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Feb 05, `08 — Three global record companies, Universal Music Ltd, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd and Warner Music Hong Kong Ltd, have launched legal proceedings against China’s top Internet search engine Baidu.com, accusing it of violating copyright by giving access to music files, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said in a press release on Monday, Feb 04.

* New legal proceedings brought against Baidu
* Copyright infringement actions against Sohu and its associate company Sogou
* Yahoo China in breach of copyright violation judgment

After months of fruitless negotiations, legal proceedings have been filed on Feb 04, against the China’s biggest internet company, Baidu. Separate actions have also been brought against Sohu and its associate company Sogou. Meanwhile, Yahoo China faces fresh proceedings following its refusal to comply with a landmark ruling in December confirming it violated Chinese law by committing mass copyright infringement.

All of the Chinese companies involved operate similar services based on delivering music to their users via “deep links” to hundreds of thousands of infringing tracks on third party sites, with the aim of driving their own advertising revenue. Such services have been confirmed as in breach of copyright by the December judgment of the Beijing Higher People’s Court. Each of them is a driver of copyright abuse in China, where the huge potential for the online music sector is being stymied by copyright theft.

China has potentially the largest online music-buying public in the world with as many broadband connections as the United States. Currently, however, more than 99 per cent of all music files distributed in the country are pirate and China’s total legitimate music market, at US$76 million, accounts for less than one per cent of global recorded music sales.

Monday (Feb 04)’s actions follow in the wake of a decisive judgment against Yahoo China in December 2007 by the Beijing Higher People’s Court. The court’s finding that Yahoo China’s music delivery service is illegal under Chinese law sets a precedent for cases against similar operations in China.

Three record companies have now filed proceedings against Baidu. The new claims have been filed with the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court by Universal Music Ltd, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Ltd and Warner Music Hong Kong Ltd. The three companies are asking the court to order Baidu to remove all links on its music delivery service to copyright infringing tracks that they own the rights to.

Action is also being taken today against Sohu and its associate company Sogou, which operates a similar service. Sogou makes profits through advertising that appears on the service and through sponsorship. Sogou also actively induces and encourages copyright infringement by means of recommendations and charts, while Sohu provides deep linking services through its associate company.

Sohu is the official sponsor of internet content service (ICS) for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The legal action is being brought by four record companies: Universal Music Limited, Gold Label Entertainment Limited, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Hong Kong) Limited and Warner Music Hong Kong Limited. The cases were also filed at the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court. They follow four prior notices that were sent to both companies from July 2007 onward.

The claims against Baidu, Sohu and Sogou will be served on the respective companies by the court after the Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile, Yahoo China has still not complied with the December ruling made against it by the Chinese appeal court. As a consequence, the plaintiffs in that case have now filed execution proceedings against Yahoo China, asking the court to force Yahoo China to comply with the earlier judgment.

More at International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

SUNNYVALE, Calif — Feb 05, `08 –BUSINESS WIRE– Zimbra, a Yahoo! company today announced the availability of Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) 5.0.

ZCS 5.0 includes hundreds of enhancements that expand Zimbra’s access across desktops and devices while setting the standard for Web-based productivity in a business environment, and showcases Yahoo!’s dedication to providing world-class e-mail and collaboration services.

Enhancements in ZCS 5.0 extend Zimbra’s best-of-breed anywhere access on the desktop, including support for Microsoft Outlook 2007, and on virtually any device, with support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, J2ME-enabled handsets such as the Motorola RAZR, and a new version of ZCS for mobile web browsers. New features in the award-winning Zimbra AJAX Web client include instant messaging, briefcase, and task applications as well as Zimbra Desktop, the world’s first offline-capable Web 2.0 collaboration experience.

New features in ZCS 5.0 include:

– Native e-mail, contacts, calendar, and task synchronization from Zimbra to Outlook 2007
– Access Zimbra on all BlackBerry handsets, J2ME enabled devices, or any mobile web browser, including the Apple iPhone
– Zimbra Tasks monitor start and due dates, priority, progress, and percent complete of tasks
– Built directly into ZCS, Web-based Instant Messaging supports multiple conversations and group chats
– Conveniently store any file from an e-mail in Zimbra Briefcase instead of as an e-mail attachment; easily share Briefcase folders with others
– Work online or offline with Zimbra Desktop, the AJAX experience for Zimbra users and users of existing POP and IMAP e-mail servers
– Share inboxes and e-mail folders with others, including the ability to provide read-only-access or allow others to completely manage
– Fifteen fully certified languages ship within ZCS for end-users to choose

New Yahoo! and Zimbra Integrated Services
New Zimlets in ZCS 5.0 leverage Yahoo! properties, including Flickr, Yahoo! Local, Yahoo! Finance, and Yahoo! Search. Later this year, Zimbra’s innovative technologies will be incorporated into properties including Yahoo! Mail and Calendar.

