Filed under: Television, Google (GOOG), Marketing and advertising, Entrepreneurs, Videos

So far this year, on the web video is making a large mark. Just look at the Iowa caucuses, where voters posted their efforts on YouTube and then spread them across social networks like MySpace and Facebook. So what else might we see in 2008 for on the internet video?

Well, I had a opportunity to interview Chase Norlin, who is the CEO of Pixsy (an online video company). According to him:

1. Expect to see continued enforcement by copyright holders over their on the web video assets; this will drive wider adoption of DRM and licensing platforms.

2. The on the internet video ad category is growing but not at the pace to support the multitude of companies pursuing this market, and a shakeout is therefore likely.

3. More consolidation in the on the web video space and all other key internet categories.

4. Continued growth in the semipro video publishing market as content producers create and distribute their material in a more cost-effective manner than traditional outlets.

5. More one-of-a-kind video programming, created for the internet, making its way to TV.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar On the internet Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

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Filed under: World wide web, Office, Productivity, Web services, Google, web 2.0

Google promises a feature-packed 2008 for Google Docs and we believe them. Not even a week into the new year, Google Docs has already implemented some new features. The most striking additions affect Google Presentations, the newest arm of Google Docs. Although we were impressed with Google Presentations when it debuted a few months ago, there was definitely room for improvement.

What stuck out to us the most was Google Presentation’s inability to export a presentation as a .PPT file. While you can’t export presentations as a PPT file, you can now easily embed presentations into your blog or website.

Take a look at this presentation we made with Google Docs to see some of the other features.

[via Googlified]

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Filed under: International markets, Bad news, Products and services, Management, Industry, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Marketing and advertising, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)

Troubled car maker Ford Motor (NYSE: F) today saw its stock fall to lows not seen since way back in 1986, as traders continue to express concerns over the company’s capability to compete with its rival Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM).

Yesterday, Wall Street got the bad news that many of us had been anticipating but hoped never to hear: for the first time since 1931, Ford lost its grip on the number two ranking for U.S. auto sales in 2007. The company showed a massive 12 percent drop for the year, and has been replaced by Toyota as the second best-selling auto maker in the United States. Shares have tumbled, hitting an intraday low of $6.00 a share, which is the lowest the stock has traded in more than 20 years.

Just how hard has the company’s market value degraded over the past decade? Think about this… in 1998 the company boasted a $68 billion market value, compared with its current value of “only” $13 billion. This is definitely a tough time for the vehicle maker which less than a decade ago was responsible for 25 percent of all new automobiles sold in the nation.

Ford, which has historically relied on the strength of its truck division, is definitely struggling to get back on top as even its truck sales seem to be in free fall. During 2007 alone, sales of its top line of trucks, the F-Series pickups fell by 13 percent as tougher competition in the automobile niche continues to mount.

The struggling Detroit auto maker is still looking to return to profitability in 2009, but you really have to wonder just how feasible this goal is considering the difficulty the once strong auto company has keeping up with the rest of the pack.

While it is definitely shocking to see a foreign vehicle maker surpassing the American Ford Motor, it really should not be too surprising. It seemed like only a matter of time before this became the inevitable event we’ve all been waiting for. If you look at worldwide auto sales, Toyota has held the number two position since back in 2003.

If you ask me, America’s other major auto maker, General Motors (NYSE: GM) had superior keep a close eye on Toyota. Toyota is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and if GM isn’t careful, it could be giving up its coveted top spot before long.

During 2007, GM still was able to outsell Toyota by over a million vehicles, but its share was down six percent. GM sold 3.82 million automobiles, to Toyota’s 2.62 million (48,226 more than Ford). Worldwide, General Motors is in danger of falling to number two during 2007, but we will not get Toyota’s worldwide figures until later in the month.

What do you think? Is GM in danger of falling victim to Toyota? If you were in the vehicle market this day, what dealer lot would you visit first? Ford, GM, Toyota? Let us hear what you think.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the web investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Consumer experience, Marketing and advertising

It’s no secret that compact discs are on the way out as the preferred method for distributing music, and their decline has continued to accelerate. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 500.5 million albums sold as CDs, cassettes, LPs and other formats were bought last year, down 15 percent from 2006’s total.

Including digital music download sales and music videos, music purchases were up 14% from 2006. What should investors be looking at here?

Perhaps paradoxically, I don’t think digital music is the way to play this. The fast-growing innovator often lags that declining old-economy company in terms of stock market returns because investor sentiment can be overly negative. For instance, railroad stocks outperformed airplane stocks (and the broader market) by a wide margin, even as railroads lost their status as the major method of travel. The reason? Railroad stocks were beaten down so badly by the headlines about their demise that they became tremendously undervalued.

The music equivalent of the railroad is Handleman (NYSE: HDL), a stock that has frustrated bottom-fishers for years. The company manages the music category for retailers like Wal-Mart, and well-known value investors like Joseph Harrosh and Marty Whitman have accumulated stakes in the company, even as the stock has continued its decline.

The stock trades at a huge discount to its (probably overstated) book value, and has had trouble adapting to changing trends in the industry. But at its current price, it may be worth a look for contrarian investors who aren’t afraid to own stocks that other people snicker at.

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