Mountain View, Calif. - Confirming widespread rumors, Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Google Ventures, a new $100 million venture capital fund that it will be used to invest in early-stage companies. [more..]

Palo Alto, Calif. - Fueling speculation that it is gearing up to go public, Palo Alto-based Facebook said on Tuesday that CFO Gideon Yu is departing the social networking company. [more..]

New York - U.S. Internet ad revenues grew 11% to reach a record high of $23.4 billion in 2008, even growing 2.6% to $6.1 billion in the fourth quarter, according to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers. [more..]

Foster City, Calif. - Amid speculation that the company plans to soon cut the price of its current-generation PlayStation 3 game console, Sony Computer Entertainment America on Tuesday announced a price cut for its older PlayStation 2, which will sell for $99, down from $129. [more..]

Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. teens (ages 13-17) acquired 19% less music in 2008 than they did a year ago, with CD purchasing down 26%, download sales down 13%, and, surprisingly, tracks downloaded from file-sharing networks down 6%, according to a survey conducted by market research firm NPD Group. [more..]

London - The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a lobbying group of U.K. musicians that includes Billy Bragg and members of Radiohead and Blur, has backed the U.K. government's official opposition to an EU-wide extension to copyright term lengths, Billboard reported. [more..]

Emeryville, Calif. - SeeqPod, a service that lets users search for songs and stream them from sites across the Internet, as well as create custom playlists, has filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection in California, TechCrunch reported. [more..]

Chicago - Sun-Times Media Group, the publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and 58 other newspapers and websites serving the Chicago area, announced on Tuesday that it has filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protections. [more..]

Los Angeles - Wikia Search, an open-source search engine project launched by Wikia and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, has shut down. [more..]

San Bruno, Calif. - Confirming recent reports, Disney has signed a deal licensing clips of its ESPN and Disney/ABC television programming to Google's YouTube. [more..]

Dallas - Dallas Mavericks owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban was fined $25,000 by the NBA over comments he made about basketball officials on Twitter, PEHub.com reported. [more..]

Mountain View, Calif. - Google has decided to shutter its AdSense video units feature, which allowed users to show YouTube content and ads on their websites. [more..]

Los Angeles - Matchmaking website eHarmony on Tuesday launched CompatiblePartners.net, a separate gay matchmaking site the company was ordered to create as part of the settlement of a discrimination lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Attorney General, the Los Angeles Times reported. [more..]

West Hollywood, Calif. - Ticketmaster Entertainment, whose proposed $2.5 billion merger with Live Nation is currently under antitrust review, said on Tuesday that Ticketmaster president and CEO Sean Moriarty has resigned. [more..]

New York - U.S. Ringback tone sales are projected to climb 15% this year, to $235 million, according to a projection from performing rights organization BMI, which represents songwriters and music publishers. [more..]

New York - Time Warner and partner Getty Images on Tuesday launched the new Life.com, an online incarnation of the now-defunct LIFE photo magazine. [more..]

McLean, Va. - Gannett's USA Today, said on Tuesday that Craig Moon will retire as its president and publisher of the newspaper in mid-April. [more..]