SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 1, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Topic: IAC
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 31, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Ask.com Helps IAC Earn 40% Increase In Q3 2007 Media Revenue
IAC Reports Q3 Results from CNNMoney reports that IAC saw a 4.2% decline in net income year over year. Here is IAC’s press release for the third-quarter numbers this year. But if you pull out Ask.com, IAC’s search engine, which is part of IAC’s Media & Advertising group, you will see that sector saw an […]
Local Search Site Judy’s Book To Shut Down
TechCrunch first reported (confirmed on CEO Andy Sack’s blog) that local search site Judy’s Book is shutting down and/or looking for a buyer. After struggling to monetize its traffic, the site shifted its business model to emphasize coupons and local deals. The firm had raised over $10 million in two investment rounds. This follows the […]
Online Moms: Where Local, Social, And Vertical Worlds Collide
Not long ago I had an appliance repair person to my house in the San Francisco Bay Area to fix my clothes dryer and, while he was at it, my dishwasher, which was stopping in the middle of cycles. I had used the Internet to find his company; however, he didn’t once ask me how […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 1, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
IAC Hopes More iWon Giveaways Will iWin New Searchers
The iWon site has been relaunched with a new look and with the intention to give away more prizes. Barry Diller’s IAC revamps iWon.com from BusinessWeek details most of the changes, which include more “games, more prizes and plans to add social networking functions.” In addition, iWon will contain a search toolbar that links search […]
Gates, Brin & Page: Top 5 Richest People In Forbes 400
Forbes released its latest The Forbes 400 list, and among the top ten richest Americans are Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Gates topped the list at number one with a net worth of $59.0 billion. Sergey Brin is listed at number five, with a net worth of $18.5 billion. Larry […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 11, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 31, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
IAC Reports Q2 Earnings, Ask.com Revenue Down On A Per Query Basis
Ask.com’s parent company, IAC, released their second quarter earnings statement today. Ask.com is bundled into the “Media & Advertising” category, which overall reported higher revenue than the previous year by 33%. However, Ask.com realized a “lower revenue per query since the launch” of Ask 3D in June. Why? Because the new interface requires less clicks […]
From eTours To Commanding Ask.com: Jim Lanzone’s Story
I Fought the Law from the New York Times tells the story of how Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone abandoned pursuing a legal degree and learned his true passion was for internet companies. Lanzone attended Emory University’s School of Law in Atlanta. He then worked for Justice Hugh P. Thompson at the Supreme Court of Georgia, […]
Yellow Pages Publisher Buys Business.com For $350 Million
RH Donnelley, which acquired SEM firm LocalLaunch in 2006 and owns the local search/online yellow pages site DexKnows, has announced the acquisition of Business.com and its related properties for $350 million.
Microsoft To Anonymize Log Data; Calls For Industry Standards Along With Ask.com
First Google, then Ask.com and now Microsoft have jumped onto the privacy protection train. Late yesterday, Microsoft announced that it was going to follow Google’s lead and anonymize search log data after 18 months. In addition, it has partnered with Ask to call for an industry effort to develop privacy principles. There’s a tinge of […]
Local Is Social By Definition
Several years ago I was having lunch in a restaurant in New York with a couple of Yahoo executives, discussing the challenge of motivating people to rate local businesses. Yahoo was way ahead of the online curve back then, although now ratings and reviews of local businesses are seemingly everywhere online. Indeed, that conversation seems […]
Ask.com: Today’s Google Free Alternative
Today’s the day we’re encouraging people to try Ask.com as part of our Google Free Fridays in July. But why is it happening on a Monday? Because I’m a day behind, as I explained last Friday. Shush, you! What’s that? Why do we hate Google so much to be promoting Google Free Fridays? We don’t, […]
‘Hyper-Local’ Site Backfence Shutting Down
Backfence emerged about the same time, a couple of years ago, as InsiderPages, Judy’s Book and Yelp. Now it appears to be closing its doors. The seemingly imminent closure of Backfence raises questions about the economics and viability of so-called “hyper-local” sites. InsiderPages, for its part, was recently sold to IAC/Citysearch and Judy’s Book has […]
thinkingVOICE And Clear Channel Take PPCall Outdoors
Pay per phone call (PPCall) probably qualifies as something of a disappointment to date. While there has been adoption by advertisers and some good results, revenues have not kept pace with early expectations (which, admittedly, I helped create). In mobile it’s a natural business model and that may be the arena in which PPCall ultimately […]
Mark Stockford, Ask.com New Senior VP Of Operations
