News Corp. sells ailing Myspace for $35 million

News Corp. has sold Myspace for a fraction of its purchase price, bringing the curtain down on Rupert Murdoch's tie-up with a one-time social networking star that ended up being eclipsed by Facebook.

Myspace, which was bought by News Corp. in 2005 for $580 million, was bought by Specific Media, a digital ad-targeting platform, which said financial terms were confidential.

The News Corp.-owned technology blog All Things Digital put the purchase price at $35 million, however, and said the deal includes slashing about half of Myspace's staff of between 400 and 500 people.

"Myspace is a recognized leader that has pioneered the social media space," Tim Vanderhook, chief executive of Irvine, California-based Specific Media said in a statement.

"The company has transformed the ways in which audiences discover, consume and engage with content online," Vanderhook said. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."

Vanderhook said News. Corp. would take a minority equity stake in Specific Media as part of the deal. According to All Things Digital, News Corp. will retain a five to 10 percent stake in Myspace.

Myspace, which was launched in 2003, was the leading social networking site on the Internet when it was bought by News Corp. six years ago but it has been losing members to Facebook for years.

According to tracking firm comScore, Myspace had 21.8 million unique monthly US visitors in August 2005 to Facebook's 8.3 million.

Facebook surpassed Myspace in the number of US visitors in May 2009 and has just kept adding users since then while Myspace's membership eroded, according to comScore.

In May, Facebook had 157.2 million unique monthly US visitors compared to Myspace's 34.9 million, comScore said. Facebook, which was launched in 2004, has nearly 700 million members worldwide.

Myspace chief executive Mike Jones, in a memo to company employees obtained by Silicon Valley technology blogs, said he would leave Myspace in two months after helping Specific Media with the transition.

"While I regret we won't be working together at Myspace any longer, I am very proud of the work we have done here and believe we have performed with excellence -- even under extremely difficult circumstances," Jones said.

Myspace has gone through a series of layoffs, chief executives and makeovers in recent years as News Corp. sought to cut losses at the site and reverse the decline in membership.

As its popularity waned, Myspace has been seeking to reinvent itself recently as a destination for music fans.

Lee Brenner, a former Myspace employee, said Wednesday in a blog post that Myspace's slide was probably the result of a number of factors.

"I'm sure most employees (former or current) will argue that it was poor management, or a need to hit revenue targets once News Corp. took over, or a bottleneck in the technology department, or lack of resources given to their division, or a poor public relations effort, etc., that set the course of MySpace's downfall," Brenner said.

"It is most likely a combination of these factors, along with a 'low attention span' public," said Brenner, writing at a site he co-founded called Hypervocal.

"It probably didn't help to be doing business, and trying to grow, along with all of these issues, in the midst of a global economic crisis," said Brenner, who was Myspace's executive producer of political programming from 2007 to 2009.

News Corp. chief operating officer Chase Carey put Myspace on notice in November saying the losses at the social network were "unsustainable" and the news and entertainment giant formally put Myspace up for sale in January.

News Corp. was reportedly seeking $100 million for the site.

According to the News Corp.-owned Wall Street Journal there were two leading bidders for Myspace -- Specific Media, the eventual buyer, and private equity firm Golden Gate Capital.

News Corp. does not break out results for Myspace in its earnings but the "other" segment, which includes the social network, reported a second quarter operating loss of $156 million, $31 million wider than a year earlier.

News Corp. shares gained 1.25 percent on Wall Street on Wednesday to close at $17.39.

Source: AFP

Google goes social with Facebook rival

Google, the king of internet search but not on the social front, has launched its rival to Facebook, a social networking service called Google+.

"Online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it," Google's senior vice president for engineering Vic Gundotra on Tuesday said in a blog post about the long-awaited social networking initiative from the internet giant.

Unveiling Google+, Gundotra stressed the ability it gives users to separate online friends and family into different "Circles," or networks, and to share information only with members of a particular circle.

"We'd like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software," he said.

"We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships and your interests."

One of the criticisms of Facebook is that updates are shared with all of one's friends unless a user has gone through a relatively complicated process to create separate Facebook Groups.

"Not all relationships are created equal," Gundotra said.

"So in life we share one thing with college buddies, another with parents, and almost nothing with our boss.

"The problem is that today's online services turn friendship into fast food - wrapping everyone in 'friend' paper - and sharing really suffers," he said.

Google+, located at plus.google.com, is currently being tested by a small number of people or is available by invitation only.

But Google said in a message on the site that it "won't be long before the Google+ project is ready for everyone".

