Also: Google buys Adscape | Coull.TV | Viacom vs GooTube | Slacker | BT Vision's ads | MySpace does politics | Information-revolution.org | Flickr China
The Google rumour mill is on overdrive. this time because those mutterings last week about a Google phone were apparently confirmed by the head of Google for Spain and Portugal, Isabel Aguilera.
She was quoted by Spanish newspaper Noticias as saying that "some of the time the engineers are dedicated to developing a mobile phone". Previous rumours include an investor saying that the Google phone will be something like a BlackBerry, and also that Google would be extending its partnership with Samsung. And Google also has mobile entrepreneur Andy Rubin on its team. Google US, needless to say, said that mobile is important but that it did not have anything to announce. (CNet)
Reuters referred to comments reportedly made by phone analyst Richard Windsor to his clients in a note called 'Google phone: from myth to reality'.
"Google has come out of the closet at the CeBIT trade fair admitting that it is working on a mobile phone of its own. This is not going to be a high-end device but a mass market device aimed at bringing Google to users who don't have a PC."
So plenty of intrigue, none of which will do Google any harm. Anythign that cuts down the number of people running round London with Google Maps print-outs (myself included) has to be a good thing. (Reuters)
Google buys video game ad firm
Also in Google World, the firm has just bought a company called Adscape Media that specialises in putting ads into computer games. The price was not disclosed but integration of Adscape's software would basically allow Google to extend is ads programme into gaming - and this is against the backdrop of Google's experiments with print, radio and TV ads. (Wall Street Journal)
Coull TV's beta launch
Sam Sethi on Vecosys points out a web video site called Coull.tv with some interesting search and tagging features. Their new beta version can be embedded in websites and is ad-supported. Hover over the picture and you'll see the rather nu-rave search boxes appear. The search/embed option at the end of the clip is also quite neat. (Vecosys)
Viacom vs GooTube
This New York Times piece on Viacom's online ad plans is quite interesting in the light of the company's lawsuit against Google - that is if you think that Viacom is basically a bit jealous and wants a piece of that astonishing revenue. As we know, the web ads market is booming - up 82% in the US last year to $410m. according to eMarketer. Viacom has 28 TV networks and 44 US websites, but critically wants to manage its own relationships with its advertisers. Systematically requesting that it content is removed from YouTube places a huge burden on the company, it says. As well as that, YouTube does attract the young viewers that most of Viacom's brands are designed for. YouTube's January audience was an incredible 54.7m people - Viacom drew only 18.9m. (New York Times)
Slacker radio player
Talk of the new Slacker music player has been pretty rampant. It launched last week with web radio stations and has deals in place with Sony BMG, Universal, Warner and various indie labels, so it has 2m tracks on board at the moment. Slacker was launched with $13.5m in funding by former Musicmatch chief exec Dennis Mudd and Jim Cady, who came from the Rio media player. The difference here is that users can customise their radio stations online, and then listen to them on the Slacker portable player gadget. I'll try and reserve judgement but the branding looks like Harley Davidson aftershave. (Reuters)
BT Vision's ad blitz
BT Vision is about to unleash a flurry of ads for the on-demand service, plenty of which will include Kris Marshall - that bloke that used to be in My Family. As I was queuing to see him in Treats at the theatre on Saturday night a woman behind me said "it's that bloke from the BT Broadband adverts", which possibly isn't the kind of thing any self-respecting actor wants to hear. But he has only himself to blame. Anyway, BT is reportedly in "frantic negotiations" to secure more content for the service and might introduce a catch-up BBC service. (thisismoney)
MySpace introduced politics channel
Pre-empting the 2008 Presidential elections in the US, MySpace has launched the Impact politics channel which profiles five Democrat and five Republican candidates. These include video blogs and viral videos, and the channel will also feature voter registration and fundraising tools as well as job listings. (Reuters)
Information-revolution.org
Wondering who is behind all those rather anarchic-looking "information revolution" ads on the tube? Rather disappointingly it turns out to be Ask.com, which is rather like a school-kid complaining they aren't any A-grades like the square kid at the front. Now that they've ditched Jeeves, maybe it'll be Ask Che. Hasta la victoria siempre, indeed. (Valleywag)
Flickr goes Chinese
Flickr's first foray into Asia will target Hong Kong, then Taiwan. The move east is part of Yahoo's plans to expand outside English-speaking markets. (New Media Age)
