BoomTown » MediaMemo

AOL Layoff Package: You Stay, You Pay

Kara Swisher — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:25:29 +0000

BoomTown has learned that AOL is offering those who “volunteer” to leave the company now a departure package that ranges from three to nine months of pay, compared to one to four months for employees laid off in the first quarter of next year.

It’s a depressing rock-and-a-hard-place choice.

An AOL spokesperson confirmed the offer, which is part of a massive layoff of 2,500 of its 6,000-person workforce.

Earlier today, AOL said it would be letting go a big chunk of its staff, a third of its payroll, in a regulatory filing.

As reported by MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka:

The voluntary layoff program begins Dec. 4, a few days before the company spins off from Time Warner (TWX). If AOL doesn’t get enough volunteers, it will ax people on its own.

This is lousy news for employees, who are faced with a “jump now or wait to be pushed” decision, but it is designed to cheer investors: AOL says the cuts will drop its annual operating expenses by $300 million. Through the first nine months of this year, AOL’s operating expenses ran around $1.8 billion.

The Yahoo Ad Campaign Creative We'd Like to See

Kara Swisher — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:41:13 +0000

Yahoo introduced its new $100 million marketing and branding campaign in New York today with “It’s Y!ou” as the new motto, making use of the Internet giant’s famous exclamation point.

Sure, it’s clever and all, but BoomTown felt the need to jump in and help Yahoo (YHOO), since our posts have been a little tough when it has come to the Silicon Valley icon’s tumultuous ride over the last two years.

So, while CEO Carol Bartz (pictured above as a giant lady on the Nasdaq Jumbotron in Times Square) explained–as reported by MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka–that “Yahoo is the only site where you when you wake up in the morning and you want to know what’s going on everywhere about everything, you can find it one place,” I’d say there’s more to the brand that just that!

In fact, there’s Bartz herself, a sassy and ofttimes salty exec whose pugnacious utterances have become legend quickly.

Today, for example, when asked about a comparison with its search rival, she noted, “Why not be cynical about fricking Google?”

That was mild in comparison to her cursing me out at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference when she thought I was insinuating she was too old to be an Internet exec (you can see that exchange in the video below).

Thus, please take a gander at our branding effort for Yahoo below.

(While Yahoo has Ogilvy & Mather to do its work, ATD has the very clever Photoshop stylings of Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski to work our marketing magic.)

Best of all, you can switch out the picture and moniker to denote any Yahoo foe–Google (GOOG); Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer if he does not behave in the new search-partnership deal; billionaire investor and Yahoo board member Carl Icahn; and more!

Fondly dedicated to Carol–and the rest of the Yahoo crew, especially Judy–here’s our ad (click on the image to make it larger):

And here is Bartz in action at D7, cussing me out at 00:57 in the video of the interview:

[ See post to watch video ]

Google and Others Fish for Acquisitions: Here's What They Might Be Looking For

Kara Swisher — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:33:13 +0000

Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave what he just had to know would be a much quoted comment to the Nikkei today, explicitly saying that the company had “begun seriously looking into acquisitions again.”

Music to the beleaguered mergers and acquisitions market, to be sure, especially after a recent uptick from other big companies pulling out their wallets again as the impact of the econalypse subsides.

According to sources, Google (GOOG) is working on at least a half-dozen acquisition deals, most of which are small start-ups in the online advertising and cloud computing arenas.

That would be welcome news for many.

That’s because, as The Wall Street Journal noted in a piece today, “August was shaping up to be the worst month for deal making since 1995, according to data provider Dealogic” (see the chart).

That was, until Disney (DIS) bought Marvel for $4 billion, in a deal announced Monday.

Then yesterday, eBay (EBAY) traded 65 percent of its Skype Internet telephony unit to a group of free-spending private investors, led by Silver Lake Partners, for $1.9 billion.

While eye-popping numbers like that make dealmakers smile, most think it is in the spate of smaller venture-backed companies that more of the action will happen, with big companies like Google, Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and even Yahoo (YHOO) as predators.

Many of these were funded in the Web 2.0 boom and have done well enough, but are figuring out that a link with a larger fish will likely make for a better outcome, along with filling in tech and product gaps at the giants.

Think about Facebook’s $50 million acquisition of social networking site FriendFeed recently and you have the right idea.

According to more than a half-dozen Silicon Valley VCs I have spoken to this week, this is the likeliest kind of exit for a large group of their portfolio companies.

Thus, they are putting on their finest and placing themselves on display in the store window, offering talent and innovation.

“We all realize that a lot of these companies are not going to be independent, so we’re all trying to figure out where they best fit in,” said one VC. “We essentially did business development for a lot of the large companies.”

Thus, here are some companies whose names have been bandied about of late by M&A types who say they are more likely candidates for sale:

Veoh, the Web video portal that MediaMemo wrote about in July, has reportedly been searching for a home for a while now as it struggles in a costly space dominated by giants like YouTube and Hulu.

That goes for many other similar video efforts, such as Joost, Metacafe and Dailymotion, all of which have been trying to gain traction.

