Publishers

Apple Unveils iPad Textbook Plan

Peter Kafka in Media on January 19 at 6:25 am PT

At a special event in New York City, Apple rolls out a new textbook initiative and the partnerships to support it.

Content (Recommendation) Doesn’t Come Cheap: Outbrain Raises Another $35 Million

Peter Kafka in Media on December 14, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

You know those “recommended” links at the bottom of this post? Turns out that’s a huge business.

Justice Department Confirms E-Book Probe

Thomas Catan, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 7, 2011 at 11:01 am PT

The U.S. Justice Department confirmed Wednesday that it is conducting an antitrust investigation into the pricing of electronic books, the latest antitrust watchdog to probe whether there was improper collusion by publishers and Apple Inc. to prevent discounting.

News Byte

Canada’s Rogers Plays Catch-Up to Groupon by Partnering With Group Commerce

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on November 29, 2011 at 9:23 am PT

Group Commerce has signed up Rogers Digital Media in Canada to publish their own daily deals to compete with Groupon and others. RDeals will launch today to offer consumers daily discounts on spas, restaurants and other services. Rogers’ holdings include magazines — Maclean’s, Today’s Parent and Hello! Canada — as well as several radio and TV stations. Publishers are trying to leverage their vast audiences to get into the local commerce space, but are generally playing a game of catch-up.

News Byte

Spotzot Secures $2.2 Million for Mobile Coupon Network

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on November 17, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Spotzot, which aggregates coupons, daily deals and other online promotions, has raised $2.2 million in capital. The company’s first round was led by Cervin Ventures, Inventus Capital Partners and TiE-Silicon Valley Angels. Mobile publishers such as ShopSavvy, Shopkick, CardStar, and Geodelic tap into the network to display the deals in applications.

Amazon, Now a Book Lender

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Stu Woo, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 3, 2011 at 3:40 am PT

As the e-reader and tablet wars heat up, Amazon.com Inc. is launching a digital-book lending library that will be available only to owners of its Kindle and Kindle Fire devices who are also subscribers to its Amazon Prime program.

Google Copyright Talks Continue With Publishers, Authors

Chad Bray, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 15, 2011 at 12:02 pm PT

Google Inc. and publisher and author groups are continuing to discuss options to resolve copyright litigation over a proposed digital library of books after a federal judge earlier this year rejected a settlement in the case, lawyers for both sides said Thursday.

Amazon in Talks to Launch Digital-Book Library

Stu Woo and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 11, 2011 at 4:25 pm PT

Amazon.com Inc. is talking with book publishers about launching a Netflix Inc.-like service for digital books, in which customers would pay an annual fee to access a library of content, according to people familiar with the matter.

TownHog Focuses on Publishing Partnerships as Its Own Daily Deal Brand Fades

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on August 4, 2011 at 7:51 am PT

San Francisco-based TownHog is rolling out a new feature for its daily deals platform, which will allow third-party publishers to make offers in real time through mobile applications.

Soon-to-Debut Google+ Games Will Hit Facebook Where It Hurts: The Pocketbook

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on July 21, 2011 at 4:21 pm PT

Google is close to launching a social game network that could make Facebook very, very nervous. We hear that Google’s network will offer one key point of differentiation for developers: It will cost less.