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Breaking News: Breakingnews.com launches

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PV Media Group, an online marketing company, has entered into a joint venture with Breaking News Network, Inc., securing as a domain name one of the most valuable and highly searched search terms in online news, BreakingNews.com.

“Perhaps the most exciting component of BreakingNews.com is the domain name itself,” PV Media Group CEO Steve Rosenberg says. “Instantly securing a highly trafficked domain name like this, encompassing a term that has become such a significant part of the global vernacular, holds tremendous value for advertisers seeking prime online real estate with guaranteed traffic.”

Rosenberg has named newspaper veteran James McDonald, the company’s VP of corporate sales and development, to serve as president-CEO of the joint venture, which aims to create a unique online social news community.

“BreakingNews.com will be designed to bring about a more informed global news conversation in both open and closed communities. Its posts offer readers coverage from every vantage point. They can also share a variety of unique widgets and tools, including some that we will add soon, that offer greater insight into the news than typical aggregation sites,” McDonald said.

By offering multiple perspectives on significant breaking stories and news events—aggregated from the media, firsthand blog posts, pod- and video-casts, news buzz from around the web, opinion polls and comments—users can make instantly informed decisions based on verified information posted 24/7.

Originally posted on November 21, 2008 @ 1:00 pm

IBM develops social networking tool for knowledge sharing

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Nearly 22 million workers are set to retire this year in the US alone, posing a significant challenge for businesses as they look to retain industry expertise and skills. As a result, organizations of all sizes are now looking for new ways to help their workforce more easily share and gain knowledge for competitive advantage.

IBM is making available a new social networking tool called Pass It Along to help organizations take a more user-friendly, collaborative approach to knowledge sharing. The new technology expands the notion of social networking for employees and learners – and includes advanced features such as learning paths, visual mapping and expertise profiling.

Originally posted on November 21, 2008 @ 12:41 pm

PlaySpan secures $16.8 million in Series B funding; To expand in Europe and Asia

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PlaySpan, Inc. has raised $16.8 million in Series B investment from Easton Capital Group, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC and other undisclosed investors. This new capital brings the company’s total funding to $24 million. The new funding will be used to expand into Europe and Asia and to grow PlaySpan’s global publisher and user-base.

“Online games publishers and social media application developers are looking for new sources of revenue beyond traditional advertising and subscriptions. We are enabling a new business model in the form of micro-transactions for users that prefer the pay-as-you-go model,” said Karl Mehta, Founder and CEO of PlaySpan. “It is a testament to our market-leading position, demonstrated growth, and the long-term potential of virtual goods and micro-transactions that we have raised a significant round in spite of the current economic climate.”

The pay-as-you-go model has gained rapid adoption and is poised for tremendous future growth because it gives consumers more control over their entertainment experience and offers publishers expanded revenue opportunities. PlaySpan offers publishers and developers a complete out-of-the-box platform for managing secure, efficient micro-transactions, virtual goods sales, global alternative payments and peer-to-peer trading. PlaySpan’s platform enables any developer to monetize any content at any price for any user in any country, said Mehta.

Originally posted on November 25, 2008 @ 8:00 am

AdBrite introduces Cost-Per-Click Auction for graphical ads

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AdBrite has launched a massive cost-per-click (CPC) auction for graphical banner ads. AdBrite advertisers can now pay for graphical banner advertising in the same way they pay for search placements and text ads– paying only when their ad is clicked.

CPC auction pricing is a significant departure from traditional CPM (cost per impression) rates paid by most advertisers for graphical banner ads.

When direct-response advertisers pay per impression, they assume the full risk of impressions that may never convert into clicks or sales. In AdBrite’s CPC banner auction, display advertisers pay only for clicks. This lowers advertiser risk while increasing performance.

In addition to advertiser benefits, CPC pricing rewards AdBrite’s high-quality publishers by compensating them for the full benefit of their contributions to each advertiser. Many AdBrite publishers will see a significant increase in revenue.

Originally posted on November 24, 2008 @ 11:58 am

AOL launches Nice One! to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

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AOL announced the launch of “Nice One! Stories of Thanks and Giving,” a site that gathers stories of nice things people have done from the world of entertainment, sports and everyday life, and encourages users to submit their own stories. The site, developed in partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is part of a broad effort by AOL to support the hospital’s fifth annual Thanks and Giving campaign.

Nice One! highlights real-life stories to help promote the spirit of giving during the holiday season, such as the story of a family who tipped their struggling waitress $10,000, and the story of a professional basketball coach who helped a 13 year-old sing the national anthem when she forgot the words. The site also features original content from St. Jude, including patient stories, videos and other resources, as well as information on how to donate directly to St. Jude.

Originally posted on November 19, 2008 @ 9:22 pm