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Facebook Working on MySpace Music Clone?

posted on March 5, 2008

music on facebook logoRumors have been circulating about Facebook working on a music platform similar to MySpace’s for months. Today they’re being revived with news that Facebook’s “music division” has been in talks with record labels.

Apparently launched last month, the Music on Facebook page is suddenly drawing a lot more attention. The page appears to be a “meta page” for all Facebook Pages devoted to bands and music. In the sidebar BTF, they list their featured launch partners: more than 80 musicians and bands ranging from Wyclef to Keith Urban to Coldplay (all of which have their own Facebook Pages, of course).

But for Facebook to launch a real social media/music “revolution,” a lot more will have to happen. Predictions from CNET and paidContent include:

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Google Wifi Balloons? Is it April Fools 2008 Already?

posted on February 21, 2008

UPDATE: Looking for Google’s official April Fools joke for 2008? It’s here.

If I hadn’t read it in the Wall Street Journal I’d be as skeptical as Techdirt, but it appears Google might be interested in a company that deploys wifi-equipped balloons.

OK, let that sink in.

Yes, a company that attaches $1500 of wireless technology to $50 balloons, uses farmers to release them, watches them burst after 24 hours then, get this, little parachutes bring the transmitters safely back to earth!

Say it with me…”Are You Kidding Me?”

It sounds so absurd that I really don’t know where to start. Seriously, I’m lost for words. Is it April Fools already?

Go and read the WSJ piece then come back and let me know what you think about it.

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Yahoo’s Sweetheart of the Week: AOL

posted on February 18, 2008

News Corp & Yahoo? Soooo last week. The pairing du jour, according to Silicon Alley Insider, is Yahoo & AOL.

While clearly not a strategic move to overtake Google, the merger could be a good thing according to the Insider:

Yahoo and AOL should merge: AOL has some valuable assets–AIM, ICQ, mail, premium properties, MapQuest–but it has no place in the current portal wars. To stay relevant, AOL needs to combine these assets with one of the other players, and the Yahoo combination makes the most sense.

However, as the Insider points out as well, a deal between Yahoo and AOL couldn’t take the place of a Microsoft/Yahoo deal. Like the News Corp deal, an AOL deal would be severely lacking in cash, especially compared to Microsoft’s offer.

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Is News Corp Courting Yahoo, Too?

posted on February 14, 2008

Yahoo spurned one offer in the last week—but are they already courting another? It’s Valentine’s Day, and the timing is perfect for a love triangle. Although Rupert Murdoch states last week that News Corp was not interested in Yahoo, we all know that was junior high code and secretly Murdoch was doodling NWS + YHOO all over his algebra notebook.

I mean, that could be the only conceivable reason why rumors abound this week that the two are in acquisition talks, right? As Reuters reports, speculation is flying thick and fast about a potential deal.

But Reuters’ analyst friends contend that this isn’t really very likely, even if talks are ongoing. Microsoft reserved the right to continue to take further steps toward a merger, though it hasn’t yet said what its next step will be. The consensus among the analysts seems to be that Yahoo’s not going to get a better offer from anyone else:

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Did Yahoo Buy Bebo for $1 Billion?

posted on February 13, 2008

TechCrunch is reporting rumors–for the umpteenth time–that social network Bebo has been acquired for $1 billion. While TC’s betting on Google, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see Yahoo as the buyer.

Yahoo desperately needs to reinvent itself–which likely means ditching its search aspirations and focusing on its huge network of users. At this time, nothing would be a better shot in the arm than to emerge as a huge social network–something it can do with an acquisition of Bebo.

It would also give current investors an alternative path to consider alongside the option of simply hosting a fire sale. It would also make any hostile takeover bid by Microsoft a lot tougher to achieve.

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Rumor Mill: Google to Buy Bebo

posted on February 7, 2008

bebo logoTechCrunch speculates that there’s a 51% chance that Google might buy Bebo—or maybe MySpace will snap up the smaller social networking company. Last year, it was Yahoo that was supposed to be making a $1B offer on Bebo. This year’s guesses are similar—$1B to $1.5B.

TechCrunch explains that the move would almost double Google’s social networking audience, with Orkut’s millions of members worldwide plus Bebo’s non-US English-speaking market. Erick Schonfeld also notes that MySpace could assure its worldwide dominance by buying the #1 social network in several English-speaking countries.

Bebo has an exclusive partnership with Yahoo for display and video advertising. They initially signed on to Google’s OpenSocial, but soon also accepted Facebook’s platform as well.

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Could Rumored Yahoo Layoffs Have an Unwanted Effect on the Company’s Brand?

posted on January 21, 2008

The ‘sphere is buzzing with “anonymous” tips that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang will soon be faced with the tough decision of firing up to 2.500 employees.

Silicon Alley Insider appears to be the ring leader in the rumor spreading and seems to be all for the layoffs.

Jerry reportedly wants to announce the cuts with or before earnings (January 29th), but may not make them if the stock price recovers.

We believe Yahoo should reduce headcount by at least a thousand people, and others are looking for cuts of more than twice that. Yahoo’s stock has recently hit new lows, almost all of its key businesses are losing ground to Google, and shareholders are beyond frustrated. Jerry Yang, moreover, is perceived as a good guy who is unwilling to make the hard-ass decisions necessary to get Yahoo heading in the right direction again–a perception he is presumably eager to dispense with.