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There's something funny going on in the venture capital world: a tipster pitched multiple media outlets the story that some sketchy business had surrounded the early-stage investment in photo-sharing site Photobucket, a 20 percent stake in a company that eventually was acquired by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media for about $300 million.

The Wall Street Journal, coincidentally also owned by News Corp., ran with the tip. The publication explained that an early investment in Photobucket had been made on behalf of Insight Venture Partners' executives, excluding the investors in the firm--which include, among others, the endowment fund for … Read more

Updated August 27 at 4:14 p.m. PDT, with correction to Fox Interactive Media's ranking for the preceding month.

Fox Interactive Media grabbed the most market share among digital display ad publishers in the month of June, according to a report released Tuesday by ComScore Ad Metrix.

Fox Interactive, which owns MySpace, accounted for 15.9 percent of display ad views, or impressions, during the month of June, followed by Yahoo, which ranked second with 10.5 percent of the market. The results marked the third consecutive month that Fox Interactive has maintained a lead over Yahoo, since … Read more

Discount retailer Target has signed a deal with photo-sharing service Photobucket, adding it to the small collection of online partners for its in-store photo-printing service.

Through the partnership, members of Photobucket can directly order photos for pickup at most Target stores (presumably any Targets that don't have photo-printing stations would be the exception). Typically, the photos will be ready within an hour.

Photobucket, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media, is the third current partner for the retailer; Target already has partnerships in place with Shutterfly's and Kodak's online photo services.

Last week, Photobucket announced a partnership … Read more

Photobucket, the massive photo-sharing site that was acquired by News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media last year, has partnered with Scrapblog, a start-up that lets members create online scrapbooks.

Through the partnership, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Scrapblog's drag-and-drop application will be available within Photobucket so that users can work their Photobucket albums into scrapbooks and then share or embed them on the Web. Starting in September, printed versions of Scrapblog scrapbooks will be available for purchase.

"Scrapbooks have traditionally been an important part of how people have kept and shared memories offline for many years, and … Read more

It should come as no surprise, but Google sites officially continued to dominate the Web landscape in July, drawing more than 141 million unique visitors and placing Yahoo and Microsoft at second and third place, according to analyst group ComScore Media Metrix.

AOL took fourth behind the top sites, all of which were enveloped in discussions about acquisitions or partnerships this summer.

Fox Interactive Media, parent company of MySpace, was the fifth most visited group of sites, with a registered 88 million unique visitors. Facebook, on the other hand, landed at No. 16 with 39 million visitors. However, ComScore reported … Read more

Fox Interactive Media, the News Corp. subsidiary that owns social sites MySpace and Photobucket, has signed on as the latest member of the Family Online Safety Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to "identifying and promoting best practice, tools and methods in the field of online safety, that also respect free expression."

As the first social network to become a nationwide teen craze, MySpace became a frequent target for safety advocates--including state lawmakers, who ended up working with the social network to create a safety plan for kids and teens online.

Other prominent members of FOSI include AOL, AT&… Read more

On today's show: The honorable Clayton Morris joins us for a hilarious high energy show. We recap our Fox News appearance that never came to be, answer the questions you're too afraid to ask your Doctor, relive this decade's greatest meeting of the minds, and quiver in fear over Boeing's newest air-to-ground laser turret.

Clayton Morris, ladies and gentlemen! That's right, The 404's all-time favorite guest steps into the studio this morning and helps us out of our Olympic rut. That's right, you'll be happy to hear that there's absolutely no … Read more

News Corp., the parent company of MySpace, announced its fourth quarter earnings Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations on the strength of its television and film businesses.

News Corp. reported a net income of $1.1 billion, or 43 cents a share for the quarter ended June 30, a 27 percent increase over last year. Excluding one-time items, earnings rose to 35 cents per share, a cent higher than analysts had been expecting.

CEO Rupert Murdoch noted in a statement that the company was pleased with its growth, but noted challenges ahead.

"Although we clearly face more challenging macro-economic conditions … Read more

On the show today: Natali Del Conte, Sex and the Second Life, star crossed robotics, beer theft in gay bars, Drank drink - "Slow Your Roll," Cluck the MPAA, and don't forget about our 404-Dark Knight Meetup TONIGHT at 7:15 at the Clearview Chelsea Theater on twenty-third street. Get there early to help us reserve a row! Seriously, if four listeners show up I'm going to throw a temper tantrum, fist pounding on the pavement and all.

Natali Del Conte joins us on today's show to talk about her spot on the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet … Read more