John Battelle points to a story about Google’s new AdSense API which will enable user driven content sites (UDC – to use the acronym 🙂 – to distributed AdWords revenue to contributors. As he points out, UDC sites are usually driven by everything but money, but nevertheless this points to an interesting future where payments is distributed down the chain and follows the page views. Pay-for-performance publishing is here.

Google has reached a settlement in the click fraud class action brought by Lane’s Gifts. Details on the Inside AdWords blog here.

Google has launched video advertisting according to the AdSense blog. The video is hosted by Google and will only play if the user clicks the “play” button. Site owners will be paid on a CPM basis. It’s interesting to see Google keep innovating, especially by pulling together capabilities (like ad targeting and video technologies) which had previously been quite separate.

The Guardian has launched a competition to find the best commentator on its Comment is Free site – competition details here. The winner will join the ranks of regular bloggers on the site.

Editor Georgina Henry says: “Prompted by those of you who have argued that not only is the debate on most of the threads not as bad as I sometimes make out, but that in many cases is of higher quality than the posts by some “professionals”, we are now seeking nominations for the best commenters on the site, one of whom will officially join us as a regular blogger.

– be well informed
– write well
– provoke debate
– keep the standard of debate high
– engage with readers
– be witty”

Apple has been trying to force a blogger to reveal his sources and Jeff Jarvis reports on the court ruling which threw out the request. “In no relevant respect do they appear to differ from a reporter or editor for a traditional business-oriented periodical who solicits or otherwise comes into possession of confidential internal information about a company,” Justice Conrad Rushing of the 6th District Court of Appeal wrote, according to Jarvis.

Paid Content reports that the Sun has launched a classified site. The site was developed with the help of online classified specialist Oodle and the ads are free, monitised by Google Adwords – for now at least. There is no risk of cannibalisation as the paper doesn’t carry this kind of advertising in print, points out David Roddick, digital director of News Group Digital.

TiVo is starting to add recommendations to its programming by recruiting critics and magazine editors and the like. According to Jeff Jarvis by so doing they are creating ad hoc networks which bypass the traditional channels and are opening up the way to a future where viewers can subscribe to the viewing habits of others.

City AM, the free London newspaper targeted at the financial community, has launched a free podcast service for returning commuters using Liverpool Street and Waterloo stations.
According to BuzzMachine the service is using Bluetooth to simulcast to up to 150 mobile phones at a time.

Georgina Henry sparks a debate about swearing on the Guardian’s Comment is Free site.

Warren Buffet’s views on the future of US newspapers. Via Hypergene MediaBlog.