Vimeo’s 90:10 cash split favours video creators
Vimeo, which has established itself as a niche video platform player next to YouTube, is launching an on-demand service where content owners will keep 90 per cent of their sales.
The 10:90 revenue split is exceedingly generous by existing industry standards – Google is reported to be considering taking 45 per cent of subscription revenues for its planned video channels on YouTube. Read more
Iranian YouTube substitute launches
How-to videos, cute toddler antics, music and people making “hilarious” gaffes when speaking foreign languages. Iran’s attempt to ape YouTube, Mehr.ir launched this weekend, with many of the features that made its predecessor so popular.
Of course, Mehr – which means “affection” in Farsi – isn’t competing with YouTube: it’s replacing it. According to newswire reports and Iranian state TV, the government-endorsed Mehr is designed to promote Iranian and Islamic culture. Read more
With its Instagram purchase, Facebook treads a familiar path
Can you name this start-up?
Some 18 months after launching, it reaches 20m users and may be on the way to owning its category. An established internet giant, which has been trying to break into the same market, jumps in with a takeover offer worth more than $1bn – even though it’s not clear how the start-up will make money. With a market value that has soared to over $100bn, though, the acquirer feels it can afford the risk.
No, this is not Facebook buying Instagram – but the parallels are striking. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Disney and YouTube have reached an agreement to produce new Disney-branded content for the web, the New York Times reports. Read more
Tech stories from around the web:
Research In Motion is facing a possible class action lawsuit in Canada over the global outage that struck BlackBerry customers last month, Cnet reports. RIM said it would not comment on the suit, which was filed yesterday in Quebec Superior Court. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
YouTube has launched Merch Store, a feature where YouTube’s music partners will be able to sell artist merchandise, digital downloads, concert tickets and other experiences to fans and visitors, TechCrunch reports. The online video sharing site has also announced partnerships with a number of companies to launch the service: Topspin is being used to help in sales of merchandise, while Songkick will be involved in concert tickets and iTunes and Amazon will look after transactions for music downloads. Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Music publishers have settled their part of a class action suit brought against YouTube, according to PaidContent. The suit, brought by them and other leading content providers such as the Premier League, alleged that the video site’s inattention to controlling copyright material violated the law. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more
Chad and Steve’s Second Act?
Are Chad Hurley and Steve Chen itching for another shot at the big time? That was the heavy hint the YouTube founders dropped on Wednesday as they stepped in to save Delicious (Yahoo botched its handling of the former Web 2.0 darling in December, provoking an outcry when it implied that it might consider closing the service. It eventually saying that it would look for a sale.) Read more
Tech news from around the web:
Tech news from around the web:
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is fascinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Robin Kwong is the FT's technology, media and telecoms page editor in London. Formerly he was the Taipei correspondent and wrote about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent, and has just moved from London to join our team in San Francisco. He has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
Older entries