Webware

A Los Angeles-based law firm with a history of targeting online media companies for click fraud filed suit Tuesday against Citysearch, the directory site owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, as well as Ticketmaster, the ticketing site that IAC is attempting to spin out into a separate publicly traded company.

"Citysearch.com is defrauding its advertising customers of millions of dollars by not only turning a blind eye to click fraud, but in fact encouraging it as well," a statement from the firm Kabateck Brown Kellner read. The class action suit encompasses anyone in the U.S. who paid for pay-per-click advertising space on Citysearch, but the named plaintiff is Tom Lambotte, who purchased ad space on Citysearch and then claimed that the number of clicks on his ads rose suspiciously.

Representatives from IAC and Citysearch were not immediately available for comment.

According to the complaint, filed in a California court, Lambotte first purchased Citysearch ads in late 2007, didn't see a gain in traffic to his site, and attempted to cancel his ad account. The cancellation process dragged out, he said, and in the meantime his ad clicks started to escalate suspiciously. He speculated that click fraud--in which clicks to ads are meant only to drive up the rate the advertiser pays and not to purchase the product--was at play.

Claims in click fraud lawsuits are sometimes questionable, and Kabateck Brown Kellner has extensive experience in the field that could raise a red flag: the plaintiff-only firm has won against both Yahoo and Google, and attorney Brian Kabateck recently went after Google's AdWords advertising program, claiming that it deceived customers.

Consequently, a suit against yet another (smaller) player in the search market could come across as an attempt to just filch more cash from big dot-coms. Or, as the suit goes forward, Lambotte's claims, as represented by Kabateck, could show a legitimate foundation.

Search companies, meanwhile, announced a coalition against click fraud nearly two years ago in conjunction with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council.

Just how much does Ask.com own the word "Ask?" Enough to have a problem with a question-and-answer site called "Askpedia," apparently. Representatives from the start-up Askpedia.com told CNET News.com that the search engine's parent company, InterActiveCorp, sent a cease-and-desist letter earlier this month, citing intellectual property violations in the name "Askpedia."

"(This) is likely to cause consumer confusion, particularly inasmuch as Askpedia purports to provide online informational services that are substantially similar to those provided by Ask," the letter dated March 13 reads. "In using and incorporating Ask's intellectual property in this manner, Askpedia is falsely suggesting a connection between Ask and Askpedia, and thereby misappropriating the substantial good will associated with Ask's trademarks."

IAC representatives were contacted to verify the contents of the cease-and-desist letter, but were not immediately available for comment.

Ask.com's trademark on the name was first filed April 28, 1999, when the company was still known as Ask Jeeves and had not yet been acquired by the Barry Diller-helmed IAC in 2005. These days, the search engine has been undergoing a restructuring process in order to handle its tepid market share.

The letter, signed by Edward T. Ferguson, IAC senior vice president and general counsel, and provided to CNET News.com by Askpedia representatives, goes on to request that Askpedia "cease and desist from all use of Ask's trademarks and other intellectual property, including without limitation in the name 'Askpedia' or any similar formation using the word 'ask,'" and agree not to do so in the future.

A deadline of 10 days was provided, meaning that IAC would presumably seek legal action after Sunday, March 23.

Yong Su Kim, CEO of Askpedia, which describes itself as "a knowledge marketplace for questions and answers" and awards cash prizes to the best answers, said that his small start-up has about 100,000 registered users. He sent an e-mail to CNET News.com in which he speculated that "our guess is that their lawyers have nothing better to do."

Kim continued, "Either that or they're working on a Wikipedia-like service and want the domain name and trademark."

Several sources close to InterActiveCorp (IAC) have told CNET News.com that, contrary to rumors, the media conglomerate is not purchasing youth-oriented social-networking site MyYearbook. The rumor was originally reported by Valleywag on Wednesday.

The misconception arose, one source said, because MyYearbook was one of multiple start-ups that were invited to do "mock pitches" to IAC chairman and CEO Barry Diller as part of a session at this week's exclusive Quadrangle conference (hosted by the eponymous private equity firm) at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. Essentially, it was like moot court for entrepreneurs.

MyYearbook was founded by a pair of teenage siblings from New Jersey while on their spring break in 2005, and has since raised $4.1 million in venture capital from U.S. Venture Partners and First Round Capital. Representatives from the social network did not respond to a request for comment.

An additional source within an IAC-owned brand, when asked about the possible acquisition, was unfamiliar with any such deal. And indeed, the timing would be rather awkward--in an attempt to refocus its sprawling array of media, e-commerce, and retail brands, IAC announced on Monday that it would be splitting into five separate publicly traded companies. The core IAC company will now consist primarily of advertising-supported online media brands.

