I’m still not sure if the Twitter stream is the right place to be for advertising, but with the way the company set out to make it easy for developers to build upon their platform with open APIs, it’s no wonder so many ad networks have sprung up since it got started. Its massive growth and the fact that the San Francisco startup is a media and celebrity darling probably helped in that regard, too.

One of the companies that is dabbling with advertising on Twitter – even if Biz & co seem to be reluctant to do some serious testing of their own – is Ad.ly, an LA-based startup that launched about a month ago.

In essence, Ad.ly aims to link up high-profile advertisers with celebrities on Twitter and distribute links to marketing campaigns through the celebs’ tweet streams with full disclosure.

The model is pretty straightforward: the celebrity (or publisher) gets a lot of cash in return for a couple of messages that are under 140 characters, and Ad.ly takes its cut.

As my colleague Leena Rao wrote upon Ad.ly’s launch:

Each publisher sets the price of a Tweet campaign but Ad.ly will give the publisher a pricing suggestion based on variety of metrics. Ad.ly’s proprietary algorithm evaluates follower counts, authority, quality of Tweets and will help determine the Twitter’s value. And when I say that celebs get paid “handsomely,” I mean it. If a celeb has above a million followers, each Tweet gets in the five figures, with multiple Tweets about a product netting the celeb a six-figure reward (yes, for four Tweets!). Ad.ly takes a cut of what the celeb makes, but Rad wouldn’t reveal what the percentage is.

That’s a lot of money for tweets, so time will tell if it’s a sustainable model, if celebrities keep signing up and using the service and if Ad.ly will be able to pay their promised dues. But some investors are bullish on the potential, at least.

Yesterday, GRP Partners’ Mark Suster wrote an interesting blog post on the topic of VC seed funding. In the post, Suster reveals that GRP Partners, where he is a General Partner, has just closed a $500,000 seed round for Ad.ly and that he’d be interested in leading or joining follow-up VC financing rounds if the startup keeps performing well.

A couple of weeks ago, Ad.ly even hired a West Hollywood PR and marketing firm called Entertainment Fusion Group to be its ‘Agency of Record’; EFG will help the fledgling company with public relations and talent procurement. Since it’s deeply embedded in the entertainment industry, the firm should help Ad.ly get some exposure within the circle of movie stars and other celebrities.

So what gives? Has Ad.ly, with its focus on high-profile advertising partners and celeb Twitter users with a large number of followers, cracked the nut of Twitter advertising? Impossible to say without seeing some numbers, but it appears to be striking a chord or two.

Not that Ad.ly is the only one trying to capitalize on Twitter’s growth and celebrities’ massive audience. SponsoredTweets (from IZEA) does much of the same, and then there’s ExecTweets, a cooperation between Microsoft and Federated Media. Others, like Be-A-Magpie and Twittad, have their sights set on the long tail of Twitter.

Whether you think of it as stream pollution or an innovation social media monetization, Twitter advertising is here to stay, for better or worse. And you can rest assured many of these ad networks are going to run a profitable business way before Twitter does. The flip side of that coin is of course the fact that all of rely on the Twitter platform, so if they prosper or perish is partly Twitter’s call.

Skype, which was recently sold by eBay to VC firms Silver Lake Partners, Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures, has announced that it is killing its Developer Program. The program, called “Extras,” allows third-party developers to build applications, both hardware and software, on top of Skype.

The company, which was valued at $2.75 billion during the deal, says that the program wasn’t gaining much traction amongst the developer community to maintain the “Extras” platform, which was launched in June of 2007. According to a blog post on the company’s site, Skype will no longer certify new applications but existing applications will be able to work until their expiration dates.

Skype also said that it will continue to support accessories via its public API, and the Skype shop will feature existing “Extras.” It’s always a sad day when a tech company as large as Skype cuts out the developer ecosystem. Third-party developers are a crucial part of any product, and it’s a shame that Skype couldn’t figure out a efficient way to engage developers. However, there is a small light at the end of the tunnel. Skype ended the announcement with this line: “We still believe there are opportunities for third-party developers to enhance the Skype experience. We’ll keep you posted.”

Earlier this week Yahoo sent out an email to Yahoo Publisher partners (third party sites that display Yahoo cost per click ads). The email says they should expect new pricing adjustments “based on our assessment of the quality of traffic coming” from their sites.

