Microsoft announced earlier today that it had acquired six-year-old European mobile ad platform company ScreenTonic. Last February, Microsoft acquired European mobile search provider MotionBridge. This past March Microsoft bought Tellme. Thus, the company is putting together an impressive suite of mobile assets for both consumers and carriers.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Google reportedly to build data center in Belgium from MarketWatch reports that Google is going to spend 250 million EUROs (about $341 million US) on a data center in Belgium.
The most significant copyright case against Google News, that filed by Agence France-Presse back in March 2005, has now ended. Google has signed a licensing agreement with AFP that settles the suit. News from the AFP here. The statement from both companies has the usual spin that this is about "new" uses rather than Google […]
First Brazil blocked YouTube over a celebrity sex video. Then Turkey blocked YouTube over a video said to be insulting to country founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Now it’s Thailand’s turn. YouTube is now blocked in Thailand after the service apparently failed to remove a video clip deemed insulting to the country’s king.
Belgian company loses lawsuit against Google from IT World reports that Google has won a suit brought against them by ServersCheck, a Belgian company. The company complained that the Google Suggest feature was helping people find pirated versions of its software.
Last October, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer gave us a taste of how Microsoft was going to position Google as a copyright leech. Today, Microsoft launched a full-out assault on the company. Google deserves some of this, no doubt. But the idea as Microsoft as some altruistic copyright savior deserves some critical analysis, as well. Below, I’ll dissect Microsoft’s slams against […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
A Belgium court has found that Google did violate copyright when including material from several Belgian newspapers in its search index. Google may have to pay a fine, but the ruling is far more positive for the company. Google can continue to index content without explicit permission. NOTE: The story is developing, so I will […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Yahoo Denies Violating Belgian Copyright Law at the Wall Street Journal gives us insight into how Yahoo will be handling the legal threat by Belgian newspapers to sue Yahoo over violating copyright laws. Yahoo has claimed that they did not violate any copyright laws for “publishing snippets and links” to their newspapers. Yahoo released a […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
TheAge reports that Copiepresse, Belgium’s French-speaking newspapers, are now threatening to sue Yahoo for violating copyright laws. The group does not want Yahoo giving web users archived access to newspaper articles that the newspapers would otherwise charge for. It will be interesting to watch how Yahoo handles this.
There's growing concern about the type of company Google is becoming. Yet Google's has survived these "tipping points" so far.