Archive for July, 2008
Zimbra, a Yahoo! company a leader in open source, next-generation messaging and collaboration software, today announced the release of Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop Beta. Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop gives everyone access to a simple, centralized place to manage work, school and personal e-mail even when they are not connected to the Internet. Through internet protocol support called Post Office Protocol (POP) and Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail and Gmail can now be accessed offline at the same time, from the same place. Additionally, Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop allows users to use the iCal standard to take their calendar offline.
“Zimbra is focused on creating communication and collaboration solutions that ease the pain points of traditional e-mail, and switching between multiple e-mail accounts is one of the communication headaches that users encounter on a daily basis,” said Satish Dharmaraj, Zimbra co-founder and Yahoo! vice president. “With Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop, we have taken our world-class collaboration suite and made it available for everyone for use anywhere, anytime, with any email account.”
Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop gives users access to the same sleek Zimbra experience, and showcases the latest technologies that have until now only been available via Web-based applications including:
– “Mash-ups” with other services; for example, when viewing an e-mail, users can see their schedule by hovering over a date, or see the status of a flight by looking at a flight number;
– Powerful search that can quickly scan a user’s e-mail and pull up relevant content;
– Built-in organization capabilities including automatically converting e-mails into conversations and advanced tagging; and
– Advanced calendaring that gives users access to their most important appointments and schedule even when they are on the go.
Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop also includes a number of features designed to help users stay organized, such as document creation, spreadsheets, task management and document storage, giving users a robust alternative to other desktop applications. New features include online and offline access to:
– Zimbra Documents, a document and spreadsheet program, which gives users the ability to embed complex objects such as photos into documents and spreadsheets. With the addition of Zimbra Documents, Zimbra Desktop users can easily create and edit documents and simple spreadsheets without having to switch between desktop programs or e-mail large attachments.
– Zimbra Briefcase, which allows users to upload, store, and conveniently access any files including spreadsheets, documents, presentations and others. Instead of keeping all attachments in e-mail you can simply store them in the same place with Zimbra Briefcase, and access them from anywhere, online or offline.
– Zimbra Tasks, a task management system which allows users to manage to-do lists simply and easily by monitoring start and due dates, priority, progress and percent complete.
Pricing and Availability
Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop Beta Version 3 is available for free download at Zimbra.com/desktop. Anyone with access to Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS), Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, AOL Mail, or an IMAP/POP enabled server can use Zimbra Desktop (www.zimbra.com/desktop ).
Zimbra’s Web client and server, the Zimbra Collaboration Suite 5.0 Open Source Edition is free. The commercially supported ZCS 5.0 Network Edition is available for a 60-day free trial on the Zimbra website. Zimbra’s Hosted Demo (www.zimbra.com/demo) is available for an immediate test drive of ZCS.
ZCS Network Edition includes product support as well as software subscriptions to new releases, updates and patches. ZCS is available on-premise or as a hosted service and is available at a significant educational or non-profit discount. Please contact sales@zimbra.com for information. Users can discuss topics related to the Zimbra Collaboration Suite and provide feedback at www.zimbra.com/forums.
July 30th, 2008
Yahoo! announced today that it has reached an agreement with Carl Icahn to settle their pending proxy contest related to the Company’s 2008 annual meeting of stockholders.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, eight members of Yahoo!’s current Board of Directors will stand for re-election at the 2008 annual meeting: Roy Bostock, Ronald Burkle, Eric Hippeau, Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern, Mary Agnes Wilderotter, Gary Wilson and Jerry Yang. In view of the settlement agreement with Mr. Icahn, and the termination of the proxy contest, Robert Kotick has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board at the 2008 annual meeting.Following the 2008 annual meeting, the Yahoo! Board will be expanded to 11 members. Carl Icahn will be appointed to the Board and the remaining two seats will be filled by the Board upon the recommendation of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee from a list of nine candidates recommended by Mr. Icahn, which includes the eight remaining members of the Icahn slate of nominees and Jonathan Miller, currently a partner in Velocity Interactive Group and former Chairman and CEO of AOL.