There is also likely to be a shakeout in the gaming and “guy” content space, which has also seen a lot of funding in the last several years and less monetary success.

Some possible names here include: Xfire, a gaming instant-messaging company Viacom (VIA) bought a couple years ago for $100 million; Giant Realm, a 20-something guy site funded by Comcast (CMCSA) and others; and UGO, Hearst’s version of a 20-something guy site.

Probably, given the need to focus on monetization, the most active M&A space will be in online advertising.

Sources said Google, for example, has been interested in companies such as Teracent, a dynamic ad-serving and optimization start-up in San Mateo.

There are lots of names in this general arena to pick from, from Tumri to Quantcast to AdMob to the Rubicon Project, not all of which are for sale, but might be for the right price.

Lastly, there is the smart phone and telecom space, where there might be some of the bigger deals.

While Palm (PALM) has been trying mightily to gain traction with its Pre offering, many think that if it does not go as well as hoped, the company will be an acquisition target eventually for giant companies like Nokia (NOK).

While many think Microsoft could also be a buyer of Palm, given the lackluster performance of its Windows Mobile devices, it might be more attuned to a much bigger catch: Research in Motion (RIMM) and its business-oriented BlackBerry empire.

Such a massive acquisition–most of those I bounced that idea off agreed–would be an uphill battle, but it would be perhaps the best fish story ever.

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

Sale of iLike to MySpace–$13.5 Million in Cash, $6 Million for Talent Retention–Delayed Over Tax Issues (Really!)…Plus, the List of Other Suitors!

Kara Swisher — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:25:06 +0000

The board of iLike planned a meeting earlier tonight to go over a buyout offer by MySpace, several sources close to the situation said. But it was suddenly canceled because of some thorny tax implications related to the talent-retention part of the deal to purchase the social music start-up.

This does not mean the pending acquisition is in jeopardy, sources said, and it could be on track to be signed as early as today, barring any more complications.

That is what both iLike and MySpace execs are hoping, said sources, one of whom described the outstanding issues as a “technicality.”

What’s also been unclear is the actual price the social networking giant is paying for iLike, which has been reported as about $20 million.

In fact, only $13.5 million will be paid upfront in cash, with about $8 million of that money likely going to one of its major shareholders, Ticketmaster Entertainment (TKTM), due to its preferred shares.

Another $6 million has been promised by MySpace in forward payments to retain some key employees–including iLike co-founders and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi.

Although those employees can remain in Seattle, where iLike has its HQ, they must stay employed at Beverly Hills, Calif.-based MySpace for two and a half years to get their money.

It’s that talent part of the deal that caused the Partovis to cancel the iLike board meeting, which they explained to key investors was necessary due to some confusion over how the money paid to these employees would be taxed.

A person briefed on the issue said that if it was taxed as compensation, it would have a much higher tax rate than if it were considered long-term capital gains.

The Partovis said in the email that they were working on the problem with their advisers on the sale, Allen & Co., as well as with lawyers and accountants.

Tax snafus in the middle of a sale are not exactly the way the entrepreneurial Partovis envisioned it was going to go for iLike (see my various video interview related to iLike below) when they created the compelling music sharing and recommendation service in 2006.

After only a few years, the innovative start-up claims it has 50 million registered users overall.

A lot of that growth was due to iLike quickly becoming one of the most popular widgets on social networking sites like Facebook, where it has also been the top music application, with 10 million active monthly users.

The Partovis–who once were close with execs at Facebook (see my party video below), particularly founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg–placed great faith in its growth lifting all Web 2.0 boats.

It did not turn out that way, though, especially from the important financial point of view, and iLike scrambled to diversify.

The iLike service recently began offering a music downloading service, for example, as well as other such features, all of which would be attractive to the music-centric focus at MySpace.

Once an Internet sensation, MySpace has been struggling to restructure itself after losing momentum and buzz in recent years, as well as a huge advertising revenue drop in its most recent quarter.

Its owner, News Corp. (NWS), replaced its founders with new management four months ago, including former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta as CEO.

After making major staff layoffs and rejiggering management, Van Natta and his new team have been working on an overhaul of the MySpace product and seem to be refocusing it to become a global music and entertainment service.

MySpace also has a joint venture with major music labels, MySpace Music, which has been trying to attract consumers and build a viable business. Sources said MySpace Music could also buy into the iLike deal or simply license its technology to improve its features.

Thus, purchasing iLike would fit in well with MySpace’s overall plans.

And iLike has also been in need of a fix itself.

For all its popularity, especially on Facebook, it has moved slowly toward profitabilty, and its $17 million in funding has been dwindling, as has its viability as a standalone company.

Back in more frothy Web 2.0 days, iLike’s generous funding gave it a valuation of more than $50 million, which has also lost steam over time and as the economy has worsened.

In the last quarter of fiscal 2008, for example, Ticketmaster wrote down its $13 million investment by $6 million.

Tensions between its execs and iLike have gotten worse over time, although some thought at one time that Ticketmaster would buy iLike.

