Makkad G's 10101 | 02.10 | May 16-31, 2008

Makkad G's 10101

1nformation 0n 1ndian 0nline 1ndustry

(Beta…, Beti, Bhai, Behen. Every1's invited!)

Version 02.10

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Hello,

Here's your issue of Makkad G's 10101 for May 16–31, 2008.

Happy Reading!

Makkad G

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Talk of the Town

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MagicBricks to organise property fair in Gurgaon on 17-18 May
Real estate portal MagicBricks.com is organising a property fair in Gurgaon on 17-18th May 2008. The event is expected to witness the participation of over 5,000 property seekers and a number of property developers including Tivoli Holiday Village, BPTP, Octagon, Pal Group and Shourya Housing. This is the third time that MagicBricks.com is holding a property fair in Gurgaon.

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CBS to acquire CNET Networks for $1.8 billion
CBS Corporation will buy CNET Networks, a US-based interactive media company which owns a number of news and information sites including News.com and Download.com, for $1.8 billion.

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eBay, Craigslist sue each other alleging breach of agreement
Online auction company eBay recently filed a lawsuit against online classifieds company Craigslist, alleging that Craigslist had tried to dilute eBays's 28.4 per cent stake in the company to 24.85 per cent. Now, Craigslist has countersued eBay claiming that eBay attempted to repeal competition by using privileges and information gleaned from its stake in Craigslist to benefit its own classifieds site Kijiji.

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Buongiorno to introduce mobile advertising solutions in India
Buongiorno, a provider of mobile value added services and digital marketing services, is planning to launch its mobile advertising solutions in India. The company has already introduced its mobile advertising programme in Egypt in collaboration with Vodafone.

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Facebook unveils new design of its profile pages
US-based social networking site Facebook has unveiled the new design of its users' profile pages which will now move away from a single flat page to a tabbed design. The move is aimed at making the profile page cleaner and simpler, giving users more control over their profile pages, and emphasizing recent and relevant information first.

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Yatra.com eyes Kuoni's travel management company HRG Sita
Travel portal Yatra.com is reportedly looking at buying Kuoni's travel management company HRG Sita which operates in the outbound holiday packages space. Travel firms Carlson Wagonlit and Thomas Cook are also said to be in the race for the company. HRG Sita could be valued at about Rs 1,000 crore

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Zapak to go for franchise model to set-up 300 Gameplexes across India
Online gaming company Zapak Digital Entertainment, which is a part of Reliance ADAG group, plans to increase the number of Zapak Gameplexes by introducing a franchise model in smaller towns and cities.

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Google allows third party ads on its content network
Google has decided to accept third party ads on its content network through certified vendors. Google Content Network is a large group of websites and other products, such as email programs and blogs, who have partnered with Google to display AdWords ads.

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Rediff posts 13% growth in revenues at $32.25 million for 2007-08
Rediff has reported a growth of 13 per cent in its revenues at $32.25 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, as compared to $28.68 million in the previous fiscal year. The company's net income, however, witnessed a decline from $6.99 million recorded for the March 2007 ended year to $5.03 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year. During the March 2008-ended year, Rediff earned an interest income of $5.51 million.

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Times Business to launch business networking site PeerPower.com
Times Business Solutions, which owns job portal TimesJobs.com, matrimony site SimplyMarry.com and real estate portal MagicBricks.com, is preparing to launch PeerPower.com, an invitation only exclusive business networking site that will seek to help senior executives profit from the network. PeerPower is expected to start inviting people to join the network in July or August 2008.

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Reliance Entertainment to launch BigMaps in 4 months
Reliance Entertainment, a part of Reliance ADA (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani) Group, is preparing to launch BigMaps.com, a mapping service that will allow users to look-up local information on a map from the desktop or mobile. BigMaps.com will also allow users to add content onto the maps. Reliance Entertainment Ventures, BigMaps will be launched in the next four months.

