The CBI has issued a report claiming that clothing retailers have just experienced their worst month for quarter of a century. I can only assume that this fall in sales must be down to an underperforming high street, because the online fashion industry is booming. Our Apparel and Accessories category is currently the fourth largest retail sub sector (behind Auctions, Department Stores, and Rewards and Directories), accounting for almost 1 in every 10 UK Internet visits to an online retailer.

London - Bebo, an online social network owned by AOL, on Monday announced that it partnered with Universal Music UK on a new original Web drama series that will be "set amongst the real-life workings of the music company's West London headquarters." "The Secret Life of Sam King" will feature music from Universal artists, and generate revenue from brand integration -- with the first three months of the series to feature Sony Ericsson as sponsor.

Dulles, Va. - Two months after first unveiling the deal, AOL (NYSE: TWX) said on Monday that it has completed its $850 million acquisition of Bebo, a U.K.-based online social network with more than 40 million members.

Cambridge, Mass. - Internet TV distribution platform Brightcove on Monday announced deals to power online video distribution for social media firms Bebo, Meebo, RockYou, Slide and Veoh. "To date, taking advantage of viral promotion and distribution through online communities has been tricky business for media companies who want to maintain control over the brand experience and advertising sales," said Brightcove chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire. "Using our Internet TV platform to manage and monetize this distribution answers these dual requirements of reach and control."

DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

The Microsoft - Google battle was back in the headlines this week with both companies announcing acquisitions in the online advertising space and increased speculation about the future of Yahoo. On the acquisition front, Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on Tuesday that it has received approval from the European Commission for its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, the final step to completing the transaction. Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt applauded the announcement noting that "with DoubleClick, Google now has the leading display ad platform.”

New York - AOL (NYSE: TWX) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bebo, a social media network, for $850 million in cash. Bebo is particularly strong outside the United States, especially in Britain, and has a global membership of more than 40 million.

Tel Aviv, Israel - MeeMix, a personalized Internet radio community, on Tuesday launched "Mee Game," a personalized music trivia challenge application for the Facebook and Bebo social networks. To play, users enter a favorite artist's name, and a radio station will be created for the game based on MeeMix's taste prediction algorithm. Players will then hear a 30-second song clip and have to guess the artist from four possible answers, with questions becoming harder as players advance.

Palo Alto, Calif. - The Facebook online social network said on Thursday that it plans to offer its popular developers' platform to other social sites, and license the Facebook Platform methods and tags to other platforms. "By enabling other social sites to use what we've learned, everyone wins -- users get a better experience around the web, developers get access to new audiences, and social sites get more applications," Facebook senior platform manager Ami Vora wrote on the Facebook blog. The Bebo social network said earlier this week that its new developer code is compatible with Facebook's platform.

London - Online social network Bebo on Tuesday introduced Open Media, a new platform that lets media brands establish pages on the site to host their content, while allowing Bebo's 40 million members to create personal video profiles that list their favorite media content. Media partners at launch include CBS, MTV Networks, ESPN, the BBC, Channel Four, ITN, Yahoo and BSkyB, as well as online providers Music Nation, Next New Networks, Crackle, Ustream, Last.fm and JibJab. Partners will be able to distribute their content using their own media players, carry their own ads, and retain 100% of ad revenues.

Dulles, Va. - AOL said on Thursday that it has signed a deal with U.K.-based social network Bebo, to offer its AIM instant messenger service to Bebo users. An AIM icon will now automatically appear on the profiles of 38 million Bebo users, and will indicate whether the use is signed on to AIM and available to chat.

London - Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records UK has partnered with social network Bebo to promote its artists on the site's "KateModern" Web series, a spin-off of the popular "Lonelygirl15" series. Similar to "The O.C.," Atlantic acts including the Days will both perform on the show and interact with cast members. Bebo will in turn promote the Warner artists' releases on its network.

London - U.K. social networking site Bebo has partnered with Sony Pictures Television to develop a new interactive Web series, "Sofia's Diary," Variety reported. The companies previously teamed to produce "Kate Modern," a British spin-off of YouTube phenom "Lonelygirl15." Set to launch in the fall, "Sofia's Diary," which has already been on TV in Portugal for several years, will be produced by Ireland-based Campbell Ryan Productions.

San Francisco - Yahoo has struck a deal to sell display advertising on U.K.-based social network Bebo, the Associated Press reported. The ad deal is Yahoo's first with a social network; the company has also been providing search results to Bebo, which claims an audience of 11.6 million monthly visitors in Britain and Ireland. Ads on MySpace and Facebook are provided by Google and Microsoft, respectively.

London - U.K.-based social network Bebo announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Microsoft to integrate the company's instant messaging service into its network in the fall. The deal is Microsoft's first for instant messaging with a social network, and will allow Bebo's 36 million users to display Windows Live Messenger, IM with friends from directly within Bebo, and import and export the contacts between the services.

London - U.K.-based social network Bebo on Monday announced the launch of "KateModern," an original Web series spun-off by the producers of the "Lonelygirl15" video blog. The series was commissioned by Bebo, and will screen exclusively for its 8.8 million U.K. users before later being added to YouTube and other sites. "The series is set to become part of an ongoing conversation with the Bebo community, offering far more than just streamed video clips, but an evolution of a new medium in which Bebo users can interact with the characters and shape the plot via video blogs, text messages, photo sharing and user comments," said Bebo president and KateModern executive producer Joanna Shields.

San Francisco - U.K.-based online social network Bebo, which claims 33 million users, announced that it has tapped Audible Magic to provide content identification and filtering tools to prevent unauthorized content on the network. The technology will give the 500,000 bands and other artists who have posted content on Bebo control over their works. San Francisco-based Audible Magic's digital fingerprinting technology is also used by MySpace, Break.com, GoFish, Grouper and Microsoft's Soapbox.

London - U.K.-based social networking service Bebo announced on Wednesday an agreement that will allows its English and Irish users to purchase and download songs from Apple's iTunes Store directly from artists' profiles on Bebo, the Financial Times reported.

London - U.K. social networking site Bebo has partnered with the creators of YouTube star "Lonelygirl15," to launch a British spin-off story called "Kate Modern," Reuters reported. The video diary series, which will initially launch on Bebo before expanding to YouTube and elsewhere, will include a Bebo profile for the actress, and feature some form of advertising. The original "Lonelygirl15" has garnered more than 50 million hits.