Recently by Alisa Zykova

The European Commission announced that on Tuesday it began investigating anti-trust allegations related to Google's activity, after which the tech giant revealed that it should have been "more transparent" regarding its mechanism of ranking competitor's search engines, The Telegraph informed yesterday. 

Google might just have abused its powerful position by diminishing the ranking of search results from other engines, The Inquirer speculated. There was also the possibility that Google might have asked certain advertisers to sign an exclusivity contract that obliged them not to place any ads from competing outlets. Furthermore, Google might have imposed guidelines on the presence of ad campaigns on competing online advertising platforms, said a press release from the Commission. 

Eight press outlets in France have teamed up to launch a digital kiosk (dubbed E-Presse Premium) equipped with their respective publications' content, by early 2011, Agence France-Presse reported this week. According to L'Expansion, the kiosk will allow users to access either individual articles or to obtain a subscription for extra features, while utilising a single account to surf a variety of titles like with Amazon's "one-click shopping" technique. 

The newly established partnership intends to weaken the impact of companies like Google, Apple and Facebook in the digital era, Le Figaro suggested. Without this union, the titles don't have much say and have to adhere to conditions imposed by the tech giants. However, the deal will now permit them to set their own rules in the industry.

 

Nearly three weeks after its entry into the Russian market, retailers across the country revealed that they were out of Apple iPad 3G models, Kommersant.ru wrote today. 

"PC market growth will be impacted by devices that enable better on-the-go content consumption such as media tablets and next-generation smartphones," said Gartner Research analyst Raphael Vasquez, Agence France-Presse reported. "These devices will be increasingly embraced as complements if not substitutes for PCs where voice and light data consumption are desired."

After seven years of searching, Tony Elliott, the founder of UK publishing group Time Out, announced last week that he sold half the company to private equity group Oakley Capital Investments in order to fund online and digital expansion, Press Association informed. 

The equity firm was thought to value the publisher at £20 (€24) million. According to Elliott, Oakley Capital will help the initiative because of "its entrepreneurial operational focus" and assist Time Out in embarking on a "hugely successful worldwide digital journey." He let slip that the publisher would not be putting up a paywall since it deals with information that was "built to last forever," The Independent wrote.

All newspapers, television channels and radio stations owned by members of the Russian government will be put up for sale, according to presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich, Polit.ru reported today. 

The announcement comes following a speech given by President Dmitry Medvedev at the Federal Assembly of Russia, during which he outlined that public figures as such should not be the owners of "factories, newspapers, steamships," Trud.ru wrote. He said official bodies should only be involved with fields that encourage quality performance of duties, suggesting that all other industries should be privatised. 

MEN Media, an affiliate of UK publisher Trinity Mirror, revealed that on November 25 it will launch a business magazine called Business Week for its audience in Manchester, paidContent reported. 

By the end of January 2011, Business Week aims to achieve a circulation of 12,000, The Drum added. The move can be understood as a way to boost the title's presence throughout Manchester's business circle.

Journalists from five Irish Johnston Press Group newspapers intend to go on strike next Tuesday after hearing of possible staff cuts that will occur as a result of putting a new editorial production system in place that the publisher's management thinks will abolish the need for sub-editors, MediaGuardian reported.

"This strike is about protecting employment but it is also about defending journalistic standards," said Nicola Coleman, the organiser for the National Union of Journalists in Ireland. "The experience of this union in the UK is that the new system and reduced staffing levels have led to chaos - the results have been disastrous publications."

Could Canadian mobile manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry device, be feeling a little bitter about Apple entering the business-oriented market that RIM caters to? According to SellMyMobile, since its launch, the iPhone 4 has become more popular with the business sector as well as the general retail industry.  

During the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco, RIM Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie criticised the applications that Apple manufactured for its devices, hinting that users "don't need an app for the Web," The Telegraph reported yesterday.

In the United Kingdom, outdoor may be the most useful ad format for advertising newspapers and magazines, according to Sally Dickerson, global director for marketing firm Brand Science, according to Brand Republic. Print ads may be the most advantageous to FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and telecommunications advertisers.

For newspapers and magazines, outdoor generated £1.29 of incremental sales per £1 of media and production cost. TV is less efficient, offering £0.77. Print and radio both generate £0.50 while Internet £0.39.

Google will be featuring video clips within its sponsored AdWords results in the United States, Vertical Leap reported yesterday. 

The so-called "video extensions" will appear below a given brand's text ads and will play automatically. Users will be able to view the promotional content on an "expandable plusbox." Users can access the advertiser's website through an embedded URL link, EquiMedia informed.

Russian-language news site Life News announced it is holding an auction from November 10 to December 31, during which readers have the chance to earn some cash from any original visual content they provide for the outlet, Lenta.ru reported today. Depending on the exclusivity of the videos or the images, individuals may earn anywhere between RUB300 (US$9.6 or €7.1) and RUB1 million ($32,000 or €23,700).

Ashot Gabrelyanov, director of the outlet's publishing house News Media Rus, urged readers not to distribute their photographs or video clips on online hosting sites for free but instead to find a way to make money from them, Lenta.ru said. News Media (which also owns newspapers Zhizn and Tvoi Den, magazine Zhara and online business news portal Marker) frequently embarks on lawsuits against companies that violate authors' rights.

In a move that could threaten Google, Yahoo and AOL, social networking giant Facebook is planning to launch a webmail service on Monday, Slate reported today.

"Facebook has the world's most popular photos product, the most popular events product, and soon will have a very popular local deals product as well," TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid wrote.

Image via CNet

U.S. magazine Newsweek announced it will merge its website with that of news and commentary site The Daily Beast to form The Newsweek Daily Beast Co., AFP reported today. Both parties will have an equal stake in the newly established joint venture.

"In an admittedly challenging time, this merger provides the ideal combination of established journalism authority and bright, bristling website savvy," Sidney Harman, Newsweek's owner, said in a statement. The entity will be owned equally by Harman and Barry Diller's Internet company InterActiveCorp, which owns The Daily Beast. Directors will include Harman, as executive chairman, and Diller, as well as one director each to be appointed from either side, according to the press release.

Image: Digital Trends

Facebook dominated 23 percent of the display ad impression market during the third quarter of 2010, compared to 9 percent the same time last year, a comScore report has revealed, the Washington Post and Information Week wrote yesterday. 

"Just one year ago we were still in the midst of an advertising recession, but several growth drivers have contributed to sustained improvements over the past few quarters," said comScore Senior Vice President Jeff Hackett, CNet informed. "The ability to buy specific audiences is enabling a greater number of display ads to be delivered on target, display formats are improving at a rapid rate, and the quality of creative is getting better every day. As publishers prove the value of online display ad campaigns, digital should continue to carve out a bigger piece of the advertising pie."

UK regional publisher Johnston Press announced a 5.4 percent plunge in ad revenue during the 18 weeks prior to November 6 that was accounted for by a deteriorating public sector and recruitment advertising, Business7 wrote today. However, Reuters pointed out that the fall was slightly less than during the first half, which was 6.3 percent.

"Despite the decline in total advertising revenues being slightly worse than previously anticipated, this has been largely offset by increased cost savings and therefore it is expected that the outcome for the year will be satisfactory," Johnston said, Hold The Front Page reported.