Diginews - Yahoo buys Xoopit - Amazon buys Zappos - Myspace to launch email - Bartz likes Bing - Kevin Spacey's Twitter lesson

[Ramakrishnan Laxman]

Facebook ad revenue comes from surprising segment

As Facebook soars in popularity, its ad revenue is growing quickly. But where that money is coming from may come as a surprise. Of the $310 million Facebook will make in revenue this year, 74 percent ($229 million) will come from local advertisers, according to a report from Borrell Associates. more

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Tour de France Traffic Soars on Versus.com

Versus is posting huge traffic increases for its Web coverage of the Tour de France, with page views on the site jumping 109 percent through the first 15 stages of the 21-stage race. Through the 15th stage of the race on Sunday, Versus.com generated about 24 million page views, more than double the 11 million page views that it had generated last year, spokeswoman Katie Bradshaw said today.

The live and on-demand video coverage Versus is offering of the entire race this year is one of the most popular areas of its site. It has delivered more than 10 million videos through July 19, nearly doubling the 6.5 million videos it delivered last year, and more than tripling its total video delivery count in 2007, Bradshaw said.  more

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Video: Kevin Spacey tries to explain Twitter to David Letterman

This is Kevin Spacey. He's a man who gets paid millions of dollars to pretend to be other men, for entertainment. And here he is on the "Late Show With David Letterman" trying to explain Twitter, the pulse of the planet, to Mr. Letterman.

Key points to remember: Twitter is free; you type with your thumbs; it's "a waste of time."

Mr. Spacey: "And now, I'll get, in about an hour, lots and lots of people saying 'hi' back."
Mr. Letterman: "That really is a miracle."  more 

The video

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Bartz thinks Bing is a good product as MS deal nears

"I think actually Bing is a good product," said Bartz. "I think they've done a good job. I think Microsoft should be given kudos for Bing."

It was a politic thing to say, to be sure, especially with Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo (YHOO) still zeroing in on a search and online advertising deal, as has been previously reported by BoomTown.  more

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U.K. Mobile Coupon Users Like Cookies More than Toilet Paper

Consumers in the U.K. who have redeemed discounts and coupons via their cell phone prefer to receive offers for cookies, chips, candy and other snack items rather than necessities such as toilet paper and soap, according to (pdf) a mobile survey conducted by Mobilize Systems to gauge consumers' interest in different types of product promotions offered via mobile device. more

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Amazon acquires online shoe retailer Zappos for $850 million

Amazon.com is acquiring online shoe and merchandise retailer Zappos in a mostly stock deal valued at about $850 million. It is the biggest acquisition in Amazon's history. The Zappos acquisition dwarfs other recent Amazon deals. The company spent a total of $432 million on acquisitions in 2008, about $300 million of which went toward acquiring audiobook company Audible. Amazon said the Zappos management team in Las Vegas will remain intact and Zappos will continue to operate as its own brand. more

Seth Godin's take

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MySpace to Launch Web Email Service Thursday

This Thursday, MySpace plans to roll out its own webmail, paidContent has learned from sources familiar with the plans. The News Corp. social network, like competitor Facebook, allows messaging—a much-used service—but this will give them their own addresses "@myspace.com" in what was described to me as a "logical extension of that relationship."

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Yahoo to Sell HotJobs; Buy Xoopit

Yahoo  is looking to unload its HotJobs and Yahoo Small Business units, PEHub.com reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Yahoo bought job listings site HotJobs for $436 million in 2001, and launched Yahoo Small Business to provide smaller companies with tools to help create an online presence. Meanwhile, Yahoo's corporate blog reports that it has acquired Xoopit, the provider of a service that lets users post media contained in emails to social networks and blogs.