NEWS: Microsoft to buy TV ad service

Bits: Microsoft Buys TV Ad Technology Company

from NYT > Technology

Microsoft buys TV advertising specialist Navic Networks to boost its digital advertising offerings.

Microsoft Scoops up TV Ad-placement Company

from PC World: Latest Technology News

Microsoft is moving into the TV advertising realm with the acquisition announced on Wednesday of Navic Networks.

Microsoft to buy TV ad service

from CNET News.com - Business Tech

Company scoops up Waltham, Mass.-based Navic Networks, a company that helps advertisers plan their TV spot purchases.

NEWS: LinkedIn Connects To $1 Billion Valuation

LinkedIn Valued at $1 Billion

from PC World: Latest Technology News

The professional networking site draws members, attention, investment.

LinkedIn Gets Its $1 Billion Valuation - And $53 Million In Cash

from Silicon Alley Insider by Peter Kafka

LinkedIn has finally announced its long-rumored $1 billion valuation, via a fourth round of investment led by Bain Capital. Bain, a new investor for the social network for grownups, lead a $53 million round; previous investors Sequoia, Greylock and Bessemer also kicked in. Last fall, when News Corp./LinkedIn rumors were floating around, CEO Dan Nye said the company would need "a lot more than" a billion to consider a sale.

LinkedIn is supposed to generate $100 millon this year, and breaks down the revenue stream for theNYT:

LinkedIn will get only a quarter of its projected $100 million in revenue this year from ads. (It places ads from companies like Microsoft and Southwest Airlines on profile pages.) Other moneymakers include premium subscriptions, which let users directly contact any user on the site instead of requiring an introduction from another member.

A third source of revenue is recruitment tools that companies can use to find people who may not even be actively looking for new jobs. Companies pay to search for candidates with specific skills, and each day, they get new prospects as people who fit their criteria join LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Connects To $1 Billion Valuation

from Wired Top Stories

Four VC firms are betting that LinkedIn, the social network for your business contacts, is worth a cool $1 billion. Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners announced today that they are taking a 5 percent stake in the company for $53 million.

NEWS: US: Tribune Co. newspaper redesign, "abrupt and unconventional"

US: Tribune Co. newspaper redesign, "abrupt and unconventional"

The Tribune Co. will be redesigning their newspapers. In his Newsosaur blog, Alan Mutter wrote that "the combination of abrupt and unconventional change" might scare away some readers. 

The Orlando Sentinel is the first of the newspapers to be modified. A blogger identified as a Los Angeles Times staffer has posted online the new design of the Orlando Sentinel (left).

The radical redesign is just what Tribune intends. Said Randy Michaels, chief operating officer for the Tribune Co.: "We are going to roll out a different look and feel in each market, emphasizing what people are telling us they want in the research - charts, graphs, maps, lists." On June 22, theSentinel will adopt the new look and the rest of the papers will follow towards the end of September. 

Mutter cited the Chicago Daily News incident that happened over 30 years ago, when the newspaper attempted to revamp itself and wound up collapsing. According to him, this is even more likely today, since "modern consumers have even more alternatives to newspapers today than they did back then."

"Newspapers need to profoundly change," said Mutter, and it "would be wrong to stubbornly resist progress for the sake of resisting change." 

"But changes in products as personal and familiar as a newspaper should be undertaken slowly, cautiously, incrementally and thoughtfully," he said.