Smaaz’s Blog

Yahoo! Acquires Online Advertising Company

Yahoo! today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Right Media Inc., creator of the Right Media Exchange. The acquisition of Right Media will build upon Yahoo!’s leadership in online advertising and is a key step towards executing the Company’s long-term strategy to transform how online advertisers connect to and engage with their customers - both on and off the Yahoo! network. Under the terms of the agreement, which follows Yahoo!’s 20 percent strategic investment in Right Media in October 2006, Yahoo! will acquire the remaining equity interest in Right Media for approximately $680 million. Shareholders will be paid in approximately equal parts cash and stock, and Right Media options and similar equity awards will be assumed by Yahoo!.

“The acquisition of Right Media will further Yahoo!’s goal to create the industry’s most open, accessible and vibrant advertising marketplace, which will help democratize the buying and selling of digitally enabled advertising,” said Terry Semel, chairman and CEO of Yahoo!. “This acquisition is an important step in our long-term vision to build the industry’s leading advertising and publisher ecosystem. We believe that Yahoo!’s open approach is a clear differentiator from others in the industry and provides significant benefits to advertisers, publishers and Yahoo! itself.”

Right Media’s open exchange will facilitate a frictionless model where buyers have equal opportunity to engage with the largest, most valuable audiences and to extract the maximum value from their campaigns and sellers can access an enormous pool of advertisers and foster competition for their inventory to maximize revenue. Yahoo! will increase its participation in the Right Media Exchange both as a buyer and seller to help increase liquidity in the exchange while empowering publishers and advertisers to generate more value for themselves within this vibrant marketplace.

1 comment April 30th, 2007

Google Helps Improving Government Sites

Google today announced partnerships with the states of Arizona, California, Utah and Virginia to make it easier to search for hard-to-find public information on state government websites.These partnerships developed as both Google and officials with the four state governments recognized that the public is increasingly turning to search engines like Google to access government services, but that a significant share of the information on state agency websites is not included in its index of information sources on the web. As a result, many online government services can be difficult for the public to find.

“Connecting citizens with their government by offering the public better access to public sector information and services is consistent with our broader vision – to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” said Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “These partnerships are among many that Google is pursuing with government agencies to better serve the public.”

California joins Arizona, Utah and Virginia as one of the first states to partner with Google to improve accessibility of their online services.

“California state government provides tremendous resources online for the public to learn about our great state,” said California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Our partnership with Google will empower Californians to know more about our government and provide better access to services and helpful information.”

To improve access to state agency websites, technology managers in the four states increased the amount of state information that is accessible through a Google search.

This means job seekers in Utah can now search on Google for employment in the state and find job postings provided by the state’s Department of Workforce Services. In Virginia, search engine users interested in the region’s colonial history can now find a greater variety of online resources provided by the Commonwealth’s archive, the Library of Virginia.

“Transparent digital government is a top priority in Virginia,” said Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia. “Our goal is to provide easy, quick and intuitive citizen access to every government resource. Google is helping us to achieve it.”

Looking up information on education and health services in California has also become easier, as agencies in the state have begun opening their databases to search engine users. For Arizona home buyers, a Google search for real estate professionals now leads to records in the Department of Real Estate’s database of licensed agents.

“Government must be innovative in order to offer the best possible services to citizens,” said Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Chair of the National Governors Association. “Through this Google partnership, Arizona is continuing to fulfill its responsibility to make state government as open and accessible as possible to the public.”

While taking the step of opening more web pages to their citizens, the four states have also upgraded the search tool offered on some of their agency websites to encompass the full range of government information a citizen may be seeking. Using the Google Custom Search Engineâ„¢ service, the states of Virginia and Utah now provide visitors to Virgina.gov and Utah.gov the ability to search for information from all sectors of government. Now, a tourist considering a visit to either state can conduct one search to find information on parks and recreation, whether provided by a federal, state, or local government source.

Google has helped state officials implement these website improvements at no cost to the states. The Custom Search Engine service is free to government and private sector website owners.

For information on how a government agency can make it easier to search for hard-to-find public information, visit http://www.google.com/publicsector.

Add comment April 30th, 2007

Yahoo! Brings Baseball to Yahoo! Sports for TV

Yahoo! today announced it is taking consumers out to the ballgame with a new version of  Yahoo! Sports for TV service. This new version brings the excitement of fantasy baseball to Windows Media Center this season on Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate. Consumers with Media Center PCs or Media Center Extenders such as the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system can now get real-time updates on their fantasy baseball team while watching live games - all on their TV screen.

