Peter Chun

The rumor mill is hot with the latest word that Google has purchased the address book turned “social media” hub.

Plaxo has been in the press lately “shopping around” and LinkedIn has repeatedly stated that they are not interested in going public in the “near” term.

I’m a fan of plaxo - as it allows me to sync from device –> corporate email/calendar –> google calendar –> iCal. While it’s buggy, it gets the job done and IMO does it the best out there. I haven’t dabbled too much in the “pulse” features yet, but cmon make the “de-duper” free please!

If you know any folks at plaxo - you may want to keep an eye out for them here.

Knowledge is power. We all thrive on knowing what’s going on, who did what, with who/where, the obligatory “was he/she drunk?” and ending it with the all too common “wow!”

Michael Robertson (domain fame mp3.com) has recently launched a new site dealipedia. Prying off anonymity and silicon valley/alley buried secrets (and of course legitimate info from the SEC) users can now take the wikipedia model and show who has a bigger napoleon complex house and higher cholesterol.

Favorite section of the site for me is “Who Made The Money?”  but probably not for Joitchi Ito who (made “0″ million) on the deal with “Quincy’s House of Pain” (also known as CBS Interactive.)  While it recently has taken off, given where the market has been and continued direction of compression, this list will likely continue to grow.

My goal in life is to make this list and be angry (secretly stoked) because i found out through someone else.

Last year, many of you may recall a snowboard rail session on an absolutely frigid brick day/night.

It’s back again and the competition pool looks strong as ever. Danny Kass is missing from the list. He’s one of my favorite riders to watch and it was cool seeing him across the street as we were both about to cross.

What wasn’t cool, was me fumbling, trying to flip out my digi cam trying to take a picture and totally missing the shot. I’m pretty numb to celebrities (we see a ton by the office) but when it comes to snowboarders, culinary masters and Anthony Bourdain, I get pretty excited.

It’s strange with it being +60′ here in NY, but the snow is being loaded and the setup is underway. Click here for more details

Eddie Wall defends his title against the rest…cya there.  Click for the full list of riders. (more…)

Sources close to the deal reveal that the acquisition was ~150M USD.

Why this makes sense. . operating under the ad.com umbrella, you now have a strong reputable ad network that performs on various pricing modes (CPC, CPM, CPA) side by side with an affiliate network that will likely leverage alot from ad.com

There’s alot of operational leverage that buy.at can capitalize on. Merging the ad.com technology will also create scale and a “more” integrated platform for buy.at.

Lastly…uniting AOL’s properties puts them straight into the servicing game with an ad network, affiliate network, universal data feed utilities and an SEM agency.

CJ with VLCK, Performics with DCLK, LinkShare with Rakuten and now Buy.at with AOL creates a landgrab for premier retailers in the space. Expect AOL to go after Quigo/Ad.com clients aggressively over the next 9-15 months as well. If you thought price cuts were one of the challenges to the affiliate space, get ready for some more.

Wow.

Google misses earnings, stock plummets, people “freak” out - before some thoughts, here are some facts:

• Total paid clicks in the fourth quarter rose 30% compared to the same period in 2006, but slower than the 45-52% growth seen during the first three quarter of 2007
• Most disappointing probably was the number of aggregate paid clicks which increased just 9% during the quarter
• For the first time since its initial public offering three years ago, Google’s quarterly profit failed to climbed more than 25%
• Overall, Google reported fourth quarter net income of $1.21 billion, or $3.79 per diluted share, up nicely from $1.03 billion, or $3.29 per diluted share, in the same quarter last year but, the earnings per share number excluding items came in at $4.43, below the consensus analyst estimate of $4.47. Revenue also fell short by $60 million

Now for some Thoughts

• Google search market share is the largest it has ever been (through December of 2007)
• The online advertising market continues to grow with healthy projections into 2012 (with search leading the charge)
• Google adjusted clickable areas through the paid search (top listings) from the “shaded area” to the actual “advertisement” to reduce what they call “invalid” clicks (different from fraud clicks, as they cast a wider net of false positives to catch invalid activity before it needs to be accounted for)
• Google’s investments and entry into new markets/products/services will need to come together over the next few years - the dependency on the advertising business unit will continue to become an issue
• Google needs to diversify the revenue mix and need to manage the street’s/investors expectations - they’re growing…don’t forget that

I know, I know. More stuff coming….

However - some stuff to chow on in the interim.

1. The Facebook SmackDown - if you haven’t played this app yet, you should (and I’m not just saying that because my best friend created the application) - it’s really cool, in BETA - full review coming shortly
2. I’ll be in San Frizzle this week - I have a speaking session at our annual event Summit Event - it’s on “online-video” as a merchandising tactic for Advertisers - should go smooth
3. If you’re in the area, gimme a shout…

Till further updates - i’ll leave you with “a (2) letter” words to live by

Taking inspiration from Nike ACG Performance outerwear, this capsule collection fuses elements of urban street style with innovative performance materials, diverse fabrication and design techniques. Hand polished premium zips, laser cut pocket openings, and leather accents and trims add refinement and sophistication to iconic outerwear styles such as the parka, Harrington and the M65 field jacket, re-interpreted through the philosophy of appropriation, improvement and conversion. (more…)

The Nike design philosophy has always been to build a better shoe for sports, and to let style follow function. Twenty-three years ago, a basketball hi-top emerged from this ethos that became an icon of boldness, both on the court and off—the Nike Dunk. True to the colors of the college teams it was built for, Dunk’s simple, high-contrast colorways evolved into a statement of true rebellion when skaters made them their own.  (more…)

While many may think this is sad…I was a complete and utter phone/device whore. I went through phones quicker then JLO went through dudes. That being said, the iPhone has ended my phone addiction. This is quite possibly the longest I have ever owned a phone. Too much time on my hands you ask? Absolutely. When the SDK is released in February and then the 3G version releases, I’ll be an iPhone user for a long time.

Here’s a run down of my past phones. It all started with the trusty SE t68i. Now that I think about it, it was really bluetooth that got me going.

• SE t68i
• Siemens s56
• Handspring Treo 600
• Handspring/Palm Treo 650
• Audiovox PPC 6500
• Blackberry 8700C
• Blackberry 8703e
• Motorola Q
• Apple iPhone

That was all in about 4 years. Why so many? I’m a grup who loves his toys.

Merry Christmas everyone! Take it easy on the eggnog, both Lebron and Kobe are in action tonight. I’ll also be doing a round up of holiday gifts as well.

Hope everyone gets what they asked for!