Google sets the global pace for firms deriving revenues from online advertising, and to the relief of everyone, it handily beat first-quarter expectations.

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CTV.ca is the most video-intensive news website in Canada. My employer just launched the latest and greatest version of its online video player. You can launch it from CTV.ca or click here.

Online video useage continues to explode, and the Amnets are hard-pressed to keep up. Episodes they broadcast are making their way onto YouTube and being distributed by BitTorrent within minutes of airing.

As a result, the Amnets aren't grabbing much online market share, which means less m-o-n-e-y.

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From CP via CTV.ca:

Torstar Corp. is cutting 160 jobs and taking a $21-million charge in a restructuring of its newspaper division amid continued weakness in the industry.

The company said Thursday the restructuring involves "a combination of voluntary and involuntary staff reductions'' and will save $12 million annually.

Torstar, owner of the Toronto Star, Canada's largest-circulation newspaper, didn't release details of the staff reductions, and executives were not immediately available for comment.

The company also owns other Ontario dailies, the Metroland complex of community papers and the Harlequin romance-novel enterprise, along with Internet sites like Toronto.com and Workopolis.

The staff cuts are the latest to rock the North American newspaper industry, struggling because of falling circulation and the growth of online news sources.

The Star ratified a new contract with its staff in January, averting a strike. It said at the time that the three-year agreement would help the newspaper transition from a traditional print-focused organization to one that deals with multimedia -- both print and online.

The voluntary reductions total 122.

The entire Internet production staff is gone.

Update

As of 2:22 p.m., the Star only had the CP wire story.

Update 2

In a Friday Toronto Star story, the company clarified what it meant by "Internet production staff":

...10 positions were eliminated in a small unit called Torstar Electronic Publishing, where the work had either become redundant or is being absorbed in the Star newsroom, where the number of digital staff is growing.

In a message to staff this week, publisher Jagoda Pike said the Star is continuing to invest in new talent, including in the digital area, as evidenced by this week's launch of three new web "verticals," called parentcentral.ca, yourhome.ca, and healthzone.ca.

Staff are being hired for those verticals, for the introduction of readers commenting on stories, and for other website improvements including more multimedia and online graphics.