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Google spam suite primer — Google provides a full suite of services for the entry-level blog spammer. There are plenty of legitimate uses for all of these Google services, but Google's market-leading position in search creates a spam ecosystem that inflates corporate revenues, index size, and user data.

Built To Be Bought (Bubble 2.0) — Over the last couple of months I've noticed an increasing sense of unease in the venture community about the trend in Web 2.0 company creation and financing events. While no one is officially willing to peg it Bubble 2.0 for fear of missing the next great opportunity …

No Longer Safe for Work: Blogs — Robert Mason (not his real name) would love to spend a few minutes during lunch catching up on blog posts from around the web, but his company doesn't allow it. The financial institution where Mason works as a vice president has security filters set …

Revisionist curmudgeons — Predictably, the backlashers are trying to make their marks and get their linkjuice by arguing that this web/citizens/blog thing just ain't what it's being blown up to be. But so much of the antihype is even sillier than the hype.
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Venture Chronicles
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Missing The Point On Amateur Content Online — from the it's-amateur-for-a-reason dept. — Nicholas Carr has a way about him: he comes up with impressive theories that sound so smart — but which are often painfully wrong. However, he does a good job of leading you down the road …

Why You Should Pay to Read This — IN a bedroom in New Jersey, there is a shrine to Entertainment Weekly. A 17-year-old who lives there - that would be my daughter Erin - has the magazine's covers on her wall, and she divines a film's artistic value and business prospects with close readings of the magazine.

BUDGET LAUNCHES BLOG-BASED, SIXTEEN CITY TREASURE HUNT — In a first, Car rental company Budget has launched a blog-based, four-week, 16-city treasure hunt, called UP YOUR BUDGET, which offers a total of $160,000 in prizes. To win, participants must find a sticker which has been placed …
Discussion:
Blogspotting, gapingvoid, B.L. Ochman's weblog, The Voice of Online …, Micro Persuasion and Weblogs Work

Poor Nations Are Littered With Old PC's, Report Says — Waste from electronic devices littered a neighborhood in Nigeria. Computer monitors can contain large amounts of toxic materials. — Much of the used computer equipment sent from the United States to developing countries for use in homes …

US cable groups still wondering about wireless — Comcast and Time Warner, the big US cable operators, have got into the habit at quarterly results presentations of telling investors about the importance of offering their video, internet and phone customers a fourth service - wireless access.

Brand Blogs Capture the Attention of Some Companies — Michael Marx loves Barq's root beer. He frequently wears a Barq's T-shirt. He brings Barq's root beer to parties. — So it should come as no surprise that Mr. Marx, 34, of Gilbert, Ariz., keeps a blog dedicated to Barq's.
Discussion:
Ensight, The Intuitive Life …, Andrew Lark, newsmotto! blog and Business Blog Consulting

Something Rotten in AdSense — Google AdSense is a system for web publishers of all sizes, from big newspapers to tiny bloggers. They sign up with Google to place a small box full of text ads on their site. You've probably seen it, but if you haven't, check out Michael's techInterview site for an example.
Discussion:
Agylen

Mobile Carriers Asked to Share Internet Platform — The government is pushing three mobile carriers to open up their mobile Internet network to outside firms to help create a wireless network as efficient and popular as the World Wide Web. — The communication committee of the Ministry …

The Village Voice, Pushing 50, Prepares to Be Sold to a Chain of Weeklies — The company that publishes The Village Voice and five other alternative newspapers is to announce today an agreement to be acquired by New Times Media, the largest publisher in the market.
Discussion:
PaidContent.org

Once It Was Direct to Video, Now It's Direct to the Web — IT was a late night in Seattle. It was probably raining. Scilla Andreen was still haunting the offices of her as-yet-to-be-started Internet movie company, IndieFlix, when the phone rang. It was - no surprise - a young filmmaker.

Technorati indexes 20 millionth blog — Kevin sez, "Technorati passed 20 million blogs today. The 20 millionth was Les CE2/CM2 Anquetil, a blog from an elementary school in Reims, France, in the heart of Champagne country. They started the blog to celebrate running 2 miles in a Relay Marathon."
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