Plaxo goes VOIP

CNET covers Plaxo's partnership with Jajah today:Plaxo gets hip to VoIP.

I agree with CNET et al that this is a packed market with Skype, Y!, MSN, etc allowing VOIP through their IM clients (maybe Seth and Meebo will join this game too?). But what Plaxo has for itself is a) a whole lot more contacts (and their telephone numbers), b) these numbers not finding itself in your mobile phone (and updating by itself), and c) a one-click activation on real phones (no learning and no additional hardware needed).

Not sure if they can dominate this market, but its another revenue stream that will keep the company afloat. I think it will have its own niche at the very least.

Gotta ask Mark more about this in the next Lunch 2.0.

AOL UnCut

InformationWeek reports that InformationWeek AOL Quietly Unveils YouTube Competitor | May 16, 2006. AOL seems to be a follower these days, creating products that protect (not expand) its territory. Very sad for a Internet giant; they can do more.

Worse? The brand: AOL UnCut...sounds like a South Park movie...

Jerry & Dave: The New Penn & Teller

So Yahoo! launches its new front page today, getting a lot of buzz from the media. As part of the release, they have Y! main man Jerry Yang and not-so-visible co-founder David Filo on a video. Filo's always been the shy one (from what I hear) and in this video that's pretty noticeable - he doesn't have lines, but he does speak his mind out...they're both like the Web 2.0 version of Las Vegas hit Penn & Teller.

Hotties of MySpace

Nick Douglas of Valleywag tips us off with this: Valleywag: Hotties of MySpace: A NSFW adventure. You can find the official Playboy site here.

It's interesting how MySpace has pushed the limit to its social network. Makes good sense though since the succeeed by getting the good-looking LA people to come online. As we know, LA people are there to become actors and actresses. And, yeah, also pornstars....

Snap CPA Search Engine

San Jose Mercury News reveals a new search engine today: Snap. So what's new with it? While everyone is familiar with the big engines, the search business is a dime a dozen - companies such as Mama, Looksmart, etc. making appearances. Well, the first is that the founder is Bill Gross, the person who started Overture (now Y! Search Marketing). And as you know Google wasn't original in its pay-per-click model - it was a copy of Overture's business.

Snap brings an interesting concept that appeals to advertisers - pay per action/acquistion. This means that you only pay the engine when someone becomes a bonafide customer! This is a better deal than paying for click; it just takes more risk out! It will probably be more $$$ per transaction, and will be harder to implement (you have to put tracking pixels). Yets it definitely an innovative way to develop the search engine business.

How about the service? Oh yeah, its very cool too. I especially like the screen shots of the results. It makes it easier to navigate and decide; you don't have to go off the page to do it.

JotSpot Acquired?

Techcrunch reports that JotSpot might have been acquired. It's pretty interesting to see which part of Yahoo! they will go to. My guess is that they will fall under small business. It'll be a shame if it wasn't so. I don't think wikis are meant for consumers - the real value (and money) comes from businesses who need the collaboration to get their jobs done.

Smart decision to sell out IMHO. Salesforce.com's AppExchange is essentially the JotSpot vision....

New Google Services

CNET came out with this story today: Google unveils new applications. What struck me most was Google Co-op. It seems to be Wink and Raw Sugar is trying to do - integrating social bookmarks into search. In more easy to understand word: getting people (i.e. the masses) to identify, define, and organize websites. I haven't heard much about the start-ups that are playing this game, but a big behemoth like Google entering your space is something to notice.

They have some changes too - like using experts and building it into Google Search (unlike Yahoo!, who separates Yahoo 2.0, Y! Search, and Delicious.

Home-made Google Ad

The point here is whether Google is a filter, or what not (if definitely shows you that you can find things easier). The point is that people are die-hard fans that they'd create their own ad. The things that evangelism can do for you....