That’s the conclusion Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield reached in a research piece Thursday on News Corp. “While everyone is blaming social networking as the culprit for Google’s MySpace monetization problems, the real problem is Google itself and its search algorithms for social networking, ” he asserts.

Does this mean that Rupert Murdoch was right not to make the website free? No, it doesn't. And in fact I'm still convinced that the site will end up going completely free, if not sooner then later.

Louis L. Stanton, the senior judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued the opinion and order, which is here (.pdf).

The Long Tail is Wired editor Chris Anderson’s theory (based on an article and resulting book of the same name) that as it becomes easier to distribute a wider variety of items, consumers will venture down the long tail of the distribution curve and find the products that exactly match their interests and idiosyncratic needs. Elberse questions this notion:

The latest news, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, is that the software giant is angling to enlist another company, such as New York media firms News Corp. (NWS) or Time Warner Inc. (TWX), in a deal under which Microsoft would buy Yahoo!'s search business, while its partner would combine its operations with Yahoo!. That¹s less a lifeline than a leaden balloon.

Just to recap, the cartoonist and the search engine have teamed up to offer, well… I don’t know what to call them except maybe cartoon “webisodes” — a series of 50 two-minute clips that will be distributed through Google’s AdSense program and will be collectively known as Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy. As described (both of the times it has been announced), the clips will be animated and will carry advertising in some form, whether banner or pre-roll/post-roll. MacFarlane has called them “animated versions of the one-frame cartoons you might see in the New Yorker, only edgier” (notice he didn’t say funnier).

IGM held more than half its assets in its top ten holdings during those three months—standard operating procedure for this fund—so strong performance by the largest U.S. tech stocks gave the fund's momentum a strong boost. IGM ranked 14th on the ETF Momentum Tracker Sector Table last week, up from 33rd on April 8. Whether IGM's momentum continues to build will depend largely on a few factors: how much tech spending slows in response to the turmoil in the U.S. economy, the success of the latest products released by major U.S. tech firms, and the ability of those firms to tap into overseas markets.

The latest is a WSJ report that says Microsoft (MSFT) is trying to rope in big media partners like News Corp. (NWS) and Time Warner (TWC) to make another bid for Yahoo! (YHOO).

After six months of nothing happening on the Kindle front, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos issued a press release calling the Kindle a "huge success" and a "revolutionary" device. Now, we're not new to such hype, but the clincher here is he had no numbers, no sales figures and no revenue amounts to support his claim. And immediately, pandering analysts raised the price target on Amazon, yet again making life difficult for shorts.

Google (GOOG) with its huge share of search and video traffic (YouTube) has a vested interest in figuring out the how to make it work. Unlike all but a few companies, Google also has the kind of cash and technical expertise to take on the science project without limitation. They can afford to fail, repeatedly, then try again until they get it right. 

Successful investing has, for many, felt more like a mirage than an oasis. The collapse in real estate prices has eroded homeowner equity. And the 20% declines in broad market benchmarks have substantially diminished retirement assets.

We made it through the worst of subprime... or so we had thought. We fought off a traditional recession... or so we had hoped. Yet we now find ourselves wondering if the new world "oil order" will snuff out the last flame.

MSN is there, trekking along, costing Microsoft (MSFT) billions in losses over the years without really making a push for #1.  Sort of like all other MSFT products not named Windows or Office, basically.

The surge marked a solid recovery from the first quarter, when all 13 stocks we track lost ground (one company, Bladelogic, has since been acquired). Shares of data center companies were beaten up early in the year by concerns that the credit crunch and losses in the financial sector would lower demand for data center services.

The delay in filing the initial proxy statement is evidently a result of the size of the document which far exceed the majority of proxy's in terms of length. This is a very solid indication that a proxy review waiver will difficult to obtain in this case, which in turn would push the close beyond the initial August projection, and quite possibly beyond September.

Will it be enough to close its yawning Google (GOOG) (and even Yahoo) (YHOO) search gap? Probably not, but Powerset could give Microsoft a little leapfrog ability (Techmeme). And boy could Microsoft use some leapfrog love in search.

Oh-ohhhhh
Do you remember that day
(That sunny day)
When you first came my way
I said no one could take your place
And if you get hurt
(If you get hurt)
By the little things I say
I can put that smile back on your face

Ooo and it’s alright and it’s comin’ ‘long
We got to get right back to where we started from
Love is good, love can be strong
We got to get right back to where we started from
-Maxine Nightingale, “Right Back Where We Started From”