We talked to the firm's COO Barak Rabinowitz about the site's plans, as well as interest from brands in sponsoring customised contests.

Brands are increasingly looking at more diverse ways to engage consumers in their products, and I believe there is currently no better opportunity than the Nintendo Wii.

Historically, FMCG brands have been slow to embrace online marketing as they have struggled to deliver a compelling creative message and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

With more and more teenagers spurning traditional media, we asked the broadcaster’s commissioning editor Matt Locke about how it is planning to reach them through digital services.

He tells us if production houses are ready to fulfill its objectives and how Channel 4 is rethinking its focus towards metrics and measurement. Amen to that.

From a study revealing that the most avid clickers of online ads aren't members of the most desirable demographic groups to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's admission that the US economic landscape is increasingly bleak, the diversity of the week's news was enjoyable.

Microsoft has totally failed to manage user expectations, to accommodate new Xbox users, and to cater for the spikes that were bound to appear over the holiday period. It’s a pity, since the Xbox Live experience, when it works, is nothing short of sensational, and should get better and better.

In a notice, Virgin says the site will be shut down for the short term and ultimately replaced by a "new and improved betting product".

Microsoft plans to add a new social networking option to its Xbox Live platform, by allowing users of the service to connect with friends of friends.

The Dashboard Update will be introduced on December 4, to allow gamers to find friends, send messages and invites, and to compare games.

All of which prompts the question: Is Microsoft trying to become 'the new Facebook'?

Microsoft's Xbox 360 has overtaken the Wii as the most searched for games console in the US, according to figures from Hitwise.

The research group's Bill Tancer said the increase in searches was down to a combination of factors - hype about new games, rumours of a drop in prices, as well as 'red ring of death' issues.

The two founders of Neteller, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, were charged with conspiracy back in January as it was being used by US citizens to place bets through foreign-based internet gambling sites.

Due in early 2008, the IPO would value the Virgin-backed company at some €1bn (£670m), even though it won't launch commercially until later this year.

If you're anything like me you probably think this valuation is crazy. And it is.

The company has signed with the Traffic Marketplace advertising network to place ads on PartyPoker.com and PartyPoker.net in the US.

Spot The Bull exploits the mobile network's sponsorship of the Glastonbury festival, offering prizes to players if they can correctly predict the location of the creature.

The UK's bingo players are up in arms over the imminent smoking ban, and the smokers amongst them have said they will visit bingo clubs less often, and spend more time online.

St Minver, which operates the world's largest bingo network, has carried out a survey of 3,000 UK bingo players to find out their attitudes towards the ban, which comes into effect from 1st July.

eMarketer forecasts the worldwide business will balloon from its 2007 value of £500m as game developers look for new ways to monetise increasingly expensive game production processes.

The long-anticipated deal – believed to be worth around $23m – will see the search giant entering a market that's expected to grow massively over the next few years.

Comic Relief is running promotions on Bebo for a "Big Bebo Takeover", encouraging users to design a red homepage for the social networking site this coming Friday.