Top Items:
Andy Beal / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:
Google's Launches Pay-Per-Action; a Threat to Affiliate Networks? — If you're reading this post, then you can expect a flurry of news covering Google's beta launch of its Pay-Per-Action (PPA) product for AdWords. Yep, after years of hinting, Google is finally ready to let us test their platform on a CPA (cost per action) model.
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Inside AdWords:
Pay-per-action beta test — Is there a specific action on your site that you want visitors to complete? Do you know how much that action is worth to your business? If so, you may be interested in our pay-per-action beta test. Here's Rob K., Product Manager for Pay-Per-Action, to tell us more:
Inside AdSense:
Now accepting applications for new referrals beta — Many of you already use referrals to direct users to your favorite Google products. Now, with our new referrals beta, you can select products and services from our base of AdWords advertisers. This is good news for those of you who have wanted …
Joe / Techdirt: Google Announces Pay Per Action Beta... And Something Else Which You Can Just Ignore
Anne Broache / CNET News.com:
Feds to rehear Webcaster fee dispute — The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board has granted a series of requests for a rehearing on a contentious decision that would elevate royalty fees required of Internet radio services. — In a one-paragraph document issued Tuesday, Chief Copyright Royalty …
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Tony Ruscoe / Tony Ruscoe's Blog:
Google Personalized Homepage Easter Eggs — Google announced an update to their personalized homepage today, which allows users to select from six custom themes (or skins). I've seen several blogs report that Marissa Mayer hinted at some "Easter Eggs" hidden in the themes.
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ongoing:
Mashing with Mike — Today we had that Mashup event at the Sun campus with Mike Arrington. There were somewhere between 100 and 200 people there; I had fun and learned things. — Mr. Schwartz showed up to say hello and take a couple of questions; that's an advantage of doing events right here on our own campus.
Discussion:
CrunchNotes
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USA Today:
PlayStation 3 is down 2-to-1 to Nintendo's Wii — Sony's new PlayStation 3 video game has gone from top dog to underdog in record time. — Despite the buildup and hype around its arrival in November, the PS3 has been outsold so far — at a rate of almost 2-to-1 — by the Nintendo Wii.
Cyrus Farivar / Wired News:
Google's Next-Gen of Sneakernet — How do you get 120 terabytes of data — the equivalent of 123,000 iPod shuffles (roughly 30 million songs) — from A to B? For the most part, the old-fashioned way: via a sneakernet. It's not glamorous, but Google engineers hope to at least end …
Discussion:
Scobleizer
Ryan Block / Engadget:
Xbox 360 Elite: new, black limited edition Xbox with HDMI and 120GB drive — We've confirmed with trusted sources that the black Xbox 360 is indeed coming (the image above is of the original 360 dev kit, FYI), and will be dubbed the Xbox 360 Elite. Here's what you need to know about it:
Discussion:
Kotaku, PaidContent, Gizmodo, Neowin.net, Xbox 360 Fanboy, DigitalBattle, Joystiq, The Tech Report, Channel 9 and digg
Unstrung:
Palm Deal in the Final Stretch — A Palm Inc. buyout could be finalized by Thursday this week, demanding $20 or more per share, according to sources close to the situation. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK - message board) is seen as the leading vendor bidder; while Palm's management is said to prefer a private equity buyer.
Financial Times:
Google searches for European lobbyists — By Andy Bounds in Brussels and Richard Waters in San Francisco — Google is seeking to hire a network of lobbyists in capitals across Europe as it tries to shape debate over pressing internet policy issues, from copyright to online privacy.
Jacqui Cheng / Ars Technica:
NFL fumbles DMCA takedown battle, could face sanctions — It's no secret that some content owners don't seem to understand how the DMCA works—that, or they simply don't care when sending mass takedown notices. This seems to be the case with the recent saga of legal maneuvers between …
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Facebook's Battle Against Chaos — There's a post on the Facebook blog today announcing a new group called "Facebook Sneak Preview" where they will show upcoming feature additions and changes before they are made live. — My bet is that this is their response to the user backlash and protests …
Rob Beschizza / Gadget Lab:
5 Reasons Why Apple TV Rules, 5 Reasons Why it Sucks — Apple TV is finally on sale and on the boat. So, why bother? Here's why Apple TV will change the world, slightly. — 1. It's currently the only easy way to get stuff locked away in iTunes streaming to a TV set. Bam. Simple as that.
Discussion:
The Unofficial Apple Weblog
BBC:
Virtual worlds are 'worth $1bn' — Millions of people are flocking to inhabit virtual online worlds, says research by analysts Screen Digest. — The market for massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) in the West is now worth more than $1bn (£511m)
Leander Kahney / Wired News:
Apple of Our Eye: Macs Save Money — There's been a distinct sea change in the way people think about Apple in the last few weeks. — Recently, people have been saying the strangest things about Apple and the Mac. Everything is topsy-turvy. Pundits aren't trotting out the old conventional wisdoms any more.
Valleywag:
ADOBE: Scoble's favorites — Robert Scoble, the geek commentator whose fame still mystifies me, once tried to answer a question — Who is the Adobe blogger? — about the web communications strategy of one of the key web software firms. The answer was staring him in the face. Scoble himself is the Adobe blogger.
Discussion:
Ryan Stewart