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Ezeego1.com launches Ticket Pe Ticket offer

Travel site Ezeego1.com has introduced a promotional scheme called Ticket Pe Ticket under which customers who book a SpiceJet ticket through the ezeego1 site would be entitled to get a second air ticket free. The offer is valid till 30th June 2008.

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Reliance Retail, Vishal Retail, Subhiksha to launch online shopping portals
Reliance Retail, RPG Cellcom, Tata Woolworths, Vishal Retail, Subhiksha and Spinach are planning to launch their online shopping portals. Investment is Rs 12 crore into this (online retailing) venture and expect 3-4 per cent of total business coming from online."

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Reliance invests in US-based social networking company Pelago
Reliance Technology Ventures Limited, the corporate venture capital arm of Reliance ADA (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani) Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in US-based Pelago. Pelago has developed Whrrl, a mobile and web-based service at the intersection of social networking and local discovery.

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Hanmer commissioned to promote Shobhaa De's book online
Hanmer MS&L, a unit of Publicis Group, has been commissioned to promote Shobhaa De's latest book Superstar India online. The book, published by Penguin Books India, is about India's sixty years of independence, and how, despite its failings, the country may still acquire a 'Superstar' status.

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MetroMela.com launches monthly magazine focused on Hyderabad city

MetroMela.com, a city-centric website that aims to help users find relevant local information, share reviews and get the 'best deals running in town', has launched a monthly magazine focused exclusively on Hyderabad city, its life and people.

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Jeevansathi.com opens retail outlet in New Delhi
Matrimonial site Jeevansathi.com, a part of Info Edge India (Naukri.com), has opened its first retail outlet Jeevansathi.com Match Point at Malviya Nagar in New Delhi. The company now plans to open its next retail outlets at Lajpat Nagar and Kamla Nagar in Delhi. In the next six months, 25-30 Jeevansathi.com Match Points are planned across India.

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CafeGadgets.in introduces 100% cash back offer
CafeGadgets.in, an online store for technology and digital lifestyle products, has introduced a 100 per cent cash back offer on all purchases made through the site till June 15, 2008.

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WebSight!-Spin the Web. Explore!

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Extramarks.com to offer its courses for students of regional education boards
Extramarks.com, which offers online academic support to students, is planning to introduce its services to students of regional examination boards. Currently, the company is offering its services to CBSE students following the NCERT curriculum.

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LaunchPad-Just Born Online (I just love the Betas!)

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Web18's new portal In.com offers news, email, music, video, games, travel, matrimony search
Web18 Software Services, the Internet arm of Network18 group, has launched In.com that allows users to read and rate news, listen to music, watch videos, play games and even search for flight and hotel deals as well as look for matrimonial partners and conduct product search.

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AOL India allows its email, IM users to send free SMS to mobile phones
AOL India has launched a new service that allows its users to send instant messages and SMSes for free to Indian mobile phones through AOL Mail or Messenger service. The new feature also enables the recipient mobile user to respond to those messages instantly. The service is currently supported by a number of telecom networks including Airtel, Vodafone, MTNL, Spice and Aircel.

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Info Edge (Naukri) to invest $5-10 million on Shiksha.com in 3 years
Info Edge India (Naukri.com) has launched Shiksha.com, an education portal that aims to connect education seeker with education provider. Shiksha.com is currently offering information for over 70,000 colleges, courses, scholarships and admission notifications. The company plans to invest $5- $10 million (approx Rs 20-40 crore) on Shiksha.com over the next three years.

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OurOwnBook.com lets users become co-author of a book
Dhruv Bhushan and Anubhav Jain, two alumni of IIM-Indore 2008 batch, have launched OurOwnBook.com, an online platform where anybody can add a sentence to a story line and get his name as the co-author of the book when it gets published.

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AskLaila.com introduces its services on mobile phones
Local search engine AskLaila.com has introduced its services on GPRS-enabled mobile phones as well as through SMS. The service is currently available to Vodafone and Reliance subscribers in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

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Makaan.com enables users to list properties through SMS
Real estate portal Makaan.com has launched Makaan Mobile, a SMS-based application that lets users to list properties on the site and view responses on their mobile phones. Makaan Mobile has been developed by Mauj Mobile and is compatible with all GSM models.

