AdAge has an excellent article that looks at the “Big Three” companies trying to hit podcast advertising head on - Podshow, Podtrac, and PodBridge - as well as the difference in opinion regarding who - and how many - are actually listening to podcasts. Podshow was the source of a lot of controversy from the podcasters of the world when the Podshow contract was anonymously emailed to the podcast Keith and the Girl - which they read online.  To date, neither Podtrac or PodBridge have generated much heat from podcasting discussions but more podcasts (including some of the favorites I reviewed back in 2005) have been including ads during their podcasts.

The new Wired hit the New Media Sense mailbox yesterday, and the feature/guide to online video is a must read - covering video blogs, “The New Networks” and how to make your own video blog/viral video using the tools at hand. (And if you don’t get Wired, the online versionof the video feature is slated to go live on May 1)

Skpye hits a deal with the music biz (CNET)

The Rise of the Video Blog (Rolling Stone via I Want Media)

Today, a quick look at the MIT Advertising Lab blog informed me of this great whitepaper from IBM on the future of television. Among thier predictions is that in the next 5-7 years, we will see “one consumer segment remains passive in the living room, the other will force radical change in business models in a search for anytime, anywhere content through multiple channels.“  Most interesting are the executive recommendations at the end.

Business2Blog has a first look the new Glide mobile service, an extension of the online service which will allow users to “upload and share all your digital photos, movies, documents, music, and more.  You can also control how you share your digital stuff by choosing whether the recipient can download  the content or just see the stream, and how many times.” They mention one really neat fun fact - that users will be able to access their online digital music, turning their phone into a portable music player.

You Tube Influences Network Decision-Making (Variety)

Facebook raises more money (Slashdot)

Micropersuasion has a link to an AdAge story about iTune accepting ads. Could this foreshadow ads within iTunes downloaded content like tv shows? It’s a toss up for me: if I could watch a new show - for free, yet on demand - that had ads to try it out, I would. If I liked the show enough, I’d pay for the adfree version. But it would be a great way (free shows with ads) for newer tv shows to grow an audience - particularly shows with great critical and fan support, but cruddy (or ever moving) timeslots.

One of my favorite podcasters, Evo Terra, mentioned Eventful the other day - a Social Networking service for events. A cursory glance shows that it looks a lot like Meetup - without the fees - and there’s the ability to just put in one-off events vs. organizing events. Great for anyone looking for something to do in their town - or for those looking to promote something new.

Fast Company has a feature with mini-interviews from a variety of different digital music pioneers. Called  “Digital Music: Sounds of the Future,” the feature includes discussions from Van Toffler, MTV Networks Group President (and founder of Urge along with Microsoft), Michael Robertson of MP3tunes (and Oboe) and Jenny Toomy (a DC/indie rock favorite of mine) of the Future of Music Coalition.

The European Commision proposes a law that will regulate new media like old broadcasting (EEEEK!) (Slashdot)

Online spending is up in the first quarter (AdJab)

It’s another State of the Blogosphere! (Technorati)

Taxes for iTunes? (CNet)

More targeted Social Networking sites emerge with Visible Path, a social networking site for businesses profiled by Business Week recently (who touted it as “MySpace for the office”).  Like Linked In and Ryze, Visible Path is targeting the business world. Unlike the former two social networking sites Visible Path is hoping to get users by targeting companies rather than individuals.

While Social Networking sites for businesses are viable (and in some cases, thriving), it almost makes more sense to build a business network off of an existing Social Network - many people have MySpace profiles and many of those people are also business people. It seems that whatever social networking site can hit many different types of people and services (business, social, political organizing) is going to be a winner - a one stop shopping of social networking, if you will.

Real Video iPod (the big screen one that everyone drooled over a few months ago) is delayed by some technical difficulties (Digg)

Wired is moblogging the NY Auto Show (Wired)

CNET explores the future of video (check out the short movies made for iPods) (CNET)

Want people to find your company online? According to a BCC article regarding a study done by JupiterResearch, the average search user expects to find what their looking for in the first 3 pages. The article is a must-read for anyone wanting a quick ‘n’ easy overview of user search habits.

Youth Marketing & MySpace (Brand Republic via Adverblog)

iPods stealing radios audience (Podcasting News via Micro Persuasion)

Marketwatch has an excellent article today regarding the willingness of online consumers to give something up in order to get a benefit from the companies they interface with online. While there was some focus on sites like Amazon giving users book recommendations based on their book choices, or Pandora offering up customized stations when users share their music choices, a good brunt of the article discusses how users often give up a certain level of privacy in order to connect with others and share their ideas, thoughts and information with the world.  Most interesting were the blog-related privacy statistics:

The majority of blogs on Six Apart, which operates the popular Web journals TypePad and LiveJournal, are for public consumption. About 70% of the 10 million journals on LiveJournal are open to the public, according to Kevin Krim, general manager of LiveJournal. About 90% of TypePad blogs are public.