UK

MySpace has got 99 problems. And traffic is a big one.

News Corp.’s MySpace is currently suffering a traffic implosion that is ruining the site’s revenue structure. The company is desperately trying to reinvent itself and increase views to the site, but the bid does not appear to be working. Unable to stave the bleeding, MySpace is on the verge of losing its search ad partnership with Google. That’s $300 million the company won’t be earning next year.

Worse, MySpace might be putting its music service behind a paywall soon. That’s a good way to ensure that traffic won’t be skyrocketing any time soon.

Gap unveils its new iPad shopping experience

Publishers have been hard at work getting products ready the iPad (and charging for them) for the past few months, but the deluge of iPad friendly publications and games has been met with silence from one sector — retail.

This week, Gap has launched a new app that shows how retailers can take advantage of the new platform — and how well free applications can thrive in the new space as well.

Our fatal attraction to numbers: Five data-related traps (Part one)

Marketers are adrift in a sea of data. Do we need a bigger boat? Some of the most common online data pitfalls are easy to identify, but hard to avoid. In Part One of this two-part series, we look at why 72.8% of surveys aren’t valid — and the phenomenon of testing against the wrong metric.

This new partnership is good for Yahoo. But better for Twitter.

Yahoo may be slow to the social game, but the portal is frantically trying to catch up. Yahoo integrated Facebook functionality into its sites at the end of 2009. And this week comes the announcement of a similar deal with Twitter.

But there is one big (and important) difference for Twitter. Yahoo will be paying the microblogging company for its services. For a hotshot upstart like Twitter, that is exactly what it needs right now: reach and revenue.

Be afraid cable companies: Apple is at work on an iTunes version of TV Everywhere

For those of you following the saga of authentication, rumors from Apple today may bring a refreshing new twist to the effort to bring cable television content online.

According to sources who spoke to AllThingsD, Apple is trying to talk the networks into streaming their content in the iTunes store and charging users $30 a month. The
monthly subscription
service would not be tied to any hardware like Apple TV, but deliver televiswion programs through iTunes’ multimedia
software. The news should shake the cable companies in their boots a little.

Google’s iPhone Killer doesn’t need to kill anyone to succeed

In the war against the Jesus phone, Motorola has a new contender. The cellphone provider has manufactured the latest Google phone, set to hit Verizon stores next week. Droid ads take on AT&T’s iPhone directly, explaining functionality the iPhone does not have and what Droid does right, making it look like Verizon’s trying to make a big play for the iPhone’s business.

But Droid doesn’t have to knock the iPhone off its popularity pedestal to pay off for Verizon, Motorola or Google. It just has to do better than the rest of the competition.

The new CNN.com: the good, the bad, the ugly

CNN is one of the world’s leading news organizations and it’s website is arguably one of its most valuable assets today. In an effort to make it even more valuable, CNN has launched a new design for CNN.com over the weekend for both its U.S. and International versions.

According to Nick Wrenn, Vice President of Digital Services for CNN International, “We had a look on how our users use the site, and put a lot of thought and research behind it“. The finding: “Breaking news is our core brand and will continue to have a prominent
spot. But we wanted to showcase a lot more of the deep, rich content we
have. It was falling off the main page too quickly and people couldn’t
find it“.

FTC wants $11,000 for blogger payola violations

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the penalty for bloggers, celebrities and lay people who fail to disclose receiving payment for endorsements. Starting December 1, anyone who endorses a product, virtually anywhere, without disclosing brand relationships will receive a fine for $11,000.

This is the first time the FTC has updated its guidelines since 1980. Clearly some updating was neccessary. But enforcement is another story.

$11,000 is a steep price to pay for endorsement violations. And the fees will likely come out of brands’ pockets.

Why the Twitter hack hurts Google Apps

The world learned a lot about Twitter this week. The most important takeaway: the company doesn’t use the best passwords. 

A hacker broke into a Twitter’s employees email account in May. From
there he was able to access the company’s Google Apps account where
Twitter shares notes, spreadsheets and financial data within the
company. This week, the information started making its way online. 

A leak that size has the potential to derail Twitter’s future
partnerships, business plans and financial future.

But it’s also a setback for Google Apps.

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