StartupSearch

Welcome to the July 30 edition of the Startup Search Weekly Web Wrap-up. Each week we summarize news and announcements affecting the web technology ecosystem. In this week's issue: Digg signs a new ad partner, Twitter closes its first funding round, Sideshare adds audio, and Picnik shines in the spotlight.

Digg signs ad deal with Microsoft

Social news site Digg announced an advertising partnership with Microsoft AdCenter. Microsoft's advertising network will deliver highly targeted advertising from a deep inventory to Digg's over 17 million unique monthly visitors.

Twitter raises first round

Micro-publishing site Twitter announced its first round of funding led by Union Square Ventures, Charles River Ventures, and a group of angel investors. Twitter did not disclose the total size of the round or the full breadth of its investors.

Slideshare adds audio synchronization

Presentation sharing site Slideshare introduced SlideCasts: slide presentations with an accompanying audio track. Publishers who share their slide presentations online may now add MP3 audio to better describe their content.

Picnik featured in Wall Street Journal

Online photo-editing site Piknik was featured in Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg's Personal Technology column last week. Walt gave the site a glowing review, closing with "If you want to see how good a Web application can be, take Picnik for a spin." Site traffic to Picnik.com doubled in the two days after the favorable mention.