SEOUL (AP) — Forget Disneyland. South Korea hopes to draw interest to its burgeoning robotics industry with robot theme parks.
The Commerce Ministry announced a proposal Tuesday to build two parks by 2013 for $1.6 billion.
South Korea regards robotics — which includes software and hardware used mostly in manufacturing but also in some consumer appliances and other devices — as a key area for economic development. The young field has grown about 40% a year since 2003, according to the ministry.
Combining culture and entertainment with robot technology, they are to be built in Incheon, just west of Seoul, and the port city of Masan, about 242 miles south of Seoul, the ministry said in a statement.
Visitors will be able to interact with robots and test new products.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: South Korea Seoul Ministry Disneyland
The project still needs to be approved in a feasibility study next year before getting off the ground in 2009, the ministry said.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Microsoft's Ballmer plays down Google threat
TOKYO — Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, in Tokyo to launch the new Windows Live services, played down the threat of Google Thursday, denying the rival was ahead in any way but in online searches.
"Google is not ahead of us," he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. "In the area of search specifically, Google would lead."
Microsoft on Thursday began offering its Windows Live programming package for e-mail, instant messaging, blogging and photo-sharing in Japan. The product was announced in the U.S. Tuesday.
On Monday, Google, which already offers similar services online for personal computers, said it will offer a new free software package for mobile devices called Android, scheduled to hit the market during the second half of next year.
Google is offering its technology to handset manufacturers so consumers will be able to use Google's search engine, e-mail and maps on mobile devices as easily as on personal computers.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Thursday Japan Microsoft Google Windows Steve Ballmer Japanese companies Tokyo to Internet services company
Ballmer said it was difficult to comment on Google's mobile plans because they were still "just words on paper" that had yet to begin.
Ballmer expressed hopes for Microsoft's business in Japan, noting that Japanese consumers were ahead of the rest of the world in accessing the Internet on cellphones because of the popularity of the "i-mode" Net-linking mobile service that NTT DoCoMo launched in February 1999.
But Ballmer acknowledged Microsoft expects to continue to lose money in its global online business for some time. Although online advertising revenue is growing, Microsoft is still "in an investment mode" in online businesses, he said.
A Microsoft Japan official demonstrated some Windows Live features, including how 20 digital photos of a waterfall taken from various angles could be edited into a seamless panoramic photo, and then uploaded on a blog — all for free.
More than a dozen Japanese companies have signed on as partners for Windows Live, including top telecommunications company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, mobile and Internet services company Softbank Corp. and electronics maker NEC, according to Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft.
"Google is not ahead of us," he told reporters at a Tokyo hotel. "In the area of search specifically, Google would lead."
Microsoft on Thursday began offering its Windows Live programming package for e-mail, instant messaging, blogging and photo-sharing in Japan. The product was announced in the U.S. Tuesday.
On Monday, Google, which already offers similar services online for personal computers, said it will offer a new free software package for mobile devices called Android, scheduled to hit the market during the second half of next year.
Google is offering its technology to handset manufacturers so consumers will be able to use Google's search engine, e-mail and maps on mobile devices as easily as on personal computers.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Thursday Japan Microsoft Google Windows Steve Ballmer Japanese companies Tokyo to Internet services company
Ballmer said it was difficult to comment on Google's mobile plans because they were still "just words on paper" that had yet to begin.
Ballmer expressed hopes for Microsoft's business in Japan, noting that Japanese consumers were ahead of the rest of the world in accessing the Internet on cellphones because of the popularity of the "i-mode" Net-linking mobile service that NTT DoCoMo launched in February 1999.
But Ballmer acknowledged Microsoft expects to continue to lose money in its global online business for some time. Although online advertising revenue is growing, Microsoft is still "in an investment mode" in online businesses, he said.
A Microsoft Japan official demonstrated some Windows Live features, including how 20 digital photos of a waterfall taken from various angles could be edited into a seamless panoramic photo, and then uploaded on a blog — all for free.
More than a dozen Japanese companies have signed on as partners for Windows Live, including top telecommunications company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, mobile and Internet services company Softbank Corp. and electronics maker NEC, according to Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Finnish gunman leaves mark online
LONDON — A Finnish teenager's shooting spree shows how the Internet may be fueling violence among alienated youths even in countries where such incidents were unheard of, psychiatrists and criminologists warned.
