data stream

Twitter’s Free Love Era Comes to an End: Time for Developers and Publishers to Pay Up

Peter Kafka in Media on May 24, 2010 at 3:32 pm PT

Twitter isn’t just booting other ad networks out of its stream. It now plans to tax some start-ups and publishers that are making money from the service. That’s a pretty significant change for the company, which has previously allowed anyone to do just about anything with its data, without asking for a cent.

First M&A of 2010: Flixster + Rotten Tomatoes

Peter Kafka in Media on January 4, 2010 at 10:08 am PT

Here’s the Flixster/MySpace deal Kara Swisher sussed out on Christmas Eve: News Corp. is handing over its Rotten Tomatoes movie review site, previously owned by its IGN unit, to the movie-centric social network and will get an equity stake in the combined company.

The Flixster/Rotten Tomatoes/MySpace Mystery Solved: A Christmas Miracle!

Kara Swisher in News on December 24, 2009 at 1:11 pm PT

About 10 days ago, there was a post in this column titled “MySpace and News Corp. Eye Flixster (But for What?)” about interest by News Corp. and its MySpace unit in Flixster, the popular social networking site for movies. Well, BoomTown did more gumshoeing and the deal is indeed shaping up to be very complex, according to many sources I spoke with, centered on Rotten Tomatoes merging with Flixster in exchange for a stake in the combined independent company by News Corp. and a possible integration of content with MySpace.

Twitter Tackles Spam, and Sets Its Sights on Bigger Challenges (Take a Guess)

Peter Kafka in Media on October 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm PT

Now that Twitter doesn’t have to worry about raising money ever again (right?), it can spend time tackling all sorts of projects, big and small. Here’s one of the small ones: The company has created a better way for users to flag spam accounts. The big stuff? Coming up.

Twitter Gives Spam Apps a Thumbs Down, Ads a “Maybe”

Peter Kafka in Media on September 11, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

It’s one of those mysteries that are so deep, so mysterious, they may never be solved: When Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says the company would “like to leave the door open for advertising,” what exactly does he mean? My guess: Twitter would like to leave the door open for advertising. Meanwhile, the company cracks down, a bit, on spammy apps.

An Oversized Ruckus About Tiny Web Addresses: Bit.ly’s Bigfoot Offer to the Rest of the Business

Peter Kafka in Media on August 10, 2009 at 10:31 am PT

Are you up in arms about the impending demise of tr.im, one of the many services that shorten long Web addresses? Here’s a possible solution, offered by bit.ly, the industry’s bigfoot: A nonprofit archive/graveyard for tr.im’s tiny addresses, along with anyone else who wants to participate.

Twitter App Investors Still Writing Checks: StockTwits Raises a Round

Peter Kafka in Media on May 18, 2009 at 3:00 am PT

Nope, Twitter still hasn’t trotted out a business model yet, and that may or may not be a problem for potential acquirers like Google or Microsoft. But it’s a nonissue for a growing number of start-ups hoping to succeed simply by positioning themselves in Twitter’s general vicinity. Today’s example: StockTwits, a day-trader-meets-Twitter site that just raised $800,000 from venture capital firm True Ventures.