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AOL launches its online video service in India
US-based Internet company AOL, a part of Time Warner, has launched its online video service in India, Canada and Taiwan. The company also plans to introduce local versions of its men's lifestyle site Asylum in India, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Italy.

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BIGFlix (BigFlicks) launches TV campaign 'Ab Aam Zindagi Ban Jaye Filmy'
BIGFlix (formerly known as BigFlicks) has launched a mass media campaign across India for its video rental business in the domestic market. To begin with, BIGFlix is using television to create awareness for the brand. Later, it plans to support its TV campaign by online, outdoor, radio and print campaigns.

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Tyroo launches Gaming channel for advertisers
Online ad network Tyroo Media has launched a Premium Gaming channel which includes inventory like Miniclip.com, UltimateArcade.com and Cheatcodes.com and targets an age-group of 13-25 years having high speed broadband connections and good spending power.

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Microsoft offers cashback to users of Live Search

Microsoft has launched a Live Search cashback program that offers cashback to users when they purchase products from cashback listings on MSN Live Search.

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Cleartrip.com launches Cleartrip Videos offering 1,000 travel videos
Online travel portal Cleartrip.com has launched Cleartrip Videos that offers about 1,000 travel videos that were submitted by amateur film makers during the Short Flicks Festival sponsored by Cleartrip in 2007.

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Kingfisher launches online contest to select Face of Kingfisher
Kingfisher, the flagship brand of United Breweries Group, has launched an online contest to select the Face of Kingfisher. Winners of the contest will be awarded redeemable points for travelling, access to Kingfisher events, Kingfisher avenues and will also be featured on the Kingfisher website.

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Nexus-Link.Un.Link

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RedBus allows users to book bus tickets on GPRS-enabled mobile phone
Online bus ticketing company RedBus.in has partnered with JiGrahak Mobility Solutions to enable its users book bus tickets through GPRS-enabled mobile phones. The service will be powered by JiGrahak's ngpay technology.

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Rohan Deshpande joins Hungama as Associate Director, Wireless Technology
Hungama Mobile, a leading digital entertainment company, has appointed Rohan Deshpande as associate director, wireless technology. Prior to joining Hungama, Rohan Deshpande was program manager, Asia at Airwide Solutions. In his new role, Deshpande will be responsible for creating and executing the technology roadmap at Hungama.

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Ask.com acquires Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com
Ask.com, an Internet search company, has acquired Lexico, owner of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, in an all-cash transaction. Ask.com has not disclosed how much it paid for Lexico, but the figure is believed to be around $100 million.

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Cable-TV company Comcast buys social networking site Plaxo
US-based cable-TV company Comcast has agreed to acquire social networking site Plaxo. Terms were not disclosed, although reports suggest that the price could be up to $175 million, based on performance targets over the next few years.

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ezeego1.com ties-up with redBus to offer bus tickets to its users
Travel portal ezeego1.com has partnered with online bus ticketing company redBus.in to offer bus ticket booking facilities to its users on a real-time basis.

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Educomp acquires majority stake in Learning.com for $24.5 million
Educomp Solutions has acquired 51 per cent stake in US-based eLearning company, Learning.com for $24.5 million. Following the investment, Learning.com and Educomp together hope to bring Educomp's services to schools in US, as well as bring Learning.com's products to users in India and South-East Asia.

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BharatMatrimony ties-up with Metropolis Heath Services to promote healthier marriages
Matrimony portal BharatMatrimony.com has partnered with Metropolis Heath Services to enable its users avail pre-marital health check up at special prices and also upload the certificate as part of their profile. Such profiles will be highlighted as Health Profiles on the BharatMatrimony site.

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Mohit Gupta joins MakeMyTrip as chief marketing officer
Online travel company MakeMyTrip.com has appointed Mohit Gupta as its new chief marketing officer. Prior to joining MakeMyTrip, Mohit Gupta was vice president, marketing (flavours) at PepsiCo International - India Beverages.