Flags flew at half-staff around Finland a day after 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed eight people at his high school Wednesday and then shot himself dead.
VIDEO: School shooting victims mourned
DAY AFTER: Suicide note examined
Hours earlier, Auvinen had posted a video on YouTube anticipating his rampage with material that may have been inspired by the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado.
"No place in the world is protected from these bad things anymore … because they are connected through the Internet," said Fredrik Almqvist, professor of child psychiatry at the University of Helsinki.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Youtube Finland Shooting Columbine High School School shooting Tom Nolan
Almqvist and others who have studied school violence said the Internet gives alienated youths an opportunity to build an identity, copycat ideas for violent behavior and reinforcement for their antisocial views by those agreeing with them on Web pages.
In the end, the experts said, the Internet gives people a sense of immortality if they kill themselves, as Auvinen did.
"We live in a global, YouTube, MySpace culture," said Tom Nolan, professor of criminal justice at Boston University. "If you are inclined toward violent, antisocial behavior, what's a better way to leave your mark than on the Internet?"
The shooting, the likes of which are extremely rare on this side of the Atlantic, received heavy news coverage throughout Europe. The Times of London led Thursday's edition with the story under the headline "The YouTube killer."
Nolan said Auvinen's actions were comparable to the April 16 killings at Virginia Tech, where student Seung Hui Cho took several photos of himself posing with guns hours before he killed 33 people, including himself.
One of Auvinen's YouTube videos showed a photo of what appears to be his high school, while the song Stray Bullet by industrial rock band KMFDM played.
Stray Bullet was one of several KMFDM songs posted on a website maintained by Eric Harris, one of the two Columbine gunmen who killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide.
Auvinen also called for a popular uprising against "the enslaving, corrupted and totalitarian regimes" and grinned after taking target practice with a handgun.
Sean Neill of the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick in England said there is a "copycat and contagious aspect" to some school shootings.
Neill said Wednesday's shooting was shocking because Finland, like many Scandinavian nations, has a relatively egalitarian, pacifist society. Neill, who has studied violence in London schools, said Britons and Americans tend to be more individualistic, and violence is more prevalent in those countries.
However, Finland has a high suicide rate: 28.4 per 100,000 people, according to a 2002 World Health Organization report. In comparison, France's rate is 20.0, Germany's is 14.3 and the USA's is 13.9.
People in Finland also possess more guns than other Europeans per capita, although arms are more commonly used for sport and hunting than for self-protection.
"There are weapons available" in Finland, Almqvist said. "But we don't have the gun culture like America."
Flags flew at half-staff around Finland a day after 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen killed eight people at his high school Wednesday and then shot himself dead.
VIDEO: School shooting victims mourned
DAY AFTER: Suicide note examined
Hours earlier, Auvinen had posted a video on YouTube anticipating his rampage with material that may have been inspired by the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado.
"No place in the world is protected from these bad things anymore … because they are connected through the Internet," said Fredrik Almqvist, professor of child psychiatry at the University of Helsinki.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Youtube Finland Shooting Columbine High School School shooting Tom Nolan
Almqvist and others who have studied school violence said the Internet gives alienated youths an opportunity to build an identity, copycat ideas for violent behavior and reinforcement for their antisocial views by those agreeing with them on Web pages.
In the end, the experts said, the Internet gives people a sense of immortality if they kill themselves, as Auvinen did.
"We live in a global, YouTube, MySpace culture," said Tom Nolan, professor of criminal justice at Boston University. "If you are inclined toward violent, antisocial behavior, what's a better way to leave your mark than on the Internet?"
The shooting, the likes of which are extremely rare on this side of the Atlantic, received heavy news coverage throughout Europe. The Times of London led Thursday's edition with the story under the headline "The YouTube killer."
Nolan said Auvinen's actions were comparable to the April 16 killings at Virginia Tech, where student Seung Hui Cho took several photos of himself posing with guns hours before he killed 33 people, including himself.
One of Auvinen's YouTube videos showed a photo of what appears to be his high school, while the song Stray Bullet by industrial rock band KMFDM played.