Google unveiled several new tools integrated into Google+, including "Hangouts", which allows for video chatting among friends, "Mobile" for location-sharing and "Huddle" for group text messaging.

Photos and video can be uploaded and shared among Circles using a feature known as "Instant Upload", while an online sharing engine called "Sparks" delivers content from the web into a user's feed.

Google dominates internet search but the Mountain View, California, company has failed to make inroads on the social networking front, where Facebook has accumulated nearly 700 million users and Twitter about 200 million.

Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, speaking at the AllThingsD technology conference last month, took responsibility for the company missing the wave when it came to making services social, saying "I screwed up".

Google's last major foray into social networking - Google Buzz, launched in February 2010 - spawned a slew of privacy complaints and led to a slap on the wrist from the US Federal Trade Commission.

Under a settlement between the US regulator and Google announced in March, Google is required to implement a comprehensive privacy program and will be subject to independent privacy audits every two years for the next 20 years.

Google+ makes its debut as Google and Facebook wage a fierce battle over online advertising dollars and how people navigate the internet.

Google does not send people to Facebook and vice versa, and both companies are seeking to become the chief gateway to the internet.

In May, Facebook was left red-faced after acknowledging it had hired a prominent public relations firm to draw attention to privacy practices at Google.

Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of technology blog SearchEngineLand.com, said in a blog post it was "anyone's guess" as to whether Google+ would be successful.

"If you're happy using Facebook, there seems relatively little to make you want to switch over to Google Plus, at the moment," said Sullivan, who received an early glimpse of the new service from Google.

"Perhaps if there are people who want a Facebook alternative, Google's now got a core to build on for them."

Story by Chris Lefkow www.ninemsn.com.au

Social Media Marketing Brings New Revenues, Customers

Social networks continue to prove their worth as a marketing channel

Social media marketing has been top of mind among marketers and is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. Earlier this year, eMarketer estimated that worldwide social network ad revenues alone, not including money that companies spend developing presences on social networks or hiring staff to manage them, would reach $5.97 billion in 2011, a 71.6% increase over 2010.

Already, firms worldwide are seeing returns on their increased investment. According to a survey by office services firm Regus, 47% of businesses successfully used social networks for customer acquisition in 2011, a 7 percentage point increase over 2010. The US followed closely behind the average, at 43%.

China saw the greatest gains in customer acquisition from social networks among all countries studied, increasing from 44% in 2010 to 65% in 2011.

The survey had one other interesting finding: Social networks made the biggest impact for companies that are operating in developed markets. A significantly higher percentage of companies that used social networks for customer acquisition in developed markets, including the US, the UK, Japan and Canada, saw a revenue increase over the previous year vs. those companies that did not use social networks to acquire new business in developed markets.

Companies in developing markets like China, Mexico and South Africa experienced revenue growth whether or not they were using social networks to acquire new business, probably as a result of rapid overall economic expansion.

As companies continue to chase revenue in both developed and developing markets, competition will force marketers to increase investment in new platforms to reach customers. Social networks are proving to be a reliable source of customer acquisition and increased revenues in both, but can provide a necessary edge over competitors in developed markets.

1 in 3 Parents of Teens Snoop on Facebook

 

One in three (34%) of parents of children age 13-19 have used Facebook to learn more about the parents of their children’s friends, according to data from Retrevo. This makes parents of teens the most likely of all parents of children younger than 20 to snoop on Facebook in this way, followed by parents of children age 6-12 (29%) and children age 0-5 (25%).

Almost Half of Parents Have Snooped by Time Kids Hit Teens

By the time children are teenagers, Retrevo data shows 47% of parents say they have used Facebook to learn about their kid’s friends. However, once kids reach age 20 and typically become more independent, parents seem to lose interest in learning more about their kids’ friends through Facebook (18%).

iPhone Parents Most Likely to Facebook Snoop on Kids’ Dates

Overall, 12% of parents have used Facebook to check out who their kids date. Retrevo found that iPhone owning parents (20%) are almost twice as likely to use Facebook to learn more about who their kids date than the average parent, while Droid parents are one-third less likely (8%). Retrevo also found that dads are 30% more likely to use Facebook to learn more about their kid’s dates(13%) as opposed to moms (10%).

iPhone Parents Have Most Facebook Friends

Generally speaking, iPhone parents have more friends than overall parents or Droid parents. Retrevo found that 13% of iPhone-owning parents had more than 500 Facebook friends as opposed to only 8% of all parents and 10% of Droid parents. Similarly, iPhone parents had a much higher percentage of reporting 50-250 friends (55%) than overall (40%) or Droid (38%) parents.

