This is a must watch.. Lin-manuel Miranda performs in front of the Prez.
August 31, 2010
Presidential Rap
Netflix and Hulu
I love Netflix. I have been a happy subscriber of the service for a long time. I am very impressed with their execution. Their streaming experience is pretty good and the selection has been steadily increasing. We stream Netflix movies directly on our TV using Wii. I really like their new app for iphone and ipod touch. They are profitable, growing nicely and generally kicking ass.
I also like Hulu. They offer a useful service and nice viewing experience. But their selection can be a lot better. They are struggling to find a sustainable business model. They are owned by major networks, and in spite (no, ironically, because) of that they seem to have major restrictions on what they can carry and how and where they can be played. Networks are worried about Hulu cannibalizing their revenues and therefore suffocating it.
How come Netflix seem to negotiate these tricky licensing deals much better than Hulu? It’s called Leverage. Netflix is making boat loads of money while Hulu doesn’t. That makes all the difference in the tale of these two companies.
August 30, 2010
Google Buys SocialDeck
InsideSocialGaming reports that Google acquires mobile social game developer SocialDeck.
In its latest social acquisition, Google has bought mobile game developer SocialDeck, according to a letter posted by the company.
SocialDeck’s games were downloaded about a million times in 2009. Its games include Shake & Spell, Color Connect and Pet Hero.
What makes this acquisition a bit more interesting is that SocialDeck has significant cross-platform experience. A non-game product it offers, called Spark, provides social integration across Blackberry, the iPhone and Facebook, while Shake & Spell also works on all three of those platforms.
Google’s gaming interest is obviously with Android. But it’s also reportedly working on a social platform to rival Facebook; Google’s technology plans could be advanced by SocialDeck’s experience in extending the social experience across multiple devices.
Buying SocialDeck also seems to fit in with Google’s broader plans, which we wrote about following its acquisition of Slide. With Slide, Google is likely working on a broad, viral platform for both the web and its own mobile devices.
The effort is being headed up by Slide founder Max Levchin, as we reported last week; it’s possible he had a hand in buying SocialDeck, although the timing may have been too close.
There’s no word yet on how much Google paid for SocialDeck. The company is based on Ontario, Canada.
August 27, 2010
August 26, 2010
Netflix is awesome
My kids (and I) will love this. Netflix comes to iphone and ipod touch.
August 19, 2010
Now a movie on Google
First came the movie on Facebook story. Now there will be one on Google.
he founders of Facebook aren’t the only game-changing geeks poised to have their story told on a movie screen. Michael London’s Groundswell Productions has teamed with producer John Morris to acquire movie rights to the Ken Auletta book Googled: The End of the World As We Know it. They will use the book as the blueprint for a feature film that tells the story of Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and the fast rise of the juggernaut web business that made them billionaires.
The book was published last fall by Penguin. Auletta, the media columnist for The New Yorker, chronicled a business that grew into a search engine-driven octopus whose $20 billion in ad revenue last year was more than the major broadcast networks combined. CEO Eric Schmidt predicted to Auletta that Google will become the world’s first $100 billion media company.
August 11, 2010
Google invests in mobile gamer ngmoco
Google continues its desperate quest to catch up in gaming. Its latest move is an investment in mobile gaming company ngmoco.
Google Ventures
, the VC arm of the search giant, has made an investment in popular iPhone/iPad game developer ngmoco, say multiple sources. The company, which is already profitable, took the money as part of a new round of funding — probably in the $3-5 million range. ngmoco currently has some very popular games on iOS, including ‘We Farm’, which is currently the second most popular game on the iPad. The investment valued ngmoco well above $100 million, we’ve heard. This comes on top of a $25 million Series C round ngmoco closed in February.
This is not an investment being made by Google itself, which has been fleshing out its social gaming strategy with a $150 million investment in Zynga and acquisitions of Slide and social payments company Jambol. Rather, it’s being made by Google’s VC firm, which has repeatedly made it clear that it is a distinct entity from the search giant and that it doesn’t make strategic investments.
Still, it’s hard to take that entirely at face value — Google CEO Eric Schmidt previously said that companies that received funding from Google Ventures would have 20,000 Googlers there to help them. Don’t be surprised if we start seeing an abundance of Android games from ngmoco in the near future. And ngmoco has been a conspicuous underachiever on the Android platform to date. Expect that to change.
Google made several moves recently to catch up with facebook in social gaming. It invested in social gaming company Zynga. It bought social app company Slide and social payment company Jamboola. Google is planning a gaming social network to host games from companies such as Zynga, PlayFish and Playdom.
Social Gaming Advertising
Virtual goods/gifts is the primary business model for social games. Advertising and offers are the other two means of monetization for the fast growing social gaming industry. Emarketer estimates the ad spend on social games in 2010 to be $220M.
For most social games, the primary revenue stream has not been advertising. Instead, virtual goods are dominant. However, companies such as Zynga and Playdom are realizing that their games are logical advertising destinations for marketers wanting to get the attention of rabid fans.
eMarketer expects that marketers will spend $220 million worldwide to advertise in social games and social applications in 2010, rising to $293 million in 2011. These figures do not include ads within mobile applications.
eMarketer’s estimates may end up being conservative as the social game business increases its footprint. According to Next Up Research, nearly 80% of Zynga’s revenues come from virtual goods. Even so, the large audience of games such as Zynga’s Farmville is attracting advertiser attention.
For companies such as Zynga, “Advertising will be an important part of the business model,” said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in July 2010. However, he added that he believed that future social game advertising types would need to be “invented” rather than being the same things advertisers have already seen.
August 5, 2010
August 3, 2010
Gaming overtakes Email
Nielsen reports that Americans spend more time playing online games than email. No wonder companies such as Zynga and others are minting money.
| Top 10 Sectors by Share of U.S. Internet Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | Category | Share of Time June 2010 |
Share of Time June 2009 |
% Change in Share of Time |
| 1 | Social Networks | 22.7% | 15.8% | 43% |
| 2 | Online Games | 10.2% | 9.3% | 10% |
| 3 | 8.3% | 11.5% | -28% | |
| 4 | Portals | 4.4% | 5.5% | -19% |
| 5 | Instant Messaging | 4.0% | 4.7% | -15% |
| 6 | Videos/Movies | 3.9% | 3.5% | 12% |
| 7 | Search | 3.5% | 3.4% | 1% |
| 8 | Software Manufacturers | 3.3% | 3.3% | 0% |
| 9 | Multi-category Entertainment | 2.8% | 3.0% | -7% |
| 10 | Classifieds/Auctions | 2.7% | 2.7% | -2% |
| Other | 34.3% | 37.3% | -8% | |
| Source: The Nielsen Company | ||||