Digital Marketing and Technological Insight

Digg announced today that they will no longer be using Google as their online advertising partner, Microsoft will be the new ad kid on the block for all of you Diggers. Here are Kevin Rose’s exact words from his blog…

"Hey everyone – I wanted to give you a heads-up before the official announcement is made later today. We’ve signed on Microsoft as our new partner to sell and serve the ads on Digg. It’s a deal similar to the one Facebook signed with Microsoft last year. This move gives us an advertising partner with a larger organization and a more scalable technology platform to keep pace with Digg’s growth. Best of all, it lets the Digg team completely focus on new feature development."

So how many people are shocked at the praise Microsoft is getting from one of the hottest Web 2.0 companies around? I do not disagree with Kevin’s statement at all, just surprised me. For some reason this smells like a pre-acquisition move by Digg….

It was announced the other day that Nokia, the worldwide mobile communication conglomerate, has aquired Twango, the social media sharing service based out of  the founders (former MSFT execs) basement in Washington. The move to acquire Twango will enable Nokia to share content generated by its mobile device users in a much more streamlined and feature rich way.

“The Twango acquisition is a concrete step towards our consumer Internet services vision of providing seamless access to information, entertainment, and social networks – at any time, anywhere, from any connected device, in any way that you choose. We have the most complete suite of connected multimedia experiences including music, navigation, games, and – with the Twango acquisition – photos, videos, and a variety of document types,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Multimedia, Nokia. “When you combine a Nokia N-series multimedia computer that is always on, always connected, and always with you together with a rich media sharing destination like Twango, people will have exciting new ways to create and enjoy rich media experiences in real time.”

"Nokia’s unique vision for social media aligns perfectly with Twango," said Twango co-founder, Jim Laurel. "It’s really exciting to imagine what we can achieve by combining our social media experience with the resources of a company that has played such a major role in shaping the mobile landscape. Now, we will have the resources to deliver on our vision to enable people to capture and enjoy their personal media on mobile devices, desktop computers and in all the other places that are important to them."

Twango is a superior service that I have personally used for quite sometime, this acquisition by Nokia will only mean bigger and better things for not only Twango but social media as a whole. Also, keep an eye out for more deals involving major media / communication companies and Web 2.0 / Social Networking startups…it makes sense for both sides to consolidate money with innovation.

Skype CEO and Joost co-founder Niklas Zennstrom announced at a Skype event in Estonia that Joost, the peer-to-peer Internet TV application, has signed up more than a million beta testers and should be ready for an end of the year launch.The announcement was the first time Joost has released any sort of usage figures, but with a million "beta testers" you shouldn’t be surprised that they would spread the word of this significant accomplishment.

Internet TV is a medium I am watching closely, it has and will have the buzz but the true test will be getting beyond the early adopters and convincing the general TV audience. In the end it will all come down to content…

CTV had an interesting interview with two brothers who claim Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea. Twin brothers, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss as well as Divya Narendra, all former Harvard students, have filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg claiming he stole their idea for the widely popular social networking website.

"The fraud that’s been perpetrated here is partly against us, but it’s also against 30 million people who believe the site was developed in an ethical way and that it was the true creation of Mark Zuckerberg, when in fact it couldn’t be further from the truth," Cameron Winklevoss told CTV’s Canada AM. Cameron goes on to say "We basically entrusted him with all of our source code and business plan and models and everything that we had pretty much been working on for up to a year about, prior to engaging him."

The brothers said in their interview that they have evidence of email exchanges with Zuckerberg, source code evidence, as well as testimony from other programmers who can back up their claim.

The brothers say that the lawsuit is not about monetary compensation…so what do they want, a Facebook.com t-shirt? Could this be just a case of sour grapes? Maybe, but can you blame these guys for trying to get something? 

High five indeed. Hi5, a leading social networking service, announced today that they have secured $20 million in venture capital from Mohr Davidow Ventures. The new round of money will help hi5 expand their product and promote their services to the mass markets. An interesting note to add is that Hi5 had been operating profitable for the past two years.
Hi5 is one of the many social networking platforms that continue to see tremendous growth in usage - currently the company has more then 60 million registered users, a good portion being outside of the United States.

"hi5 has developed a strong global brand and loyal audience around the world, and we are very enthusiastic about the large market opportunity, the business momentum, and the great team they have assembled," said Jon Feiber, hi5 board member. "When we were evaluating potential investments in the social networking space, hi5’s massive global community and track record of profitability made it a clear choice. We’re excited to help the hi5 team continue to extend its reach."

"As a leading international social network, we recognize the value and opportunity in markets across the World, and we are in a strong position to continue our rapid growth," said Ramu Yalamanchi, CEO of hi5. "With the support of MDV, we’ll be able to continue to invest in our platform, and to make it more valuable and relevant to our membership across the globe."