No longer, which is why the founders turned to Allen & Co., as MediaMemo reported as far back as November, to find another big investor or buyer.

Wrote Peter Kafka: “Delivering free music on the Web has so far proven to be a high-cost, low-revenue endeavor…”

So, the New York deal-making firm ginned up a small group of suitors, which included Facebook, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) and Microsoft (MSFT), as well as MySpace.

Of the three, Activision was most serious, with interest in integrating iLike’s community and technology tools with its Guitar Hero franchise.

But Activision never actually made a formal bid, said sources.

Both Microsoft and Facebook also considered the purchase, but sources said they would only offer stock in a deal. But iLike wanted cash in the deal.

The Partovis were also was wary about working at either place.

Both Partovis, for example, had worked at Microsoft (Ali after selling it LinkExchange in 1998 for $265 million; Hadi several times, once following Microsoft’s acquisition of Tellme Networks, which he co-founded).

As it has turned out, in its short life, iLike’s last, best alternative is apparently MySpace.

“Look, iLike has been shopped around for a while, and while the team and technology are great, it only has one choice and that’s to be sold,” said one person involved in the various scenarios. “The question for the buyer then is whether it was worth it to pay up or just move on and do it ourselves.”

So until the bean counters settle this IRS nightmare, here is my video interview with Hadi Partovi about a year ago at iLike’s HQ in the Capitol Hill section of Seattle, when times were a little more hopeful:

[ See post to watch video ]

And here is a very dark and very shaky video I did when iLike threw a fete in Silicon Valley to celebrate its start-up two years ago and to send some appreciation in Facebook’s direction–it is so dated that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who is in the video, is still at Google (GOOG).

(Full Disclosure: News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.)

Microsoft's Vision of the Future–and the Inevitable Spoof

Kara Swisher — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:09:55 +0000

One of my favorite “world-of-the-future” videos recently has been one done by Microsoft Office Labs, because it does not seem ridiculously fanciful or impossible to imagine actually happening sooner than much later.

Part of an “Envisioning” series, the “Productivity Future Vision” video below sketches out a world of smartphones, touchscreens everywhere and a whole lot of innovative interacting.

The look is sleek and smooth–which is unusual for Microsoft (MSFT)–with a bit of “Harry Potter” whimsy, and all without falling into the trap of a lot of such imaginings and making the way we live someday seem like “The Jetsons.”

But, of course, the folks at IGN.com’s Sarcastic Gamer managed to find the perfect way to poke fun at the video from the software giant in a spoof that hit the target deftly.

Watch each and enjoy:

Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Struck–Will Be Announced Within Next 24 Hours

Kara Swisher — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:27:27 +0000

Multiple sources close to the situation said that the online search and advertising deal between Microsoft and Yahoo has been struck and will be announced within the next 24 hours.

While it is not clear if the actual papers have been inked or approved by the boards of the two companies, sources said it was a formality and that negotiations are complete on a deal that is less sweeping than originally conceived.

In any case, making any partnership is likely to be the cause of much relief at both companies, since they have been trying–without success–to join together to mount a better offense in the sector against the dominant Google (GOOG).

According to sources, as had been previously reported by Advertising Age, there will be no upfront payment to Yahoo, with the focus on a revenue share between the two companies.

Sources said Microsoft search technology will be used on Yahoo sites, although it is not clear if it will be branded as “powered by Bing”–Microsoft’s handsome and innovative new search offering–or not.

In addition, sources said Yahoo would still sell search ads on its sites and on Bing too, although Microsoft’s AdCenter advertising sales technology will be underneath it.

(Panama, we hardly knew ye!)

This makes the deal much smaller than ones previously envisioned, which included Microsoft taking over both Yahoo’s search and its text-based search advertising businesses in exchange for large payments and guaranteed revenue.

Previous discussions also considered Yahoo selling display advertising for Microsoft’s MSN consumer sites.

Doing its own search ads means the cost savings to Yahoo will be less than previously estimated, but it also solves its longstanding issues about control of relationships with advertisers and also of consumer data.

Still, once in place, it is a significant deal in the Internet arena, bringing together two of its most powerful players in an unusual alliance that has been long in coming.

“After three years of trying, it looks like it finally stuck,” joked one person familiar with the situation about the Silicon Valley icon and the Redmond, Wash., software behemoth finally joining together.

And, in fact, Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT) have been engaged in talks about a variety of partnerships over the years, as well as in a hostile takeover struggle that soured their relationship badly.

But, under new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, the companies have re-engaged in recent months, discussing a deal to share search and online advertising technology.

A spokesman for Microsoft declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for Yahoo (even though BoomTown asked: “Pretty please?”)

The Wall Street Journal just posted a similar story on the deal coming to fruition, as did Advertising Age.

Both posts noted that Yahoo and Microsoft were concerned about regulatory approval, although with Google’s share at close to 70 percent in the search market, it would be hard to argue that their union hinders competition.

Together, Yahoo and Microsoft’s share is about 30 percent.

