GM lets Tiger go: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer November 25, 2008

General Motors ended its seven year relationship with Tiger Woods yesterday. GM, who is trying to drastically cut costs, ended the contact with the world's most famous Golfer a year head of schedule. Analysts value Tiger's contract with GM to be around $8 million a year.

Facebook won a $873 million judgement against a spammer. The alleged spammer, Adam Guerbuez of Montreal, used fake web sites to learn logins and passwords and subsequently send messages from different accounts. Have your account broken into and ads for marijuana and penis enlargement sent to your friends? It was probably Guerbuez.

Facebook walked away from negotiations with Twitter. Supposedly, the social network believed $500 million was far too high a valuation for the microblogging site. With investors skeptical on large deals, Twitter, like DIGG and Yahoo, may have a hard time finding someone willing to pay big bucks.

Have Boston Legal and Grey's Anatomy jumped the shark? Both shows seem so devoid of plot that Boston Legal just put everyone in a room and hoped something would happen, while on Grey's Izzie Steven's is sleeping with a dead person. This is exactly the type of programming that helps in decreasing television ad spending.

Google is in the midst of a massive round of layoffs, which could tally 10,000. The "Don't Be Evil" corporation has been quietly firing people since August, reportedly 500 of them being recruiters. In order to meet third quarter expectations, Google cut operational expenses, including thousands of temporary "operational" employees. Expect more of this in the not so distant future.

Plus, today's consulting question, "Do you think Eric Schmidt will really leave Google to work for Obama?" Shelly has the answer on today's MediaBytes.

Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at [e-mail]