Yahoo (and its competitors) make adjustments to CPC payments out to publishers based on the perceived “quality of traffic.” Supposedly these payments are credited to advertisers, but there is really no way to know. The changes Yahoo implemented appear to make more dramatic adjustments to outbound payments.

The result of the change, say two publishers we spoke to, is a drop in already-low revenue payments.

“I’d describe the drop as annoying, but not devastating,” said one publisher. But he added that “The way they do it is in a total black box and leaves us helpless to improve things. Yahoo gives you ZERO insight into what bad traffic is or looks like so you can do NOTHING to improve the quality of the traffic you bring to Yahoo.”

Yahoo is also saying that in some cases they will increase payments to publishers with higher-quality traffic. The publishers we spoke to about this are skeptical.

More reports from publishers should get to us over the next few days, and we’ll update this post with new information.

The email is below:

Quality-based pricing is an important component of our goal to deliver high-value traffic to our advertisers, a high-quality experience for users, and long-term success for our distribution partners.

On September 9, 2009, Yahoo! upgraded the quality-based pricing system which adjusts advertiser click charges based on our assessment of the quality of traffic coming from sources within our distribution network. The new version of quality-based pricing may result in discounts being applied across more keywords, and/or deeper discounts for lower-quality traffic. Additionally, for the first time, it may also result in a pricing premium for higher-quality traffic. This enhancement will affect our Sponsored Search and Domain Match traffic only.

If you have any questions regarding this upcoming change, please contact your account representative.

Yahoo! to Extend Reach to Millions of Consumers in the Arab World; Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Maktoob.com
Combination of local expertise and global scale to provide best online experience for consumers in the Arab world and platform for advertisers in the region
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and DUBAI, Aug 25, 2009  – Yahoo!  today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maktoob.com, the leading online community in the Arab world, with more than 16.5 million unique users.
"This acquisition will accelerate Yahoo!’s strategy of expanding in high-growth emerging markets where we believe Yahoo! has unparalleled opportunity to become the destination of choice for consumers,” said Yahoo! chief executive officer Carol Bartz.

"Access to information and communications tools can positively impact people’s lives in many ways, and with the acquisition of Maktoob.com and our investment in the region, the Arab world will soon get a Yahoo! experience in Arabic with relevant local language content, programming and services.”
Internet users in the region will benefit from the combination of Yahoo!’s popular products and services  with Maktoob’s compelling local content, which today reaches one in three people online throughout the Arab world.

This acquisition will extend Yahoo!’s current offerings by adding capabilities to deliver relevant Arabic-language content and services, as well as Arabic versions of Yahoo!’s popular Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail services.  Maktoob.com is accessed by users in countries that include UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
“Yahoo! and Maktoob are natural partners and this combination should help energize the Internet market in the region as a whole.  We are excited about Yahoo! building a stronger presence in the Middle East and bringing its compelling suite of services to Arab users in Arabic," said Samih Toukan, Founder of Maktoob.  
While Internet usage in the Middle East has grown more than tenfold since 2000, most markets are still in the early stages of adoption. According to the World Bank, there are more than 320 million Arabic speakers worldwide, while less than one per cent of all online content is in Arabic.  
With Yahoo! and Maktoob.com’s combined audience and platform, advertisers will have access to the reach and sophisticated targeting capabilities they need to effectively engage with the region’s online consumers. 

Spending on online advertising is expected to grow by 35 – 40 percent this year in the region, according to Madar Research.
"Internet users in the Arab world will have access to Yahoo!’s vast content portfolio,  as well as world-class communications products, which will be available in Arabic for the first time. 

In addition, advertisers will be able to leverage the vast reach of the newly combined audiences to effectively market to consumers across the region," said Ahmed Nassef, general manager of Maktoob.com.
Maktoob.com was founded in 2000 by Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury as the world’s first free Arabic/English web-based email service, and since then has grown to be the leading Arab online community in the region.
“Yahoo is acquiring Maktoob.com for the strong brand and audience it has built over the last nine years and the passionate team they have assembled, which we believe is the strongest in the region,” said Keith Nilsson, senior vice president, Emerging Markets, Yahoo! 

“We see great growth potential in both audience and advertising in the Arab world and combining with Maktoob.com will allow us to quickly build our presence there with high quality products. This is a big win for publishers, advertisers, and consumers in the region.”
This acquisition is part of Yahoo!’s larger strategy to grow its business throughout the world’s emerging markets by connecting consumers with the content and services that matter most to them in their local language. 

