Generous spending on online advertising prevents more severe decline in UK ad spend

The Guardian reveals that, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, “Internet advertising spend is ‘propping up’ traditional media, according to a report, surging 21% year on year to £1.68bn [$2.93bn] in the first six months of 2008.  The resilience of internet ad spend in the downturn turned what would have been a 4.6% year-on-year decline in UK advertising spend in the first half to a slide of just 0.7%, according to the study. […]  ‘Online is not immune from the economic downturn, but while other sectors see falls in expenditure, the internet is still experiencing an incredible increase and is propping up the entire advertising market,’ the report said.”

Reuters writes that “News Corp has taken full ownership of mobile content provider Jamba by buying VeriSign Inc’s 49 percent stake for about $200 million, the two companies said on Tuesday.  Jamba makes content such as wallpapers, ringtones and games for mobile phones. It also offers short episodes – called ‘mobisodes’ — of some Fox TV series, including ‘24,’  ‘Prison Break’ and ‘Bones,’ for phones.”

The Seattle Times reports that “[o]n a tour of five U.S. universities this week, Microsoft’s top strategist, Craig Mundie, is doing what he does best: demonstrating the future.  The veteran executive works closely with a team of engineers and futurists to create conceptual demonstrations meant to excite people about technology that’s just over the horizon. It’s an early look at what Microsoft sees as possible. […]  For his audience of students and professors, Mundie focused on how technology could improve education in the next five to 10 years.  In one scenario, a student’s entire educational history can be accessed from an Internet-connected Tablet PC. Scroll back in time to see notes from high-school biology, scroll forward to a present-day anatomy curriculum.”

CNetNews.com has an interesting article on venture capitalists’ newfound “realism” and sobriety.  According to the article, a lot of VCs now believe that quite a few companies    “in the adolescence of their start-up may not be able to raise the funds necessary to stretch their business development to the time when the economy is more favorable.”  Bottom line:  “We’re going to lose some good companies in the coming years.”  Not a great prospect for entrepreneurs.

According to a different article in the Guardian, “[a] computer programmer working at Yahoo’s Indian facility was the spin-doctor of India’s most-wanted Islamic terrorist orgainsation, Islamic Mujahideen, police said today.  The group has claimed responsibility for coordinated bomb blasts in three Indian cities this summer, which killed more than 120 people.  Investigators say Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy, 31, was the head of a ‘media terror cell’ which comprised of ‘highly qualified, computer-savvy people belonging to good and educated families’ who had drafted emails sent just before or just after blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Jaipur in Rajasthan.  Peerbhoy, who police said speaks ‘good English,’ works with Yahoo as a principal software engineer and takes home 1.9m rupees a year (£22,600). He lives in Pune, a city known for its IT companies in western India, and visited the US for work several times without arousing any suspicion.”