Flickr is arguably the jewel in Yahoo’s crown — a great site that in many ways has no peer. Now, after a long wait, video has been added. One might imagine that this is intended to compete with Google’s YouTube, but as the Flickr blog explains the new capabilities have been set up to complement […]
Last night, at Campfire One, Google launched an Amazon S3/EC2-like product named Google App Engine. For non-techies, Google App Engine will allow you to host your web sites and applications on their infrastructure. Not only that, this service will automatically grow in resources and capacity, as your application or web site requires. If you launch […]
Microsoft has had enough, it seems. The company has fired off a written ultimatum to Yahoo’s board. Either conclude an agreement to be acquired by Microsoft or Microsoft will engage in a proxy fight to oust the board with one favorable to the deal. Microsoft says that despite what it calls its “generous” offer, Yahoo […]
Reuters is reporting that Microsoft may be reconsidering its bid for Yahoo in light of changed market conditions and signs of potential weakness in Yahoo’s “core business.” The article cites as sources the familiar unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” There are few details and nobody from either company comments.
Word is from John Furrier that Google Chief Information Officer Douglas Merrill is leaving the company to become president of EMI. News.com has confirmation of his departure from Google and says sources also say he’s going to EMI. The New York Times also has sources saying he’s headed to the music company. Merrill’s departure (recently […]
More doom and gloom on the paid search side for Google. comScore is once again reporting a drop in sponsored clicks, something that also happened last month. After last month’s fallout, comScore did a lot of further analysis shared at the Searchscape panel at our SMX West conference and online to ease concerns that it […]
A few minutes ago, I posted screen captures of Google’s new video ads in the real, live, and wild search results. These were announced back in February but only now appear to have really gone live. Searches that triggered this result for me included cell phone or smart phones or phones. It seems like BlackBerry […]
LinkedIn, with help from BusinessWeek’s CapitalIQ, has added a company directory and related factual information to its business network. It’s not easy to get to the company directory, which is only accessible to LinkedIn users at the moment. One can’t simply go to the LinkedIn search box and type a company name.
Yahoo announced at an investor presentation that they expect to double their operating cash flow in three years from $1.9 billion to $3.7 billion. Yahoo also took the opportunity to reaffirm their 2008 financial outlook. Yahoo said by 2010, they expect to earn $8.8 billion in revenue (excluding traffic acquisition costs). This presentation is to […]
Monday News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch seemed to say that he won’t be doing a deal with Yahoo, which argued that Yahoo had few options left in its bid to stay independent. However, today, in an article in the NY Times, Time Warner Chief Jeffrey L. Bewkes said that he’s ready to make a deal and […]
With the EU’s blessing, Google has finally acquired DoubleClick after nearly a year in trying. Google has blogged that the acquisition has been completed, with CEO Eric Schmidt saying: Integration work can now begin, with detailed plans to come There may be a "reduction in headcount" as Google matches DoubleClick employees to the existing […]
The European Commission has approved the Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick, valued at $3.1 billion. The EU started their investigation in November 2007. The commission found that the “transaction would be unlikely to have harmful effects on consumers, either in ad serving or in intermediation in online advertising markets.”
Google launched Google Sites, basically a relaunch of Jotspot but with many more features. In short, this new software allows teams to share much like you could with Microsoft’s SharePoint. Google sites offers users five templates, as TechCrunch explains:
As expected, Yahoo Buzz has now launched — a site where "buzz-worthy" news articles are highlighted based on user votes, searching activity, and email sharing. Hot stories on Buzz may also get featured on the Yahoo home page, an added incentive to get publishers considering the program.