The company’s Emerging Markets business group, headquartered in Singapore, is responsible for Yahoo!’s fastest growing markets such as South East Asia, India, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Yahoo! has a strong track record of delivering great Internet experiences and helping fuel Internet adoption through partnerships with local developers and content providers.  
Following the acquisition, Maktoob.com will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo!.  Ahmed Nassef, the current general manager of Maktoob.com, will continue to lead the Maktoob.com teams and will report to Keith Nilsson. 

It is expected that the transaction will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Upon completion of the deal, the remaining Maktoob Group companies – including Souq.com, cashU.com, Araby.com, and Tahadi.com – will operate under a new entity called the Jabbar Internet Group, managed by Samih Toukan. 

Yahoo! and the Jabbar Internet Group will continue to have a strong commercial relationship going forward, which will include the promotion of Jabbar companies on the Maktoob.com portal.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global consumer brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is where millions of people go every day to see what is happening with the people and things that matter to them most. Yahoo! helps marketers reach that audience with its unique and compelling advertiser proposition. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit http://pressroom.yahoo.com or the company’s blog, Yodel Anecdotal (http://yodel.yahoo.com).
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the proposed transaction (including without limitation the statements contained in the quotations from management in this press release), as well as Yahoo!’s strategic and operational plans and expectations for market growth. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibility that the transaction will not close or that the closing may be delayed, the anticipated benefits to Yahoo! and its business customers, advertisers and publishers might not be realized; risks related to Yahoo!’s international operations; and risks related to the integration of international acquisitions. More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo!’s business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, which are on file with the SEC and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
About Jabbar Internet Group
Jabbar Internet Group (www.Jabbar.com) is a group of leading Internet companies in the Middle East region. The group includes Souq.com, the first and leading auction and marketplace website in the region; cashU.com, an online payments company; Tahadi.com, the Arab World’s first MMO online games destination; Araby.com, the first Arabic search engine and E-marketing, the region’s leading online advertising network. For more information please contact info@jabbar.com.
Media Relations Contacts:
Kim Rubey, Yahoo! Inc., (408) 349-8910, krubey@yahoo-inc.com
Cameron Craig, Yahoo! Inc.: (+65) 6279-7336, ccraig@yahoo-inc.com
Rama Alsayegh, Memac Ogilvy & Mather: (+971) 4-3050306, rama.alsayegh@ogilvy.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Cathy La Rocca, Yahoo! Inc., (408) 349-5188, cathy@yahoo-inc.

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000367722/RELEASE_Yahoo!_Maktoob_acquisition/Article.htm

A new Arab Advisors online survey of Jordan Internet users revealed that international web email providers are the most popular amongst Internet users where 79.1% of respondents use Yahoo and 69.5% use Hotmail as their email account provider. When asked about which chatting software/website they use, 61.6% of respondents reported using MSN Messenger. Yahoo Messenger ranked second with 54.6% of respondents.

Arab Advisors said in a press release that survey respondents were randomly targeted by receiving an email shot in their inbox to ask them to fill the survey in cooperation with major online players in the region. To entice respondents to fill the survey, there was a prize of 300 US$ in a raffle. The survey results encompass answers from 555 respondents and yields a confidence level of 99% with a margin of error of less than 6%.

“Arabic was the preferred language for reading and listening on the Internet amongst respondents. However, English was the preferred language for writing on the Internet. Preferences for languages other than Arabic and English lag far behind.” Noura Abdulhadi, Arab Advisors Senior Research Analyst said in the press release.

Over the years google has been adding many of the world’s local domains like google.co.uk and google.jo in which case they provides localized search results.
Today Google added google.ps.  yourname.PS is where domains in occupied Palestine are registered like .com or .co.uk. And according to Google Arabia blog post “the new domain will give Arabic-speaking users in the Palestinian Territories, who use Palestinian ISPs, access to Google in Arabic–and eventually, access to more locally-relevant content. With the launch of google.ps, we bring the total number of Google domains worldwide to more than 160. ”

Google also mentioned that it has plans to continue rolling out more domains in the coming months, particularly in Africa.

We do not know if google.ps will work from Gaza, But I will ask Google and update you here soon.

Update: According to a user in Gaza Google.ps works fine in Gaza.

