SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) — In death as in life, iconic TV naturalist Steve Irwin captivated millions worldwide and clogged the Internet as fans from Guam to Glasgow reacted with disbelief to news “The Crocodile Hunter” was dead.Some Web sites groaned to a halt within hours of the first reports Monday that Irwin had been killed by a stingray’s barb through his chest in a freak diving accident off Australia’s northeast coast.
Sourced from stuff.co.nz
The deal, the first to value one of the new crop of user-participation websites at more than $US1 billion, combines two of the most popular internet brands: Google, synonymous with web search and rapid innovation, and You Tube, a Silicon Valley upstart that has spearheaded the video-sharing craze.
Sourced From smh.com.au
Imagine being able to check instantly whether or not statements made by politicians were correct. That is the sort of service Google boss Eric Schmidt believes the Internet will offer within five years.
Politicians have yet to appreciate the impact of the online world, which will also affect the outcome of elections, Schmidt said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Wednesday.
Sourced from stuff.co.nz
Telecom today confirmed it is tendering out its partnership with its internet service Xtra, currently run with Microsoft’s MSN. Media reports indicate MSN is likely to be replaced by Yahoo in a deal that could be tied to the sale of Telecom’s directories unit.
Sourced from smh.com.au
Search engine Google Inc. on Thursday launched an Australian version of its video hosting site, Google Video, that will include content from domestic media groups.
The site follows will offer video snippets posted by the public as well as material from media companies including the Australian Broadcasting Corp., television’s Network Ten television and newspaper company Fairfax Digital.
Sourced from nzonlinemedia.blog.co.nz
The NZ Online Ad Market – just how big is it?
Access to the Internet in New Zealand ranks among the highest in the OECD with 80% of the population accessing the Internet and over 60% using it regularly1. A recent study commissioned by the Internet Bureau through Roy Morgan, reports that “NZ agencies say they are already allocating an average of 8% of their media budgets to online, and intend to allocate an average of 12% to online in 2006- 2007. That’s a far cry from being the ‘online laggards’ that agencies have sometimes been painted as being.”