A search and advertising partnership between Yahoo and Google failed to gain regulatory approval last year–and thank goodness for that!

Yahoo and Microsoft will likely try to paint this one as a counter to Google’s power and hope such an argument will be supported by advertisers, who have long wanted a stronger second-place competitor to Google.

Walt Mossberg? We've Got an App for That!

Kara Swisher — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:09:09 +0000

That would be Walt Mossberg and his well-known Personal Technology and Mossberg Mailbox columns–as well as BoomTown, John Paczkowski’s Digital Daily, Peter Kafka’s MediaMemo, Katherine Boehret’s Mossberg Solution and video and photographs from our famous D: All Things Digital conferences.

Today, All Things Digital is introducing its very own app for Apple’s iPhone and the iPod touch, offering all the posts and columns you get on this Web site–including news, product reviews, analysis and video–from our crack team.

Just smaller and cuter.

All free. All mobile. And completely designed to let you access ATD content 24/7/365, which is how we like it.

In addition, the app will allow users to post links directly to both Facebook and Twitter, because we also like you to overshare our content.

Developed by the amazing team at NewsGator–with additional heavy lifting by ATD staffers Christine Mohan, Adam Tow and Mossberg–for some months, the app was first available in…Latvia and London. Also France and Australia.

Frankly, we don’t grok the method Apple (AAPL) uses to globally spawn apps, but it has now reached the U.S. at the iTunes store. You can also get info about the app here on our site.

So download us and take us along everywhere you go–ATD really enjoys long walks on the beach.

Here is the full press release about our newest digital delivery at ATD:

ALL THINGS DIGITAL LAUNCHES MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION ON APPLE APP STORE

App for iPhone and iPod touch offers tech and media news, product reviews, analysis and video from Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher, John Paczkowski, Peter Kafka and Katherine Boehret

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (May 18, 2009)–All Things Digital today announced the launch of a new iPhone™ and iPod touch® application on the Apple App store.

Co-edited by Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg and BoomTown blogger Kara Swisher, the AllThingsD.com site launched in 2007 as the online extension of the annual “D: All Things Digital” conference, started by Walt and Kara in 2003 and attended by the digital elite.

The app makes exclusive content from AllThingsD.com and the D conference available for iPhone and iPod touch with a range of features and tools including:

• Kara’s BoomTown, John Paczkowski’s Digital Daily and Peter Kafka’s MediaMemo blogs and video

• Walt’s Personal Technology and Mossberg’s Mailbox columns, his videos and his Mossblog

• Katherine Boehret’s Mossberg Solution column and videos

• Ability to post article links and text descriptions directly to Twitter and Facebook, or to email them to a friend

• Galleries of D conference videos and photos including the full 2007 historic joint appearance by Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

• Live D7 conference coverage throughout the May 26-28, 2009 event.

“At AllThingsD.com we strive to deliver news, reviews and commentary that are both accurate and entertaining. Our app offers the same quality experience, enhanced by engaging photos and daily video,” said Mossberg. “All Things Digital for the iPhone is a smart, streamlined mobile application that we know iPhone and iPod touch owners interested in technology and media will enjoy.”

Developed using the NewsGator iPhone Media Application Framework, the All Things Digital app is designed to contain all the news and reviews from the Web site. As on AllThingsD.com, each journalist’s section is identified by specific color schemes and headshots, including stylized icons that emphasize each writer’s personality and beat. Customized navigation enables users to choose their favorite sections and personalize the content.

Availability

The All Things Digital app is available for free from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. For more information, go to www.allthingsd.com/mobile/iPhone.

###

About All Things Digital

All Things Digital (www.allthingsd.com) is devoted to news, analysis and opinion on technology, the Internet and media. Co-edited by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the site is the online extension of the annual “D: All Things Digital” conference started by Walt and Kara in 2003 and attended by the digital elite. The site is a mix of columns, blogs and video including Walt’s Personal Technology, Kara’s BoomTown, John Paczkowski’s Digital Daily, Peter Kafka’s MediaMemo and Katherine Boehret’s Mossberg Solution. AllThingsD.com is part of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network which includes WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com and Barrons.com.

Apple, iPhone and iPod are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Former Facebook Exec Van Natta Set to Take Over at MySpace, as Founder DeWolfe Prepares to Step Down

Kara Swisher — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:08:31 +0000

Finally, Owen Van Natta is about to win out over a founder.

The former Facebook COO (pictured here) is poised to become the CEO of MySpace, replacing co-founder and current CEO Chris DeWolfe.

DeWolfe will likely get a title as a special adviser to MySpace in a deal that is still coming together.

Settling all the specifics could take at least a day and there is always the possibility that this changing-of-the-guard deal could fall apart. But multiple sources close to the situation said it is more just a matter of ironing out the details.

Thus, the die seems cast for Van Natta to take over the thorny job of rehauling MySpace, which is owned by News Corp. (NWS).

(News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site).

In a post this morning, MediaMemo was the first to name Van Natta as the only candidate in the running to take over as leader of MySpace.