Update2: Google confimred that they will be directing  ”users based on their ISPs, so users of Palestinian ISPs will automatically be redirected to google.ps. However, any user can type in any Google domain they prefer to go.”

Update3: google also explained to ArabCrunch how things will be different to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza:

” Up until today, Arabic-speaking users in the Palestinian Territories have had to visit foreign domains (e.g.google.eg in Egypt) in order to search in Arabic.  Starting today, Arabic-speaking users in the Palestinian Territories who use Palestinian ISPs will be given direct access to Google in Arabic via google.ps

With AdWords, you can target your ads to countries or territories, or to specific regions and cities. The Adwords system uses several factors to determine whether to show your ad including the Google domain being used (.fr, .de, .kr, etc.),  the actual search term the user submits and when possible, we determine the user’s general physical location based upon their computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address.”

Facebook slims down

Facebook is testing out a pared-down “Lite” version in an aggressive move to attract more content-sharing. It comes a day after the company launched a real-time search and bought FriendFeed, showing that the company is incredibly focused on moving into the real-time space. The service is in beta testing and invites were sent to specific users. (The photo comes from Twitter and was spotted TechCrunch.)

The Lite version also emulates a bit of Twitter’s spartan look. If Facebook wants to be a social search engine, it can’t let Twitter dominate shared content. It has to be dead-simple for users to share videos, blog posts and comments. Then the company has to collect as much data as possible so that when you do searches, the results highlight timely and relevant activity from your friends and others in the social network.

Here’s Facebook’s comment:

We are currently testing a simplified alternative to Facebook.com that loads a specific set of features quickly and efficiently. Similar to the Facebook experience you get on your mobile phones, Facebook “Lite” is a fast-loading, simplified version of Facebook that enables people to make comments, accept Friend requests, write on people’s Walls, and look at photos and Status updates.  We are currently testing Facebook Lite in countries where we are seeing lots of new users coming to Facebook for the first time and are looking to start off with a more simple experience.

This evening, the test was temporarily exposed to a larger set of users by mistake.  We have not opened up access to lite.facebook.com to all users at this time.  People who are not part of the test and are trying to access “Lite” will be directed to Facebook.com as usual.

This is a good move: about a year or two ago, I started using the site less frequently because the privacy controls were overwhelming; sharing photos and links was fairly slow compared to other services I was using. If Facebook Lite works out, it may encourage other users to move sharing activity back to Facebook.

Source: VentureBeat

Nokia to announce Microsoft deal, denies ditching Symbian

Nokia is denying reports claiming the company plans to ditch its Symbian software on smartphones in favour of its open source Maemo OS, but it will announce a new Microsoft partnership tomorrow.

The German edition of the Financial Times has reported that undisclosed Nokia sources claim “Symbian is much too cumbersome to keep up with modern operating systems. We have to react”

TechCrunch asserts that Nokia doesn’t trust its Symbian OS anymore and plans to move its new smartphones to the open source Maemo OS it uses in its internet tablets.

While several other news sources and bloggers have picked up on the story, tech writer Om Malik has refuted it (for now), writing that he contacted a Nokia spokesperson who said “We absolutely remain committed to Symbian and S60. Symbian remains our choice for smartphones and we’ll continue to see enhancements that further the value and experiences on this platform.”

“However, recognizing that the value we bring to the consumer is increasingly represented through software, there is logically not just one software environment that fits all consumer and market needs,” the spokesperson said. “In addition, as we’ve stated before, we also continue to explore opportunities around a new class of devices that we see as the next segment of high performance mobile devices. Maemo is very much part of that thinking but of course there’s nothing new to announce in this regard.”

Meanwhile Nokia is set to announce a deal with Microsoft tomorrow morning (NZ time) that looks set to bring the mobile version of Microsoft Office 2010 to Nokia’s smartphones.

Microsoft has previously said that it plans to offer browser-based versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote with its upcoming version of Office that will work in Firefox and Safari as well as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Under the Nokia / Microsoft alliance, the upcoming Office 2010 might be ported to Nokia’s Symbian S60 smartphone platform, reports ComputerWorld NZ.

“Or, less likely, mobile Office 2010 might be set to run on the Maemo mobile Linux operating system that Nokia also supports.”

Nokia has also denied reports that it will adopt Google’s Android OS, but with the amount of sustained criticism of the ageing Symbian OS, combined with the quantity of rumours flying of its move to at least some form of open source OS, it seems likely the company will pull something out of its hat at the upcoming Nokia World Conference in September.

