Bubble Up

Persistent chatter about the possibility of the sale of AOL to either Google, Microsoft, Comcast or others has led some media critics to sense the beginnings of a second internet bubble. Unlike the first, which lasted from the mid 1990s to 2000, this bubble will be based more on reality than fantasy. Ed Wasserman writes in today's Miami Herald that it's profit-hungry big media instead of risk-taking venture capitalists tossing money at internet firms. Even AOL is in shopping mode, gobbling up Weblogs, Inc.

MTV's acquisition of iFilm and Fox Interactive's purchase of MySpace are among the recent purchases of internet firms by big media.

To read more, visit:

Miami Herald: Corporate media colonize Internet

LA Times: Mining the Web (free reg. required)

Forbes: MTV's Internet-Hungry Freston Buys Video Web Site

Fortune: Look Who's Online Now