Hacking Group "Anonymous" Is Making Its Own Social Network

Famed cyber-troublemakers Anonymous are taking things into their own hands after Google removed their Google+ profile and blocked their Gmail account.

In retaliation, Anonymous is starting their own social network, dubbed "AnonPlus."

In a rather grandiose manifesto on the splash page, AnonPlus.com currently reads:

"Welcome to AnonPlus. This will be your future. This will be our future. Today, we welcome you to begin anew…to watch this glorious incipience happen – one upon which you will never turn your back on. Welcome to the Revolution – a new social network where there is no fear…of censorship…of blackout…nor of holding back. Life is what you make of it – and we are making it. As you step through into the coming weeks, months, and years with us…they will know that we've arrived. There will be no more oppression. There will be no more tyranny. We are the people and we are Anonymous. We have arrived."

Was Google right to block Anonymous? Let us know in the comments!

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See Also:

• There Are More Women On Google+ Than We Originally Thought
• Here's How Paranoid Google STILL Is About Facebook
• Where Is Google Apps On Larry Page's Priority List?

Hacking Group "Anonymous" Is Making Its Own Social Network

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MYSTERY SOLVED: Here's Why Google Sites Revenue Is Growing Faster Than Google Network Revenue (GOOG)

On yesterday's earnings call, Google revealed that ad revenue from its own sites -- mainly search -- was up 39%. But ad revenue from partner sites -- AdSense -- was up only 20% from last year.

This is a huge disparity. It's also a relatively recent change -- for the first three (not four) quarters of 2010, Google's ad revenue grew in lockstep with or slightly SLOWER than its partners' ad revenue.

Plus it just seems weird. As a general rule, if overall Web activity and ad rates are going up, it seems logical that the growth rates should be about the same.

This caused Tom Foremski at Silicon Valley Watcher to question what was going on.

Three possible answers:

• Spam prevention. On both of Google's last two earnings calls, the company mentioned that it began cracking down on search spam in results. A lot of these low-quality sites used Google's AdSense to try and monetize the users they were getting from gaming Google Search. When Google turned off the spigot, these sites got less traffic, so AdSense revenue went down. Google started cracking down on spam in Q4 of last year, but accelerated it with a program called Panda that kicked off toward the end of Q1.

• Distribution deal loss. On Google's Q1 earnings call, ads VP Susan Wojcicki also mentioned that Google had lost a search distribution deal recently, and that had affected Network revenue. She was probably referring to the toolbar and app deal with Conduit, which Bing took away from Google in December 2010.

• Actually, this is a reversion to normal. If you go back a little farther (see chart below), Google Sites revenue has usually grown faster than Google Network revenue. It was really ONLY during late 2009 and early 2010 where that trend was reversed. That's probably because the recession caused a steeper dropoff in traffic to partner sites than in traffic to Google. So the partner sites showed a greater percentage rebound when the recession ended. Now we're far enough out of the downturn that the year-to-year comparables are going back to normal.

Here's a chart of ad revenue and annualized growth rate for Google Sites and Google Network stretching back to Q1 2008. The bold-faced quarters are the only ones where Google Network revenue grew as fast or faster than Google Sites revenue.

	Google Sites	Growth From Year Ago	Google Network	Growth From Year Ago
Q2'11	6,232	38.52%	2,484	20.41%
Q1'11	5,879	32.44%	2,427	19.20%
Q4'10	5,672	28.30%	2,495	22.06%
Q3'10	4,833	22.17%	2,199	22.10%
Q2'10	4,499	23.16%	2,063	22.51%
Q1'10	4,439	20.20%	2,036	24.30%
Q4'09	4,421	16.01%	2,044	20.73%
Q3'09	3,956	7.73%	1,801	7.20%
Q20109	3,653	3.48%	1,684	1.75%
Q1'09	3,693	8.62%	1,638	-2.85%
Q4'08	3,811	22.11%	1,693	3.48%
Q3'08	3,672	34.26%	1,680	15.46%
Q20108	3,530	42.00%	1,655	22.41%
Q1'08	3,400	48.99%	1,686	25.35%

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See Also:

• Google's Q2 Earnings Blow Past Expectations -- Stock Up 12%
• Will Larry Page's Second Earnings Report Be Better Than His First?
• THE GOOGLE INVESTOR: Wall Street Weighs In On Google Earnings Before The Bell

