Amazon Cloud Storage Traffic Soars

Amazon Web Services said this week that its "Simple Storage Service" housed 262 billion objects at year-end of 2010, more than doubling in size from 102 billion objects at the close of 2009. The peak request rate for S3 is now in excess of 200,000 requests per second, according to Amazon’s Jeff Barr.

Amazon S3 Cloud Stores 262 Billion Objects Data Center Knowledge

Business Model Change for Hulu?

Hulu originally hoped to create an advertising-supported online video site that essentially was an archive for television programming, operating much as a digital video recorder service.

But ad revenue has been disappointing, and the owners disagree on what to do about the service. So now it isn't so clear what Hulu might become.

Some spectulate that Hulu might in the future become a sort of online cable service. Instead of a warehouse of episodic content, Hulu could become a full-fledged online cable operator. That means live shows and video on demand, all accessed through Hulu.

That might work for the content providers, but it won't help multichannel video entertainment providers.

How Hulu Lost Its Place In a Netflix World

Mark Zuckerberg on SNL

Amazon Prepping Netflix-Like Streaming Service:

Amazon.com appears to be readying a service that would make 5,000 movies and TV shows available to watch instantly, at no incremental charge, for members of the online retailer's $79-per-year "Prime" free-shipping membership program.

The service would provide "unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming" of 5,000 movies and TV shows' with content similar to what is available through Netflix's streaming component. Amazon's service, though, would be limited to standard-definition video.

The notable observation here is that Amazon will try to create a business model that does not rely directly on incremental revenue, but rather on increasing subscribers to another existing service Amazon deems important. That's similar to Apple selling music and video to sell iPods and iPads. Netflix, Comcast and others, on the other hand, have less wiggle room, since their video businesses are about selling video.

Comcast, of course, also is trying the Amazon tactic, tying a fixed-line cable subscription to its mobile and untethered online video service. Still, it always is dangerous when a new competitor proposes to give away what another company sells.

Amazon Prime is a membership program that provides free two-day shipping as well as one-day shipping for $3.99 per item on certain purchases.

Currently Amazon offers a selection of more than 75,000 movie and TV show rentals or purchases through PCs, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and connected-TV devices, including those from TiVo, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Vizio and Roku.

Amazon.com's agreement to buy full ownership of LoveFilm, a European DVD rental and movie-streaming service, confirms the e-commerce giant intends to beef up its digital-video offering.

Operating in the U.K., Scandinavia and more recently Germany, LoveFilm's service is very similar to that of Netflix in the U.S. But it is well behind the American company, both in subscribers—1.6 million versus 17 million—and in the amount of streaming content it has licensed.

read more here

Netflix Now Boasts More Subscribers Than Showtime, Starz, HBO Next?

Netflix added 3.1 million subscriptions during the fourth quarter of 2010, and now has more than 20 million subscribers. That's more than the total subscribers of premium channels Starz and Showtime, which have 17.3 million and 18.2 million subscribers, respectively.

What that means is that Netflix is competing with the premium cable channels, not basic cable (ad-supported channels such as ESPN).

Netflix now estimates it will expand to as many as 22.8 million subscribers in the coming quarter, a possible uptick of 14 percent. Meanwhile, the subscriber base for HBO, which ended its last quarter with 28.55 million subscribers, fell to its lowest levels in four years, and dropped 1.9 percent from the last quarter.

Netflix may someday more directly threaten basic cable service. For the moment, it seems to be doing just fine cannibalizing premium TV networks. In response, cable and other networks will have to start cannibalizing their own premium channels as well, since video-on-demand essentially replicates the Netflix streaming service.

Netflix Now Boasts More Subscribers Than Showtime, Starz, HBO Next? | Fast Company

Netflix Beats, Worry Grows (Insert "Apple" and You Know the Story)

Netflix Really Becomes "Net Flicks"

The issue now is whether Netflix has put so much distance between itself and others that the others cannot catch up.

The iPadification of the Web

Design on the Web needs a reboot — and the iPad may provide the push publishers need to toggle the switch. But will smarter-looking online offerings save old media?

Creators of Web content have poured considerable effort into reinventing their websites as top-down, gorgeously designed experiences for Apple’s tablet and other mobile devices, in the hope that what they give away on the Web might turn into something their audience will pay for as an app.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/01/29/ipadification-of-the-web/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Venturebeat+%28VentureBeat%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Shift in Thinking About Broadband Devices and Usage?

