Alright so you read the title and said, "WTF" out loud. Why would anyone want to tie YouTube videos with a Google map? Unlike the absolutely stupid and useless street viewer option, this one makes sense.

Imagine you are planning a trip to Los Angeles and want to see what the clubs are like that Paris Hilton goes to. Now you can. Or if you are heading to Paris, check out which bistro has the best steak before you get there! In all seriousness, I could see this as a huge plus for travelers. But see below for the negative, videos must be geotagged and not everyone will do this.

Check out some additional release information on Mike Abundo's Blog. For the mashup to work effectively, videos must be geotagged when uploaded and then you need to install the mashup. Took four seconds to install.

One of the issues I struggle with is how much information should be shared with the public regarding your startup. Several months ago Ryan Carson shared every detail about his startup, DropSend as he was looking for a buyer. As a former accountant, I thought (and still do) this was a mistake. Sharing sensitive information should be done only when absolutely necessary and when the team leaders agree on it.

But what about general stats? Is it always wise to share the data about your startup? Remember that one person may look at it as half-full and another half-empty. I do think it's important to share data with your community and the media.

As I was using my PBwiki (CN coverage) account, I visited their blog, The Daily Peanut. Their recent stats post I think is a great example of good stats to share. The shared stats include:

• Private vs. Public wikis
• Free vs. Premium wikis (not 100% sure I like this one)
• Browser types
• SSL usage

Simple stats that provide some insight into how PBwiki users are using the tool. These type of stats can also help to start a conversation with the PBwiki community. So I ask, what do you think is the right level of stats to share with the general public?

Last night I attended a meetup in NYC where ExpoTV was demonstrated. ExpoTV is a product review site that uses videos exclusively. Product reviews have been hot since the Internet began and tying together video and reviews makes sense and could be a huge winner if done correctly.

ExpoTV pays $5 for each accepted video review plus 1 cent for each view of the video. I am not sure but I will assume that if they syndicate the video you also make the 1 cent. Someone asked about how much they are making on each video and that it has to be much higher than $5 but the founders declined to answer. ExpoTV syndicates their reviews on Buy.com and Smarter.com.

Here is my concern which I raised last night. They noted that the syndication sites can select what type of reviews they syndicate including an option for positive/negative reviews. This is a big no-no in my book. I am hoping that someone from ExpoTV can clarify this but if they allow say Buy.com to select only positive reviews for say a mp3 player, how will the customer know that they are only viewing positive reviews? This could make any product look better than it is and provides for a horrible customer experience. As I said, I very much hope this is not the case.

With that said, here is my video review of video review site ExpoTV:

If you are interested in learning a new language or teaching others the languages you have mastered, xLingo might be for you. xLingo offers a social network where users can share and learn new languages. They appear to have a pretty active community of users from a variety of countries and languages. The features include: flashcards, chat, forums and a blog. From my German learnings, I have found flash cards to be a great tool.

Kristen notes that other learning communities include Tutorom and WizIQ.

Check out my video review below:

Lending Club, the Facebook p2p lending company, is launching a new contest to find the best video explanation of what p2p lending is. If you have a Facebook account, you can check out the contest details on the Lending Club app. I think they have a great idea going by having their customers handle the marketing. And video works best for this type of contest. I look forward to viewing the entries.

If not, here are some of the details:

Now here's what we're thinking: person-to-person is a strange idea at first. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense: users cuts the banks out and they all get better rates. So in order to help explain the benefits of p2p lending, we are hosting a contest starting July 17 until August 10 for the best video about lending Club and person-to-person lending. The best video wins $5,000.

The winner will be the video that has the most views on YouTube by August 10, 2007. The video must explain how Lending Club can help you refinance your debt at better rates, buy something you (really) need or just make money by lending to other users. Your video must be posted in this group's wall and in YouTube and contain the YouTube tags "Lending club" and "person-to-person lending". See full contest rules in the "Rules" section below.

p2p lending is ultra-hot right now. Check out my 3-part series on social lending which look at the industry as a whole plus reviews of Zopa and Prosper.

go2 Pets has launched today with a mobile app for pet owners to help them find pet-friendly establishments across the U.S. This could be a big winner as people travel with their pets this summer.  

From go2 Pets: "go2 Pets provides consumers mobile access to thousands of pet-friendly destinations and activities together with extensive pet-oriented content and information, including info such as pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, airline information, dog beaches, dog parks and much more."

They are sponsored by Purina and the Purina logo appears on every screen in the mobile app it appears. I would pull that back at least to every 3-4 screens. No need for it on every screen as the mobile real estate is so small.

Lastly, if they were smart, they would create an iPhone version. I am guessing their Wap version works on the iPhone but not sure if it will take advantage of what the iPhone could provide to the user in features.

Example screen:

The NY Times is reporting that Time, Inc., parent of Business 2.0 magazine may cease operations of the magazine that reports on what's hot and innovative in the new tech sector.

From the article, "Advertising revenue at Business 2.0 was down 38 percent through July 9 of this year, according to the Magazine Publishers of America. The most recent issue on newsstands ran a scant 102 pages, although summer months are traditionally lean for magazines."

My rule years ago was to read this magazine on an airplane. I would count the number of pages that were advertisements to the number of pages that actually had content.  I remember a conversation with a fellow passenger about whether Business 2.0 was a magazine with ads or a large ad with some content.

In all seriousness, I always enjoyed reading the content in Business 2.0 and will be sad to see it go. The word is that the current employees would be moved to other Time properties including Fortune.

Kristen has some additional coverage of the potential magazine closure.