Source: NBR

IE6 – time enough?

Microsoft is sticking to its guns over its continued support of the much maligned IE6, insisting that it ‘keeps its commitments’.

The debate over whether the internet should shun Internet Explorer 6, which still holds a significant proportion of internet traffic, has been raging for some time.

Microsoft has long held that it will not abandon users who are still on IE6, despite the pressure to force an upgrade to a more modern browser.

Dean Hachamovitch, on the official IE blog, insists that this stance simply will not change, despite the company’s desire that people move onto IE8.

“Dropping support for IE6 is not an option because we committed to supporting the IE included with Windows for the lifespan of the product.”

Commitments

“We keep our commitments. Many people expect what they originally got with their operating system to keep working whatever release cadence particular subsystems have.

“As engineers, we want people to upgrade to the latest version. We make it as easy as possible for them to upgrade.

“Ultimately, the choice to upgrade belongs to the person responsible for the PC.”

According to Microsoft’s own lifespan policy, support for all programs lasts for 10 years, meaning that it will continue to back IE6 until 2011.

Source: TechRadar

Facebook Acquires FriendFeed

Facebook has acquired FriendFeed, we’ve learned. We’re gathering details now.

At this point details on the acquisition are still very sparse, but it’s clearly a good match. Over the last year or so, Facebook has “borrowed” quite a few features that FriendFeed popularized, including the ‘Like’ feature and an emphasis on real-time news updates.

Obviously Facebook has already built out some of FriendFeed’s functionality so there is some overlap, but there are still numerous ways FriendFeed beats out Facebook’s News Feed setup. One of these is the way stories are ‘floated’ to the top as new users comment on them. And FriendFeed’s system is truly real-time, unlike Facebook’s feed which users have to manually refresh.

But the biggest win here for Facebook is the FriendFeed team, which includes an all-star cast of ex-Googlers. Perhaps best known of these is Paul Buchheit, who is responsible for creating Gmail, pioneering some of Google’s early (and incredibly lucrative) advertising products, and coining Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto. Other ex-Googler co-founders include Bret Taylor, Jim Norris, and Sanjeev Singh.

And so begins the next step in Facebook’s assault on Twitter.

Update: Be sure to check out our interview with Facebook VP Products Chris Cox and FriendFeed co-founder Bret Taylor, where they share their thoughts on the future of FriendFeed and its integration into Facebook.

Update:
FriendFeed has just posted a note to their blog confirming the announcement. FriendFeed’s Bret Taylor writes that the site will continue operating for the time being, but that the company is still “figuring out its longer-term plans for the product”. Likewise, the API will continue to function for the time being.

Update 2 :: Facebook has just issued the following press release:

PALO ALTO, CALIF.—August 10, 2009—Facebook today announced that it has agreed to acquire FriendFeed, the innovative service for sharing online. As part of the agreement, all FriendFeed employees will join Facebook and FriendFeed’s four founders will hold senior roles on Facebook’s engineering and product teams.

“Facebook and FriendFeed share a common vision of giving people tools to share and connect with their friends,” said Bret Taylor, a FriendFeed co-founder and, previously, the group product manager who launched Google Maps. “We can’t wait to join the team and bring many of the innovations we’ve developed at FriendFeed to Facebook’s 250 million users around the world.”

“As we spent time with Mark and his leadership team, we were impressed by the open, creative culture they’ve built and their desire to have us contribute to it,” said Paul Buchheit, another FriendFeed co-founder. Buchheit, the Google engineer behind Gmail and the originator of Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto, added, “It was immediately obvious to us how passionate Facebook’s engineers are about creating simple, ground-breaking ways for people to share, and we are extremely excited to join such a like-minded group.”

Taylor and Buchheit founded FriendFeed along with Jim Norris and Sanjeev Singh in October 2007 after all four played key roles at Google for products like Gmail and Google Maps. At FriendFeed, they’ve brought together a world-class team of engineers and designers.

“Since I first tried FriendFeed, I’ve admired their team for creating such a simple and elegant service for people to share information,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. “As this shows, our culture continues to make Facebook a place where the best engineers come to build things quickly that lots of people will use.”

FriendFeed is based in Mountain View, Calif. and has 12 employees. FriendFeed.com will continue to operate normally for the time being as the teams determine the longer term plans for the product.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not released.

Source: TechCrunch