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Robin Sloan / Snarkmarket:
Why Old Spice matters — So the Old Spice campaign was funny, surprising, and perfectly-calibrated. These would be reasons enough to like it. But I'm not going to let you stop there. Here's how I think the campaign establishes an important new precedent—not for online advertising, but for online storytelling across the board.
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Marshall Kirkpatrick / ReadWriteWeb:
How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made
How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made
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New York Times:
The Google Algorithm — Google handles nearly two-thirds of Internet search queries worldwide. Analysts reckon that most Web sites rely on the search engine for half of their traffic. When Google engineers tweak its supersecret algorithm — as they do hundreds of times a year …
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MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Wait, Google Is Responding To Algorithm Criticism Behind A Wall? — The New York Times ran a controversial op-ed piece yesterday entitled “The Google Algorithm.” Basically, the piece wonders if the government shouldn't step in to control the way Google tweaks its search engine results.
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Financial Times
Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:
Penthouse Owner Makes $210M Bid for Playboy — Marc Bell, owner of Penthouse magazine and FriendFinder networks, made his promised bid on Playboy Enterprises on Thursday, offering to pay $210 million for the struggling bunny brand. — Bell's bid is effectively $25 million …
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Kevin Allocca / TVNewser:
Letterman Extortionist Nominated for News & Doc Emmy — The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced nominations this morning for the 31st News and Documentary Emmy Awards, and, yes, David Letterman extortionist Joe Halderman was among them.
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Matea Gold / Show Tracker:
PBS dominates News and Documentary Emmy nominations, but CBS also scores big — PBS flexed its usual strength when the News and Documentary Emmy nominations were announced Thursday, racking up 37 nods for its coverage of Taliban youth, the death of Iranian protester Neda Agha-Soltan …
Mathew Ingram / GigaOM:
Blog Networks Try One More Time to Turn Local Journalism Into Cash — Can building a network of local bloggers help turn online journalism into a money-making proposition? Two new media ventures are hoping that it can, and have partnered with a startup called GrowthSpur to try and make that hope become a reality.
Matt Marshall / VentureBeat:
Washington Post acquires iCurrent, a personal news aggregator (exclusive) — The Washington Post Company has acquired iCurrent, an online tool that allows users to collect news automatically according to their interest. The purchase price was not disclosed, and while not a big deal, it was likely north of $5 million.
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Emma Hall / AdAge:
Virgin Plans New Magazine as IPad App if Advertisers Sign Up — Billionaire Branson's Daughter Holly Is in Charge of Project — LONDON (AdAge.com) — Virgin is planning to extend its brand into consumer magazines with the launch of a new title, Maverick, which will be available as an app for the iPad, iPhone and eventually, Android.
Peter Kafka / MediaMemo:
Is There an iPad Premium? Hearst Says Its Popular Mechanics App May Cost More Than the Print Version — Internet axiom: Digital stuff-movies, music, whatever-should cost less than its physical counterparts. Because it costs less to make it. — But don't tell Hearst.
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Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
The Daily Caller grabs Olbermann domain name — Tucker Carlson says he's going to start using a new email address: Keith@KeithOlbermann.com. — Carlson, a conservative pundit and editor-in-chief of the Daily Caller site, was in good spirits Thursday after acquiring the domain name …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, WebNewser, Inside Cable News, The Wire and Hot Air
Ken Doctor / Nieman Journalism Lab:
The Newsonomics of the dead cat bounce — [Each week, our friend Ken Doctor — author of Newsonomics and longtime watcher of the business side of digital news — writes about the economics of the news business for the Lab.] — The season's upon us, as newspaper and media companies announce their second-quarter earnings.
Andy Alexander / Ombudsman Blog:
Post online strategy: Grow audience, and engagement — Quick quiz: Among staff-written stories, what's generated the most page views on The Post's Web site in the past year? Something about the BP oil spill, perhaps? The Haiti earthquake? The health-care reform vote? — The answer: Crocs.
Liz Shannon Miller / NewTeeVee:
Google's Viacom Suit Legal Fees: $100 Million — On today's investor relations call, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said that Google's years-long legal battle with Viacom cost a total of $100 million in legal fees. And the case never even went to trial, instead getting thrown out by the judge last month.
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TechCrunch
Lacey Rose / The Biz Blog:
Exclusive: Larry King Weighs In On Potential Replacement Piers Morgan — At a press event to hype his latest venture as a financial partner and spokesperson for The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company, departing CNN host Larry King spoke to Forbes about his rumored replacement Piers Morgan …
Shane Richmond / Telegraph:
Spotify ‘growing healthily and on track for US launch’ — Spotify is still on track to launch in the US this year, Daniel Ek has told the Telegraph. — Daniel Ek, the chief executive of the internet music streaming service, said that Spotify now had more than half a million subscribers.
Steve Buttry / Pursuing the Complete Community …:
Academics measure new media (again) by old-media yardstick — For academics studying whether “citizen journalism” is going to “replace” traditional journalism, let me save you some time: It won't. It's not trying to. It shouldn't. — Journalism is not, never has been and should not become a zero-sum game.
Jon Friedman / MarketWatch:
Joel Stein makes me feel ‘stomach-sick’ — Commentary: His ‘My Own Private India’ piece is shameful — NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — When Joel Stein issued an apology for his recent Time magazine column, entitled “My Own Private India,” he took pains to point out that he felt “stomach-sick” for hurting so many people's feelings.
Emily Steel / Wall Street Journal:
Google Wins Omnicom as Ally — Internet Firm Will Help New Partner Tap Ad Exchange in Return for Ad Buying — Google Inc. plans to announce Thursday it has landed advertising company Omnicom Media Group as a partner in online display advertising, an area the Internet giant is seeking …
Stu Woo / Wall Street Journal:
Newspaper War Rages in West Marin — POINT REYES STATION — This sleepy town of 800 residents is home to west Marin County's two weekly newspapers. A nasty battle will decide whether it is big enough for both of them. — Last month, the upstart West Marin Citizen accused …
Zeke Turner / New York Observer:
‘Bloomberg BusinessWeek’ Grabs ‘Times’ Tech Correspondent — New York Times technology correspondent and Bits blogger Brad Stone has been scooped up by Bloomberg BusinessWeek editor Josh Tyrangiel. — Mr. Stone launched his career at Newsweek in 1996, taking up coverage of Silicon Velly for the newsweekly two years later.
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The Wrap
Joshua Cohen / Tubefilter News:
Will Hulu's ‘Ad Selector’ Become Online Video's Advertising Standard? — Online video ad revenues in the US are on track to pass $1.3 billion this year. That's a big industry, but when compared to the behemoth $70 billion business that is traditional television advertising, it's little more than a rounding error.