Stray Bullet was one of several KMFDM songs posted on a website maintained by Eric Harris, one of the two Columbine gunmen who killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide.
Auvinen also called for a popular uprising against "the enslaving, corrupted and totalitarian regimes" and grinned after taking target practice with a handgun.
Sean Neill of the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick in England said there is a "copycat and contagious aspect" to some school shootings.
Neill said Wednesday's shooting was shocking because Finland, like many Scandinavian nations, has a relatively egalitarian, pacifist society. Neill, who has studied violence in London schools, said Britons and Americans tend to be more individualistic, and violence is more prevalent in those countries.
However, Finland has a high suicide rate: 28.4 per 100,000 people, according to a 2002 World Health Organization report. In comparison, France's rate is 20.0, Germany's is 14.3 and the USA's is 13.9.
People in Finland also possess more guns than other Europeans per capita, although arms are more commonly used for sport and hunting than for self-protection.
"There are weapons available" in Finland, Almqvist said. "But we don't have the gun culture like America."
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Tech stocks no longer above the fray; Nasdaq feels pain
Investors taking comfort in the fact that tech stocks have been relatively unscathed in the recent slide will have to look elsewhere for consolation.
The Nasdaq composite just had its worst two days of the bull market, a 4.6% drop capped by a 53-point plunge to 2696 Thursday. It could have been far worse: Earlier the Nasdaq was down 101 points.
It's a startling development because tech, which had been relatively immune to problems caused by the credit crunch and the weak dollar, is beginning to feel the pain from other areas of the economy. Cisco Systems fanned those worries when it warned late Wednesday that some big customers were slashing spending.
"It's been an immaculate situation for tech names like Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Cisco (CSCO)," says Bernie Schaeffer of Schaeffer's Investment Research. "Now tech stocks are grabbed into the muck with the rest of the market." That resulted in intense selling in stocks that had led the Nasdaq's charge this year. Google, for instance, ended Thursday down $39.10 at $693.84 after briefly being down nearly $56 a share.
The profit taking could persist, analysts say, because some of the factors dragging the stocks down could take time to correct, including:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Google Apple Investors Investment Cisco Systems Nasdaq composite Asset Management Tech stocks
• Lofty valuations. Encouraged by strong earnings growth, investors piled into Google and Apple thinking they will be the leaders in the next wave of tech, says Jordan Kimmel, president of Magnet Investment.
But many investors lost sight of what they're paying to own these stocks. Google, for instance, trades at 54 times its earnings over the past 12 months. Apple trades at 45 times earnings. "Some tech stocks … got ahead of themselves," he says.
• Overall market jitters. Problems in the subprime and housing markets may not directly hurt many tech stocks, but they still cause investors to temper their bullishness about the economy, says Chris Orndorff of Payden & Rygel.
Massive write-downs by investment banks "changed peoples' perceptions about the severity of the crisis," he says, and provided an excuse to sell stocks with big gains.
• Shifting momentum. Investors have been so certain Google, Apple, Research In Motion and Cisco were untouchable, they kept piling in, says Robert Maltbie of Millennium Asset Management. But those same investors are the first to lock in profits with even a whiff of bad news from the industry, he says.
Schaeffer thinks investors can still profit by buying tech stocks and avoiding financial stocks. Maybe so, but Maltbie thinks investors will need to avoid the most popular tech stocks that have run up the most and therefore still stand to correct even further. "It's a shrinking opportunity in tech," he says.
The Nasdaq composite just had its worst two days of the bull market, a 4.6% drop capped by a 53-point plunge to 2696 Thursday. It could have been far worse: Earlier the Nasdaq was down 101 points.
It's a startling development because tech, which had been relatively immune to problems caused by the credit crunch and the weak dollar, is beginning to feel the pain from other areas of the economy. Cisco Systems fanned those worries when it warned late Wednesday that some big customers were slashing spending.
"It's been an immaculate situation for tech names like Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), Research In Motion (RIMM) and Cisco (CSCO)," says Bernie Schaeffer of Schaeffer's Investment Research. "Now tech stocks are grabbed into the muck with the rest of the market." That resulted in intense selling in stocks that had led the Nasdaq's charge this year. Google, for instance, ended Thursday down $39.10 at $693.84 after briefly being down nearly $56 a share.
