Yelp Not Being Acquired by Google

Update: Reports now say that Yelp has backed out of the deal.

Original Article: Multiple reports say that Google is in negotiations to acquire Yelp, a site that caters to reviews of local businesses. Mike Arrington claims to have confirmed this with "multiple sources," and says the price is at least $500 million.

Yelp has an interesting page in which it squashes 9 "myths" about the service. Yelp says you don't have to buy advertising to rank highly in Yelp search results, and that the only paid reviews are in clearly-marked ad form. Apparently a common myth is that Yelp reviewers are all young, and in high school or college.

"In January 2009, 94% of Yelp reviewers were over 23 years old," says Yelp. "This means about 6% of reviewers fall into that 'high school or college age' category."



Yelp.com had over 26 million unique visitors in the US in November. According to Yelp, people have  written over 8 million local reviews, with over 85% of them rating a business 3 stars or higher.

Let's remember that nothing is final yet, and there is still a possibility that Google will not acquire Yelp. According to Arrington, one source says the deal is 80% likely. Take that as you will.

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YouTube May Expand Into TV Show Biz

It's no secret that YouTube's trying to catch up to Hulu in terms of offering premium content; the site's administrators often make a big deal out of movie and TV show additions.  What is under wraps - or at least hasn't been publicized in press releases and blog posts - is that YouTube might also be interested in charging for access.

According to Peter Kafka, "[I]t envisions something similar to what Apple and Amazon already offer: First-run shows, without commercials, for $1.99 an episode, available the day after they air on broadcast or cable."

And although negotiations between YouTube and content owners are preliminary, according to Kafka's sources, "both sides seem optimistic, since models for such deals already exist."

Plus, since Hulu is also likely to place some content behind a pay wall, YouTube wouldn't be putting itself at too much of a disadvantage.

Of course, there's no guarantee that this experiment would be successful.  YouTube became so popular by virtue of being free, and the introduction of fees could just turn more people onto less-than-legal alternatives like the Pirate Bay.  Still, Kafka said that YouTube will probably be "one of several outlets trying to get consumers to pay for TV on the Web in 2010."

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MySpace Reaches Deal With Another Music Label

The "virtual fifth label" is now friends with MySpace.  Merlin, an organization that represents independent music companies, is supposed to have signed a deal with the social network that should nicely complement MySpace's existing partnerships with EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner. Merlin's association with indie artists and late arrival to the music scene (it launched in January of 2007) set it apart from the so-called Big Four.  Just the same, Merlin's a major force, with members in more than 25 countries, and names like Cat Power, Tom Waits, and The White Stripes linked with it. So it's quite noteworthy that, according to Andrew Orlowski, a Merlin spokesman stated, "After more than a year of negotiations, MySpace Music has finally offered Merlin a deal that is acceptable to its members, members who represent 10% of the global music market." What's more, "The same eligibility and level of participation will be offered to all independent labels licensing content to MySpace Music." Of course, the details of the arrangement haven't yet been made public, which leaves a lot of questions unanswered.  But it looks like MySpace, which acquired Imeem just yesterday and launched MySpace Music Charts the day before, is really on a roll on the music front.

YouTube’s Director Of Content Partnerships To Leave

The man who's served as YouTube's director of content partnerships for almost three years has found another job.  Jordan Hoffner is set to link up with a content venture at IAC, according to a new report.

The timing of Hoffner's move is perhaps less than ideal for YouTube; the site's deep in negotiations with a number of different parties, including ITV, Lionsgate, Sony, and Warner Bros.  Having a different, possibly-not-up-to-speed guy take over now might not help things along.

That's where the good news kicks in, though.  YouTube's not stuck with some newbie, or worse yet, no one at all.  Rafat Ali wrote, "Replacing Hoffner in his position at Google/YouTube will be Chris Maxcy, who has been heading YT's music partnerships till now; media/video will also now fold under him."

Maxcy's been with YouTube for about four years.  And before YouTube, Maxcy also worked for RealNetworks, Yahoo, and Hewlett Packard (filling similar business and market development roles), so he has quite a bit of experience in the tech industry.

It should be interesting to see how much time passes before the first content deal is sealed under Maxcy's watch.

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> YouTube Strikes Deal With UK Broadcaster

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> YouTube And Hulu See Record High Video Views

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