As part of the settlement agreement, Mr. Icahn, who owns an aggregate of 68,786,320 shares, or 4.98% of Yahoo! common stock, has agreed to withdraw his nominees for consideration at the annual meeting and to vote his Yahoo! shares in support of the Board’s nominees.
“We are gratified to have reached this agreement, which serves the best interests of all Yahoo! stockholders,” said Yahoo! Chairman Roy Bostock. “We look forward to working productively with Carl and the new members of the Board on continuing to improve the Company’s performance and enhancing stockholder value. Yahoo! is a world-class company with an extremely bright future, and collaborating together, I believe we can help the Company achieve its ambitious goals.”
“This agreement will not only allow Yahoo! to put the distraction of the proxy contest behind us, it will allow the Company to continue pursuing its strategy of being the starting point for Internet users and a must buy for advertisers,” said Yahoo! Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang. “No other company in the Internet space has our unique combination of global brand, talented employees, innovative technologies and exceptional assets, attributes that will help us take advantage of the large and growing opportunity ahead of us. I look forward to working together with our new colleagues on the Board to make that happen.”
Mr. Icahn said, “I am very pleased that this settlement will allow me to work in partnership with Yahoo!’s Board and management team to help the Company achieve its full potential. While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole Company or the sale of its Search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo!’s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders. I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward. Additionally, I am happy that the board has agreed in the settlement agreement that any meaningful transaction, including the strategy in dealing with that transaction, will be fully discussed with the entire board before any final decision is made.”
In response to Mr. Kotick’s decision to step down from the Board, Mr. Bostock said, “I would like to personally thank Bobby for his dedicated service to Yahoo! these past 5 years. Bobby has been a valuable resource to our Board and the Company and we are grateful for his contributions. He wanted to help see the Company through this recent chapter, but made it clear to me that once the proxy contest was resolved, he was eager to focus his efforts on his work as CEO of the newly merged Activision Blizzard and his other business and civic pursuits.”
The Company intends to file the full text of the settlement agreement later today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and will also file and mail to its stockholders, supplemental proxy material.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release (including without limitation the statements and information in the quotations in this press release) contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!’s strategic and operational plans. Actual results may differ materially from those described in this release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the expected benefits of the commercial agreement with Google may not be realized, including as a result of actions taken by United States or foreign regulatory authorities and the response or acceptance of the agreement by publishers, advertisers, users and employees; the implementation and results of Yahoo!’s ongoing strategic initiatives; the impact of organizational changes; Yahoo!’s ability to compete with new or existing competitors; reduction in spending by, or loss of, marketing services customers; the demand by customers for Yahoo!’s premium services; acceptance by users of new products and services; risks related to joint ventures and the integration of acquisitions; risks related to Yahoo!’s international operations; failure to manage growth and diversification; adverse results in litigation, including intellectual property infringement claims; Yahoo!’s ability to protect its intellectual property and the value of its brands; dependence on key personnel; dependence on third parties for technology, services, content and distribution; general economic conditions and changes in economic conditions; potential continuing uncertainty arising in connection with Microsoft’s various proposals to acquire all or part of Yahoo!; the possibility that Microsoft or another person may in the future make other proposals, or take other actions which may create uncertainty for our employees, publishers, advertisers and other business partners; and the possibility of significant costs of defense, indemnification and liability resulting from stockholder litigation relating to such proposals. More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo!’s business and financial results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Yahoo!’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, as amended, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC”) and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. All information in this release is as of July 21, 2008, unless otherwise noted, and Yahoo! does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update or otherwise revise the information contained in this letter.
July 23rd, 2008
Google announced today that it has signed an agreement with Rambler Media to acquire ZAO Begun (”Begun”), a leading Russian context advertising service, for $140 million, subject to customary adjustments. This agreement emphasizes Google’s commitment to improving the service it offers users, partners and advertisers in Russia, where digital advertising is currently experiencing rapid growth.
The acquisition of Begun will give advertisers access to a broader network of sites to advertise on, and publishers will benefit from a wider set of adverts to run on their sites. Users will see more relevant advertising across a much wider set of websites. Google will bring its advertising expertise and experience to Begun’s network of websites.