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SnapFish acquires MeraSnap to increase its customer-base by 50%
SnapFish, owned by US-based printer leader Hewlett Packard, has acquired the customers of Bangalore-based online photo prints ordering service MeraSnap. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

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Cleartrip partners with STAR India's mobile service PLUS
Online travel company Cleartrip.com has partnered with STAR India's Mobile Entertainment division to enable users of STAR's mobile service PLUS get real-time access to travel-related information on their mobile devices.

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Yahoo, WPP join hands to provide advertisers access to more websites
UK-based advertising company WPP Group has partnered with Yahoo to enable its agencies including GroupM and 24/7 Real Media to buy digital display advertising across Yahoo's online properties, its affiliated networks and 24/7's Global Web Alliance.

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UTV acquires 76% stake in IT Nation for Rs 15 crore
UTV New Media, the digital media arm of UTV Software Communications, has acquired 76 per cent stake in IT Nation for Rs 15 crore. ITNation owns a number of websites including Techtree.com, Cxotoday.com, Enterpriser.in, ChannelTimes.com and 360magazine.com.

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Google India appoints business heads for AdWords
Google India has appointed Sridhar Seshadri, Parminder Singh and Narasimha Jayakumar as business heads for Financial Services, Technology, and Travel & Local respectively for its AdWords advertising platform. While Sridhar Seshadri comes from ICICI Bank, Parminder Singh and Narasimha Jayakumar have worked with IBM and Expedia respectively.

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MensXpert.com hosts content from Infomedia's magazines Chip, T3
MensXpert.com, a lifestyle portal for Indian men, has partnered with Infomedia to host some of the content from Infomedia's magazines Chip and T3 on its site. MensXpert is also planning to enter into similar tie-ups with some of the other major publications relevant to Indian men.

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Indiagames launches online game based on Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain
Indiagames has partnered with Star Plus to launch Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader, an online game based on the TV quiz show Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain. The quiz show, which is currently on air on Star Plus, will also be extended to mobile and DTH platform.

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Dentsu, Connecturf jointly set up Internet advertising company Clickstreamers
Bangalore-based Dentsu Communications, which is a subsidiary of Japan-based advertising company Dentsu, has partnered with Mumbai-based interactive marketing company Connecturf to set-up an Internet advertising company, Clickstreamers India.

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That's all for now folks!

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Makkad-G

Makkad G's 10101 | 02.09 | May 1-15, 2008

Makkad G's 10101

1nformation 0n 1ndian 0nline 1ndustry

(Beta…, Beti, Bhai, Behen. Every1's invited!)

Version 02.09

-

Hello,

Here's your issue of Makkad G's 10101 for May 1–15, 2008.

Happy Reading!

Makkad G

-

Talk of the Town

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OnMobile net profit grows by 79% at Rs 60.3 crore for 2007-08
OnMobile Global, a leading mobile value added services (M-VAS) company, has posted a net profit of Rs 60.3 crore on a total revenue of Rs 269.3 crore for the March 2008 ended year, as compared with a net profit of Rs 33.7 crore on a total revenue of Rs 137.3 crore recorded a year ago. In the fourth quarter ended March 2008, the company earned a net profit of Rs 4.5 crore on a total revenue of Rs 71.8 crore.

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Google lets AdWords users to buy TV ads in US
Google has opened up its TV ad system, which was introduced for a limited number of beta testers in June 2007, to all AdWords advertisers in US. Google TV Ads allows AdWords users to select which TV networks will broadcast the ad and when the ad will run.

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Provider of web video contents on mobile phones raises $7.8 million from NVP
Veveo, a provider of web video contents through mobile phones, has secured $7.8 million in series - B funding from Norwest Venture Partners. Including the current round, the company has so far raised $28 million in venture funding from Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, NVP and OmniCapital.