Ask.com has appointed Mark Stockford as the new senior vice president of operations today. Stockford will be responsible for the planning and operations of technology and engineering departments at Ask.com as well as all of Ask.com’s data center operations. Stockford previously held employment at eBay, PayPal and Excite@Home. Chuck Geiger, executive cp of technology and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 15, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Forty-Eight Hours With Ask Mobile
On Friday I received a briefing on Ask Mobile (with GPS) and a demo phone with the application pre-installed. I now have three mobile devices that I’m carrying: a traditional cellphone, a Windows Mobile device and the Ask Mobile demo phone. It’s quite a challenge to physically manage all these devices as I walk and […]
Ask.com: The $100 Million Brand
IAC to spend $100 mln on Ask brand in 2007: Diller from the Washington Post reports that Ask.com is going spend $100 million on branding Ask.com this year. IAC chairman Barry Diller, whose company owns Ask.com, said We have a number of ways to tell people about Ask, its tools, and why it should be […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 14, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 4, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Citysearch Gets New Look And Video
Citysearch, one of the more venerable names in local search, has relaunched its site with an updated look and other “new and improved” features, including video. Video is currently available for New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and has prominent placement at the top of the home page. It’s an ad unit for local […]
Portfolio.com Releases Executive Profiles Of Search Execs
Gary Price reports that Portfolio.com released a database of top executives profiles, and part of that list includes many of the top executives from our beloved search engines. Here are quick links to some of those profiles of interest:
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 25, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Ask.com To Launch Contextual Advertising Product
Ask.com is launching a new sponsored listings contextual product and will go live the week of May 21st. The Ask contextual product will initially launch within IAC’s own network of sites including Match.com, Ticketmaster, Evite and Citysearch and will then expand to trusted third party publishers. Individual publishers will most likely have to wait until […]
WSJ Covers Ask.com’s “Information Revolution” Ad Campaign
Ask.Com’s ‘Revolt’ Risks Costly Clicks from the Wall Street Journal weighs in on the Ask.com guerrilla marketing campaign we covered last month, especially focusing on the negative comments that have appeared on the associated web site. The article also highlighting the television commercials now airing. I’ve seen these myself on TV here, and a video […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 1, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Citysearch Buys InsiderPages
VentureBeat is reporting that Citysearch/IAC is the mystery buyer of InsiderPages. A purchase price was not disclosed. The formal announcement will apparently come later today or early tomorrow [now confirmed, see below]. I would guess the purchase price wasn’t more than 2x what the investors put in (TechCrunch guesses $13 million), given that the company […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Feb. 6, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
IAC Earnings Drop But Ask.com Grows
Last night Ask.com’s parent company, IAC, reported earnings. Bloomberg reports that IAC’s profits dropped 98 percent in the fourth-quarter. The blame goes to the “entertainment coupon division.” But Ask.com’s media and ad segment division did pretty well, showing a growth of 46 percent in revenue from $109.5 million in Q4 2005 to $159.8 million in […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Jan. 17, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Industry Moves: Peter Horan Goes To IAC
Peter Horan, who was the About.com CEO until its acquisition by the New York Times and then moved west to head up small business portal AllBusiness.com, has now been appointed CEO of IAC Media & Advertising. According to the company, “The CEOs of the Media & Advertising businesses will now report to Mr. Horan, including […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Jan. 12, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Interview with Ask.com “Head Chef” and CEO Jim Lanzone
Spotted via Marketing Pilgrim, this interview with Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone by Donna Bogatin at ZDNet on his vision and his role within both Ask and parent company IAC: “We are a world-class technology company and we are able to take ingredients from our sister companies, luckily in many cases premium ingredients because they are […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, Dec. 29, 2006
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
YellowPages.com Adds ‘Send to Mobile’
Joining Yahoo Local, Windows Live Local, Google Maps, and IAC-owned Citysearch and AskCity, YellowPages.com announced a new “send to mobile” feature. The listing and contact details are sent via text to the user’s mobile phone. Here’s a result for the search “Plumbers, New York.” (Send to mobile is on the upper right of each ad.)