Only 5% of iPhone parents reported fewer than 50 Facebook friends, about one-quarter the rate of overall (18%) or Droid (20%) parents.

iPhone Parents Most Addicted to SocNets

Retrevo found that 14% of all parents feel nervous or anxious if they don’t check Facebook and/or Twitter, and this number more than doubles when looking at iPhone-owning parents (28%), but is basically the same for Droid-owning parents (15%).

iPhone parents are also almost twice as likely (28%) as overall parents (16%) to sometimes neglect responsibilities because they are on Facebook/Twitter, and about one-and-a-half times as likely (18% compared to 11%) to say they have given up activities they used to enjoy because of time spent on Facebook and Twitter.

Interestingly, while Droid parents had similar responses to overall parents for the previous two questions, both iPhone (19%) and Droid (18%) parents are about 50% more likely than overall parents (12%) to admit they feel like they couldn’t stop using Facebook/Twitter, even if they wanted to.

Pew: SocNet Users Age

Recent Pew data shows a gradual aging of social network users, which may reflect increased usage by consumers of parenting age. Between 2008 and 2010, the percentage of social network users age 23-35 dropped 20%, from 40% to 32%. Meanwhile, the percentage of users age 36-49 rose 18%, from 22% to 26%. Most significantly, the percentage of users age 50-65 more than doubled, from 9% to 20%.
In total, 52% of social network users in 2010 were 36 and up, a 58% increase from 33% in 2008.

SocNet Users Get Older

The average age of social network users rose between 2008 and 2010, according to data from the Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project. For example, the percentage of social network users age 18-22 fell 43%, from 28% to 16%.

Percentage of SocNet Users 36 and Up Rises

In addition, the percentage of social network users age 23-35 dropped 20%, from 40% to 32%. Meanwhile, the percentage of users age 36-49 rose 18%, from 22% to 26%. Most significantly, the percentage of users age 50-65 more than doubled, from 9% to 20%.

In total, 52% of social network users in 2010 were 36 and up, a 58% increase from 33% in 2008.

Frequency of Use Varies with Site

There is considerable variance in the way people use various social networking sites. For example, 52% of Facebook users and 33% of Twitter users engage with the platform daily, while only 7% of MySpace and 6% of LinkedIn users do the same.

On Facebook on an average day, 15% of Facebook users update their own status, 22% comment on another’s post or status, 20% comment on another user’s photos, 26% “Like” another user’s content, and 10% send another user a private message.

Facebook Users Have More Close Relationships

The average American has just more than two discussion confidants (2.16); that is, people with whom they discuss important matters. Controlling for other factors, Pew found that someone who uses Facebook several times per day averages 9% more close, core ties in their overall social network compared with other internet users.

Facebook Users Get More Social Support

Pew looked at how much total support, emotional support, companionship and instrumental aid adults receive. On a scale of 100, the average American scored 75 on a scale of total support, 75 on emotional support (such as receiving advice), 76 in companionship (such as having people to spend time with), and 75 in instrumental aid (such as having someone to help if they are sick in bed).

Internet users in general score three points higher in total support, six points higher in companionship, and four points higher in instrumental support. A Facebook user who uses the site multiple times per day tends to score an additional five points higher in total support, five points higher in emotional support, and five points higher in companionship, than internet users of similar demographic characteristics. For Facebook users, the additional boost is equivalent to about half the total support that the average American receives as a result of being married or cohabitating with a partner.

ROIResearch: LinkedIn Seen as Most Important SocNet

While Facebook has the highest engagement rate of the “big five” social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube), the highest percentage of online consumers think having a LinkedIn account is important, according to an April 2011 study from ROI Research and Performics. Data from “S-Net: A Study in Social Media Usage and Behaviour” indicates 59% of online consumers rate having a LinkedIn account 4 or 5 on a five-point importance scale, compared to 53% giving this level of importance to having a Facebook account.

About the Data: Pew conducted a survey of 2,225 social network users on landline and cell phone from October 20 - November 28, 2010.

Microsoft Kinect has record sales

Microsoft is racking up the records with its motion sensing gaming device - the 'Kinect'

Released late last year, it has already entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest-selling consumer device of all time.

Kinect is a controller-free gaming system that competes with the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 Move.

It has been selling at an impressive rate since it launched in November.

Internet providers unsure on NBN

There was plenty of smiling and hand-shaking as Telstra and the government put pen to paper on an $11 billion deal - seen as one of the last major hurdles on the road to a National Broadband Network.

But as the government celebrates - Internet service providers around the country are sifting through the documents to work out what the deal means for them.