It’s familiar territory for him.

Van Natta never got the big job at Facebook, which is under the firm control of founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

But Van Natta–who got to Facebook in its early days after stints at various companies, including Amazon (AMZN)–was a key early player in making the social-networking site into the juggernaut it is today.

He played a large role in its advertising and investment deals with Microsoft (MSFT), for example, as well as in hiring many of its current execs.

But, like many at Facebook, Van Natta left Facebook in early 2008 under tense circumstances, although he now is on good terms with Zuckerberg and others at Facebook.

Maybe not any longer.

In a delicious digital irony, he will be taking on Facebook head on, as MySpace–once the momentum player in the space–tries to regain its step against Facebook.

Van Natta is currently CEO of music start-up Project Playlist and it is not yet clear what will happen there. When he was previously talking to MySpace about running its music site, there was speculation that it might buy the start-up.

Today’s developments have happened quickly and without a lot of advance planning.

The talks to complete this deal are being led by new digital boss Jon Miller (pictured here), who came to News Corp. last month.

News Corp. officials declined to comment on the developing situation.

But sources said that Miller hadn’t been planning on getting rid of DeWolfe in the near future, and until yesterday, he was still evaluating his options.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch had once treated DeWolfe as a favorite and gave him significant autonomy at MySpace.

But Murdoch, who brought Miller on, has been leaning toward a change in leadership as MySpace’s traffic has stagnated and its buzz and momentum have moved to Facebook.

Under DeWolfe, many have felt it has dropped the ball on innovation and in making key improvements to its technology and features.

Worst of all, MySpace’s lucrative $900 million search advertising deal with Google (GOOG) is also coming to an end, a deal that essentially paid for the News Corp. acquisition.

Recently, several key execs have left too, including COO Amit Kapur.

In general, the social-networking giant has had an air of decline about it, despite its still-enormous size.

Nonetheless, Murdoch had left the decision about the site’s leadership to Miller, his new hire, sources said.

Miller had been talking to many and was indeed leaning toward putting a new CEO in place, but not in this fashion. He had hoped to work out the transition with DeWolfe, said several sources.

Miller himself had been badly treated, when Time Warner (TWX) dumped him as CEO of AOL several years ago. Ironically, the media giant just ousted the execs who ousted Miller.

But Miller’s options narrowed last night, once TechCrunch ran a story claiming that News Corp. had hired a headhunting firm to “scour for possible replacements” for DeWolfe.

News Corp. hadn’t actually hired a headhunter at all, but the story spooked DeWolfe into calling Miller to ask what his plans were. That conversation led to today’s negotiations.

Van Natta is well known at News Corp. and was, at one point, the leading candidate to head up MySpace Music, which launched last fall, and the two sides held extensive conversations.

But Van Natta did not like the job’s org chart: Rather than a standalone company, MySpace Music is simply a unit of MySpace, reporting to DeWolfe.

MTV executive Courtney Holt eventually took the job.

Van Natta is intertwined with MySpace in other ways.

Project Playlist, the free music-streaming site he took over last fall, has seen traffic plummet after MySpace, along with Facebook, cut off the sites’ access to their users, a move prompted by lawsuits from several major music companies.

Van Natta has made some headway at extracting the company from its legal mess, which predated his hiring, and he has hammered out a settlement with EMI Music Group.

But Playlist is still being sued by other music labels.

And, even music sites that aren’t in legal trouble are struggling to keep their heads above water.

Thus, plenty of Silicon Valley watchers–including BoomTown, who calls Van Natta periodically to ask why he seemed to enjoyed the pain of running an online music business–have wondered why Van Natta landed at Playlist in the first place, and have speculated that he has been looking for a way out.

He has been on the short list for many big Web jobs at places like Microsoft and other Silicon Valley start-ups, but has not bitten until now.

No Tech Tapeworms Here! We Update Voices Policies on All Things Digital.

Kara Swisher — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:20:54 +0000

As of today, we have made important changes to the All Things Digital Voices section, which should be of interest to some (and not at all to others).

Why? Well, a few weeks ago, ATD was caught up in a bit of the controversy that broke out due to louder-than-usual complaints by several traditional media companies about how their content is treated on the Web.

Without going into a long explanation: They expressed displeasure that some sites were misusing their content via aggregation.

In fact, Robert Thomson, Dow Jones editor-in-chief and also The Wall Street Journal managing editor, was widely quoted in an interview in The Australian saying, “There is no doubt that certain websites are best described as parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the internet.”

That sounds very painful, digitally speaking.

Many on the Web were incensed by that remark and then quickly pointed to the fact that ATD–which is owned by Dow Jones–has a section called Voices that publishes original columns done for our site and posts from other Dow Jones properties, but also points to third-party posts we admire and want our readers to be aware of.

Instead of using simple blue links, we feature these three kinds of content in a marked section on the front page and also in the Voices section itself, using their original headlines and short excerpts from the posts directly. We do not change the text we use, nor do we synopsize it.

