Here's the latest action:
How Google overpaid for weak advertising inventory on MySpace -- Entrepreneur Andrew Chen has published a tell-all blog post about his early years working at ad network Revenue Science, where he did formative deals with MySpace. The post is a tribute to a new book out called "Stealing MySpace," which details the ins and outs of the social network's evolution. Among the juicy details divulged in the book:
The point is, while the MySpace traffic was certainly amazing, it was clear to me (and the other ad networks folks I was in touch with), that there was no way the ads would perform at the level to justify the deal. And ultimately, I think we were proven right. The deal seemed like a crazy auction with a “winner’s curse” and it always seemed like the big bucks were going to get attached to the brand deals the FIM/MySpace team were putting together rather than making the remnant text ad inventory perform 10X better.
Finding true romance in Second Life -- "Getting to know someone gradually, with patience and attention [in a virtual world], seems a whole lot healthier than a drunken proposition in a bar" -- or so Newsweek describes the allure of virtual dating in an article about real-life online relationships.
More than 10 billion Covenant lay dead at human feet -- In case you don't know what that refers to, the Covenant is "a fictional theocratic military alliance of alien races" that you kill in Halo 3 (assuming you're one of its some 15.4 million human players). The official kill count spans the 565 days since the game's launch.
Silicon Valley chief executives not optimistic about 2009 -- That's according to a survey by regional business organization Silicon Valley Leadership Group, as covered by the San Jose Mercury News. Tech accounts for a higher portion of new job losses in 2009 -- Than it did in 2008, also as covered by the Mercury News.
Global online ad spending to fall 6.9 percent this year -- So predicts ZenithOptimedia, a media buying unit of the Publicis advertising group. PaidContent has more. Yahoo may announce layoffs as part of Bartz-driven reorganization -- As GigaOm and The New York Times (and BoomTown) have heard.
Larry Brilliant to head the Skoll Urgent Threats Fund -- More from CNET.