Some observers have less faith in consumer common sense than others do. Some might argue that consumers will not accept reasonable policies and plans related to broadband access for their devices. Up to this point, some might simply point to growing usage, and argue that dire consequences will result if there are any changes in pricing that reflect usage to some significant degree. Others might argue that consumers and providers are rational, and that both are capable of changing usage patterns in ways that provide the value users want, and yet also allow providers the ability to recoup their investments.

Customers are rational, are capable of understanding the consequences of behavior, and so will change their behavior. "Contrary to the popular view, tiered pricing, whereby subscribers pay for the bandwidth they consume, will not signal the death of the mobile Internet," argues Yankee Group analyst Declan Longergan.

Service providers and consumers will learn to live with bandwidth and devices in ways that satisfy their needs, without bankrupting carriers or slowing innovation. "In the same way that the notion of eco-friendly consumption behavior has gradually entered the public consciousness, so too will the idea of network-friendly (and unfriendly) mobile devices," says Lonergan. Service providers and the most sophisticated end-users will pay more attention to which devices make most efficient use of limited network resources and monthly data allowances, and will change. Over time, so will most other people.

read more here

Google and Facebook "Competition" is About Ad Revenue

Google's real competition isn't other search engines like Microsoft's Bing or Yahoo, some would argue.

Nor does Facebook currently face much of a threat from other social-networking sites.

But what some would say now is happening is a struggle between Google and Facebook over user attention, which is related to the matter of advertising attractiveness and hence, revenue.

Common Sense: Will Google Survive Facebook? - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Targeted Advertising Faces Headwinds

Will the future of online advertising be highly targeted or not? It increasingly seems it will only be partly so. Facing presure from the Federal Trade Commission, both Google and Mozilla (Firefox browser) have introduced ways to opt out of behavioral advertising, which allows ads to be targeted.

Google's solution is an extension for its Chrome web browser that lets users proactively block certain advertisers from serving them behavioral ads. Mozilla's approach would bundle a "do not track" feature with its browser, but require websites and ad networks to agree to recognize such requests from Firefox users.

Microsoft has previously announced its own plans for letting users opt out of such ads as well. Those moves, plus any additional FTC rules, are going to limit the extent to which targeted ads can be delivered.

read more here

Smaato Raises More Money for Mobile Ad Network, Especially in Asia

Smaato has gotten a new round of funding. Singapore’s EDBI led the $7 million round, with participation from existing shareholders including global private equity firm aeris CAPITAL.

The new funds will help fuel Smaato’s international expansion, in particular to extend its presence in Asia from its Asian headquarters in Singapore.

Smaato Raises $7M Venture Capital Round for International Expansion of Mobile Advertising Platform | Smaato Blog

Blekko Takes "Curated Search" Mobile

Blekko, the curated mobile search engine, has released Android and iPhone applications. Says Blekko CEO Rich Skrenta, “In a world where people want the most relevant answers on the go, mobile search is becoming increasingly more significant.”

The app has a sparse interface which allows you to view search results whether or not you are logged in with your Blekko account. With the exception of Facebook integration, the app pretty much runs the gamut of features found on Blekko itself, most notably the ability to search by /slashtag or curated topic. Results are sorted by most relevant and by date.

"Curation" is an important concept these days. We used to call it "editing," in some circles, but the principle is the same. There's a firehose of information blasting at people every day. So it is helpful to cull the "good stuff" from the noise. People who do that used to be called "editors." At museums, we call them "curators." The job is the same: pick out and organize the good stuff thematically.

Blekko Takes Curated Search Mobile With iPhone And Android Apps

Mobile's Growth, in Numbers and Pictures

Mobile usage and importance, in stats.

85% Of Teen Brand Word-Of-Mouth Occurs Offline

Online marketing and messages generally are seen as important these days. But a new study finds teens, who exchange opinions and information about brands more than consumers as a whole, use word of mouth.

Contrary to what we might expect, relatively few of those conversations take place online, according to the latest findings from TalkTrack, an ongoing study conducted by market research firm Keller Fay Group, which specializes in word-of-mouth (WOM).

It's true that teens are twice as likely, compared to the general public, to hold brand conversations online. Still, just 13 percent of teens' brand discussions take place online (including email, texting/IM and social networking), compared to seven percent of the general public's discussions.

MediaPost Publications 85% Of Teen Brand Word-Of-Mouth Occurs Offline