The profit taking could persist, analysts say, because some of the factors dragging the stocks down could take time to correct, including:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Google Apple Investors Investment Cisco Systems Nasdaq composite Asset Management Tech stocks
• Lofty valuations. Encouraged by strong earnings growth, investors piled into Google and Apple thinking they will be the leaders in the next wave of tech, says Jordan Kimmel, president of Magnet Investment.
But many investors lost sight of what they're paying to own these stocks. Google, for instance, trades at 54 times its earnings over the past 12 months. Apple trades at 45 times earnings. "Some tech stocks … got ahead of themselves," he says.
• Overall market jitters. Problems in the subprime and housing markets may not directly hurt many tech stocks, but they still cause investors to temper their bullishness about the economy, says Chris Orndorff of Payden & Rygel.
Massive write-downs by investment banks "changed peoples' perceptions about the severity of the crisis," he says, and provided an excuse to sell stocks with big gains.
• Shifting momentum. Investors have been so certain Google, Apple, Research In Motion and Cisco were untouchable, they kept piling in, says Robert Maltbie of Millennium Asset Management. But those same investors are the first to lock in profits with even a whiff of bad news from the industry, he says.
Schaeffer thinks investors can still profit by buying tech stocks and avoiding financial stocks. Maybe so, but Maltbie thinks investors will need to avoid the most popular tech stocks that have run up the most and therefore still stand to correct even further. "It's a shrinking opportunity in tech," he says.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Ultra-fast Internet2, National LambdaRail won't merge
NEW YORK — The on-again, off-again talks to merge two ultra-fast non-profit Internet networks have ended again — for good this time, it appears.
Internet2 and National LambdaRail serve many of the nation's universities and research institutions by offering fast Internet connections that physicists, astronomers and other researchers need to exchange large amounts of data.
The two next-generation networks began with separate missions, but their technologies and services converged over the years. And Jeff Lehman, chairman of Internet2's board, said their clients backed the merger because the organizations largely served the same community.
Talks resumed this year, and a committee with top leaders from each network worked out a compromise in August.
Internet2's board approved it, despite misgivings by some of its board members, but LambdaRail's board sought more concessions. And last week, both sides called it quits.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: National Merger Internet2 Lambdarail
"A lot of us are disappointed," said Internet2's Lehman, a member of the merger committee. "We knew it was a challenge, and we were hopeful that we would find a way to get to the end this time."
Many LambdaRail participants felt they had invested in the system and wanted greater returns, Lehman said. He said Internet2 offered as much financial benefits as it could.
LambdaRail Chairman Erv Blythe, in a statement, described his organization as an atypical non-profit, one that tracked how much individual members gave and received. He said LambdaRail needed additional concessions to satisfy its obligations to contributing members.
"Under the circumstances, we agree that our respective organizations have no choice but to move forward independently," Lehman and Blythe said in a joint statement.
Internet2 and National LambdaRail serve many of the nation's universities and research institutions by offering fast Internet connections that physicists, astronomers and other researchers need to exchange large amounts of data.
The two next-generation networks began with separate missions, but their technologies and services converged over the years. And Jeff Lehman, chairman of Internet2's board, said their clients backed the merger because the organizations largely served the same community.
Talks resumed this year, and a committee with top leaders from each network worked out a compromise in August.
Internet2's board approved it, despite misgivings by some of its board members, but LambdaRail's board sought more concessions. And last week, both sides called it quits.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: National Merger Internet2 Lambdarail
"A lot of us are disappointed," said Internet2's Lehman, a member of the merger committee. "We knew it was a challenge, and we were hopeful that we would find a way to get to the end this time."
Many LambdaRail participants felt they had invested in the system and wanted greater returns, Lehman said. He said Internet2 offered as much financial benefits as it could.
LambdaRail Chairman Erv Blythe, in a statement, described his organization as an atypical non-profit, one that tracked how much individual members gave and received. He said LambdaRail needed additional concessions to satisfy its obligations to contributing members.
