Now for the hard part:
measuring video

Ad Networks and Analytics:

• Increased targeting, and reasonable prices (compared with direct buying), play roles in the growth of ad networks amidst a crippled US economy.
• The Travel Ad Network, which has several high-profile publisher partners, raised $15 million in its first big round of financing.
• IdentifiedHits is a new ad network on Facebook that does for apps as Beacon does for products: reflecting the apps users install to their friends.
• Canadian firm Eloqua added RSS feeds and text to its arsenal of client offerings.
• A handful of key players have had some luck monetizing widgets and are paying developers for their work.

Agencies and Execs:

• WPP Digital took a minority stake in HDT Holdings Technologies, a Chinese rich media ad delivery firm with 200,000 publishing partners.
• Managing editor Marcus Brauchli of The Wall Street Journal has resigned after 11 months on the job.
• Jeff Berman was promoted to EVP of marketing and content at MySpace, a position that empowers him to create campaigns for the site's line-up of original programming.
• A few of Tacoda execs have joined the 100 staffers let go on AOL's Platform-A division.
Alex Brough joined music blog network MOG as Vice President of Sales and Strategic Partnerships.

Campaigns of Note:

• MTV is asking for user-generated spoofs, part of a promotion for its 2008 Movie Awards.

Gaming:

• Online gaming community operator GamerDNA raised $3 million.
  
• The European Commission approved the merger of Vivendi's games division with Activision, officially creating the biggest single video game publisher.

Legal, Government and Regulation:

• Microsoft hired a lobbyist to work on securing governmental approval, should it succeed in purchasing Yahoo.
• French network TF1 sued YouTube for over $158 million, asserting the site violated copyright by hosting clips of its content illegally.

Measurement and Analytics:

• With increased demand for online video comes increased demand for tools to track how popular those videos are.
• Monetizing online video was a major topic at the NAB conference. A number of companies unveiled new tools to do just that.

Mobile:

• The June/July issue of Men's Health magazine will feature ads that, when captured on a camera phone, send coupons to readers.
Google and QVC launched a similar campaign with QR codes, which can be read by mobile devices.
• Radio Disney unveiled a mobile site that allows for listening on mobile devices, as well as song requests.

Podcasting:

• Podcasting service Odeo is back with a new look and feel, as well as new user functionality in both the creation and enjoyment of podcasts.

Online Content:

• NBC Universal shall take up the daunting task of re-branding Oxygen, prior to its first upfront session later this week.
• Web series producer Revision3 inked distribution deals that will put its shows on Hulu, Joost and other video sites.
• Lyris has launched an online portal for "the marketing mind."
• AOL is rumored to be planning a site for younger women to complement Asylum, its site for guys, and compete against a similar offering from Yahoo.
• The CW decided to pull streaming episodes of Gossip Girl from the web, asserting it is too popular online and hurts broadcast numbers and ad sales.
• Sony is moving closer to launching a service that enables video downloads on PlayStation 3.
• A deal between the two will put MSNBC streaming content on MySpace. Some programs are already on the social network.

User Experience:

• A report claims some US ISPs are replacing ads sold by publishers with their own ads, sometime between when the site is requested and when it loads for the user.
• AT&T believes that, without investment, the internet's current network architecture will hit capacity by 2010.