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Yatra to compensate for flight delays even for non Yatra.com bookings
Online travel company Yatra.com has introduced a reimbursement policy under which the company promises to offer air travellers a compensation of Rs 200 for all domestic flight delays of over 20 minutes in India.

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Scrabulous may soon be available to Orkut users
Scrabulous, an online word game developed by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, may soon be available to Orkut users. The application, which boasts of three million registered users, is already running on Facebook where it has reportedly become the fifth-most popular application.

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Zapak in talks with local players to launch its gaming portal in Brazil, Russia, China
Zapak Digital Entertainment, a part of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, is reportedly in talks with local players in Brazil, Russia and China in order to launch its online gaming portal Zapak.com in the local languages. The move is aimed at expanding Zapak's operations into BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.

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Agencyfaqs invites readers to suggest colours for its new logo Afaqs
Agencyfaqs.com, the advertising, media and marketing website, is shortening its name to Afaqs. The company has unveiled the outline of its new logo and is now inviting readers to suggest colours for the new logo.

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AdvertisementIndia.com allows users to book ads in Indian newspapers
Lucknow-based WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) Advertising is running an online service at AdvertisementIndia.com where users can book their ads in Indian national and regional dailies from anywhere in the world.

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IBM India Research Laboratory working on talking website
IBM India Research Laboratory is working on a talking website project that aims to enable even the unlettered people to create a website and access information from others for business transactions.

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Times Group in talks to acquire 20-30% stake in Dekhona.com
Officials of Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd (The Times Group) are in talks to acquire 20-30 per cent stake in the online video sharing company. In return, Dekhona.com will be allowed to leverage the existing Times group properties for marketing and promotional activities.

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Online game subscriptions generate $1 billion a year in US
Online games are generating $1 billion a year in subscription revenue in US. Here online games include massively multiplayer online games, casual games, and online games played on consoles.

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Web18 to launch horizontal portal
Web18, the internet arm of Network18 group, is planning to launch a horizontal portal. The existing horizontal portals in India include Rediff.com, Indiatimes.com, Sify.com, Yahoo.co.in, MSN.co.in and AOL.in.


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Zoho allows users to login with Google, Yahoo accounts
Zoho, an online service offering office productivity suite, has allowed users to login to the site with their Google or Yahoo accounts. According to Zoho, its users can now also share documents with their friends who have Google or Yahoo accounts.

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MySpace wins $230 million in anti-spam judgement
Social networking site MySpace has won $230 million in a case filed against two spammers in US. Sanford Wallace and his partner Walter Rines had created their accounts on MySpace and sent more than 730,000 spam messages to other members of the social networking site, in a way that many of the messages appeared to have come from trusted friends.

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Zapak expects 25% of its revenues to come from merchandise
Zapak Digital Entertainment plans to launch a host of merchandise built around the Zapak games in order to push growth. Its merchandise will include bags, apparel, mugs, headphones, accessories and handbands and will be priced between Rs 150 and Rs 300.

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WebSight!-Spin the Web. Explore!

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SutraHR launched to help startups find talented people
Mumbai-based Sutra HR has launched a people consulting service that aims to help startups and small entrepreneurial-driven companies in finding the right talent to facilitate their growth as a company and as a business. Sutra HR counts companies like Zapak, PaGaLGuY, Seventymm, Komli Media, Burrp, Communicate2, ZoomIn, Interactive Avenues and BookMyShow among its clients.

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LaunchPad-Just Born Online (I just love the Betas!)

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Yahoo India launches Local Search in 4 cities
Yahoo India has launched a local search engine at Local.Yahoo.in. The local search is currently available in four cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.

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ReviewGist.in offers product discovery and research tool for consumer electronics
Cobaan Technologies has launched ReviewGist.in, a product discovery and research tool for consumer electronics powered by online expert reviews. ReviewGist also provides specification and pricing information from some of the leading online retailers.

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CafeGadgets.in launches SMS-based product and price search
CafeGadgets.in, an online retailer of cutting edge gadgets and gizmos, has introduced CG Mobile Search, which allows users to do product and price search on mobile phones. To use the service, one would have to send an SMS to 53030 and get the price quotes of his desired product from CafeGadgets.in.

