Advertising and marketing

Yahoo's earnings for its second quarter came in 1 cent lower than expectations, with net income declining 19 percent and revenue a bit light as well, but the company called the quarter "strong."

Using generally accepted accounting principles, the company's net income decreased 19 percent from $161 million in the year-earlier quarter to $131 million. But excluding various charges, the Internet pioneer reported earnings of 10 cents per share, less than the 11 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected.

Revenue increased 8 percent to $1.346 billion, excluding commissions called traffic acquisition … Read more

HALF MOON BAY, Calif.--Facebook's business playbook takes a page from those of the early dot-coms: build it and then figure out how to make money.

Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, said here in a panel interview Tuesday that Facebook's primary goal is to grow its social network. Second is monetization.

"Our focus is on growth--we believe this is the moment people are joining social networks," Sandberg said here at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, a three-day gathering on technology and media. "Then it's monetization to support that growth."

Her … Read more

Velocity Interactive Group, an investment firm that concentrates on the digital media sector, has hired Jorge Espinel as an investment partner for activities in digital publishing, digital video, social media, games, and online advertising.

Espinel most recently led AOL's corporate strategy, mergers, and acquisitions work, where he oversaw acquisition of companies including Tacoda, Third Screen Media, AdTech, Truveo, Userplane, and Advertising.com, Velocity said.

HALF MOON BAY, Calif.--If content is king, then technology is its queen.

Viacom's CEO Philippe Dauman, who spoke here Tuesday at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, said that despite talk that content has become a commodity (i.e., reality TV shows), it's quite the opposite. Great content is never a commodity, he said, and the Internet and mobile communications are helping Viacom broaden its reach internationally and among younger audiences online and via mobile devices.

"If you have a great brand supported by great content, there has never been a better time to reach more consumers, … Read more

If there was any doubt that online advertising was cooling down, this news might make you think twice.

ContextWeb, a contextual advertising firm and operator of the ADSDAQ Exchange, has closed a $26 million Series D funding round, the company said Tuesday.

The round was led by Investor Growth Capital, with participation from all existing investors: DFJ, DFJ Gotham Ventures, Updata Partners, DFJ New England, and Gold Hill Capital.

This brings ContextWeb's total equity investment to $54 million.

The funding will be used to grow the ADSDAQ Exchange, which offers a way for advertisers and publishers to buy and … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman doesn't typically bash Google in the press.

While Google CEO Eric Schmidt has publicly ridiculed Viacom for filing a $1 billion copyright claim against Google and YouTube, Dauman is usually more reserved.

But at a small press gathering Monday night in San Francisco, Dauman discussed some of the events that led up to the lawsuit and what he sees as wrong with Google's handling of the entertainment industry. (I wasn't taking direct notes, so I'll paraphrase most of what he said.)

First, Dauman noted that one of the first meetings he … Read more

Some business sectors are definitely hurt by the current economic downturn, but major Internet sites dependent on advertising have been holding serious trouble at bay. Tuesday afternoon, investors should get a better idea whether the problems are hitting Yahoo.

The company is set to report results for its second quarter after stock market trading closes in the afternoon. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings per share of 11 cents on revenue of $1.37 billion.

But there is pessimism in the air. "Comments last week from Valueclick and Microsoft indicate the broader economic downturn is affecting online ads, … Read more

After months of exchanging barbs with investor activist Carl Icahn, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has told employees he's looking forward to the "fresh perspective" Icahn will bring as a board member.

Just last week, Icahn had officially launched his proxy fight against Yahoo. On Monday morning, a settlement with Icahn ended it all.

Monday's note contrasts with an e-mail Yang penned last week that warned employees to brace for an especially contentious period leading up to the August 1 shareholders meeting. The latest missive, posted Monday evening in a corporate blog and noted in a Securities … Read more

The New York Times has inked a deal with LinkedIn to deliver targeted headlines to members of the networking site.

A LinkedIn user who works in the energy industry would, for example, be shown articles relevant to that area.

Times readers will also be able to share and comment on stories with LinkedIn members in their networks through a tool on article pages of the newspaper's Web site.

The deal, announced Monday night, will also enable advertisers to target "more Times readers than currently available through the NYTimes.com registration process," the companies said, though they did … Read more