Friday, November 17, 2006

Yahoo Buys Site for Staging Online Contests

New York Times: "Yahoo is acquiring Bix.com, a site that allows users and advertisers to create, enter into and judge online contests. The deal is an attempt by Yahoo to bolster its offerings in social media, an area where it has struggled to compete with sites like MySpace and YouTube.
The purchase price was not disclosed. The deal is to be announced Friday.
Bix.com, which was founded in January and introduced its service in August, is trying to capitalize on two trends in popular culture: the fascination with TV shows like “American Idol” and the explosion in user-generated online content, especially video.
The site allows anyone to create an online contest in any of a number of categories. Users can then submit their own entries — a video for a lip-sync, karaoke or comedy contest, or a photo for a beauty contest — and vote on which entry deserves to win. The prizes range from a few minutes of Internet fame to cash or merchandise in contests sponsored by advertisers. "

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