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UTVi.com to focus on business news, e-shopping, lifestyle related content
UTVi, the business news channel from UTV, has launched its website UTVi.com. UTVi.com will rely on online shopping and lifestyle related content like travel, entertainment, gadgets, fashion and food to compensate for the fall in traffic after the stock markets close.

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Nautanki.tv offers Fashion TV content on its video network
Online video channel Nautanki.tv has started showing video clips from Fashion TV channel. The site is currently showing 15 minutes of content of the latest fashion shows in India.

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RouteGuru.com launches SMS-based route finder service
RouteGuru.com, which offers landmark-based driving directions in India, has launched RouteGuru On-the-Go, a SMS-based service that would help users in the Delhi-NCR region to find direction hints as well as approximate auto-fare while they are on the move.

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Ibibo comes out with a new concept called Baltigiri
Social networking site Ibibo.com has launched a community based concept called Baltigiri which is a take-off from Gandhigiri and the Balti Ad. The new concept gives Ibibo users a voice, beyond providing a platform for social interaction.

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Yahoo India unveils new search feature Glue Pages
Yahoo India has launched Glue Pages, a new search feature that collates and integrates 'the most relevant information' from across the web onto a single visual search results page. For instance, a search for Aishwarya Rai would include biographical quick-facts, videos, music tracks, photos and content from Yahoo Answers.

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Guruji.com launches Music Search, offers list of top songs
Internet search engine Guruji.com has launched Music Ka Guru - Guruji.com Music Search. The new service also provides a list of top songs, top singers and top albums.

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Webdunia launches online classifieds in local languages
Indian language portal Webdunia.com has introduced a classified advertisement service in local languages. The new service allows users to post an advertisement and receive responses on the email, phone or by post

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PKBS (SecondShaadi) launches auto portal Gaadi.com
Pahwa Knowledge Based Services, a consumer internet company that owns SecondShaadi.com, has launched an auto portal Gaadi.com. PKBS was recently in news for successfully selling its social networking site Desimartini.com to HT Media's wholly-owned internet subsidiary Firefly eVentures.

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Yahoo launches its Search Marketing system in India
Yahoo India has launched Yahoo Search Marketing, a sponsored search system that makes it easy for advertisers to build and manage their online ad campaigns. The new platform also helps advertisers to gain a higher return on their investments by targeting relevant customers.

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IBNLive.com launches new features to boost engagement with users
IBNLive.com, a news portal from Web 18, has launched two features Mindgames and Active Search. These features have been launched in a bid to boost engagement with users along with providing them the daily news and breaking stories.

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Nexus-Link.Un.Link

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IAMAI appoints S Bikhchandani as chairman; Ajit Balakrishnan named Chairman Emeritus
Ajit Balakrishnan, founder, chairman and managing director of Rediff.com, has been appointed Chairman Emeritus of Internet and Mobile Association of India. IAMAI has also appointed Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder and CEO of Info Edge India (Naukri.com), as its new chairman for the year 2008-09.

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Cox to acquire ad network technology provider Adify for $300 million
Cox Enterprises, a media company with broad holdings in newspapers, radio and television, has decided to acquire US-based online advertising technology company Adify for $300 million. Adify, which was founded in 2005, helps internet publishers build vertical advertising networks under their own brand names.

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MSN India to provide content on Royal Challengers Bangalore's website
MSN India has tied up with the Royal Challengers Bangalore team to power RoyalChallengers.com, the official website of the Royal Challengers, and help build content and tools for fans to interact with Bangalore's IPL team online.

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Web18 reorganises its online properties into financial and content verticals
Web18, which holds all the internet properties of Network18 Group, has reorganised its operations into two separate groups -- financial and content verticals. While Rishi Khiani has been appointed chief operating officer for the content vertical, Joyson Thomas has been appointed COO of the Web18's financial properties. Varun Singh, chief technology officer of Web18, will continue to head Tech2.com and BizTech2.com.