“Google is very committed to giving Russian users, advertisers and partners the best possible service and experience,” said Mohammad Gawdat, Managing Director Emerging Markets, Google. ”This agreement will result in better search results and more relevant advertising for our Russian users and publishers.”
“Begun is an excellent business which can fully develop its potential under Google’s ownership,” said Mark Opzoomer, Chief Executive Officer of Rambler Media. “Google has the technological and financial capacity to improve Begun’s established advertising service in Russia.”
“The entire industry will benefit from this transaction as there is a high potential for synergies,” said Alexey Basov, General Director of Begun “It brings together Google’s visionary technology and Begun’s six years of successful experience in building advertising and dealer networks and direct sales in Russia.”
The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of applicable regulatory approval and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008.
July 18th, 2008
Yahoo! confirmed today that it has rejected a joint proposal from Microsoft Corporation and Carl Icahn for a complex restructuring of Yahoo! that would include the acquisition of Yahoo!’s search business by Microsoft.
The proposal was made on Friday evening and Yahoo! was given less than 24 hours to accept the proposal, the fundamental terms of which Microsoft and Mr. Icahn made clear they were unwilling to negotiate. After reviewing the proposal with its legal and financial advisers, Yahoo!’s Board of Directors determined that accepting the proposal is not in the best interests of its stockholders.
The Board’s rejection of the proposal was based on a number of factors, including the following:
1. Yahoo!’s existing business plus its recently signed commercial agreement with Google has superior financial value and less complexity and risk than the Microsoft/Icahn proposal.
2. The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would preclude a potential sale of all of Yahoo! for a full and fair price, including a control premium.
3. The major component of the overall value per share asserted by Microsoft/Icahn would be in Yahoo!’s remaining non-search businesses which would be overseen by Mr. Icahn’s slate of directors, which has virtually no working knowledge of Yahoo!’s businesses.
4. The Microsoft/Icahn proposal would require the immediate replacement of the current Board and removal of the top management team at Yahoo!. The Yahoo! Board believes these moves would destabilize Yahoo! for the up to the one year it would take to gain regulatory approval for this deal.
Roy Bostock, Chairman of Yahoo! said, “This odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo!’s stockholders in mind. Clearly, Microsoft, having failed to advance in search, is aligning with the short-term objectives of Mr. Icahn to coerce Yahoo! into selling its core strategic search assets on terms that are highly advantageous to Microsoft, but disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. Yahoo’s Board of Directors will not allow that to happen. Yahoo!’s Board remains open to any transaction that delivers full value to our stockholders - we just do not believe such a transaction should be dictated by Microsoft and a single short-term investor.”
Mr. Bostock continued, “After negotiating among themselves without the involvement of Yahoo!, Carl Icahn and Microsoft presented us with a ‘take it or leave it’ proposal under which we would be required to restructure the Company, hand over to Microsoft Yahoo!’s valuable search business and to Carl Icahn the rest of the Company, giving us less than 24 hours to respond. It is ludicrous to think that our Board could accept such a proposal. While this type of erratic and unpredictable behavior is consistent with what we have come to expect from Microsoft, we will not be bludgeoned into a transaction that is not in the best interests of our stockholders.”
Mr. Bostock also noted that Microsoft’s position that it would not deal with, or otherwise engage with, Yahoo!’s management to reach agreement on this proposal or to implement it, is completely absurd and irresponsible given the complexity of the deal - one that requires the removal of half of Yahoo!’s business from Yahoo! and then the integration of it into Microsoft.
Yahoo!’s Board points out that a transaction to acquire the whole company would be much more straightforward and involve far less risk than the new proposal or any similar alternative. The Board believes a whole company transaction could be negotiated and executed prior to August 1st. In rejecting the Microsoft/Icahn proposal, Yahoo! not only repeated its offer to sell the entire Company to Microsoft for at least $33 per share, but also offered to negotiate an improved search only transaction. Microsoft rejected both offers.
Ironically, Carl Icahn, who jointly with Microsoft developed and presented this proposal, had previously urged Yahoo! not to sell its search business to Microsoft. Specifically, in an interview on CNBC’s Fast Money program, on June 4, 2008, Mr. Icahn said, “… it’s crazy for this company now to do this alternative deal and give the store away, because obviously, an alternative deal is a poison pill because once you’ve done an alternative deal and given the search to Microsoft, you don’t need Microsoft to buy you anymore. So, that would be a poison pill….”
