New York - Last.fm, the social music discovery service owned by CBS (NYSE: CBS), on Friday launched a new original video programming section, featuring interviews with artists including Moby, Santogold and Spoon. The videos will also be made available through CBS Audience Network partners, which include AOL, Comcast, Microsoft, Joost, Bebo and Veoh.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Online social network Facebook on Thursday introduced a number of new privacy protections intended to safeguard younger users from sexual predators and cyberbullies, the Associated Press reported.

McLean, Va. - Mixx, an online social news start-up that allows users to submit news stories, vote on their favorites and view the most popular on the site's front page, said on Wednesday that it has forged a key partnership with CNN. Under the deal, users of CNN.com will be able to add CNN headlines and articles to Mixx's platform through "add to" Mixx buttons on CNN.com story pages.

San Jose, Calif. - Qtrax, the developer of a free, ad-supported music download service, has reached a deal to license Universal Music Group's catalog, the company's first major label signing.

Los Angeles - Spot Runner, a Web-based advertising service that helps local businesses create ads and place them on TV and radio, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $51 million in new financing.

Burlington, Mass. - Burst Media, a provider of online advertising services and technology, announced on Tuesday the launch of a new online advertising network aimed at independent websites. The network -- called Burst Trendsetters Network -- will focus on brand advertisers who want to reach 15-34 year olds online. Burst Media said its network includes 100 websites that reach 7 million unique visitors and delivers more than 51 million web impressions per month.

New York - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive (NASD: TTWO) has sued the Chicago Transit Authority and sales agent Titan Outdoor for pulling ads for its "Grand Theft Auto IV" game without any explanation, Reuters reports.

London - A majority (56%) of senior newspaper executives said in a recent survey that they believe that the majority of news, be it print or online, will be free in the future -- up from 48% who said the same a year ago. Conducted by Zogby International for the World Editors Forum and Reuters, the survey of 704 newspaper executives worldwide also found 86% think newsrooms and digital services should become more integrated, while two in three believed that electronic media like computers and cell phones will be the most common means of news consumption within a decade.

Hollywood, Calif. - Buzznet, a music-focused social media community, on Tuesday announced that it has acquired yet another music site, this time purchasing alternative music Web zine Absolute Punk for an undisclosed sum. The deal follows Hollywood-based Buzznet's recent acquisitions of music blogs Stereogum and Idolator, and a $25 million round of financing earlier this year from investors that included Universal Music Group.

San Francisco - PurePlay, an online poker site that allows users to play for cash and claims to be compliant with U.S. laws, announced on Tuesday that it has raised a third round of venture capital, led by Bay Partners, with total funding to date now at $15 million.

Dallas - GodTube, a Christian video-sharing site and online social network, has raised $30 million in new financing from GLG Partners, at a valuation of around $150 million, PaidContent.org reported.

Just over a week ago during lunch at the New Communication Forum, I had a great conversation with Tim Tozer from Radian6 (a social media monitoring service) about the real metrics that marketers are looking for and the increasingly common difficulty of finding metrics that are actually useful and offer actionable insights. Many people who have to contend with web analytics tools today will tell you that it is no longer an issue of having the technology available to measure things online, but rather the analytical ability to hone in on the metrics that really matter.

McLean, Va. - USAToday.com, the web site of USA Today, on Thursday launched an online flight community called "Today in the Sky."

Mountain View, CA - CNET reports that Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on its AdWords blog that Google TV Ads, a program that has been in beta since June 2007, is now available to all U.S.-based advertisers. The program allows advertisers to reach over 13 million households nationwide on 94 channels. Like with Google’s AdWords service, which places ads on its Internet search pages, advertisers using Google TV Ads will bid for placement using an online tool that shows estimated costs to run a particular campaign and allows advertisers to increase or decrease their bids before placing them.

Mountain View, Calif. - Confirming earlier reports, Web-based messaging and chat service Meebo announced on Thursday that it has raised $25 million in new financing, led by JAFCO Ventures.

Beijing - Japan's Softbank has led a $430 million investment that will give the group a 35% stake in Oak Pacific Interactive (OPI), which manages Xiaonei.com, China's largest social networking site.