Microsoft Yanks Seth MacFarlane Sponsorship

They say other 'players in the industry' are welcome to join them

(NEWSER) - Declining tech powers, unite! Microsoft, Yahoo, and Aol have agreed to a deal that will let them sell each other’s display ads, in a bid to drive revenue up and help them compete with Google and Facebook. A Microsoft VP characterized the deal as a "rising tide that lifts all boats"; Reuters notes that the companies would still be competing with each other for ad spending and publishing partners. And the trio is betting that such a setup will ensure the deal passes antitrust muster. More»

Offensive as the Fox News host is, the bottom line is the bottom line

(NEWSER) - Rupert Murdoch will eventually fire Glenn Beck from Fox News, though not directly because of "his continued assault on the president," writes Ben Cohen. True, Beck's "remarkable slew of accusations and innuendo does not reflect well on the network," but arguments about politics miss the point: "Murdoch doesn't care about Left or Right. He cares about money." More»

Explains why he wants to take over the world, MacFarlane says

(NEWSER) - Baby Stewie was this close to coming out as gay in an episode of Family Guy, but creator Seth MacFarlane says he decided “to keep it vague” because “he’s a 1-year-old,” the New York Daily News reports. “Ultimately, Stewie will be gay or a very unhappy repressed heterosexual,” MacFarlane says in September’s Playboy. “He has a lot of aggression, which comes from confusion and uncertainty about his orientation.” More»

(NEWSER) - Good news for football fans: Now you can smell like your favorite player. In an odd corporate pairing, Procter & Gamble has signed a deal with the NFL to slap the league's logo on its toiletries and call them an "Official Locker Room Product of the NFL," the Wall Street Journal reports. The deal—which covers products ranging from Old Spice deodorant to Head & Shoulders to Dawn dish soap—is worth a reported $10 million per year and comes as sports leagues are trying to make up for dwindling ad revenue. More»

(NEWSER) - Microsoft has changed at least one of its highly successful "Laptop Hunter" ads after Apple called to complain about it, Advertising Age reports. In the original, a law student shopping for a laptop observes: "This Mac is $2,000, and that's before adding anything." Her mother adds, "Why would you pay twice the price?" But Apple's lawyer called to say the ad was out of date, and Mac prices had gone down. So the shopper now says only: "It seems like you're paying a lot for the brand." She still rejects a Mac in favor of a $972 Dell PC. More»