Wetpaint is announcing this morning that they will now offer private wikis for Wetpaint users. So if you want to protect your Wiki, you can do it now with Wetpaint. 

“Fundamentally, Wikis are about openness, dialogue, and interaction.  However, there are any number of situations where those things need to happen privately,” said Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint.  “Now anyone can build a private Wetpaint Wiki Website as an online meeting place for their closest family, friends, and associates while also enjoying the benefits of the extended public Wetpaint community.”

Wetpaint is also launching a new search feature which uses YouTube for video search and Yahoo for image search to help you find the content you are looking for.

Check our previous Wetpaint coverage »

comScore released their June U.S. search engine rankings today. Google and Yahoo dropped by ~1% and Time Warner Network (aol?) dropped half a percentage point.

Who grabbed the nearly 3%? Microsoft. Yep, that Microsoft. Here is the explanation from comScore:

Microsoft Sites experienced a significant increase in search query volume (up 36 percent) and search market share (up 2.9 share points) in June, due in large part to Live Search Club, a program launched by Microsoft in late May to engage and reward users of Live Search.

So if you don't think rewarding users works, think again. For Microsoft it provided a huge lift. From my previous consumer marketing experience, I believe that rewarding loyal users keeps them loyal and gets them to spread your message.

Derek at Internet Marketing Monitor has another viewpoint:

As we’ve said before, this isn’t really that surprising. Live Search Club aside, Windows Vista and Internet Explorer are both driving users to MSN/Live.com. As Vista adoption continues to increase, so too should Microsoft’s search numbers… in theory.

Check out our previous reports from comScore.

NBC has announced today that beginning this summer they will begin to roll out social networking features on NBC.com. The announcements were made by Vivi Zigler, Executive Vice President, NBC Digital Entertainment.

From the press release, "We are the first network to marry gold-standard content with social networking," said Zigler.  "We've listened to our users through message boards and focus groups and are building them the playground they've asked for."

Beginning in September, NBC.com users will find social networking tools on the site.  These new features, which will roll-out over the next few months, will enable users to create modular, customizable profiles rich with user-generated content; participate in an online community where fans can interact with NBC personalities and each other; gain access to exclusive content and live interactive events; create blogs, photo galleries, and video galleries; join groups to discuss their favorite shows; grab widgets for all of their social networking profiles and blogs and keep track of all the games they play and the contests they've entered.  MyNBC gives users one convenient place to experience their favorite entertainment.

How will this work with the new NBC/Fox video startup? Why not create one site for users vs. a MyNBC and a MyNewCo, etc.?

streetviewr launched just over a month ago and finds weird images from Google's new street view option within Google Maps. Many of you know that I am against Google's street view option as it offers no value and just makes sure we know how much data Google really controls. I have ever nicknamed Google. "Microsoft 2.0".

However, if you are into the Google street view option, then streetviewr is for you. They have over 400 interesting camera finds including:

• Half the house is gone!
• Dude wants a ticket
• I need to check her out again
• and courtesy Andreas, for all of you Apple fans, here is Steve Jobs car:

This past week I participated in a session at BlogPhiladelphia called, "Virtual Worlds and Second Life." Don Bain from the electric sheep company (makers of corporate virtual worlds) discussed mainly Second Life and how companies are using the tool.

We spent most of the session on the "Ben & Jerry's" island. During the session, we were able to fly around, look at a wall of the history of B&J, and chat with other people. Wait, that was one person during the entire 30 minute session. I asked what it cost to create the island and Don nodded when I suggested $50k.

Don also noted that we are only in the first inning of virtual worlds. I agree with his statement. It reminds me a bit of when the Web first started to commercialize. "Who would use the Web to buy insurance" is a statement I heard several times from an executive at an insurance company.

Alana Semuels has a column in the LATimes today discussing marketers backing out of Second Life.