BustedTees, the Web site responsible for that "Prose before Hos" t-shirt that you wore to your English 101 final exam, has announced a Facebook Platform application that offers to split cash revenue with users willing to install it.

The application has soft-launched and is set to launch formally in a few days.

The model here is similar to traditional "affiliate programs" for advertising on Web sites and blogs--and indeed, it's essentially a "Facebookified" version of BustedTees' existing affiliate program. Pimp them on your Facebook profile, and you'll get a cut of the cash when it produces results. It's $5 per shirt, to be exact, and if you install the BustedTees widget by clicking on the profile of a friend who already has it, that friend will make $1 per shirt sold through your profile. You get paid either through checks in the mail or via Paypal.

I spoke with BustedTees representatives to see if there were any concerns about the app getting flagged as a pyramid scheme, which happened to online music start-up BurnLounge earlier this year. Apparently, the BustedTees application won't run into that problem because you only earn a commission from friends who've installed the app directly from your profile--"it only runs one level deep," retail director Josh Mohrer told me.

(While BustedTees likely won't have an issue with pyramid scheme allegations, expect talk of multi-level marketing to surface more as Facebook application developers divert their attention away from zombie attacks and food fights, and more towards, well, revenue.)

So you probably can't get rich off it, but the BustedTees Facebook app could presumably earn you some extra beer money if there are lots of people on your Facebook friends list who have a penchant for BustedTees' fare--which tends to be along the same lines of the we're-cool-kids-but-still-huge-dorks modus operandi of its sister site CollegeHumor. Both are part of the InterActiveCorp-owned Connected Ventures.

Among BustedTees' offerings are t-shirts printed with viral Web in-jokes (like the "Dramatic Chipmunk"), references to Frat Pack movies (like a logo for "Speaker City," a nod to the movie Old School) and early-'90s kiddie nostalgia (like "The Beets Killer Tofu Tour '96," which has now gotten that irritating song from Doug stuck in my head), and some more straightforward slogans, like "Jesus Hates the Yankees."

The New York Post reported on Tuesday morning that New York-based video-hosting community site Vimeo plans to announce this week that it will be distributing videos at a high-definition resolution of 1,280x720 pixels, making it apparently the first user-generated video-sharing site to do so.

The Post's Peter Lauria connects the new push for making high-definition technology available on user-generated video sites to the ongoing price drop in consumer-grade HD cameras--an inarguably hot item this holiday season.

But back to Vimeo--it's an interesting site. Originally a side project for CollegeHumor exec Jakob Lodwick, the site's close-knit community, emphasis on user-created videos that are actually created by the users who uploaded them (rather than mass-distributed viral clips or ripped TV shows), and quirky attitude would have you think that it's an indie operation. It's not hard to see the site as a sort of Etsy of video-sharing. But don't let that fool you; the aesthetically pleasing video site actually has the oversight and financial support of the massive new-media conglomerate InterActiveCorp, CollegeHumor's parent company--something that could give it a major advantage in the clogged market niche of video-sharing services.

The Silicon Alley Insider points out that going high-def could be a prohibitively expensive move for an independent start-up. But clearly, Vimeo's not in that position. And CenterNetworks' Allen Stern wonders if this might actually be a way for the site to pull in more revenue.

On a somewhat related note, AllFacebook blogger Nick O'Neill has heard rumors that MySpace wants to launch a high-definition online video service.

Do virtual shopping damage with real cash--it all starts here.

(Credit: Zwinky)

Teen-oriented virtual world Zwinky has expanded its e-commerce operations so that members can use real-world cash to pay for virtual goods. Starting Monday, credit cards and PayPal accounts can be used to purchase the in-game "ZBucks" currency, which members could heretofore only earn by visiting certain in-world locations and winning games. The cash will then go on new "ZCard" shopping cards which members will be able to use at the in-world retail hub, the--wait for it--Zwinchester Mall, which contains stores like the Z-Loft trendy furniture outlet and "Like Dat," a boutique branded with the identity of the rapper 50 Cent.

For an idea of the exchange rate, 5,000 "ZBucks" will cost you $19.99.

Real-to-virtual economies are not uncommon in virtual worlds like Eve Online and Second Life. But Zwinky, which is owned by InterActiveCorp (IAC) and has a head count of more than 9 million members (that's accounts, not active users) who have already assembled more than 10 million virtual outfits through trips to the in-world mall, has not actually created a currency exchange--it does not appear that there are any plans to allow members to switch ZBucks back into real dollars. In that respect it's more like the Disney-owned kiddie space Club Penguin, but considering Zwinky's older youth demographic, it'll more likely be the teens than the parents who are doing the buying.

I'm guessing that reactions to the "ZCard" will either go in one of two directions--it'll ultimately be held up as a smart strategy to help young people learn about being economical, or as yet another factor in the material corruption of digital-age youth. Which one, I'm still not sure.