MYSTERY SOLVED: Here's Why Google Sites Revenue Is Growing Faster Than Google Network Revenue (GOOG)

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Google Display Network Getting Changes to Campaign Settings

Google is making change to the way Google Display Network campaign settings work, announced the Inside AdWords blog. This change will affect campaigns that meet these criteria:

Google Display Network Getting Changes to Campaign Settings

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Affiliate marketing network

Affiliate marketing network]]>

Affiliate marketing network

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Meet The Man Who Turned A Print Magazine Into A High-End Online Ad Network

Rich Antoniello started with a magazine and built an online advertising giant.

The former national sales director at National Geographic Adventure joined Complex Media, the company founded by Marc Ecko, as CEO in 2002. In the gig, he oversaw the magazine of the same name as well as its digital counterpart, Complex.com.

In 2007, the former ad man founded Complex Media Network, a digital network that now includes 66 sites amassing around 330 million page views per month.

CMN is now responsible for 85% of the company's revenue and will reach 95.5% in the coming months. Top line revenue for the entire organization has increased by triple digits in each of the past four years. Complex Media now boasts 86 staffers, up more than double from roughly 18 months ago when they took a capital infusion from investors including Accel Partners and Austin Ventures.

Life is good for Antoniello, who spoke with The Wire over ice tea at Markt near his office in Manhattan's west 20s.

He believes the key to success has been a focus on both the consumer and the advertisers. The staff at CMN picks and chooses sites that get incorporated into the network, which allows them to keep the quality high and distinguishes CMN from other similar but less exclusive ventures.

"It takes a little bit more time to find the right site from a qualitative and quantitative prospect," Antoniello says. "I don't think most networks give a shit about what the consumer thinks. I think they are thinking about the buy side 100% and are trying to go numbers, numbers, numbers."

Because of this selectivity, campaigns consistently outperform the industry average by "5-, 10-, 15-fold," according to the CEO. This success allows his sales people to keep the CPMs high. (The average CMP jumped 22% in 2010.)

The vast majority of CMN's 330 million monthly page views -- 77% to be exact -- come from style- or product-focused pages. The natural extension of this, it would seem, is to find a way to make money selling those products. And that's the next step for Antoniello and his crew.

"The transactional side of that business is something that we are in the middle of attacking in a very large way. We're not going to apply some affiliate layer. That is not our solution. We want to get much more in depth. Whether that's a white label private sale or other things along those lines, we're evaluating a multitude of options," Antoniello says.

"We're in some very interesting talks, let's put it that way."

He hopes the venture -- whatever it is -- will roll out in six to seven months, just in time for the holiday season.

"I don't know if it's going to happen, but we have the whips out."

And then there's Complex, which is a small but profitable part of the business. Antoniello, who calls his editorial side staffers "content developers" because they produce writing for the print and digital side, doesn't see it going away soon. The cache of having a print product remains high, and they have figured out an effective way to put out the magazine without it taking up too much bandwidth.

Complex.com is also on a roll, racking up between 2.5 and 3 million uniques and 37 million page views a month. It gains plenty of those page views because of slide shows, but Antoniello -- a self-avowed Bleacher Report fan -- believes that the 21- to 29-year-old guys his site primarily serves enjoys reading them. (And he's right.) As long as the slide shows are original content, he'll happily deliver.

"To bash somebody for fishing where the fish are, that's insane," he says.

An exploding advertising business, a profitable magazine, a dedicated online audience ready to purchase products your publication champions; that's not a bad business model.

Antoniello says the goal is to keep building the business, both the core functions and the e-commerce space, but in "12 to 18 months" it will be time to consider a sale or the next big step.

Right now, however, he'll keep wearing the same shoes. They fit him well.

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See Also:

• Angelina Jolie Is Definitely Wearing Makeup In Her $10 Million "No-Makeup" Louis Vuitton Campaign
• Bonnie Fuller: 'Celebrity Couples Can Be Role Models'
• Jada Pinkett Smith Spends Too Much Time With Husband Will Smith

Meet The Man Who Turned A Print Magazine Into A High-End Online Ad Network

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Sony Developer Network ‘Source Code’ and Sony BMG’s ‘Internal Network Maps’ Leaked

Sony has been caught on the wrong end of a hackers agenda for the past many weeks. The continued attacks on Sony have unveiled a number of their key online servers being unsecured.

