Law 9 – Apply the 10 Percent Rule

So who’s the ad competition? Maybe we should ask, who isn’t? …The question, here, is one of sustainability. Certainly, there’s the question whether Patch can sustain itself, as its parent AOL struggles to find a new identity and growing business model. Then, there’s the question of the sustainability of hyperlocal journalism already being done from coast to coast. These are true start-ups, often one-man (or -woman) bands, invented by journalists truly passionate about community coverage. Pre-Patch, it’s been the fledgling blog ad-and-distribution network experiments that gave hope that more money could be found to support these ventures. Now, we have to wonder whether Patch — which will link to other sites it finds useful, but won’t network them — will make the sustainability of these more organic, non-templated local blogs more questionable.

23. That’s the number of companies Google has bought since January, 2009

Marketplace reporter Eve Troeh and Poynter’s Kelly McBride do a good job of connecting the dots: the power of scarcity as a few big old media brands connect with new media leaked files to create huge impact.

While investors have reacted negatively to drain on profits, Google’s aggressive hiring is an audacious move for market share — what smart companies, with the means, do in a recession.

The FT made a significant break from traditional practice by reclaiming control of its licensing activities. At that point, it said that building and growing direct customer relationships, rather than indirectly licensing via aggregators, was a top goal.