Using the remote control, consumers can get real-time updates on their fantasy baseball scores without missing a minute of the live game on their television screen. Key features of the new version include:

• Fantasy Baseball - Follow fantasy leagues and get live updates
• Real Time Game Data - Get all the important information such as player stats, inning information, who’s at bat and more
• Scoreboard - Get a birds eye view of all of the action across the league

To learn more about the service, please visit the Yahoo! Sports site.

Add comment April 27th, 2007

Google Desktop 5 Now Available In 29 Languages

Google today announced the release of the Google Desktop 5 application in 29 languages, including a first release in Hindi. They have redesigned the look and feel of the sidebar and many of the most popular gadgets. The sidebar samples the color of your desktop background and fades the color into the sidebar, fitting into any environment.
There are also previews for search results and warnings for suspicious websites, whether you’re clicking on links from documents, IMs, websites, and more.

Add comment April 27th, 2007

Yahoo! Started Toolbar Suggestion Board

Yahoo! has started a Suggestion Board for the Yahoo! Browser Toolbar:

“No idea is a bad idea. Ok, I don’t believe that either. But if you think you’ve got a good one for Yahoo! Toolbar, please share it on our new Toolbar Suggestion Board.

You can also visit the forum to read and rate other people’s suggestions. The more votes a suggestion receives, the more likely it’ll attract our attention. And who knows, you may even bump into real folks from the Toolbar team who will chat with you about the suggestions.”

Add comment April 26th, 2007

Microsoft Loses Another Live Search Exec

Seems, like Microsoft loses another important executive. Dane Glasgow, general manager for Live Search, is leaving the company to work for various nonprofits and spend more time with his family. Glasgow will leave the company by the end of this week.

Add comment April 26th, 2007

Yahoo! Music and Gracenote To Present Song Lyrics

Yahoo! Music and Gracenote today announced a new licensing deal allowing Yahoo! Music to offer the largest catalog of legal, licensed song lyrics from Gracenote to Yahoo! Music’s consumers. Beginning today, song lyrics for hundreds of thousands of songs from all five major publishers will be incorporated into Yahoo! Music through Gracenote’s growing database.

Through the agreement, consumers can search for song lyrics from the Yahoo! Music Search bar, simply by entering even a partial lyric from the song. Consumers will have viewing access to lyrics from nearly 100 music publishers, including the top five: BMG Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, and dozens of prominent independent publishers.

Add comment April 24th, 2007

Yahoo! to Host First Online-Only Presidential Debates

Yahoo!, The Huffington Post and Slate announced today plans to host two online-only presidential debates during the 2008 campaign. These first-of-their kind debates will be hosted on all three Web sites and give voters the opportunity to ask questions directly to the candidates, participate in the debate in real-time, and even determine which candidate is giving the best performance. The debates, scheduled to take place after Labor Day, will be hosted by PBS’ Charlie Rose. The Democratic debate will feature opening remarks by DNC chair Howard Dean.”We intend for these debates to be a groundbreaking mix of old and new traditions in politics,” said Charlie Rose. “2008 will be a momentous year for the electoral process in America, thanks in large part to technology and politics connecting like never before. I am proud to host the first ever online only debate, which will reach and engage the voting audience in a whole new way.”

“With presidential candidates announcing online and with campaign ads and fundraising increasingly online, presidential campaigns are moving to the Internet at breakneck speed. Online debates are the inevitable next step,” said Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post. “We are thrilled to be joining with Internet pioneers Yahoo! and Slate to host the first online presidential debates, and to have Charlie Rose as our moderator. These debates represent a further merging of new media technology and politics, and are a great opportunity to bring more people into the political process, and engage the new generation of young voters who spend so much of their time — and get so much of their information — online.”

There will be two online-only debates, one for Democrats and one for Republicans, with invitations extended to candidates who have formally announced their candidacies. These online debates will allow the candidates to participate from whatever location they choose, brought together live via the Internet, and will feature real-time questions sent in by the online audience, as well as viewer questions uploaded on video.

“The 2008 campaign is going to unfold on the Web in a way no previous election ever has,” said Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate. “We hope these first online debates will be a breakthrough, both in terms of technology and political communication. The candidates will be able to have a real discussion in real time — but without having to be in the same place. We think the Internet can bring the same kind of immediacy to presidential debates that it has to other aspects of the political process.”

“We’re opening the doors of democracy for American voters to participate in the Presidential debates like never before,” said Scott Moore, head of news and information, Yahoo!. “Armchair politics will take on new meaning this election season, as we’re offering voters the opportunity to ask the candidates what’s on their mind.”

Add comment April 23rd, 2007