Archive for December 20th, 2007

America Movil and Yahoo! bring Mobile Services to Latin America

America Movil and Yahoo! today announced a new strategic global partnership providing a framework for making Yahoo!’s industry leading mobile services available to millions of consumers in 16 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement sets the stage for Yahoo! oneSearch to be the preferred mobile search service on America Movil’s diverse wireless carriers’ portals and prominent placement of links on the carrier portal to Yahoo!’s Mobile Web properties.

Under the global framework agreement, oneSearch, Yahoo!’s industry leading mobile search product, will be the default mobile search service on America Movil’s wireless carriers’ portals, making it easier for consumers to find relevant answers to search queries on their mobile devices. In the coming months, Yahoo! will customize and deploy localized versions of oneSearch for each region, integrating America Movil’s wireless carriers’ content and tailoring the experience to best meet the needs of each country’s consumer audience.

Yahoo! oneSearch delivers a search experience specifically designed for the mobile phone by delivering relevant results and instant answers in a user-friendly interface, thereby removing the need for consumers to navigate through a sea of PC Web links. oneSearch provides consumers access to news, financial information, weather conditions, flickr(TM) photos, Web images, and Web and Mobile Web sites.

Together, America Movil and Yahoo! are enhancing the experience for consumers on mobile devices. Over the coming months, the two companies will look to bring additional Yahoo! products and services to mobile devices.

“Fostering deep relationships with mobile innovators like Yahoo! is an essential part of our mobile strategy,” Luis Cosio, value added services director of America Movil, stated. “With our mobile leadership in Latin America combined with Yahoo!’s expertise in mobile Internet services, we are delivering compelling mobile experiences for consumers and driving further adoption of the mobile Internet.”

“Our partnerships with leading global operators like America Movil are essential to expanding Yahoo!’s mobile reach and demonstrates our commitment to working with partners to enhance consumers’ mobile Internet experience,” said Bruce Stewart, vice president and general manager, Connected Life Americas, Yahoo!. “By providing compelling mobile experiences and continuing to partner with key operators to provide services tailored for their customers, we can grow usage of the mobile Internet, create new revenue streams and extend our leadership in mobile services.”

The strategic partnership with America Movil is Yahoo!’s largest mobile search deal with an operator to date, building on twenty previous partnerships with mobile operators globally and reinforcing Yahoo!’s strong leadership position in mobile audience reach, mobile search services and mobile advertising. Yahoo! oneSearch is now available in 19 countries around the world, and first launched in the United States in January 2007. For information on oneSearch, Yahoo! Go and Yahoo!’s other mobile products please visit http://mobile.yahoo.com.

December 20th, 2007

FTC Clears Google’s Acquisition of DoubleClick

Google today welcomed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s clearance of its planned acquisition of DoubleClick Inc., a premier provider of display ad serving technology and services.  Google announced in April 2007 a definitive agreement to acquire the company for $3.1 billion in cash from San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman along with JMI Equity and management.

“The FTC’s strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google.  “We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion, and we are confident that this deal will deliver more relevant ads for consumers, more choices for advertisers, and more opportunities for website publishers.”

The acquisition was approved earlier this year by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and was recommended for approval by one of three Brazilian regulatory agencies.  Google cannot close the acquisition until the European Commission, which is still examining the transaction, grants clearance of the deal.

In its clearance opinion released today, the FTC explicitly rejected any current or potential competition concerns.  Google and DoubleClick are complementary businesses and do not compete with each other.  Google’s current business primarily involves the selling of text-based ads, while DoubleClick’s core business is delivering and reporting on display ads.  DoubleClick does not buy ads, sell ads, or buy or sell advertising space.  Rather, it provides technology to enable advertisers and publishers to deliver ads once they have agreed to terms, and to provide advertisers and publishers statistics relating to those ads.

The FTC’s opinion also noted the robust competition in the online ad serving space, and Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick is just one of several recent transactions that underscore this strong competition.  In recent months, several major transactions in the online advertising space were announced, including Yahoo’s acquisition of Right Media; AOL’s acquisition of ADTECH AG and TACODA; WPP Group’s acquisition of 24/7 Real Media; and Microsoft’s $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive and acquisition of AdECN Inc. 

While the FTC’s opinion reaffirmed the law by noting that privacy concerns played no role in its merger review, Schmidt reiterated the company’s commitment to user privacy.

“For us, privacy does not begin or end with our purchase of DoubleClick,” Schmidt said.  “We have been protecting our users’ privacy since our inception, and will continue to innovate in how we safeguard their information and maintain their trust.”

December 20th, 2007

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