Also trying out Facebook ads for the second time. Lets see if they ironed out the kinks and there is a good return. Will let people know

Writers on strike moving to Web

The debate over how to pay writers and split the royalties when their work goes online has been a heated discussion we are sure. I'm sure it is difficult to come up with a fair and agreeable payout, when no one is really sure what the revenues could be or what the future holds for digital content on the web. No big studio or network wants to be locked into a percentage deal or terms, when they have no idea themselves how the content could be used and how much they can make off it. We covered the writer strike before and continue to follow the story today.

So what is a writer supposed to do during this downtime? Well, according to the Los Angeles Times, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out, writers are pursuing deals to develop shows for the web and looking for money to facilitate this creation of content. The development makes us think about what happened in the newspaper industry, when writers during the first dot-com era launched news sites like Salon.com and the like. It's probably not a far fetch that we will see a new wave of companies started in the same manner and an explosion of content created by these writers for video sites on the web.

So is there money out there for a writer to tap into so they can write shows and craft deals of their own. Jim Breyer, a partner at Silicon Valley venture firm Accel Partners and a director at Facebook, told the LA Times that it's "likely" the firm will put some of its cash into some "screenwriter/content-oriented companies" next year.

Facebook Unveils AdWords For The Social Web

Here are some snippets from the Facebook press release.

Facebook Social Ads -- AdWords for Facebook's Social Web. The ease of getting a campaign started in Facebook Ads couldn't be more reminiscent of the self-serve interface that filled Google's long tail of advertisers, key to ensuring that there was relevant ad inventory no matter when, where or what the search. The importance of this is often over looked. In order to ensure that there will depth of ad inventory required to serve relevant ads to the billions of Social Web page views, this same long tail is required. Better yet, by facing the targeting and ad creation outward, Facebook has put the responsibility of correctly creating and targeting Social Ads in the hands of the many. Much as the industry of search engine marketing sprung up to optimize advertising communities and utilization of AdWords, and in the process improved the depth and quality of Google's paid results, Facebook looks to achieve the same result for its Social Web.

The word-of-mouth addition, which allows users to pass along their choice to click, purchase or engage with a brand, is the natural extension of performance advertising for the Social Web. That is, if your ad/page/product performs or converts, then the word-of-mouth component allows your campaign to build on its success. This will promote a type of quality never before seen in performance marketing.

Facebook Page -- building Facebook's Social Web. Facebook Pages does a couple of things for Facebook's Social Web. First, it adds inventory. On the Informational Web, if you are thinking about Nike, you go to Nike's Web site. On Facebook's Social Web, if your mind wanders to Nike, most likely because your mind was prompted by a social interaction or a Facebook Social Ad, you can go to Nike's Facebook page. The idea is that Facebook's Social Web continues to mirror the real Web, with two important distinctions. First, commercial profiles are created specifically to exist and participate in the Social Web. Second, the "financial filter" set by Facebook helps to ensure quality content, and a reduction of noise (in theory). This isn't revolutionary. In fact, MySpace has a healthy head start in figuring out best practices for creating profile pages for brands to give them a Social Web presence, but it's an important component of completing the Social Web ecosystem, especially in combination with Social Ads and the analytics.

Insight and Analytics: measuring what matters. Finally, Facebook has to give marketers the proper tools in order to define and measure Social Web campaign effectiveness. The tools look great, but their effectiveness is something that will have to be vetted with much more trial.

Splash News Gets a Boost

The Press Gazette reported today that Splash News, a British owned US celeb news agency, has bought the Kaplan archive, which includes 4,000 videos compiled by Gary and Rachelle Kaplan since 1994.

Splash proprietor Kevin Smith said: “Video is the great buzz word in our industry now, with publications waking up to the potential of moving footage on their websites." We have been hearing that same thing for the last few years here at Cutcaster and are happy others are seeing this as well.

“Splash generates between 20 and 60 video clips a day, but our library was sorely lacking depth. Kaplan fills that void.”

Digitising, keywording and uploading the videos to their site will take two months.

Rumor - Two Hedge Funds to invest in Facebook

Working in the stock trading world by day, you hear tons of rumors. We work on Cutcaster at night;-) "Company X is going to buy Company Y." "Company Z is going to report lighter than expected revenues." "The US captured Osama bin Laden with Posh Spice." "The Knicks traded for Kobe Byrant." ALL BS in almost 99% of the cases.

What some are hearing today is that on the heels of Microsoft's $240 million investment in Facebook, two other hedge funds in NYC are also possibly investing $250 million a piece at the same $15 billion dollar valuation. That would give Facebook a cool $750 to poach more talent from the likes of Google, keep their staff of 700 well fed and build up their European and global brand.

To quote a friend who spoke about this, "Microsoft is LEASING Facebook for the next 4 years. Facebook is not worth $15B, Microsoft is leasing an advertising distribution system. The equity ownership is so small as to become almost immaterial.

Of course, Facebook will now attempt an IPO northwards of $15B, saying that Microsoft already set the valuation floor. Of course this assumes all the lawsuits regarding ownership are settled.

If the company does go public, what the myopic public should realize is that they are not buying the advertising deal, along with shares. Only Microsoft gets that. Don’t be fooled, Ballmer cut a better deal than the public will ever get. Microsoft is NOT valuing Facebook at $15B. No, no, no. Microsoft is valuing a potentially lucrative advertising distribution deal and a small percentage of Facebook at $240MM.

The public are sheep though, so I imagine Facebook will line-up the investment banking sheperds to take them out at $20B+. Baaaahhhhh.

Now why might hedge funds get involved? Because the bump-up in valuation will go from 15B to $20B on an IPO. Nice % increase for a holding period of likely only a few quarters.

But keep in mind, it’s the investing public (proxied through mutual fund managers, etc.) who will pay the price for all of this. Feels like 2000 all over again. Great move for Facebook, probably a smart move for Microsoft, and probably a smart move for the hedge funds. But remember, this is a game of musical chairs. And as usual it is often the naive public investor left standing."


A bit harsh of commentary towards public investors and the Web 2.0 potential bubble but some parts are true.

Regarding Rumors. Reminds me of an old quote. "Those that know, don't say, and those that say, don't know." So be careful with what you hear and choose to believe.

Openness Online

What is Openness online? It's the relatively new buzz word, which we have reported on before in this blog when we wrote about Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Myspace opening up the code to their platforms or at least thinking about doing it.

"Openness is upon us," Jerry Yang from Yahoo said in his first public speaking appearance since taking over as CEO four months ago. "There is an opportunity for Yahoo as a huge publisher to play the open game and do that as a strategy." What does he mean and what does that mean for you?

Well, Openness is communal management and open access to information and the materials needed to help with a project or creating extra value for a site's member. Facebook is a great example of a platform "opening" up and what resulted was an explosion of cool new apps. We characterize the structure of Openness as flat and fluid. Its a way for websites to allow their members a way to connect to the Web of Internet services that they use everyday that isn't on the website that they are on if that makes sense.

What is your view on the web becoming more open? How do you define Openness?

Cool follow up to the Openness online and what Verizon is doing.

F8- Mark Zuckerberg Speaks about Facebook and future with 800 developers.

If you have a little bit of time, this is a pretty incredible video of F8. Mark, in front of a crowd of 800 developers in San Francisco, clearly outlines the growth, future and new platform for developers to work and make money on Facebook. He's a bit nervous at first but who wouldn't be at 23. Very cool new developments and nice work.