Significantly, the Board believes Microsoft and Mr. Icahn are overstating the value their search and restructuring proposal would deliver to Yahoo! stockholders and are substantially understating the risks. Yahoo! noted that a transaction that would separate the Company’s search and display businesses is an undertaking of great complexity. While the Board acknowledges that the current proposal contains a number of improvements over Microsoft’s earlier proposal, the Yahoo! Board’s conclusion that the current proposal is not in the best interests of stockholders is based on a number of factors, including:
– The revenue guarantees suggested, which are conditional and subject to reduction, are well below the search revenue that the Company is expected to generate on its own and in association with its announced commercial agreement with Google. That agreement alone is estimated to generate $250 to $450 million of incremental cash flow for the first twelve months following implementation, while allowing Yahoo! to remain a principal in paid search;
– The success of the remaining Company is critically dependent on Microsoft’s ability to effectively monetize search;
– Microsoft/Icahn’s proposed Traffic Acquisition Costs rates are below market;
– The proposal calls for Yahoo! to sell its industry-leading algorithmic search business and its related strategic and valuable intellectual property portfolio for no incremental consideration; and
– Many of the components of the headline value that Mr. Icahn and Microsoft put forward, such as the spin-off of the Yahoo!’s Asian assets and the return of cash to stockholders, are steps that could be taken by Yahoo! on its own and the Board continues to evaluate these options.
Mr. Bostock concluded, “Microsoft and Mr. Icahn are trying to dismantle the Company and deliver our search business to Microsoft on terms that would be disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. We are prepared to let our stockholders, not Microsoft and Carl Icahn, decide what is in their best interests and we look forward to the upcoming vote.”
July 14th, 2008
Yahoo! today announced that Yahoo! Games will offer ad-supported downloadable games from the top casual games publishers. With more than 400 ad-supported games available to users by the end of the year, Yahoo! Games solidifies its commitment to providing the Internet’s best gaming experience, and is creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach an engaged audience. The announcement brings the industry’s largest collection of ad-supported games to the biggest gaming audience on the web and reinforces Yahoo! Games’ overall strategy to be the most comprehensive distribution point for games online.
In-game advertising allows Yahoo! Games and its publisher partners to better monetize its games offering, provide advertisers access to a coveted demographic of gamers and satisfy user demand for casual ad-supported games. Top technology providers, Double Fusion and NeoEdge, will sell and integrate pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll video ads into the Yahoo! Games catalog. Paid downloads without advertising will also be available to users on Yahoo! Games.
“In game advertising is a win-win for Yahoo! Games, our partners and our users,” said Kyle Laughlin, head of games, Yahoo!. “Yahoo! Games will safely and simply monetize our games experience while providing the best and most popular games free to game enthusiasts.”
Double Fusion will lend its core expertise, fusion.runtime(tm) technology and its veteran ad sales force to enable ad-supported Yahoo! games. Known for creative integrated marketing campaigns, Double Fusion connects brands with audiences through both systematic and custom-designed programs, through the immersive medium of games. For advertisers, the partnership brings the opportunity to access highly targeted reach to one of the most important consumer demographics — females 35 to 54 — at a time when they are fully engaged. Double Fusion is committed to enhancing player experiences as well as opening up new business models through ad-supported interactive entertainment. By embracing the advertising model and working with Double Fusion, Yahoo! is able to make more games available, for longer or in some cases unlimited free trials.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Yahoo! Games to bring our fusion.runtime technology to their large portfolio of high quality downloadable casual games,” said Jonathan Epstein, President and CEO of Double Fusion. “We believe there is a game out there for everyone and our dynamic ad-serving solution and sales experience provides Yahoo! Games an opportunity to finally integrate ad campaigns on-the-fly to their mass audience of 18-49 year old game-loving consumers.”