More at Yahoo!, Zimbra.

San Francisco, Calif — Feb 03, `08 — Yahoo! would consider a business alliance with Google as one way to rebuff a $44.6 billion takeover proposal by Microsoft, Reuters reported citing a source familiar with Yahoo’s strategy said on Sunday.

The report further said, “a second source close to Yahoo said it had received a procession of preliminary contacts by media, technology, telephone and financial companies. But the source said they were unaware whether any alternative bid was in the offing.

Few natural bidders exist beside Google that could engage in a bidding war, and Google would be unlikely to win approval from antitrust regulators, some Wall Street analysts said on Friday.

Yahoo!’s efforts to find an alternative bidder could simply be a measure to pressure Microsoft to boost its bid, which valued Yahoo at $44.6 billion when first announced on Friday.” More at Reuters.

In response to Google’s foul cry over Microsoft’s Yahoo! bid, Microsoft has released a statement from Bard Smith, General Counsel:

REDMOND, Wash — Feb 03, `08 — The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising. The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet.

Today, Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web. Google has amassed about 75 percent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow. According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 percent search query share in the U.S. and more than 85 percent in Europe. Microsoft and Yahoo! on the other hand have roughly 30 percent combined in the U.S. and approximately 10 percent combined in Europe.

Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals. More at Microsoft.

Feb 03, `08 — In a statement released today on Google’s press center, Mr. David Drummond, Google’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer cries foul over Microsoft’s Yahoo! bid.

Mr. David Drummond in his rude and venomous language falsely accuses Microsoft of making ” hostile bid ”. He says, “So Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another.”

Now Mr. Drummond do you even know or have any remote idea how many take overs Google have made in last five years or so ??

He also says, “Users benefit from constant innovation. It’s what makes the Internet such an exciting place.”

Mr. Drummond do you actually mean supporting rampant piracy through YouTube, when you say “Users benefit from constant innovation” ??

Do you even have any remote idea of how many pirated videos of Movies, TV Shows, Dramas, Music Videos, etc are being hosted at any given moment ??

Mr. Drummond further goes on to say, “This hostile bid was announced on Friday so there is plenty of time for these questions to be thoroughly addressed.”

Mr. Drummond when even Yahoo! in its official response refers to Microsoft’s proposal as “an unsolicited proposal”, who are you in the world to refer that proposal as “hostile” ??

And Mr. Drummond when you say, “It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation”, do you actually mean that buying DoubleClick despite the immense privacy concerns from within the US and from Europe ??

If Google were to believe in its well publicized but never implemented ideology of ” Do NO Evil ” then Mr. Drummond why in the world Google needed to buy YouTube or DoubleClick? Google was already making tons of millions anyway… Google could have let YouTube / DoubleClick make money for themselves or let some one else buy ‘em (of course you would have stopped Microsoft from buying any of ‘em either, right?)

So Mr. Drummond before making entirely false claims using rude and venomous language, it would have been better if you have just took a little look at Google’s own past 10 years.

Or may be fear of loosing monopoly and loosing world dominance makes you speak highly rude & venomous language along with highly exaggerated claims and false acquisitions ??

Google’s statement on Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo!

Feb 03, `08 — Nicki Dugan on Yahoo’s Corporate Blog ( Yodel Anecdotal ) said that, “process like this is fluid and can take quite a bit of time” to weigh its strategic options, including keeping the company independent, following Microsoft’s $44.6 billion offer to buy the company.

Here is the complete posting:

Our response to Microsoft’s proposal

Posted February 1st, 2008 at 1:11 pm by Nicki Dugan, Blog Editor

Number of Comments 17 Comments / Filed in: Trends & News

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Microsoft made an unsolicited proposal to acquire Yahoo! yesterday evening. Since then, we’ve gotten quite a number of questions about what this means for Yahoo!. Right now our board of directors is evaluating the proposal and looking at all of our strategic alternatives, including maintaining Yahoo! as an independent company.

