partnerships

At the many advertising conferences dotting Internet Week New York this week, speakers and panelists have been exhorting the ad industry to start thinking more creatively when it comes to tackling digital media--even creating elaborate branded series in lieu of traditional commercials.

They weren't the only ones who got that memo. Record label Universal Music Group's Universal Music U.K. announced Monday that it's partnered with social network Bebo to broadcast a series called The Secret World of Sam King: one part video blog, one part Choose Your Own Adventure, and one part Universal advertorial. It's … Read more

Yahoo announced Friday that it has formed a partnership with three subsidiaries of advertising giant WPP: GroupM, 24/7 Real Media and WPP Digital. Through the deal, WPP agencies will have access to Yahoo-served ad space and work closely with the Right Media ad exchange, in which Yahoo was a major investor before it outright acquired the digital-ad platform in 2007.

No financial terms were disclosed.

"More and more, we see the need for agencies and media and technology companies to work together to create a new level of value," WPP Digital CEO Mark Read said in a … Read more

Yahoo announced on Tuesday that it's no longer going to power Yahoo Messenger's Internet telephony service with in-house technology: the company has inked a deal with start-up Jajah to replace its phone-to-PC and PC-to-phone communications.

Under the agreement, Jajah will start providing the service for Yahoo's "Phone In" and "Phone Out" features, which allow members to make calls to landline and mobile phones, starting in the third quarter of 2008. Yahoo's telephony option is a paid service; Jajah will be responsible for processing the payments, and providing customer support and the network … Read more

CNET Networks, News.com's parent company, on Thursday announced a three-year strategic partnership with Yahoo under which CNET will be a third-party content provider of technology news and reviews.

The partnership also allows for Yahoo to sell display ads on CNET properties and for CNET to sell ads alongside the content it provides on Yahoo sites.

"Working together, we have the ability to build more robust content environments and more comprehensive programs for our marketing partners," CNET CEO Neil Ashe said in a press release.

The announcement was made as CNET reported its quarterly earnings, a net … Read more

Universal Music Group has invested an undisclosed amount in pop-culture social network Buzznet.

Beyond the financial investment, this means that Universal artists will post promotional blogs on Buzznet, and the social site will have access to the label's music and video catalog.

Last week, Buzznet CEO Tyler Goldman told CNET News.com to expect a partnership announcement that would bring more audio content to the site.

According to a release from the two companies, this is "one of the first times that a music company will be directly involved in developing editorial programming for a social-media site, with … Read more

This post was updated at 9:45am EDT with comment from Google.

Will eBay sell Skype to Google?

It's no secret that many in Silicon Valley regard eBay's 2005 acquisition of the telephony service as a $2.6 billion misstep. But new rumors, reported late Tuesday night on TechCrunch, suggest that eBay may be negotiating Skype-related partnerships with Google or even selling it outright.

"We do not comment on market rumor or speculation regarding acquisitions," a Google representative told CNET News.com in an e-mail. "Generally speaking we are constantly in discussions about potential partnerships … Read more

Qwest Communications International is in talks with Verizon Communications to bundle its wireless service with Qwest's broadband and landline voice services, according to a Wednesday report in The Wall Street Journal.

Qwest, the only major phone company without its own wireless service, has been reselling wireless service from Sprint Nextel. But Qwest CEO Ed Mueller said earlier this week at his company's analyst conference that he is not happy with the arrangement and is looking for a new partner.

The problem with the Sprint deal is that Qwest is unable to offer the same services and handsets that … Read more

This post was updated at 12:54 p.m. PST to add formal comment from Fox Interactive Media.

Don't expect News Corp. to jump ship on its advertising contract with Google for social network MySpace, representatives from the company said on Monday.

TechCrunch had reported earlier that News Corp. was potentially in negotiations with Microsoft, which serves ads on MySpace rival Facebook, as a replacement for the Google ads that have run on MySpace and other Fox Interactive Media sites since August 2006. Google co-founder Sergey Brin had said in the company's most recent earnings announcement that its advertising contract with Fox Interactive had proven less lucrative … Read more

This post was updated at 11:24 AM on Friday, Feb. 15 to clarify AOL's use of Citysearch ad listings.

InterActiveCorp chair Barry Diller recently went on the record saying that he wouldn't buy AOL unless somebody handed it to him for free. But that doesn't rule out content partnerships: AOL announced Thursday that it has formed a partnership with Citysearch, the IAC-owned business directory.

Citysearch content, including reviews, photos, editorial content, and videos, will be featured on a number of AOL sites like AOL CityGuide, AOL Local Search, and MapQuest. In return, AOL will display Citysearch'… Read more