Sony Developer Network ‘Source Code’ and Sony BMG’s ‘Internal Network Maps’ Leaked

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T-Mobile's 4G Network Is Getting A Lot Faster In These Cities (DT)

T-Mobile announced today that it's boosting 4G speeds in 55 cities, reaching theoretical speeds that are double what they are now.

The company claims its network can reach speeds of 42 Mbps (which is more than four times faster than your cable modem), but there's almost no chance of actually experiencing that in the wild.

Still, it show that T-Mobile is still working on improving speeds, which is a good thing.

Press release below:

Today, T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced it is doubling the speed of its 4G network in more than 50 markets to achieve theoretical peak download speeds of up to 42 megabits per second (Mbps). T-Mobile customers in 55 markets will now have access to increased 4G network speed, capacity and reliability. These markets include Atlanta, Ga.; Chicago, Ill.; Denver, Colo.; Detroit, Mich.; Dallas and Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco, Calif., among others. 

In addition, T-Mobile’s first 42 Mbps-capable 4G product, the T-Mobile Rocket^® 3.0 laptop stick, will be available for purchase beginning tomorrow, May 25. The Rocket 3.0, manufactured by ZTE, is designed to take advantage of T-Mobile’s faster 4G network speeds. Capable of speeds twice as fast as T-Mobile’s previous 4G devices, customers in 42Mbps coverage are expected to experience more consistent 4G speeds when creating and sharing mobile content, streaming and connecting through mobile video, and participating in multiplayer gaming.  

“We are continuing the aggressive expansion of America’s Largest 4G Network™, and also doubling our speeds in more than 50 markets this month,” said Neville Ray, chief technology officer, T-Mobile USA. “While customers with existing 3G and 4G devices will benefit from our continued network enhancements, new devices like the new Rocket 3.0 laptop stick will enable customers to reap the benefits of even faster 4G speeds.”

Providing customers with a blazing fast Internet connection on almost any laptop while on the go, the T-Mobile Rocket 3.0 is equipped with a convenient rotating swivel USB form factor and three changeable faceplates in cobalt blue, dark violet and matte black. The Rocket 3.0 will be available at select T-Mobile retail stores and online at www.T-Mobile.com tomorrow for $99.99 after a $50 mail in rebate, with a qualifying mobile broadband plan on a two year service agreement¹. Postpaid monthly plans start at $29.99, and customers with a qualifying voice line of service with T-Mobile receive a 20 percent discount. Customers can also purchase the T-Mobile Rocket 3.0 without an annual contract for $199.99.  For more information about the T-Mobile Rocket 3.0, including pricing and plan details, visit www.t-mobile.com/broadbandgoesmobile.

T-Mobile 4G markets where 42Mbps service is launching today:

Albany, Ga.; Athens, Ga.; Atlanta, Ga.; Auburn, Ala.; Augusta, Ga.; Austin, Texas; Bentonville, Ark.; Boulder, Colo.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Texas; Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla.; Denver, Colo.; Detroit, Mich.; Durham, N.C.; El Paso, Texas; Fort Collins, Colo.; Gainesville, Fla.; Gainesville, Ga.; Greeley, Colo.; Honolulu, Hawaii; Houston, Texas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Long Island, N.Y.; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif.; Macon, Ga.; Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Miami, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Olympia, Wash.; Omaha, Neb.; Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Ponce, Puerto Rico; Portland, Ore.; Salinas, Calif.; San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.; Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif.; Savannah, Ga.; Seattle, Wash.; Spokane, Wash.; Tampa, Fla.; Tulsa, Okla.; Valdosta, Ga.; Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.; Warner Robins, Ga., and Wichita, Kan.

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See Also:

• Wow, AT&T's 4G Network Is Going To Get Really, Really Fast
• Here's Everything You Need To Know About Microsoft's Big Windows Phone 7 Event Tomorrow
• BALLMER: We're Adding 500 New Features To Windows Phones This Fall

T-Mobile's 4G Network Is Getting A Lot Faster In These Cities (DT)

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