"Under the circumstances, we agree that our respective organizations have no choice but to move forward independently," Lehman and Blythe said in a joint statement.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Latest additive at gas pumps: Google
SAN FRANCISCO — Lost drivers soon will be able to Google for help at the pump. As part of a partnership to be announced Wednesday, the online search leader will dispense driving directions at thousands of gasoline pumps across the United States beginning early next month.
The pumps, made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root, include an Internet connection and will display Google's mapping service in color on a small screen. Motorists will be able to scroll through several categories to find local landmarks, hotels, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station's owner.
After the driver selects a destination, the pump will print out directions. Eventually, Gilbarco Veeder-Root hopes to enable motorists to type in a specific address and get directions.
"We think the service will create more customer loyalty for retailers," said Gilbarco Veeder-Root spokeswoman Lucy Sackett.
Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Veeder-Root will initially offer the service in about 3,500 gas pumps and expand based on retailer demand.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: San Francisco Google Motorists Gilbarco Veeder-Root Karen Roter Davis
Unlike most of Google's services, this one won't include ads bringing the company income. But participating retailers will be able to make extra money from other merchants that offer coupons on the service.
Making maps available at gas pumps appealed to Google because the Mountain View-based company wants to make its services available whenever and wherever people need them, said Karen Roter Davis, a principal business development manager for Google.
Also this week, Google unveiled plans for free cellphone software designed to make it easier and more enticing to reach the Internet on mobile devices. The first so-called smart phones equipped with Google's software, called "Android," won't be available until the second half of next year.
Calling up a map at a gas pump should be particularly popular among motorists who are too stubborn or embarrassed to pull over and ask someone for help, Roter Davis said. "This will be sort of a Googley, more stealthy way of getting directions."
The pumps, made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root, include an Internet connection and will display Google's mapping service in color on a small screen. Motorists will be able to scroll through several categories to find local landmarks, hotels, restaurants and hospitals selected by the gas station's owner.
After the driver selects a destination, the pump will print out directions. Eventually, Gilbarco Veeder-Root hopes to enable motorists to type in a specific address and get directions.
"We think the service will create more customer loyalty for retailers," said Gilbarco Veeder-Root spokeswoman Lucy Sackett.
Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Veeder-Root will initially offer the service in about 3,500 gas pumps and expand based on retailer demand.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: San Francisco Google Motorists Gilbarco Veeder-Root Karen Roter Davis
Unlike most of Google's services, this one won't include ads bringing the company income. But participating retailers will be able to make extra money from other merchants that offer coupons on the service.
Making maps available at gas pumps appealed to Google because the Mountain View-based company wants to make its services available whenever and wherever people need them, said Karen Roter Davis, a principal business development manager for Google.
Also this week, Google unveiled plans for free cellphone software designed to make it easier and more enticing to reach the Internet on mobile devices. The first so-called smart phones equipped with Google's software, called "Android," won't be available until the second half of next year.
Calling up a map at a gas pump should be particularly popular among motorists who are too stubborn or embarrassed to pull over and ask someone for help, Roter Davis said. "This will be sort of a Googley, more stealthy way of getting directions."
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Facebook's ad plans let marketers capitalize on friends
Looking to turn its popularity with 50 million users into dollars, social-networking giant Facebook Tuesday announced new advertising initiatives.
Marketers will be able to create their own Facebook profile pages. They'll also be able to target Facebook members with ads based on the personal information members send friends on the site. Among several dozen marketers signed up: Coca-Cola (KO) and Blockbuster (BBI).
ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK? Join our Facebook Users Group
"Pushing your message out to people isn't enough anymore," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told an audience of potential advertisers here. "You have to get into the connections and conversations."
What Facebook will now offer:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Google Myspace Mark Laura Petrecca Zuckerberg
•Brand profile pages. Similar to how users build profile pages, marketers can create Facebook pages that tout their brand, make sales, have entertainment and offer branded applications, such as a ring-tone creator, that members can add to their own pages.
•Tailored ads. A Facebook user can sign up as a "fan" of brands that have profile pages. Then a message could be sent to his or her network of friends telling them of that new liaison — along with an ad.
•Partnerships with retailers. Facebook has signed 44 retail sites to broadcast member purchases to others. When a user logged into Facebook visits a site, they'll be prompted that unless they opt out, their action — such as a Caddyshack rental from Blockbuster — will be shared with their friends network.