We also identify the authors by title and picture (until now, we used a D icon if we could not get a picture, but have changed that going forward), and provide links to the original sites so readers can read the entire piece there.

But what we have been doing in Voices was not perfect or as clear as it should have been, which was written about by many, including Andy Baio of Waxy.org’s thoughtful piece on the issue.

In it, Baio talked to both bloggers and writers who were unhappy about being featured in Voices, as well as those who liked it.

While we did not agree with all the complaints in the story, the debate did make us realize we needed to be a lot clearer and more explicit about what we are doing, and to make those policies–which we had not posted in as much detail as we have, for example, about our ethics statements (you can see mine here, for example)–more prominent and transparent.

Some will disagree with the changes we have made and some will not think they go far enough.

But we hope we have addressed the key issues, including making it clearer that these posts are not ours, posting our policy prominently to avoid confusion about exactly what Voices is and removing all comments and sharing icons from posts that are not original to our site.

We are also now linking directly to original sites from the front page excerpt, without forcing anyone into the Voices section, where we also link to original sites.

We made a number of other changes, described below in their entirety, and are also now easy to find on both the front page and on the Voices page.

Let us be clear: We have always aimed for our Voices section to point to other posts around the Web that we find laudable, interesting or provocative in ways we think our readers should be aware, and we want readers to read them in full on their original site.

The myriad of issues around aggregation and linking is clearly likely going to result in a long and difficult debate, as the ways in which media are discovered by and delivered to consumers changes in the digital age.

Our site obviously believes deeply that linking and pointing and sharing are all an important part of the new media landscape and we remain open to trying to create a system that all players think is fair and equitable.

And, most of all, we hope no one will get too nauseous in the process.

Here’s the new explanation of what Voices is, which is permanently and prominently posted on the site:

This is a section of the All Things Digital Web site featuring posts from around the Web, from other Dow Jones properties and also original pieces we solicit. The section is now explicitly labeled that it comes “from other Web sites.”

We are fully aware of the controversies around how linking and aggregating are done on the Web, and we in no way are attempting to “scrape” original content created by others. Instead, regarding third-party posts, we are trying to point readers of this site to other posts from around the Web that we admire, and are trying to do so in the quickest manner possible.

The Internet is full of terrific content that is not ours and we want to help our readers find it by making editorial suggestions–Look, Mom, no algorithm!–of posts we think are worth their time.

That is why we have made even more changes to Voices to ensure we do this in the most transparent and timely way. While we don’t expect that everyone will agree with our policies, we have made changes that reflect our intent in pointing to content outside our site.

So here is exactly what we do:

We link directly to the post’s original site from the headline on the front page of All Things Digital and use the smallest amount of text possible to give readers a sense of the topic of the post.

Instead of using simple blue links, we feature these three kinds of content in Voices in a marked section on the front page and also in the Voices section itself, using their original headlines and short excerpts from the posts directly. We do not change the text we use, nor do we synopsize it.

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Even more disclosure: Dow Jones is owned by News Corp. (NWS), whose CEO and Chairman, Rupert Murdoch, also complained about some Internet aggregators, which this site covered here in MediaMemo.

Google Names Company Veteran Dennis Woodside to Replace Tim Armstrong as Ad Lead

Kara Swisher — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:16:09 +0000

That was fast.

Longtime–well, five years, which is a dog’s age at the search giant–Google sales exec Dennis Woodside (pictured here) will become VP, Americas Operations, replacing outgoing exec Tim Armstrong, who was named chairman and CEO of Time Warner (TWX) online unit AOL last week.

Woodside, 40, will start in the next few weeks, said Google (GOOG) in an internal communication about the appointment, as Armstrong transitions from Google to AOL. It is the key advertising sales job at Google.

Armstrong has already been hard at work at AOL, in fact, leading an employee rally today at its former HQ in Dulles, Viriginia, which included former AOL execs Steve Case and Ted Leonsis.

(And he will hold a similar meeting at AOL’s New York office tomorrow, BoomTown has been told. But let’s hope he does not roll out, say, former Time Warner CEO Jerry Levin, which would be taking this old-home-week stuff too far!)

While Woodside is a well-known exec within Google, his name was not as prominent in the speculation about which internal Googler would be named by CEO Eric Schmidt to replace the well-known Armstrong.

Wrote MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka last week, for example, when the Armstrong departure was announced:

“According to a (very informal) flash poll of Googlers, ex-Googlers and Google competitors I conducted last night, the answer should be obvious: David Rosenblatt, the former Doubleclick CEO, who now runs Google’s display business.”

Woodside will also have a slightly lesser title than Armstrong, who was a corporate SVP, was president of the America Operations and was also on Google’s powerful operating committee.

