Consider the most successful celebrity news destinations online, and something else jumps to the top. For more than a year, one site has attracted more eyeballs than any other in the realm of celebrity gossip: Yahoo Inc.s omg.
With a dedicated staff of just five people, and more than a dozen shared with other Yahoo sites, the company has settled on a formula that Yahoo Media Group head Jimmy Pitaro calls “highly profitable,” though Yahoo wont reveal details.
The fact that Yahoos entertainment site outdraws rivals that aim to break news - such as TMZ.com, which broke the news of Michael Jacksons [...]

The issues raised by the settlement, which compensates copyright holders and gives Google a share of online book sales and ads, “warrant further inquiry,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General William Cavanaugh said yesterday in a letter filed in U.S. District Court in New York. Google said last month that the Justice Department had requested information about the agreement.
“The U.S. has reviewed public comments expressing concern that aspects of the settlement agreement may violate the Sherman Act,” Cavanaugh said. “At this preliminary stage the U.S. has reached [...]

Increasingly, states aching under the weight of the recession are seeking a way around that rule. Because companies like Amazon.com Inc. get help drumming up sales from online affiliates - people who link to products on their blogs, promote Web shopping deals and offer coupons - several states say the Internet retailers should charge sales taxes in states where those affiliates are based.
The financial benefits may not be quite what the states anticipate, though. Rather than gearing up to collect taxes, Amazon and other Web retailers are simply shutting down their affiliate marketing programs. As the small businesses that participate [...]

The chief executive, Mike Volpi, has stepped down but will remain as chairman.
The London-based company said it will shift its focus from being an online video site for consumers supported by advertising - similar to Google Inc.s YouTube. Instead, it will help businesses manage their videos on the Internet as they build brands.
Its target market will be media companies such as cable and satellite TV providers, broadcasters and video aggregators.
“In these tough economic times, its been increasingly challenging to operate as an independent, ad-supported online video platform,” Volpi said in a statement.
Joost was co-founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, [...]

These privacy controls have grown increasingly complicated as the 5-year-old social networking service has expanded its user base and added new features.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said Wednesday that the new settings will give people greater control over what photos, updates and personal details they share with their friends, family and strangers on Facebook and, eventually, the wider Internet.
To make the settings easier, Facebook is consolidating its existing six privacy pages and more than 30 settings on to a single privacy page. It will also standardize the options for each setting so the choices are always the same, which hasnt [...]

Deutsche Telekom has retained JPMorgan Chase & Co. to also review options such as a possible joint venture for its T-Mobile UK unit, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential. The unit may fetch more than 3 billion pounds ($5 billion), the people said.
“Exiting the U.K. wouldnt be a great loss for T-Mobile,” said Joris Franssen, who helps manage about 400 million euros ($562 million) at Kempen Capital Management in Amsterdam, including Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone stock. [...]

The ruling yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court names Katherine Jackson as special administrator, granting her temporary control over personal property that may be in the hands of others, according to a copy of the filings.
Katherine and Joseph Jackson are seeking control over their late sons estate in anticipation that others will step forward with inaccurate claims they have a will, the family said in court filings. A will Michael Jackson drafted in 2002, dividing the estate among his children, mother and charities, is expected to [...]

Apple, up 67 percent since Jobs went on leave Jan. 14, fell 47 cents to $141.97 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. That compares with gains in the Standard & Poors 500 Index and the Nasdaq Composite Index.
Investors have gotten comfortable with Apples management team and its ability to run the company without Jobss oversight, said Ryan Jacob, head of the Jacob Internet Fund in Los Angeles. Jobs, a cancer survivor, received a liver transplant during his five-and-a-half-month leave. His doctors said last week that he [...]

Ebersman, 39, will formally start at the Palo Alto, Calif.-based online hangout in September.
He replaces Gideon Yu, who left abruptly in March. Facebook said at the time it was looking for someone with “public company experience,” even though Yu had previously worked at Yahoo Inc. - which is public.
Ebersman hails from Genentech, which has been sold to pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG.
“He was Genentechs CFO while revenue tripled, and his success in scaling the finance organization of a fast-growing company will be important to Facebook,” founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement.
Facebook, which turned 5 years old [...]

The worlds leading mobile phone makers announced Monday that they will ensure that their data-enabled phones and chargers will all work together, as of next year.
EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said a standardized charger will cut costs for manufacturers and reduce the number of chargers thrown away when consumers buy new phones.
Though the agreement applies to the EU, its likely that the standardization will apply to phones and chargers sold outside the member countries.
Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc., Sony Ericsson, Apple Inc., Motorola Inc., Research in Motion Ltd. and NEC Corp. committed to developing a standard for [...]