Some interesting quotes include:

"There's not a compelling reason to stay," said Brian McGuinness, vice president of Aloft, a brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. that is closing its Second Life shop and donating its virtual land to the nonprofit social-networking group TakingITGlobal. McGuinness said Starwood's venture into Second Life did accomplish something. Feedback from denizens gave Aloft ideas for its physical hotels.

Between May and June, the population of active avatars declined 2.5%, and the volume of U.S. money exchanged within the world fell from a high of $7.3 million in March to $6.8 million in June.

Wagner James Au discusses 5 business myths about Second Life. Duncan then provides a cost summary for creating a business in Second Life. He notes, "the CPM cost for businesses on Second Life is insane: simply even for the very best, the figures don’t add up." But Duncan misses the point, these first movers into SL don't care about the CPM, they care about the buzz of being first.

It seems many companies tried Second Life and have moved on. As virtual worlds move forward into the later innings, more trial and success/failure will take place. In my opinion, Second Life is nothing more than a pretty IRC/Mud but some think it's the next version of the Web. I don't get it, but clearly some do.

When you visit a new city and decide to go out for the evening, would you rather go to a club that everyone is at or one where you are the only one? I know my answer; I want to go to the one where everyone is. Don't you want your Web application to be viewed the same way? One of my advisors always says, "Perception is reality."

As I continue to work with more startups, I see so many who are showing the world how small they are. For years, I used to say that the Web was a place where you appear in any way you wanted, so why are so many choosing to appear small? When you add Digg-style voting to your site and each story has one vote, you appear small. When you add a forum and have one topic per month, you appear small. Even if your app is great, when you publicize the fact that you are small (or new in some cases), users may go elsewhere.

Some features that can make you appear small include:

• voting
• forums
• latest registered users
• latest comment
• newest users
• number of saves
• anything with a date

With this said, here is my suggestion. As you look at the features you want to add to your Web app, note the ones that might be better left until you get good growth. Does the Digg style voting really need to be there day 1? I think it's completely OK to build the features just don't make them live. Create a checklist that lists the features and how many users or traffic you need before you add the feature. Then just flip the switch on the appropriate date.

Remember that bigger is better. Now get out there and get your club jumping like it's your birthday!

Below are five of the hottest startups according to Killer Startups for the period ending July 13, 2007. Check out previous Killer Startups posts.

HeySpread.com – Sneezing Your Videos in One Shot

Thanks to the launch of Hey!Spread, now you can "sneeze" your videos to all of the most popular online videos services in one blow of the nose. What Hey!Spread does is simple, but it's an obvious need that hasn't been met: uploading videos to multiple places all over the web so you don't have to waste time filling out the same form over and over. read more »

Chess.com – A Social Network for Chess Players

Chess.com is a community for well, if you haven't already made your conjecture, chess. This social network is aiming to becoming the premier community for chess lovers around the globe. So go ahead, log in and start playing, or if you don't know how to, you can also learn at any skill level. You can also connect to, chat and share tips with others with likeminds. Create your own chess blog and even get an email address as such: yourname@chess.com. read more »

OpenStockPhotography.org – Repository of Free Photos

Open Stock Photography is a Trynt, Yahoo!, Wikipedia mashup which allows its users to find public domain photographs (ie free photos). All images come from Wikimedia Commons and can be used for any purpose. This multilingual site features search by term, tag, color, suggestions, concepts and translations. read more »

Neighboroo.com – Neighborhood Trends + Maps

Moving anytime soon? If that's your case, you might want to check out Neighboroo, a Google Map mash-up which aggregates demographic data, crime stats, climate, and the like. Data is taken from various sources, e.g. government departments, academic institutes, and researchers. To research a location, input an address, intersection, state, zipcode or landmark into the query box. read more »

OneDump.com – Unlimited Storage and Mobile Uploads

OneDump is a site that you can use to upload pictures, text files, and audio files so that you don't have to worry about losing them or cluttering your computer's memory. What distinguishes OneDump from other similar services is that it is extremely simple and requires no registration. You can upload files and grab the URL for sharing directly on OneDump's home page. read more »