A review process like this is fluid and can take quite a bit of time, so while there’s not much we can say right now, we did want to refer you to this brief FAQ for more information.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Tagged: microsoft, news

In a media response to a frequently asked question about whether Yahoo would seek proposals from other companies, Yahoo! press room said it was going to evaluate all options.

Yahoo!’s Media Response:

FAQ: Unsolicited Proposal From Microsoft

Q1. How is Yahoo! responding to Microsoft’s proposal?
The Yahoo! Board is undertaking a deliberate review process. They’re going to take time to thoroughly evaluate the proposal in the context of Yahoo!’s strategic plans. This will include evaluating all of the Company’s strategic alternatives – including maintaining Yahoo! as an independent company. That process will take some time, but the Board will ultimately pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders.

Q2. How long will the Board’s review process take?
A review process like this is fluid, and it can take quite a bit of time.

Q3. Will the Board seek proposals from any other companies?
The Board is going to evaluate all of Yahoo!’s strategic alternatives and pursue the option that it believes can best maximize value for our shareholders.

Q4. What would a deal like this mean for Yahoo!’s users, advertisers, publishers, partners and people?
Yahoo!’s Board is going to evaluate all aspects of this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of the company’s strategic plans and alternatives. So it wouldn’t be appropriate to speculate about the potential benefits or challenges of a deal. But the review process that’s underway won’t have any impact on our efforts to deliver value to all of our users, advertisers, publishers and partners – as well as new and exciting opportunities to our employees.

Citing analysts, Reuters reported that, “Comcast Corp, Viacom Inc and General Electric Co among possible bidders, although they also said few companies had the balance sheet to compete with Microsoft or were as natural a fit for Yahoo.”

More at Yahoo! here and here.

Below is the text of the letter that Microsoft sent to Yahoo!’s Board of Directors:

January 31, 2008

Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Attention: Roy Bostock, Chairman
Attention: Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer

Dear Members of the Board:

I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft’s closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock. Microsoft would provide each Yahoo! shareholder with the ability to choose whether to receive the consideration in cash or Microsoft common stock, subject to pro-ration so that in the aggregate one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be exchanged for shares of Microsoft common stock and one-half of the Yahoo! common shares will be converted into the right to receive cash. Our proposal is not subject to any financing condition.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008. The implied premium for the operating assets of the company clearly is considerably greater when adjusted for the minority, non-controlled assets and cash. By whatever financial measure you use - EBITDA, free cash flow, operating cash flow, net income, or analyst target prices - this proposal represents a compelling value realization event for your shareholders.

We believe that Microsoft common stock represents a very attractive investment opportunity for Yahoo!’s shareholders. Microsoft has generated revenue growth of 15%, earnings growth of 26%, and a return on equity of 35% on average for the last three years. Microsoft’s share price has generated shareholder returns of 8% during the last one year period and 28% during the last three year period, significantly outperforming the S&P 500. It is our view that Microsoft has significant potential upside given the continued solid growth in our core businesses, the recent launch of Windows Vista, and other strategic initiatives.

Microsoft’s consistent belief has been that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! clearly represents the best way to deliver maximum value to our respective shareholders, as well as create a more efficient and competitive company that would provide greater value and service to our customers. In late 2006 and early 2007, we jointly explored a broad range of ways in which our two companies might work together. These discussions were based on a vision that the online businesses of Microsoft and Yahoo! should be aligned in some way to create a more effective competitor in the online marketplace. We discussed a number of alternatives ranging from commercial partnerships to a merger proposal, which you rejected. While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing.

In February 2007, I received a letter from your Chairman indicating the view of the Yahoo! Board that “now is not the right time from the perspective of our shareholders to enter into discussions regarding an acquisition transaction.” According to that letter, the principal reason for this view was the Yahoo! Board’s confidence in the “potential upside” if management successfully executed on a reformulated strategy based on certain operational initiatives, such as Project Panama, and a significant organizational realignment. A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved.

While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers. Synergies of this combination fall into four areas:

Scale economics: This combination enables synergies related to scale economics of the advertising platform where today there is only one competitor at scale. This includes synergies across both search and non-search related advertising that will strengthen the value proposition to both advertisers and publishers. Additionally, the combination allows us to consolidate capital spending.