But that’s part of the changes, mentioned in a long statement by even bigger sales boss Omid Kordestani, SVP, Global Sales & Business Development, to whom Woodside will report (the key graph is the last one, although the golf dig is funny):

In the five and a half years that Dennis has been at Google (that’s over half our company’s lifetime) he’s brought incredible integrity and entrepreneurialism to everything he’s done. I remember Dennis setting off from Mountain View in 2005, a year and a half after he joined, to start our direct sales operations in Eastern Europe, which he quickly transformed into a substantial part of our business. He also set up our Inside Sales Operations in Dublin – again building it from scratch. In September 2006, he became our Vice President for the UK, Ireland and Benelux where he’s helped to create a first class team as well as establish very positive relationships with our big partners on both the advertiser and agency side, including 02, Marks & Spencer, Amazon and Omnicom.

Ever since I met Dennis in 2003, I have been impressed by his combination of entrepreneurialism and operational excellence. He’s never afraid to try new things and always ready to roll up his sleeves and pitch in–whether it means moving his desk to sit with the UK DSO team to see the operations first hand, or being the customers’ advocate internally to help product and engineering better understand market trends. Outside work he loves to do triathlons–though I would only recommend training with him if you don’t mind being out-run (if you are looking to beat him, try golf).

While we are all sorry to see Tim move on, change always brings new opportunities. We believe it’s now time not just to roll-out globally the best practices from the different regional sales teams–the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific–but also to tailor our business strategies more closely to the different situations we face in different countries (more mature versus less mature markets).

Should Facebook–or Someone Else–Take Another Run at Twitter?

Kara Swisher — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:00:15 +0000

Twitter–the non-money-making start-up that lets a user update status in a pithy manner–had a banner day last week with the inauguration of President Barack Obama, which followed all the tweets about the successful airline crash in the Hudson River in Manhattan, which came after…well, you get the point.

That kind of frenetic news cycle has kept Twitter growing quickly, last week surpassing the formerly hot–at least, according to the dopey echo chamber that is Web 2.0, which is as restless as a teenaged girl looking for the next Jonas Brother–Digg in Web traffic.

And that has apparently setting the stage for raising a big new round of funding.

The presumable third round of investment, according to MediaMemo, would nab Twitter $20 million in added cash and give it a $200 million to $250 million valuation.

That’s certainly a lot of simoleons for a company that makes no simoleons, of course, even though Twitter folks are always going on about how they don’t need money since the burn rate is so low and because they could turn on the revenue spigot any old time they want to.

Well, Twitter might want to ask Facebook about how burn rates can rise quicker than you think and how hard it is to get that pump of revenue truly going in a sustainable way.

Still, you have to love the chutzpah of Twitter, which is correct to get if the getting is good in this not-so-good economy.

But before the valuation becomes so rich as to make Twitter completely impossible to buy by anyone, the company might want to reconsider what it considered and abandoned late last year, as BoomTown reported in endless detail, which was an acquisition of Twitter by Facebook.

Why? Because:

1.) The pair actually do fit nicely together, creating the most powerful universal address book ever, and pairing the two fastest growing social-networking assets on the Web.

2.) While the likelihood of Facebook going public anytime soon remains dim, due to the weak economy and lack-of-enough-revenue issues, the idea of Twitter doing so is laughable.

3.) Some larger company, I would bet my favorite Barry Manilow album, will eventually buy Twitter–my vote would be Google (GOOG)–but higher valuations make an exit harder. Before that happens, Twitter should get itself the home where it would have the most autonomy and influence, which still is Facebook.

Well, no one is listening to me, obviously!

The initial deal between Facebook and Twitter fail-whaled after Twitter decided that the $500 million in cash and stock offer from Facebook was not to its liking.

That liking was for more cash and also, presumably, the lack of interest in being bossed around by Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Everyone had a different take on the nonconsummation of the marriage of Facebook and Twitter.

Some thought Twitter was right to take a shot at building its business as well as it has its traffic, while others thought that goal and refusal to sell were the height of trend-induced hubris.

Whatever the case, Twitter is now making a definitive choice that it can make itself into an even tastier target or even a real company someday with this new round of funding.

And while it might seem another infusion of investment dollars might take the pressure off Twitter, I actually think the pressure has never been higher.

Live From CES, It's All Things Digital

Kara Swisher — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:30:59 +0000

BoomTown, MediaMemo, Personal Technology Godfather Walt Mossberg and Mossberg Solution columnist Katie Boehret traveled to Las Vegas this week for the Consumer Electronics Show. They’re navigating the crowds in order to bring you the most important, the most interesting and the most entertaining moments of the CES melee. They’ll probably have some interesting tidbits about boring stuff as well. All CES coverage from AllThingsDigital.com will be centralized here, and updated frequently throughout the day(s).

TiVo Las Vegas: Walt, Katie, Peter and BoomTown Head to CES

Kara Swisher — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:00:25 +0000

With Macworld out of the way (basic verdict: Phil Schiller did not bomb), a chunk of the crack All Things Digital squad is now winging its way both east and west to the annual gadgetopocalypse in Las Vegas, a.k.a. the Consumer Electronics Show.

Despite the fact that the show is feeling the pinch of the economy–I was able to get a better room at a cheaper price last night, which was unheard of in the past–and that there are really no big products to speak of, except perhaps the new Palm (PALM) smartphone, CES is still one of the biggest and most important gatherings of the tech year.

