Media Roundup: Google Tags Entire Internet as Malware, LA Times to Cut 70 and More

Google tags entire Internet as malware — In a service glitch, the search engine mistakenly labeled every search result as potentially dangerous on Saturday. The error lasted for 55 minutes and was the result of human error. Google receives a list of malicious sites from a third party named StopBadware that it uses to label risky search results. The company mistakenly replaced the list of harmful sites with a “/,” which included every site on the Web. [Source: ReadWriteWeb]

LA Times to cut 70 — The Los Angeles Times, owned by the bankrupt Tribune Company, will lay off 11 percent of editorial workforce. In a memo sent Friday, Editor Russ Stanton and Publisher Eddy Hartenstein also announced that the paper will be consolidated into four news sections. Cuts in other departments are also in the works. [Source: MediaWeek]

Financial Times finds success in online subscriptions — In a conversation with Silicon Alley Insider, FT.com managing director Rob Grimshaw reveals the results of FT.com’s unconventional paid subscription model. FT.com would be profitable even if advertising revenue fell flat, and the paper has seen 20,000 news registrations every week. Currently, FT.com allows unregistered users to view three articles for free, registered users are allowed ten and subscribers can read an unlimited amount for $3.44 a week. [Source: Silicon Alley Insider]

Magazines rely on free public place copies — Some magazine may be in hot water with advertisers after an Audit Bureau of Circulations report. The report details that many publications have counted free public place copies among their subscriber numbers. With newsstand sales down, many magazines are leaning more towards these “verified” subscriptions. [Source: MediaWeek]

THQ lays off 100 — Video game maker THQ has downsized parts of its wireless division. The lay offs are due to a new strategy that has the division focusing solely on high-end devices such as the iPhone. As a result of the announcement, THQ will also shut down its San Diego, UK and German offices. Last November the company also cut 250 jobs. [Source: VentureBeat]

YouTube claims that is has the most HD video — YouTube founder Chad Hurley has claimed that YouTube has the widest selection of High Definition video on the Internet. Although the exact number of HD videos is up for debate as no one can verify the quality of each video, comparable searches of YouTube’s competitors confirm the claim. [Source: TechCrunch]