Expanded R&D capacity: The combined talent of our engineering resources can be focused on R&D priorities such as a single search index and single advertising platform. Together we can unleash new levels of innovation, delivering enhanced user experiences, breakthroughs in search, and new advertising platform capabilities. Many of these breakthroughs are a function of an engineering scale that today neither of our companies has on its own.

Operational efficiencies: Eliminating redundant infrastructure and duplicative operating costs will improve the financial performance of the combined entity.

Emerging user experiences: Our combined ability to focus engineering resources that drive innovation in emerging scenarios such as video, mobile services, online commerce, social media, and social platforms is greatly enhanced.

We would value the opportunity to further discuss with you how to optimize the integration of our respective businesses to create a leading global technology company with exceptional display and search advertising capabilities. You should also be aware that we intend to offer significant retention packages to your engineers, key leaders and employees across all disciplines.

We have dedicated considerable time and resources to an analysis of a potential transaction and are confident that the combination will receive all necessary regulatory approvals. We look forward to discussing this with you, and both our internal legal team and outside counsel are available to meet with your counsel at their earliest convenience.

Our proposal is subject to the negotiation of a definitive merger agreement and our having the opportunity to conduct certain limited and confirmatory due diligence. In addition, because a portion of the aggregate merger consideration would consist of Microsoft common stock, we would provide Yahoo! the opportunity to conduct appropriate limited due diligence with respect to Microsoft. We are prepared to deliver a draft merger agreement to you and begin discussions immediately.

In light of the significance of this proposal to your shareholders and ours, as well as the potential for selective disclosures, our intention is to publicly release the text of this letter tomorrow morning.

Due to the importance of these discussions and the value represented by our proposal, we expect the Yahoo! Board to engage in a full review of our proposal. My leadership team and I would be happy to make ourselves available to meet with you and your Board at your earliest convenience. Depending on the nature of your response, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.

We believe this proposal represents a unique opportunity to create significant value for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees, and the combined company will be better positioned to provide an enhanced value proposition to users and advertisers. We hope that you and your Board share our enthusiasm, and we look forward to a prompt and favorable reply.

Sincerely yours,

/s/ Steven A. Ballmer

Steven A. Ballmer

Chief Executive Officer

Microsoft Corporation

More at Microsoft.

WASHINGTON — Feb 01, `08 — US and European antitrust regulators aren’t likely to prevent Microsoft from buying Yahoo, analysts said Friday, though scrutiny of the deal could drag on for months, the AP reported.

A major factor weighing in Microsoft’s favor, analysts said, is Google’s dominance in the online search and advertising businesses — the two areas regulators are likely to focus on when weighing market power issues raised by the nearly $45 billion unsolicited bid.

The Justice Department said it is “interested” in reviewing competition issues raised by Microsoft’s surprise offer. The Federal Trade Commission and European Union officials declined to comment. If the deal goes through, analysts expect Congress and European regulators to review the combined company’s increased competitive edge.

“I don’t see this just sailing through, regulators will look at it,” Ted Henneberry of the London law firm Heller Ehrman said. But even after a review that could take up to six months, he said a Microsoft-Yahoo combination isn’t likely to be stopped because the new entity’s share of the online ad space would still be dwarfed by Google, which already controls nearly 60 percent of the U.S. search market.

“The fact that Google dominates this business will be a big factor in (Microsoft’s) favor in trying to get this approved by the regulators,” said Keith Hylton, a professor of antitrust law at Boston University. More at AP.

San Francisco, CA — Feb 01, `08 — Microsoft made an unsolicited $44.6 billion cash and stock bid for Yahoo late Thursday, a deal that could shake up the competitive and lucrative market for online advertising.

The surprise offer of $31 per share, which represents a 62% premium from where Yahoo stock closed on Thursday, made late Thursday and announced Friday, seizes on Yahoo’s weakness while Microsoft tries to muscle up in a high-stakes battle with Google likely to define the technology landscape for years to come. Shares of Yahoo shot up 50% at the start of trading Friday, while shares of Dow component Microsoft tumbled about 5%.

In a statement Friday, Yahoo said it will “carefully and promptly” study Microsoft’s bid.

With its profits steadily sliding, Yahoo’s stock slipped to a four-year low earlier this week and a new management team has been trying to steer a turnaround but sees more turbulence through 2008.

In conference call Friday morning, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated he won’t take no for an answer after Yahoo rebuffed takeover overtures a year ago.

“This is a decision we have — and I have — thought long and hard about,” Ballmer said. “We are confident it’s the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo.”

