Web-delivered video is hot right now, with a number of video start-ups having launched or received funding and with the iPod video making it the newest sexy thing to cover in the media.
The latest move comes from online video search service blinkx, which has debuted a service to port its Web search and delivery …

Om Malik takes an interesting look at the Google-AOL deal, including its implications for Video.
Among other things, the deal will give a boost in the arm to Google’s beleaguered content aggregation efforts for its video search. It has thus far trailed most other video search players (including blinkx, Yahoo! and AOL itself) in acquiring content. …

Google is closing in on personalized search, a feature on the search horizon that will allow engines to better target users and optimize paid search. The carrot for users is a better way to organize their search history. It’s been slow to gain traction and be rolled out, however, because of general privacy concerns as …

The debate over requiring users to register for access to news content rages on in the online news world. On the one hand, it can inhibit traffic by erecting a barrier for users to get content, and traffic is important for attracting advertisers. (Editor & Publisher columnist Steve Outing has some interesting thoughts on this.) …

Editor & Publisher columnist Steve Outing lists his New Year’s resolutions for the newspaper industry here.
It’s a good summary of many of the challenges facing the newspaper industry, and it echoes much of our own analysis and recommendations to the newspaper industry over the past year including;
– Become the primary social-networking venues for their communities¦ …

In something of a surprise, Google is set to buy 5% of America Online from Time Warner for $1 billion. We had anticipated a Microsoft announcement. There's more on this story from The N.Y. Times. This is obviously a big deal and may give Google access to coveted content assets from Time Warner. And although …

"Alea iacta est"' (the die is cast) is what Julius Caesar is supposed to have said as he famously crossed the Rubicon river in Northern Italy, marking the beginning of events that would cause him to become "dictator for life."
Susan Mernit on her blog said the following about the AOL deal:
[I]n a year, …

From the release:
Insider Pages, the community-based local-search engine, and Interchange Corporation, owner of Local.com, a leading local-search engine, today announced an agreement for the distribution of Insider Pages Pay Per Phone Call advertisers and merchant reviews on Local.com. Insider Pages advertisers and merchant reviews will appear in relevant Local.com search results when a consumer types …

Here's a picture of the MIT-developed $100 laptop. The computer, created in partnership with Google and AMD, is set to roll out soon. Reportedly, Intel Corp. Chairman Craig Barrett (and AMD competitor) said users will not want such a device.
Right.
MIT had originally said it is for the people/children of the Third World and …

In all-day meetings, so there's no time to really blog (drat!). MSN follows Yahoo! and AOL in offering VoIP PC-to-phone calling (through MSN messenger). MSN is doing this in partnership with MCI (being acquired by Verizon).
Here are the details:
MCI and Microsoft are testing the service as part of a Windows Live Messenger limited …

This is very interesting — and we could see a proliferation of vertical search engines on top of this. No time to discuss extensively. Here are the opinions of:
Danny Sullivan and John Battelle. Here's Susan Mernit and Om Malik. Here's the Wall Street Journal article (subscription req'd). Here's another discussion on Search Engine Journal. …

Far ahead of its newspaper industry owners, news portal Topix.net has launched a redesigned site and added user comments and community features, turning the entire site into a blog of sorts.
Here's more from SiliconBeat.

Local retailer aggregator and Google Base partner StepUp announced that it had received a $6.6 million series B round. From the press release:
StepUp Commerce, Inc., the Internet’s local shopping service, today announced it has closed a $6.6 million funding round to further enhance its local shopping service for retailers. The round was co-led by …

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, there were 5.1 billion total search queries in October. Here's how Nielsen recorded search engine market share (U.S.):

Google — 48 percent
Yahoo! — 22 percent
MSN — 11 percent
AOL — 7 percent
Ask — 3 percent
Nielsen also said that Local Search queries increased by 19 percent during the same period.

Interchange's consumer destination site Local.com will be offering a del.icio.us-like tagging/bookmarking feature powered by LookSmart's Furl like The N.Y. Times). This is the latest in a series of moves (with more coming) to beef up the content and features of Local.com, among them: ShopLocal's content and PPCall ads from Ingenio.
Earlier this week, Interchange announced …

Amid a frenized and potentially boffo online shopping season (projected to reach $19.6b in the U.S.), U.K.-based GUS announced that it's buying California-based comparison shopping engine PriceGrabber. The online shopping site was No. 6 in terms of August U.S. traffic, according to comScore. The reported price was $485m (£274m).
Back when Shopzilla was acquired by E.W. …

Following in the footsteps of The New York Times, USA Today announced that it will merge its print and online newsrooms. Both moves came out of a recognition that online news traffic is growing and that news distribution should be platform agnostic.
Just one day earlier, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell brought up the opposing …

Google is introducing a new music feature, according to Reuters and SEW. When users search for, say, Madonna (the example used at SEW), they'll see some information: a picture and links to a page about Madonna and a link to the alliterative "more music results for Madonna." (Click that link and note the "search music" …

Yahoo! renamed Konfabulator Yahoo! Widgets, and it has greatly expanded the widget gallery (it seems). I love these widgets. They're fun. Strategic value: They give the company a presence on the desktop, beyond the browser — blah, blah, blah.
Now, Google has offered an API for its personalized homepage — essentially a widget-making tool. This …