Yahoo Local Full of Affiliate Spam – eClick Performance Blog

A great article on the large amount of affiliate spam in the hotel industry on Yahoo Local as a result of allowing end user edits.  Affiliates essentially highjack unclaimed records and interject their url on a pass through basis to the actual hotel website, thus accruing referral fees. A cautionary tale for Google. Ahh the web we weave for money.

Google sees surge in Web use on mobile phones – Eric Auchard , Reuters

“We have very much hit a watershed moment in terms of mobile Internet usage,” Matt Waddell, a product manager for Google Mobile, said in an interview. “We are seeing that mobile Internet use is in fact accelerating.

The growing availability of flat-rate data plans from phone carriers instead of per-minute charges that previously discouraged Internet use, along with improved Web browsers on mobile phones as well as better-designed services from companies like Google are fueling the growth, Waddell argued.

FCC 700MHz Auction Over: Incumbents Likely Win – Greg Sterling, LocalMobileSearch

The C Block, which was the most closely watched of the various blocks will be subject to the openness provisions that Google pushed for. However, it was probably won by Verizon or perhaps AT&T. This may allow the winner to build next-generation (4G) networks but doesn’t really diversify the competitive landscape. From that perspective the auction might be called a failure.

Given that the $4.6 reserve price was met for the C Block airwaves, the winning bidder will have to allow any legal device to work on it and not play gatekeeper with software. This sets up an independent way for Android phones to make their way into consumers’ hands. Pricing, however, will be an “X variable.” How much will it cost non-Verizon or non-AT&T customers, I’m assuming, to bring their devices to this network?

Adobe begins work on Flash player for iPhone – AppleInsider

Narayen made the revelation during a conference call with investors, explaining that Apple’s recent release of an iPhone software developers kit (SDK) has afforded his company the necessary tools to finally begin work a version of its proprietary media player for the touch-screen handset.

“We believe Flash is synonymous with the Internet experience, and we are committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone,” he said. “We have evaluated (the software developer tools) and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves.”