Well, yes, but not as you knew them. Mediapost reported that online magazine readership was up an impressive 11.9% in the first quarter of 2008, in a time when most if not all are reporting losses. (If a place with the name "Steak n’ Shake" is going down, what’s next? Wal-Mart?)

Some cool stats* about online mags, from the article:

• Consumer magazine websites nailed an average 70.7
  million unique visitors per month in the first three months of 2008 – up from 63.2 million in Q1 ’07. (Online newspapers reach less – 66.4 million.)
• Magazine websites now reach about 43.7% of the total American online population – 23.5% of the total US population.
• The increase for magazine websites is
  more than triple the growth rate of the overall US internet
  population.
• Number of sessions per month (497.3 million) is up 16.3% from last year, with time spent up a similar percentage (16.7%) to 2.3 billion minutes per month, on average.

*Figures from the Magazine Publishers of America, citing data from
Nielsen Online covering 337 consumer magazines with an online presence.

More importantly, readers are happy with their digi-mags, Mediapost reported from another study. they commend their environmental friendliness and are happy with the ability to search for specific items. In fact, 89% said they were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" and 9 out of 10 read the digital edition the same week they receive it. You certainly can’t say that about The New Yorker print edition.

And here is the true music to our ears: 90% of readers took some kind of action after
seeing a product or service advertised in a digital magazine. That’s just not normal. 

So, to sum up: print mags dead (blame the blogs, they say), online is rockin’, steak n’ shake may not survive to Q2. Sad to say, but true.

Hot off the press from the IAB:

• For the full year 2007, internet ad revenues totaled $21.2 billion, 26% higher than 2006 – which was also a record year. ("It just keeps on getting better.." –Brooks & Dunn, anyone?)

• Search, display, classifieds and lead generation paved the way, growing at a "healthy rate," the IAB and PwC said. See chart, below:

• Q4 2007 was a blast: revs hit $5.9
  billion, historic  for a single quarter, and a 24%
  increase from Q4 ’06 to boot. (See the full report.)
• The biggest spenders? Consumer advertisers – 55%
  of 2007 full-year revenues, up from 52% in 2006.

 It’s big, it’s green, it’s growing…

Will it ever stop?   

Ask Steve McQueen.

Bajillionaire Carl Icahn has jumped into the Yahoo/Microsoft mess, flexing his financial muscles as he takes a big stake of the company, apparently planning  to nominate a dissident slate of directors to the company. Mmm, dissidents. Sounds dangerous.

If his nominated directors are elected by disgruntled Yahoo shareholders to replace the current board, which adamantly rejected Microsoft’s buyout offer last week (it being $5 less per share than they would have liked), they would unanimously accept the bid. But Microsoft may not be interested: "We’re moving on," said a Microsoft source. They’re chasing new tail by now, I’m sure.

WWYD? (What will Yahoo do?) Partner with Google – exclamation point – and further risk antitrust violation? And who is to say Google even wants them? Poor, misguided, overvalued tech company. Maybe Icahn was a good hope for them after all.