Besides the question of Yahoo’s acceptance, Microsoft’s bid also faces regulatory scrutiny in Washington and Europe. On Friday, the Justice Department said it is “interested” in reviewing antitrust issues. European Union officials declined to comment.

If the deal is consummated, it would be by far the largest acquisition in Microsoft’s history, eclipsing last year’s $6 billion purchase of online ad service aQuantive.

Microsoft publicly disclosed its cash-and-stock offer in hopes of rallying support from Yahoo’s shareholders, making it more difficult for Yahoo’s board to turn down the bid.

Microsoft’s previous offer was rebuffed by Terry Semel, who stepped aside last year as chief executive under shareholder pressure.

Microsoft sent its latest takeover offer to Yahoo late Thursday, shortly after Semel resigned as the company’s chairman. The letter is addressed to Semel’s successors, new Chairman Roy Bostock and the current CEO, co-founder Jerry Yang, who is one of Yahoo’s largest shareholders.

In a prepared statement, Yahoo said its board “will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo’s strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.”

“We are very, very confident this is the right path for Microsoft and for Yahoo,” he said.

Microsoft hopes to close the deal by the end of the year. Ballmer said that Microsoft has been in “off and on” talks with Yahoo for 18 months and said he called Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang Thursday night to tell him the bid was coming.

A Microsoft-Yahoo combination would create a powerful number two player in the online search business, which Google commands. The leading search engine reigns over 58.4% of the U.S. search market, while Yahoo has 22.9% and Microsoft’s share is just 9.8%, according to comScore, a research firm that tracks Internet traffic.

A Google spokesman, Matt Furman, declined to comment on Microsoft’s move on Yahoo. “It would be premature to comment at this point,” he said.

A federal appeals court handed Google a setback in a patent fight on Wednesday, Dec 26, tossing out part of a summary judgment in Google’s favor in a lawsuit filed by Hyperphrase Technologies.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit revived part of HyperPhrase Technologies’ lawsuit, throwing out a lower court ruling that Google’s AutoLink feature didn’t infringe the company’s patents.

As part of the Google toolbar, AutoLink gives users more information than standard links. It recognizes data such as addresses and book titles, then provides links to online maps or books at Amazon.com.

The appeals court ruled that Google’s immensely profitable AdSense did not infringe on Hyperphrase’s patents. It handed down a split decision on AutoLink, agreeing that Google did not infringe, as claimed, on one of the Hyperphrase patents. But it vacated a summary judgment in Google’s favor on two others and sent it back to the Wisconsin district court.

HyperPhrase claimed in an April 2006 suit that Google used its inventions without permission. It sought cash compensation and an order blocking Mountain View, Calif.-based Google from using the technology.

More at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling here (in pdf).

Beijing, China — Dec 20, `07 –The international recording industry today hailed a landmark Beijing court ruling confirming that Yahoo China’s music delivery service violates Chinese law by facilitating mass copyright infringement.

Yahoo China, part-owned by one of the world’s biggest internet companies, Yahoo, runs an operation enabling users to search for, play and download pirate music without ever leaving its website. Yahoo China’s appeal against a guilty verdict in April was today dismissed by the Beijing Court.

The decision is made under new Chinese copyright laws which entered into force in 2006. The Court separately ruled on a similar case against internet company, Baidu which had been brought under the previous Chinese copyright laws. The ruling confirmed that Baidu participated with and assisted third party sites in transmitting infringing music, but under the old laws Baidu was not liable for copyright infringement.

Music search services such as Yahoo China’s and Baidu’s, which “deep link” users to hundreds of thousands of pirate tracks, are a huge drain on efforts to develop a legitimate music market in China. Despite enormous market potential, music sales in China totalled US$76 million in 2006, less than one per cent of the global recorded music market.

Over 99 per cent of all music downloading in China infringes copyright, and services such as Yahoo China and Baidu account for the bulk of the problem. More at IFPI.

WASHINGTON — Dec 20, `07 — The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday approved Google’s $3.1 billion purchase of advertising rival DoubleClick, saying the deal would not substantially lessen competition.

The deal, which combines Google’s dominance in pay-per-click Internet advertising with DoubleClick’s market-leading position in flashier display ads, is also being scrutinized by European antitrust officials.

In a 4-1 vote, the FTC decided to end its eight-month investigation of the transaction.

Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour dissented and issued a separate statement expressing reservations, arguing that the deal “may substantially lessen competition.”