Traditional marketing "is distorted," says Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst at Forrester Research. "Endorsements are now passed from trusted customers to prospects, not directly from the brands themselves."
The moves come as Facebook slugs it out with rivals MySpace and Google (GOOG) for online advertising revenue. Ads on social networks are expected to haul in $1.2 billion worldwide this year and $1.9 billion in 2008, researcher eMarketer says.
Facebook, which already serves some less-targeted ads on its network, is expected to post a $30 million profit on $140 million in revenue this year, according to Robert Peck, an analyst at Bear Stearns. Last month, Microsoft (MSFT) said it would pay $240 million for 1.6% of privately held Facebook. That deal puts a $15 billion value on the social-networking site.
On Monday, MySpace — the largest social network, with 110 million users — said it's expanding its ad sales network with a program deemed "hypertargeting." Using data MySpace members provide, advertisers now can target them with very specific ads. More than 50 marketers have signed up, including Procter & Gamble (PG), Toyota (TM) and Taco Bell.
While targeting based on user data may serve up more relevant ads, it also raises privacy concerns for Facebook members, who use it as a personalized scrapbook to socialize with friends and colleagues.
The sites may address that. Facebook's Zuckerberg says that if users express privacy concerns, "We'll react quickly to that." MySpace says that by year's end, it will have a way for users to opt out of targeted ads.
"It seems a little invasive," says Shenneth Dove-Morse, 23, a public-relations specialist in Washington, D.C., who uses Facebook. "This would make me more cautious about what I say about myself on my personal page."
Marketers will be able to create their own Facebook profile pages. They'll also be able to target Facebook members with ads based on the personal information members send friends on the site. Among several dozen marketers signed up: Coca-Cola (KO) and Blockbuster (BBI).
ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK? Join our Facebook Users Group
"Pushing your message out to people isn't enough anymore," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told an audience of potential advertisers here. "You have to get into the connections and conversations."
What Facebook will now offer:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Google Myspace Mark Laura Petrecca Zuckerberg
•Brand profile pages. Similar to how users build profile pages, marketers can create Facebook pages that tout their brand, make sales, have entertainment and offer branded applications, such as a ring-tone creator, that members can add to their own pages.
•Tailored ads. A Facebook user can sign up as a "fan" of brands that have profile pages. Then a message could be sent to his or her network of friends telling them of that new liaison — along with an ad.
•Partnerships with retailers. Facebook has signed 44 retail sites to broadcast member purchases to others. When a user logged into Facebook visits a site, they'll be prompted that unless they opt out, their action — such as a Caddyshack rental from Blockbuster — will be shared with their friends network.
Traditional marketing "is distorted," says Jeremiah Owyang, an analyst at Forrester Research. "Endorsements are now passed from trusted customers to prospects, not directly from the brands themselves."
The moves come as Facebook slugs it out with rivals MySpace and Google (GOOG) for online advertising revenue. Ads on social networks are expected to haul in $1.2 billion worldwide this year and $1.9 billion in 2008, researcher eMarketer says.
Facebook, which already serves some less-targeted ads on its network, is expected to post a $30 million profit on $140 million in revenue this year, according to Robert Peck, an analyst at Bear Stearns. Last month, Microsoft (MSFT) said it would pay $240 million for 1.6% of privately held Facebook. That deal puts a $15 billion value on the social-networking site.
On Monday, MySpace — the largest social network, with 110 million users — said it's expanding its ad sales network with a program deemed "hypertargeting." Using data MySpace members provide, advertisers now can target them with very specific ads. More than 50 marketers have signed up, including Procter & Gamble (PG), Toyota (TM) and Taco Bell.
While targeting based on user data may serve up more relevant ads, it also raises privacy concerns for Facebook members, who use it as a personalized scrapbook to socialize with friends and colleagues.
The sites may address that. Facebook's Zuckerberg says that if users express privacy concerns, "We'll react quickly to that." MySpace says that by year's end, it will have a way for users to opt out of targeted ads.
"It seems a little invasive," says Shenneth Dove-Morse, 23, a public-relations specialist in Washington, D.C., who uses Facebook. "This would make me more cautious about what I say about myself on my personal page."
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