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Google Settles Click-Fraud Lawsuit (Reuters)
The company has agreed to pay up to $90 million to settle a lawsuit over advertising fraud by outside parties on its site, in a bid to put the controversy behind it. The settlement will involve legal fees and credits to all advertisers who apply to be part of the class action.

Plea Deal for Exec in Newsday Circ Scandal (Newsday)
Robert Brennan, the newspaper's former vice president of circulation, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and income-tax evasion as part of a plea agreement, and is cooperating with prosecutors.

Fight Likely Over VNU Buyout (Independent)
Fidelity International, which held about 15 percent of VNU as of November, said it "is unlikely to support the offer." And Knight Vinke Asset Management LLC, which helped lead a shareholder revolt last year, also rejected the offer, which it said "substantially undervalues" the Dutch media company.

Fillet of Salmon: Observer Shrinks (NYP)
After a fruitless search to find a new sugar daddy, the New York Observer has apparently decided to shrink its size to one section a week in order to save money. There's no word yet on whether the weekly will trim back the number of writers or curb the free reign that it gives writers.

Knight Sale Could Be Litmus Test for MSM (NYT)
The fate of Knight Ridder newspapers, the nation's second-largest newspaper chain, could be determined any day — and with it, the future of what has come to be known as the mainstream media could become clearer. NYP: Two bidders for Knight drop out, leaving MediaNews, which may team up with Gannett and front-runner McClatchy.

NBC Follows the Money With iVillage (WSJ)
NBC Universal points to the rapid growth of Internet advertising as a major rationale for its deal to buy iVillage. But just owning more Web real estate doesn't guarantee a substantially bigger slice of the online advertising pie.

Teachers Protest John Stossel 'Stupid in America' Segment (NY Sun)
The co-anchor of ABC's 20/20 came out to greet hordes of angry teachers who gathered outside the network's studio to protest a segment the program aired about public schools.

Another Radio Chain Hit With Payola Lawsuit (LAT)
The nation's fourth-largest radio company, Entercom Communications Corp., traded airtime for gifts and payments in a payola scam that included formalized programs to sell airplay to record labels, according to a suit filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

How to Edit 40,000 Photos a Day (PDN)
Daryl Lang: Selecting photos for US Weekly — and its 1.7 million readers — the magazine's editors spend Monday night sifting through thousands of images, deciding what the rest of us will be talking about when the issue hits the streets later in the week.

Monitor Launches Campaign to Win Carroll's Release (ABC News)
The Christian Science Monitor has launched a campaign on Iraqi television stations hoping to win the release of reporter Jill Carroll, who was kidnapped in Iraq two months ago. The newspaper's videotaped message has appeared on the private Sharqiya television and the state-run Iraqiya-TV.

Online Porn Billing Glitch Exposes Buyers' Info (Wired)
Seventeen million customers of the online payment service iBill have had their personal information (including names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses and internet IP addresses) released onto the Internet, where it's been bought and sold in a black market of fraud artists and spammers.

Nets Face Big Fee for Face Transplant Story (Lowdown)
Lloyd Grove: The lawyer for the woman who received the world's first face transplant is telling American television outlets that his client will do an interview only for a six-figure sum. Rights to broadcast a documentary about her surgery will cost an additional 400,000 euros, or about $500,000.

—David S. Hirschman