She said the takeover “will affect the evolution of the entire online advertising market” as this evolves and have wide-ranging implications for consumers. “The transaction will combine not only the two firms’ products and services, but also their vast troves of data about consumer behavior on the Internet,” she said.

European antitrust authorities are expected to rule on the deal sometime next year. The European Commission last month launched a probe and said the merger “would raise competition concerns.” The European Commission declined to comment on the FTC’s decision, spokesman Jonathan Todd said.

Microsoft and other critics argue the deal would enable Google to dominate two aspects of the Internet advertising market — ad sales and ad-serving tools.

The FTC said in a report on its investigation that both the online ad sales and ad-serving markets have numerous competitors, several of which have been bolstered by recent acquisitions.

Those include Microsoft’s $6 billion purchase of DoubleClick rival aQuantive, the acquisition of online advertising provider Tacoda by Time Warner’s AOL, and Yahoo’s purchase of Internet advertising exchange Right Media for $680 million.

Other competitors include ValueClick and 24/7 Real Media, which was purchased by London-based advertising giant WPP Group PLC for $649 million in May, the FTC said.

Privacy advocates say the combined company will have access to a huge amount of data on individual Web-surfing habits. The FTC said it lacked the legal authority to block the deal on any grounds except on antitrust matters.

However, in an apparent nod to these concerns, the FTC on Thursday proposed a set of privacy guidelines for the online advertising industry, describing them as something that “clearly transcend” the Google-DoubleClick deal. It remains to be seen how such guidelines would be enforced.

Google has a dominant position in pay-per-click ads, which are based on a computer user’s searches. Its ads are usually in the form of text and are shown on the right-hand side of the screen.

DoubleClick is a market leader in the display ads preferred by many corporate advertisers. More at FTC.

St. Louis, MO — Dec 19, `07 — Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google have entered into settlements with the US to resolve claims that they promoted illegal gambling, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today. The total amount of the three settlements is $31.5 million in value to the United States.

Three companies also agreed to stop accepting ads for sports wagering and other online gambling, US Attorney Catherine Hanaway said.

The investigation conducted by Hanaway’s office, along with the IRS and the FBI, dates to 2000, she said. Negotiations have been going on for 12 to 18 months, she added.

All three companies said they stopped taking the ads years ago.

As part of the settlement, the companies will pay cash to the US government and provide millions of dollars worth of public service advertisements informing young adults and teenagers that Internet gambling is illegal.

The US Attorney’s office in St. Louis, MO has led in the effort to halt illegal Web-based gambling, a roughly $6 billion a year industry in the US that violates the Federal Wire Wager Act among other federal laws.

Earlier this year, the London-based Internet gambling firm BetOnSports pleaded guilty in St. Louis to federal racketeering charges. Cases are still pending against company executives. Hanaway’s office also settled a civil case against BetOnSports in November 2006. That settlement prohibits the company from accepting any bets from gamblers in the U.S.

Microsoft will pay $4.5 million to the US government, $7.5 million to the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and provide $9 million worth of public service advertising.

Yahoo’s settlement of $7.5 million includes forfeiting $3 million to the US govt and providing $4.5 million worth of online ads for a public service advertising campaign. Google will pay $3 million, the department said.

Google will pay $3 million, the department said. More at US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri.

BUCHAREST, Romania – On Tuesday, Dec 18, BitDefender announced that BitDefender antivirus analysts have detected a new trojan, which hijacks Google text advertisements, replacing them with ads from a different provider.

The threat, which is identified by BitDefender as Trojan.Qhost.WU, modifies the infected computers’ Hosts file (a local storage for domain name / IP address mappings, which is consulted before domain name servers and is considered authoritative).

The modified file contains a line redirecting the host “page2.googlesyndication.com” which should point to an IP of the form 6x.xxx.xxx.xxx to a different address, of the form 9x.xxx.xxx.xxx, so that the infected machines’ browsers read ads from server at the replacement address rather than from Google.

“This is a serious situation that damages users and webmasters alike,” said Attila-Mihaly Balazs, a BitDefender virus analyst. “Users are affected because the advertisements and/or the linked sites may contain malicious code, which is a very likely situation, given that they are promoted using malware in the first place. Webmasters are affected because the trojan takes away viewers and thus a possible money source from their websites.”

Users are advised to let BitDefender software delete the trojan. More info on the ad-hijacking trojan at BitDefender here and Real-time Virus Reporting here.