Yahoo! will leverage NeoEdge’s industry leading NeoARM(TM) ad enabling technology along with the NeoAds(TM) advertising network and NeoEdge ad sales team to deliver a comprehensive suite of advertising supported casual games. The NeoEdge solution brings Yahoo! a powerful and efficient way to insert ads into its extensive game library without requiring the game source code. NeoEdge enables advertisers to reach the key female demographic through one of the stickiest forms of online entertainment. NeoEdge’s singular focus is the casual game space, where a seamless consumer experience is paramount. With NeoEdge, advertisers have a proven medium to utilize highly targeted video advertising and publishers and portals benefit from the ease of implementation.
“NeoEdge is delighted to partner with Yahoo! Games to roll out ad-supported premium casual games to the world’s largest audience,” said Alex Terry, CEO of NeoEdge. “More consumers are going online for their entertainment. NeoEdge is creating new and unique ways for brands to establish engaging one-to-one relationships with those consumers while they play games.”
At launch, ad-supported downloadable games on Yahoo! Games will be available from top publishers including Alawar Entertainment, Anarchy, Big Fish Games, eGames, Floodgate, Freeze Tag, FreshGames, Funkitron, Gogii Games, GameHouse, Gamemill Publishing, HipSoft, I-Play, iWin, Last Day of Work, Legacy Interactive, Ludia, MumboJumbo, pixelStorm, PlayFirst, Playrix Entertainment, PopCap, Reflexive Entertainment, Sandlot Games, Sugar Games, TellTale Games, TikGames, uclick, Worldwide Biggies and Zero G Games.
July 10th, 2008
Ask.com and Photobucket, a leading standalone photo and video-sharing site, today announced a multi-year, strategic agreement.
Through the terms of the pact, the Ask.com search box is now prominently displayed across Photobucket.com, driving millions of additional Ask.com search queries each month and exposing the Ask.com brand to Photobucket’s 44 million monthly unique users worldwide. The agreement also includes the syndication of sponsored listings and display advertising to Photobucket.
“Photobucket has one of the largest online audiences, and now Ask.com provides these consumers with the answers to the questions they ask every day,” said Andrew Moers, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Ask.com Partner Network. “This alliance furthers our strategy to bring Ask.com to consumers worldwide through a broad range of Internet access points.”
“Search is a key component to the Photobucket experience and we know that our millions of users will benefit from Ask.com’s leading technology,” said Alex Welch, President of Photobucket. “Photobucket users view, store and share billions of images each month and Ask.com will serve as a great resource in helping those users find specific content quickly and efficiently.”
July 10th, 2008
Google today announced that Patrick Pichette will be named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, Mr. Pichette served as President of Operations at Bell Canada, a leading global communications company.
Mr. Pichette brings nearly 20 years of experience in financial operations and management in the telecommunications sector, including 7 years at Bell Canada, which he joined in 2001 as Executive Vice President of Planning and Performance Management. During his time at Bell Canada, he held various executive positions, including CFO from 2002 until the end of 2003, and was instrumental in the management of the most extensive communications network in Canada and its ongoing migration to a new national IP-based infrastructure. Prior to joining Bell Canada, Mr. Pichette was a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he was a lead member of McKinsey’s North American Telecom Practice. He also served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Call-Net Enterprises, a Canadian telecommunications company, from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Pichette earned a BA in Business Administration from Université du Québec à Montréal and an MA in Philosophy Politics and Economics from Oxford University, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. He is also chairman of the board of Engineers Without Borders (Canada).
Reporting to Google Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt, Mr. Pichette will start on August 1, and he will assume responsibility for the company’s financial operations and become CFO on August 12.
“Patrick brings the expertise and track record of a successful CFO, along with the hands-on business experience of a seasoned operations executive,” said Dr. Schmidt. “This strong combination of skills and experience will be an important addition to Google’s executive management team and will support our ongoing efforts to increase value for our users, advertisers and partners.” Schmidt added, “On behalf of all my colleagues at Google, we welcome Patrick and, once again, thank George Reyes for all that he’s done for Google.”
“Google is a great company with a phenomenal brand and an outstanding management team,” said Pichette. “As an avid user of Google products, I’ve admired the company for many years and am excited about working with my new colleagues in Mountain View and around the world.”
July 1st, 2008