Las Vegas turns into a geek moshpit every year–with the spicier pornies thrown in, with that industry’s convention also taking place at the same time–as legions of vendors, buyers, press and others converge to be overwhelmed for days by noise, long lines for cabs, keynotes, demos and more.

That also means the ATD team, including: Walt Mossberg, who gets the kind of attention from techies at CES normally reserved for Brangelina; Mossberg Solution columnist Katherine Boehret, who trolls the convention center floor looking for cool new products; MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka, who has scheduled himself to the gills; and me, who has not.

Still, there will be parties thrown by Facebook, CBS (CBS) and more to attend, a cornucopia of gadgetry to try and panels to moderate (I am manning one supersession called, I kid you not: “What Will They Think of Next? Consumer Technology in 2025″).

Also, I’ll be honest, gambling at the Pussycat Dolls Lounge with a passel of nerds.

Between the hands of poker, look for our ongoing coverage over the next few days, including interviews, videos and news (we hope!).

It will all begin tonight with coverage of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s preshow opening keynote, taking over from longtime first-nighter Bill Gates.

Until then, here is the fabulous Ann-Margret doing a mean bugaloo in “Viva Las Vegas” (the Pussycat Dolls have nothing on her) with super-handsome-phase Elvis Presley singing like a dream:

Video Scenes From YouTube Live: Obama Girl, Chad Hurley and Free Hugs

Kara Swisher — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:01:03 +0000

Here’s a video I did while attending YouTube Live on Saturday–well, live–at the Herbst Pavilion at the Fort Mason Center, right on the San Francisco Bay.

The last time I had attended a big tech industry event here, it was the launch of Windows 97 from Microsoft (MSFT)–which was quite a different scene than this entertaining but freaky show, in which online celebrities jumped a little shakily into the analog world.

Let me just say, online celebrities make real-world ones seem 1,000 percent more interesting. But there is also a homespun sweetness to them too and a look-at-me striving that can be downright heartbreaking.

YouTube Live was the online video giant’s “first ever official live community celebration” and also its first try at a live-streamed event. The YouTube Live broadcast online drew about 700,000 viewers at its peak.

As such, as Peter Kafka of MediaMemo notes: “That is almost certainly a record for a Web-only event. But it’s a nonevent by mainstream entertainment standards.”

I am not sure big ratings were the point, though. Nonetheless, the show did attract a passel of Internet stars, including YouTube Founder Chad Hurley, who sat with Google Co-Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin right up front. Google (GOOG) owns YouTube.

Here is a video of the event, including an interview I did with Obama Girl, as well as Hurley, and also some snippets of the professional performers (Katy Perry, Will.I.Am and Akon) and a passel of online celebs (including the “Free Hugs” and “Will It Blend” guys) appearing onstage:

[ See post to watch video ]

Please see this disclosure related to me and YouTube (which is owned by Google).

Peter Kafka Takes On the Mediamorphosis in New ATD MediaMemo Blog

Kara Swisher — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:10:27 +0000

BoomTown just could not resist making the obvious literary pun on the debut of Peter Kafka’s new daily blog, MediaMemo, on AllThingsD.com.

(He is pictured here.)

For those who were not dragooned into reading existentialist writers in college, I am referencing “Metamorphosis,” about a man who turns into a bug–except that the process is fraught with so much more meaning.

And thus it will be in Peter’s column, as the most excellent writer and reporter plunges into the topic–as he writes in his first explanatory post–of “the ongoing battle between the established media business and the technology that is reshaping it day by day.”

It is transformative, to say the least, from someone who will lead you through it with the kinds of standards, accuracy, great writing and insight that I hope you have come to expect from this site.

While Peter’s impending arrival to ATD was announced in mid-September, he actually debuts today and will be posting many times daily.

As I have previously written, Walt Mossberg and I have long wanted to bring in someone located on the East Coast and away from the echo chamber that Silicon Valley can be, because we both feel the ongoing digital revolution is taking place over a number of key industries all over this country and the world.

With extensive connections across the media, advertising, entertainment and tech sectors, Peter will be doing original reporting, getting scoops, doing interviews, making videos and providing much needed and clear-headed analysis that he is so well-known for.

Peter has been working at Silicon Alley Insider, most recently as its managing editor, since mid-2007. The first hire at the start-up tech business analysis site, he has focused on enterprise and beat reporting, as well as breaking news.

Previously, he spent 10 years as a reporter and editor at Forbes and Forbes.com covering media and technology. (You can read more of his bio here, along with his ethics statement.)

Walt and I are thrilled that Peter is coming onboard to join the rest of the strong ATD team, which includes: John Paczkowski, author of the rocking Digital Daily column, who formerly wrote the award-winning blog, “Good Morning Silicon Valley” at the San Jose Mercury News; and Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Boehret, who writes the most excellent weekly Mossberg Solution column.

And we hope you will soon find–via following Peter regularly–why we are so very excited to welcome MediaMemo to the site.