Will MySpace Revenues Add Up?

The drumbeat of skepticism over social network advertising has gotten louder in recent months. Much of the focus has been on MySpace, the US leader with a 41.5% share of US visits to social networking and community sites in March, according to Hitwise.

IM reorganized its ad sales group in early April, leading to the departure of sales chief Michael Barrett. At the same time, news leaked that FIM might come up $100 million short of achieving the $1-billion fiscal 2008 revenue target set by News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch last June. (News Corp.'s fiscal year ends June 30.)

Financial analysts and the media have assumed that blame for the shortfall lies with MySpace, FIM's flagship, but FIM manages 12 other Internet properties, including IGN, FoxSports.com, RottenTomatoes.com and AmericanIdol.com. AmericanIdol.com will no doubt show strong revenues since the hot TV show is currently on-air. The smaller properties may not have fared as well and could very well take some of the blame.

eMarketer estimated last December that US marketers would spend $850 million to advertise on MySpace in calendar year 2008. Facebook is projected to reach $305 million in US revenue this year.

Even if MySpace does come up short of revenue goals, that should not sound the death knell for social network marketing. The conversation between brands and consumers has only just begun, and the advertising experimentation will continue.

>> Will MySpace Revenues Add Up?

Dating Toolbox: 120+ Sites For Singles To Find Love

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3D Virtual world, really nothing new idea

Nurien Software, a Korean developer of social networking and online gaming services, has announced this week a Series A round of funding of $15 million. Investors in the startup comprise a mixture of VC firms from eastern and western reaches, including Northern Light Venture Capital, Globespan Capital Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and QiMing Venture Partners. The company plans for an official launch of its platform and offerings in both its home state and China by the end of 2008, followed by a US debut in early 2009. According to Nurien, the infusion will be used to hasten its launches later this year, the process of which begins this month in closed-beta form in Korea only.

The focus of the company is one of virtual social interaction and gameplay, a la Second Life. Users of its services will be able to do all the standard stuff of creating avatars and interacting with fellow participatants. They will also be given access to a games whose titles include: “MStar”, a dance-based development; “Runway”, which is centered on fashion; and “QuizStar”, a so-called “casual online game.”

Nurien is banking on an increase in demand for virtual networking and gameplay to achieve global success. The company references projections made by the industrial analyst Gartner and the research firm eMarketer - the first sees a virtual usership of 50 million in 2011 among all market players; the latter envisions 20 million young adults as visitors to such online environments by the same year. It also sees the expectation of IDC that China’s 2010 gaming revenues will reach $2.62bn, as well as Parks Associate’s prediction that US gaming will total some $3.5 billion in 2009, as reason to believe in strong launches in both Asia and America. If such figures prove accurate, Nurien’s outlook may be quite well calculated.

10 Services To Send Text Messages From The Web

1) Bloove.com - Get your phone contacts on the Bloove site, and then log in and manage them as well as send them text messages directly from the site.

2) ClearSMS.com - A professional SMSing service for businesses to send out mass messages to their customers to alert them about specials and sales. All messages are assigned a value in credits an you purchase more as needed.

3) GizmoSMS.com - GizmoSMS lets you send texts to users in over 50 countries an a slew of carriers inside each of those. While it is free to use, it does not allow space for identifying yourself except inside the body of the text.

4) Group2Call.com - Allows you to import your contacts, break them up into groups and send all the free texts you want to them. Also offers the chance to broadcast voice messages, but you have a limited supply of those.

5) Jaxtr.com - This one requires the person you wish to text to have the widget installed on their blog or social networking profile, but if it’s there, you can text the member if they live in one of any 38 countries.

6) OhDontForget.com - Not only can you text people, you can schedule them for later delivery.

7) SMSGupShup.com - A system to allow you to send one text message to a number and they will then resend it out to every member that belongs to your group, up to 5,000 people in size.

8) Swaggle.mobi - A service for small groups to SMS each other at once; accessible via iPhone as well as by the web.

9) Yahoo Mobile - Yahoo Mobile lets you send and receive phone text messages; you will not be charged for sending the SMS; but the recipient might be charged the standard messaging rates for receiving or replying.

10) Yellowpipe - Mainly a web host, but they happen to offer a quick and easy SMS feature when you just have to get out a text quickly. They do allow you to enter a return number.

> 10 Services To Send Text Messages From The Web

Public Wi-Fi Finder

people usually have their own internet connection though,
Just in case, it's not a bad idea to know where we can access Wi-Fi.



JiWire,




WiFinder


Or try this shirt, ThinkGeek :: Wi-Fi Detector Shirt
Product Features

• Glowing animated shirt dynamically displays the current wi-fi signal strength.
• Shows signal strength for 802.11b or 802.11g
• Black 100% Cotton T-Shirt
• Animated Decal is Removable (with hook and loop fasteners) for Easy Washing
• Battery Pack is Concealed in a Small Pocket Sewn Inside the Shirt
• Runs for hours off three AAA Batteries (not included)