Battle for YouTube commences - Google vs News Corp?
Michael Arrington has reported a rumour that Google “may be in the final stages” of a US$1.6 billion deal for video sharing behemoth YouTube.
If the rumour is true and the deal goes through it could be another coup for Google, though it might yet turn out to be a big headache for the search giant, as YouTube has some significant issues with regards to copyright and content control.
Nonetheless, YouTube is now a real A-list website among the world's internet users and surely it is just a matter of time before the founders accept an offer. The mooted valuation reflects the company's meteoric growth.
Google, for obvious reasons, told us that it couldn't comment on the rumour either way, as is company policy. YouTube is being reported as keeping schtum too.
Skype founders to compete with YouTube
Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom are working on a secretive project which will see them compete with YouTube in the online video market.
The website, currently under the working title of the Venice Project, will aim to combine the video sharing of YouTube with the added attraction of professionally produced TV and video content.
Ways that highly-designed websites can still be accessible and search friendly
There continues to be a tension between web design that is “highly-designed” and web design that is accessible and search engine friendly. The former sites tend to be Flash only or rely heavily on DHTML.
So it is possible for a site to be beautiful but accessible?
Dr Martens launches new website freedm2.com – beautiful but flawed?
Dr Martens has launched a new website at freedm2.com through Saatchi Interactive. The site aims to increase engagement with customers using a range of multimedia interactions and ‘social’ elements, such as creating and sharing videos and music.
But it is all in Flash, you can’t buy shoes, and the registration doesn’t seem to work…
MSN exhibits great use of Ajax, good for the web
Over at Ajaxian yesterday, Michael Mahemoff gives a heads up on the latest Web 2.0 move by MSN, which sees them offer pretty much as yet unheard of Ajax driven user features for their image search.
It’s great, but it’s also gimmicky – KISS.
Web 2.0 needs to lose the social software thing, please
Following up from the d.Construct post yesterday, I wanted to talk about the apparent obsession with social software at the moment, and to ask for comments on why you think it’s so. Seriously, there are so many other things that can be done!
Thoughts on d.Construct 2006 conference
If you’re watching the Web 2.0 scene in the UK then you might be interested in some thoughts on the annual d.Construct conference I attended last Friday.
Should you Bump up your Desktop?
For most busy people, the desktop is their short term dumping ground for files that they intend to put somewhere specific. The BumpTop is meant to make your messy computer desktop more like a messy real desk top - but do users want that or would they find a file explorer's built in organisational system more usable?
Mix Album delays launch after Dragons Den appearance
New online music outfit MixAlbum.com , featured on the BBC’s Dragon Den last night, has postponed its launch until next week after receiving unexpectedly high traffic after the show.
Founder Ian Chamings told E-consultancy the site, which was due to go live before his TV appearance, would launch next Tuesday after an upgrade of its processing power.
Digital Bites - A Week In The Video Downloads Sector
LOVEFiLM's Craig Sullivan provides a weekly overview of the key news stories to emerge this week in the online video sector.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
