website offers a dynamic, lean-back, 10-foot television viewing experience through a streamlined interface that enables you to discover, watch and share […]

Google got some more bad news today about YouTube.  Not only is Warner Music Group pulling all its videos off YouTube – it’s in talks to create an alternate to YouTube for music videos.  According to a report at Silicon Alley Insider: A source familiar with the negotiations tells us that Warner and the three […]

Back in 2006, we said that YouTube As You Know It Is Dead, arguing that Google’s desire to make YouTube “legitimate” would kill off the site’s user-generated focus: Google’s announcement places emphasis on the legal distribution of professionally produced content. “The combined companies will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to […]

Google has announced that it’s shifting gears and testing full-length programming on YouTube.

This is a result of the problem we identified earlier this year: 97% of YouTube’s content is deadweight, financially, and Hulu is close to overtaking the site, as a result.

A year ago, we predicted that the iPhone would soon have 1% of the browser market share, if Apple met its sales goals.

It not only appears to be doing that, but the iPhone is an unqualified hit, capturing 17 percent of the smartphone market and becoming the most important device in new media.

Need a reminder about how quickly technology changes? Check out the search results for “podcasting” from Google’s 2001 index of the Web: Zilch! Google has published a search page based on its 2001 index as part of its 10th anniversary.  Don’t bother looking for “YouTube”, either. And, back then, “iPod” was just an abbreviation for […]