Search Biz: Ex-Yahoos Doing Well; Yahoo Shutters Brickhouse; Google Chrome Out Of Beta Soon & More

With Yahoo layoffs underway, Forbes shares a reminder that there is life after a layoff, and it’s sometimes better. Forbes tells the story of ex-Yahoo bizdev guy Rob Bailey, who left the company in 2006, and is now an award-winning winemaker. While Big Business is laying people off left and right, Bailey’s wine operation has grown from two to eight employees. Also mentioned: ex-Yahoos Jennifer Dulski and Neil Budde, who now run Center’d and DailyMe, respectively. Sometimes the grass is greener….we sure hope so.

Also looming over the Yahoo layoffs is the never-ending situation with AOL and Microsoft. PaidContent.org reports that one Yahoo investor, Ivory Investment Management, is pleading with the company to sell the search business to Microsoft. IIM thinks such a deal could mean $15 billion to Yahoo.

And our last Yahoo update of this column comes from TechCrunch, which reports that Yahoo Brickhouse will be shut down by year’s end. Brickhouse is the Yahoo group responsible for Pipes, FireEagle, and other innovative applications.

The Google news today starts with a TechCrunch report that the Chrome browser is about to come out of beta. That’s the word from VP Marissa Mayer. Chrome just launched in September, so it stands to be one of the fastest Google products to ever leave beta … maybe the fastest. The TechCrunch article points out that many manufacturers won’t distribute a product that’s still in beta.

Google is losing an executive described by some as an “unsung hero” in the company. The Wall Street Journal says that Dipchand “Deep” Nishar, who helped launch Google’s mobile business, is moving to LinkedIn.

Google is showing off its new office just outside Washington, DC, in Reston, Virginia. The new office should help Google do business with the U.S. government. Mike Bradshaw, Director of Federal Enterprise Sales for Google, blogged about Tuesday’s open house and included a few photos from the event. CongressDaily has a few more photos of the pretty, Googley colors everywhere. But by far the best coverage comes from Valleywag, where Owen Thomas explains the real benefit of having a shiny, new office so close to DC:

“Just having an office in the area to act as a cash bucket is all Google needs to do. Our president-to-be has long had a mancrush on Google.”

And finally, Microsoft has published its own interview with newly-hired Dr. Qi Lu, the incoming Online Services Group president. Frankly, nothing earth-shattering in the interview from my POV, but a good way to wrap up today’s SearchBiz.