Social Networking

MySpace to Acquire imeem Music Streaming Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 9:29am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace has agreed to acquire streaming music service imeem for an undisclosed sum, although sources told CNET News.com that the deal is valued at about $8 million. The deal reportedly includes a payment of $1 million in cash, as well as earn outs and accounts receivable.

Report: MySpace in Talks to Acquire Music Streamer imeem

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 8:23am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace online social network is in "late stage negotiations" to acquire the music streaming service imeem, TechCrunch reported, citing multiple unnamed sources. Founded in 2003, San Francisco-based imeem started off as a music-focused social network application, but later shifted focus to concentrate on music streaming.

Report: Video Viewing on Social Media Sites Doubles in Year

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 9:56am.
New York - Internet users now spend nearly double the amount of time watching videos on social networking sites than they did just one year ago, according to newly released figures from Nielsen.

MySpace Debuts Music Charts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 11:54am.
Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace on Thursday introduced its own MySpace Music Charts, which will provide data on the most popular music amongst MySpace Music users. The charts will run across all genres, and include real-time data on current trends.

Adknowledge Buys Ad Network Unit of SocialMedia.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 19, 2009 - 9:59am.
Kansas City, Mo. - Adknowledge, a provider of behavioral online advertising services, announced on Thursday that it has acquired the advertising business of SocialMedia.com.

Facebook Alters Privacy Policy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 1:24pm.
Palo Alto, Calif. - Facebook has instituted a new privacy policy, following a comment period during which some 7,000 of the service's 300 million users provided feedback on the proposed changes. The company simplified the language of the policy, and plans to add definitions of key terms, screen shots of important pages, and informational "learn more" videos.

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Get Facebook, Social Media Integration

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 12:47pm.
Foster City, Calif. - A day after Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) introduced Xbox 360 integration with social media services including Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment America announced its own integration of Facebook on the PlayStation 3 platform.

Burda Digital Buys 25% Stake in Business Social Network Xing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 10:58am.
Hamburg, Germany - European media group Hubert Burda Media's Burda Digital unit on Wednesday announced that it has acquired a 25% stake in business-focused online social network Xing.

LimeLife Raises $1 Million for Women's Lifestyle Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 9:52am.
Menlo Park, Calif. - LimeLife, a women-focused community site offering news, entertainment and lifestyle content, has raised $1 million in new venture capital financing, PaidContent reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Social Network Application Developer RockYou Gets $50 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 7:34am.
San Mateo, Calif. - RockYou, a developer of social network applications and advertising technology, has raised $50 million in its fourth round of venture capital financing from existing investor Softbank, TechCrunch reported.

Zynga Raises $15.1 Million for Casual Social Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 7:25am.
San Francisco - Zynga, a publisher of casual games on social networks, has raised $15.1 million in a third round of funding, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. Investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Foundry Group and Reid Hoffman.

Social Games Firm Playdom Acquires Green Patch, Trippert Labs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 13, 2009 - 9:02am.
Mountain View, Calif. - A day after it raised $43 million in new financing, social games developer Playdom announced that it has acquired Facebook game developer Green Patch, and iPhone and social game developer Trippert Labs.

Berlin's Wooga Lands $7.5 Million for Social Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 12, 2009 - 8:11am.
Berlin - Wooga, a Berlin-based developer of games for online social networks, announced on Thursday that it has raised $7.5 million in new financing, led by Balderton Capital.

Playdom Raises $43 Million for Social Online Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 11, 2009 - 1:35pm.
Mountain View, Calif. - Playdom, a developer of online games for social networks whose titles include "Mobsters," has raised a $43 million first round of funding, led by New Enterprise Associates, TechCrunch reported.

LinkedIn, Twitter Enable Cross-Posting of Status Updates

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 11:34am.
San Francisco - Business-focused social network LinkedIn has partnered with Twitter, to enable users to cross-post their status updates between the two services. On LinkedIn, a new check-box being added to the Network Updates field will let users automatically post their LinkedIn updates to Twitter, while users will need to alter their Twitter account settings in order to post their updates to LinkedIn.

Universal to Debut New Interactive Blu-ray Features

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 11:33am.
Universal City, Calif. - Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced on Tuesday that several of its upcoming Blu-ray releases will include new interactive features, including social networking and mobile applications for the iPhone. The pocket BLU app connects a user's iPhone via Wi-Fi to a network-connected Blu-ray player, and can become an advanced remote control; provide a video timeline; function as a keyboard for Blu-ray chat and messaging; and unlock exclusive mobile bonus content. The social BLU technology will allow users to send Facebook and Twitter status updates from their Blu-ray player, and in the future let users share film-related user-generated content. The new features will be available on forthcoming Blu-ray editions of films including "Bruno," "Funny People" and "Inglorious Basterds."

Electronic Arts Buys Social Games Firm Playfish for $400M

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 9, 2009 - 8:41am.
Redwood City, Calif. - Video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) announced on Monday that it has acquired Playfish, a creator of social network games, for about $275 million in cash, with an additional $25 million in equity retention arrangements. The sellers are also entitled to another $100 million in performance-based consideration on milestones achieved through the end of 2011. Founded in 2007, London-based Playfish's social network games, which include "Pet Society" and "Who Has the Biggest Brain," have been installed more than 150 million times.

Korean Social Network Cyworld to Shutter U.S. Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:42am.
Los Angeles - Cyworld, a Korea-based online social network owned by SK Telecom, has decided to shutter its U.S. service three years after launch, having failed to attract a large audience.

Drop in MySpace Traffic to Cut $100M Off Google Ad Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 1:00pm.
New York - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace may lose out on at least $100 million of the $900 million it was contracted to receive from a search advertising agreement with Google (NASD: GOOG), due to lackluster traffic to the website, the Financial Times reported.

Offerpal Names New CEO in Wake of "Scam" Allegations

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 11:46am.
Fremont, Calif. - Offerpal Media, a provider of monetization services for online game and social application developers, announced that it has replaced its CEO, after a controversy erupted over the past week concerning whether some of its practices qualify as "scams."