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New Media News Every Morning

Friendster now available in Japanese and Korean

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friendster.pngFriendster, Inc. is now available in two additional major languages – Japanese and Korean – allowing Friendster users and visitors a choice of languages to navigate the site, enter content and use Friendster’s complete set of social networking features. Friendster now supports five of the top languages on the Internet: Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and English. These languages represent 66 percent of the world’s Internet users, or approximately three quarters of a billion Internet users in total.

Friendster has implemented multi-language support on a single domain– Friendster.com– to promote communication and interaction among users who speak different languages. A large percentage of friend networks on Friendster cross borders and continents, requiring multi-language support to be implemented in a single, global web site. The new language offerings will help Friendster maintain and extend its leadership position in Asia.

Originally posted on December 6, 2007 @ 10:50 am

ICE.com partners with Personal Life Media for podcast advertising program

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ice.pngICE.com has launched an integrated podcast advertising program to be heard exclusively on the Personal Life Media network. The relationship focuses on leveraging the unique attributes of podcast advertising, including the ability to offer highly-emotive content similar to radio and television, but delivered online. Advertising in downloadable media benefits from the personal nature of “long tail” programming and the deep appreciation listeners have for their show hosts.

In addition to the 30-second audio ads that will run on more than 10 of the network’s most popular shows, each host will provide personal endorsements during their shows. Moreover, a 2-minute advertorial interview at the end of many of the shows will incorporate an interview with CEO Pinny Gniwisch.

“Pinny has distinguished ICE.com as a pioneer in innovative advertising concepts, said Susan Bratton, Personal Life Media co-founder and CEO. “He’s a fearless marketer with the assets and patience to be a leader in any next-generation media opportunity. Plus, promoting his beautiful jewelry to listeners of our relationship, personal transformation, beauty and aging gratefully shows is a lot of fun for everyone.”

To take advantage of the ICE.com and Personal Life Media advertising specials, listeners can go directly to the ICE.com site using the unique promotional discount code mentioned in the podcast. Listeners of Personal Life Media shows will enjoy a 20% discount on their jewelry purchases. Diamonds are not included in the discount as the phenomenal pricing at ICE.com and companion site DIAMOND.com does not allow for a further price reduction.

Originally posted on December 5, 2007 @ 10:36 am

SFGate.com launches new online business page

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sfgate1.pngSFGate.com, the online home of the San Francisco Chronicle, launched a comprehensive redesign of its business page.

“We are happy to announce the launch of the new and improved SFGate Business page, with comprehensive coverage of Business and Technology from the San Francisco Chronicle. As you will see, we have made a lot of changes,” said Peter Negulescu, Vice President/Digital Media. “Like the recent changes we made on our Sports page and the new Living page, the new Business and Technology pages are geared toward creating the best and most complete experience for users interested in business and technology in the Bay Area. Many of the improvements are based on feedback we’ve received from our users.”

SFGate.com is among the nation’s top five newspaper web sites with 9.0 million monthly unique visitors and over 73.7 million monthly page views.

Originally posted on December 5, 2007 @ 4:49 pm

WoozyFly.com goes global with Chinese site Jinti.com

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woozyfly.jpgWoozyFly.com, the online music media company devoted to independent artists, and Chinese community and social networking site, Jinti.com have entered into a strategic partnership.

A new International Music Section in the Jinti Web site, powered by WoozyFly, will be launched through the partnership. WoozyFly will provide the content and delivery for Jinti’s new online music section, expanding WoozyFly’s global reach to include more than 20 million monthly users in China.

WoozyFly will supply music videos from independent artists as well as WoozyFly’s slate of professional produced shows. The partnership will also offer companies strategic marketing opportunities enabling them to reach the Chinese market.

Originally posted on December 4, 2007 @ 3:01 pm

Walt Disney Internet Group acquires iParenting Media

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iparenting.pngThe Walt Disney Internet Group has acquired iParenting Media in a move that adds to its already strong line-up of family-targeted web properties within Disney Online, including Disney Family.com, FamilyFun.com and Wondertime.com. With the acquisition, Disney Online gains iParenting’s vast resources, quality content and vibrant community that serves families, young parents and parents-to-be in English and Spanish. iParenting’s content and services will be integrated into Disney’s network of family targeted sites. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

iParenting’s portfolio features a wide array of professional and user-generated content, including thousands of articles and expert Q&A’s and hundreds of active mom message boards. Additionally, the network includes the highly-regarded iParenting Media Awards, the only certified product review and awards program in the industry.

Originally posted on December 4, 2007 @ 3:12 pm