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Microsoft withdraws proposal to acquire Yahoo
Microsoft has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Yahoo. In January 2008, Microsoft had made an unsolicited offer to buy Yahoo for $44.6 billion. Yahoo later rejected the offer saying Microsoft's bid 'substantially undervalued' the company. Recently, Microsoft raised its bid by about $5 billion but now it appears that Yahoo wanted Microsoft to further raise its bid by another $5 billion or more, raising the acquisition size to about $55 billion.

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Google adds Hindi to its online translation service
Google has added Hindi language to its online translation service. Google Translate will now allow users to translate text or a web page between Hindi and English.

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Zapak ties-up with Ishant Sharma to launch bowling only cricket game
Zapak Digital Entertainment and Jump Games, the two gaming divisions of Reliance Entertainment, have partnered with cricketer Ishant Sharma to launch an online and a mobile game based around the cricketer.

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YouTube India goes live, ties-up with local content partners
Video sharing site YouTube, which is owned by Google, has launched YouTube.co.in, a local site specific to Indian viewers. YouTube has also signed up "dozens of local partners" to distribute their content through the YouTube India site. To coincide with the YouTube India launch, the company has also unveiled the official YouTube India blog at in.YouTube.com/blog.

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Yahoo partners with McAfee to deliver 'safer' Web search experience
Yahoo has partnered with security technology company McAfee to deliver a 'safer' Web search experience to Yahoo Search users. Websites that may harm the user's computer just by visiting them will be eliminated from appearing in Yahoo Search results.

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SlideShare secures $3 million from US-based VC firm Venrock
SlideShare.net, which enables users to share PowerPoint presentations, has secured an investment of $3 million from US-based VC firm Venrock. With this investment, David Siminoff, managing partner at Venrock has joined SlideShare's board of directors which currently includes Guy Kawasaki.

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Indyarocks partners with FXLabs to create casual gaming community
Social networking site Indyarocks.com has partnered with FXLabs Studios, a leading end-to-end game company, to create a gaming platform that will have more than 5,000 online casual games. The online gaming platform will also allow independent game developers to upload and get feedback from more than a million active gamers on Indyarocks.

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Riya Sen appointed brand ambassador for IPLT20.com
IPLT20.com, the official website of Indian Premier League (IPL), has appointed Bollywood actress Riya Sen as its brand ambassador. As a brand ambassador, Riya Sen would be present at the IPL matches, interact with the cricketers, and post her reactions and views on the site.

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M&C Saatchi Direct & Digital appoints Sumantra Sengupta as CEO
UK-based advertising agency M&C Saatchi has launched its digital advertising and direct marketing agency M&C Saatchi Direct & Digital in India. The company has also appointed Sumantra Sengupta as chief executive officer of the new agency. Sengupta was formerly senior vice president and general manager at RMG Connect.

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Shekhar Sharma joins Interaction as national director, search marketing
Interaction, the digital arm of GroupM, has appointed Shekhar Sharma as national director, search marketing. Prior to joining Interaction, Shekhar Sharma was general manager, internet and telecom, at India Today Group Digital. He has also worked at Indiatimes.com as deputy manager, online sales.

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ApnaLoan appoints Kairav Shah as Vice President
ApnaLoan.com has appointed Kairav Shah as vice president, Personal Finance. Prior to joining ApnaLoan, Kairav Shah was vice president at SRE Financial Planners, a division of Sykes & Ray Equities.

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Sulekha.com partners with Weather Channel to provide weather data to its users
Social networking and classifieds site Sulekha.com has partnered with The Weather Channel Interactive to provide real-time weather information to its members and visitors.

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Kolkata Knight Riders enables fans to receive team pics on mobile phones
Shahrukh Khan's IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders has partnered with MobShare, a mobile media sharing service provider, to enable cricket fans receive exclusive photos of the team on their GPRS-enabled mobile phones.

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That's all for now folks!

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Makkad-G