Newspond is a news aggregation site that boasts “No editors. No voting. Just an AI news engine.” Presumably, the lack of voting distinguishes it from sites like Digg and the lack of editing from the Mahalo-like and maybe Slashdot? Does this mean it’s like Ask’s recent news aggregation entry BigNews but with fewer categories? Or […]
Harper’s Magazine has a spread showcasing a blueprint of Google’s Oregon data center in The Dalles. The article documents the data center at 68,680 square feet with three buildings, two that are currently completed. The data center would require enough power to light up about 82,000 homes, equivalent to 103-megawatts of electricity. Check out the […]
Lawsuit claims Google stole idea for Sky layer in Earth from News.com reports a Google contractor named Jonathan Cobb is suing Google for allegedly stealing a Sky layer idea from him. Sky layers are data in both graphical and textual form that are used in Google Earth. Jonathan Cobb filed suit in an Atlanta federal […]
We expected a management shuffle from Microsoft today, and now they’ve delivered it. The company has announced seven new senior vice presidents and seven new corporate vice presidents. I’ll focus on the search and advertising front, where we now have two different senior vice presidents overseeing advertising. Best I can tell, one’s looking after search […]
Having earlier told Microsoft no, now Yahoo has explained to its shareholders why it declined to be purchased. The full letter can be found here. Below, some highlights.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
The expected Yahoo layoffs started a few hours ago. Two very good people I know are among those cut. No doubt we’re going to be hearing from many more. Below, a rundown on reports I’ve spotted from others on the web about the cuts. As more comes in, we’ll update or do a fresh post. […]
Coming out of the Mobile World Congress this morning are two major mobile search (and probably ad) deals involving Google and Yahoo. Yahoo appears to have replaced Google as the search provider for T-Mobile in Europe, and it also appears to be ousting T-Mobile search partner Medio Systems in Europe (the latter just announced an […]
Yahoo may have said no to being acquired by Microsoft, but Microsoft isn’t having it. The company has put out a statement saying the rejection was "unfortunate" and pledging to "pursue all necessary steps" to get what it called its "full and fair" proposal to be accepted. The wording suggests that Microsoft will not up […]
The weekend rumor becomes reality. Yahoo has rejected Microsoft’s offer, saying it undervalues Yahoo. From the release:
Wondering what’s next after the news that Yahoo apparently plans to reject Microsoft’s takeover offer? The Times Of London reports Yahoo will restart merger talks with AOL. Below, more about the news along with some back history on AOL in search and why a Yahoo-AOL partnership might indeed be a compelling way to convince Yahoo […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Has it only been a week since Microsoft thought it was a nice day for a Yahoo wedding? Indeed, so. And what’s happened since? Rumors that Yahoo is nearing a decision, while Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer seems to want to encourage his potential new employees that a Yahoo brand will survive. Let’s do the news.
Techmeme is all abuzz with news of the Yahoo Live launch. I’m thinking Yahoo’s doing online video? Again? But weren’t they closing Yahoo Video? No, that was Yahoo Podcasts — it’s hard to keep track of the closures. But still, what’s special about Live? Then I hit the official Yahoo blog post about it and […]
Just as Ask is introducing “BigNews,” Google is offering local news. The Google News Blog says that the new capabilities allow users to “create a local section for any city, state or country in the world.” As the Google News Blog admits, Google isn’t the first to do this. Topix.com was (Topix cofounder Rich Skrenta […]
One of the key weaknesses Google has seemed to face in growing market share in China has been the fact that many people turn to Baidu to download music. Now the company may be fixing this, reports the Wall Street Journal:
With all the furor about Microsoft’s potential acquisition of Yahoo!, how do the Yahoo! employees feel about the possibility? Top Yahoo! execs addressed employees on Friday and followed it up with a company-wide email. The email emphasizes that the bid was unsolicited, that no decisions have been made, and that Microsoft’s proposal is one of […]
Does Yahoo have any choice but to get purchased by Microsoft? Over the weekend, there’s been much analysis and discussion of other suitors. While Google isn’t seen as an outright buyer, there’s more talk that it could help Yahoo by taking over search ads in various counties, with reports on this out from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
Not surprisingly, Google’s not happy about Microsoft’s overture to buy Yahoo. The company has blogged an official statement suggesting that the move will hurt what it calls the underlying principles of the internet: "openness and innovation." Microsoft responds to say it is open and that only the shotgun marriage it proposes to Yahoo will make […]
Did you know there’s a way to tag links on pages to indicate social connections? I’d heard about this vaguely, but you can bet there’s going to be much more public awareness and potential use, thanks to Google launching its new Google Social Graph API. Now available, the API allows developers to discover socially-labeled links […]
Now that we’ve posted our own five different stories on the Microsoft bid for Yahoo, I wanted to take a spin across what others are writing up. Below, a recap of things I found interesting below. In particular, I’ve tried to focus on stuff that’s got original observations or interesting tidbits other than the general […]
Greg Sterling and I have just finished a short Q&A with Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of strategic partnerships, about his company’s bid to acquire Yahoo. How does Microsoft plan to integrate Yahoo, if its proposal wins? The plan right now is one more about how the two companies will coordinate to figure out […]
The conference call has happened, and despite saying it has a plan to digest Yahoo, Microsoft didn’t share that with the world. Indeed, at one point it was said any plan depended on what Yahoo’s leadership would suggest. That means it’s time for What If. Some thoughts below from me and contributing editor Greg Sterling. […]
Danny and I just got off the Microsoft conference call. He’s already posted live notes from the call. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at the outset, “This is a decision I’ve thought long and hard about. This is the right path for Microsoft and it’s the right path for Yahoo.” Ballmer added that “A year […]
The Microsoft conference call on the Yahoo bid is happening now. I’ll live blog rough notes. Greg Sterling will do a formal write-up later.
Yesterday the coveted “C Block” of the 700MHz spectrum, which will serve the entire US market, hit the FCC required minimum “reserve bid” of $4.6 billion. Google had promised to bid this amount to trigger the “openness provisions” imposed by the FCC. Effectively the rules now require that “any legal consumer device” must be allowed […]