MMOGs: The Parallel Universe

By Gabe Zichermann, Guest Author In 2006, nearly 16 million people subscribed to paid MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games), spending nearly $700 million to play in parallel universes ranging from the absurd to the quotidian. Tens of millions more are casual MMOG players in worlds that don’t require subscriptions, and still more play one of

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Web 3.0 & Yahoo! (Part 4)

Acquisition Strategy Yahoo! has made several acquisitions this year, primarily in display advertising. The key acquisitions were MyBlogLog, Right Media, BuzzTracker, Rivals.com, Zimbra and BlueLithium. Of these, RightMedia and Blue Lithium are good moves to consolidate its Ad Networks position, but Zimbra, in my opinion, is not a good acquisition. I feel Yahoo! can improve

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Web 3.0 & NYT (Part 4)

Acquisition Targets NYT has been making small investments and acquisitions in the online space for the past few years, tipping its toes into the online waters. The Company’s biggest acquisition in this space has been About.com in March 2005, which has been paying off handsomely. The Company has partnered with Monster which now powers the

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Web 3.0 & Online Sports (Part 3)

Business Model Most online sports sites earn money from advertisements, subscriptions, retailing of sports equipments and merchandising. They have also realized the need for convergence with other media and mobile network for better broadcast and more ad dollars. The popularity of fantasy sports leagues has also drawn advertiser attention, as the fantasy games bring in

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Web 3.0 & Online Health (Part 4)

Web 3.0 formula discussion (4C, P, VS) Context Online health portals are targeted at meeting specific user needs. HealthGrades for example provides ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians to consumers, thereby, aiding the consumer to select the best physician and treatment. In most health sites, the context is split-up between men, women

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Jagriti Yatra

Kaustav Bhattacharya sends this open letter: Ten years ago a young gentleman by the name of Shashank Tripathi set out to organize a train journey around India for 200 gifted students to commemorate 50 years of India’s independence and visit the change makers who were defining and shaping India.

Murdoch Gets Dow Jones, Now What?

As expected, Rupert Murdoch has successfully negotiated for himself a position in the Business and Finance vertical with a crown jewel brand, The Wall Street Journal. Here’s my previous analysis on why this deal is a good one. I really like News Corp’s verticalization strategy. James Altucher asked Jim Cramer, “What’s the one thing the

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Did Digg Just Dump FM?

Digg has announced a deal with Microsoft. In a big win, Microsoft will manage their ad inventory as exclusive provider of banner, display and paid search advertising, replacing Federated Media and Google. FM will continue to provide other types of advertising on Digg, including integrated campaigns and sponsorships. What are we seeing here? Is FM

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