SUNNYVALE, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 19, `07 — Yahoo! today announced that three world-renowned scientists from Yahoo! Research have been recognized for their achievements in fields key to developing the next-generation of Internet experiences, including computer science, artificial intelligence, data mining, and algorithm engineering.

Dr. Andrei Broder was named Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Dr. Ron Brachman and Dr. Raghu Ramakrishnan were named Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). These prestigious honors recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to both the practical and theoretical aspects of computing and information technology.

Broder is a fellow and vice president for computational advertising and search technology at Yahoo! Research where he conducts new research on the intersection of information retrieval, machine learning, optimization, and microeconomics and leads the computational advertising group. He was selected for the honor of ACM Fellow for contributions to algorithms and web technology.

Brachman is the vice president of worldwide research operations for Yahoo! Research and is responsible for all operational activities for the organization; his responsibilities also include overseeing academic relations for all of Yahoo!. Brachman was selected as an IEEE Fellow for his leadership in knowledge representation and reasoning in computer science and artificial intelligence.

Ramakrishnan is chief scientist for Yahoo!’s audience group and a Yahoo! Research Fellow, heading up the community systems group. Ramakrishnan was selected as an IEEE Fellow for his contributions to the fields of deductive databases, data mining and query optimization.

ACM is an educational and scientific society uniting the world’s computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges.

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional society. The organization fosters technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Through its more than 370,000 members in 160 countries, IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. More at Yahoo!

On Tuesday, Dec 18, Nick Weininger, Software Engineer at Google introduced a new “Flight Status Check Feature” on Official GoogleBlog.

In his words, “The holiday season is upon us, and we know that many amongst you are traveling to be with family and friends. To make sure you spend more time celebrating and less time waiting at the airport, we’re introducing a new flight status feature that we hope will make your travels easier.

For the latest information on a flight’s status, simply search for an airline and flight number, and the first result will tell you whether your flight is on time or delayed as well as the estimated departure and arrival times.

P.S. We’re still working on building a search feature that will find your lost luggage ;-) More at GoogleBlog.

Here’s a quick example for a specific American Airlines flight 118:

On Dec 13, Udi Manber, VP Engineering at Google announced - Knol - a knowledge project.

On official Google blog he elaborates, “The web contains an enormous amount of information, and Google has helped to make that information more easily accessible by providing pretty good search facilities. But not everything is written nor is everything well organized to make it easily discoverable.

There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it. We believe that many do not share that knowledge today simply because it is not easy enough to do that. The challenge posed to us by Larry, Sergey and Eric was to find a way to help people share their knowledge. This is our main goal.”

Manber further goes on, “Earlier this week, we started inviting a selected group of people to try a new, free tool that we are calling “Knol“, which stands for a unit of knowledge. Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it.

The tool is still in development and this is just the first phase of testing. For now, using it is by invitation only. But we wanted to share with everyone the basic premises and goals behind this project.

The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors.

At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word “knol” as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably.

It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we’ll do the rest.

Once testing is completed, participation in knols will be completely open, and we cannot expect that all of them will be of high quality. Our job in Search Quality will be to rank the knols appropriately when they appear in Google search results.

We are quite experienced with ranking web pages, and we feel confident that we will be up to the challenge. We are very excited by the potential to substantially increase the dissemination of knowledge.

We do not want to build a walled garden of content; we want to disseminate it as widely as possible. Google will not ask for any exclusivity on any of this content and will make that content available to any other search engine.

As always, a picture is worth a thousands words, so an example of a knol is here.” More at Official GoogleBlog.

WASHINGTON — Dec 14, ‘07 — The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Friday she won’t remove herself from an antitrust review of Google’s purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick, rebuffing requests from privacy groups opposed to the transaction.

Deborah Platt Majoras, chairwoman of the FTC, said she has reviewed a petition from the groups with the agency’s ethics official and other staff, and determined that “the relevant laws and rules…neither require nor support recusal.”

The Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy said in a petition Wednesday that Majoras’ husband, John M. Majoras, is a partner at the Jones Day law firm. The groups alleged that DoubleClick hired Jones Day to represent the company before the FTC on its acquisition by Google, the leading Internet search company.

The Majoras’ relationship “calls into question the ability of the commission to render decisions that are fair and just,” the groups said.

Deborah Majoras said Friday that Jones Day hasn’t appeared before the FTC on the transaction, and is only representing DoubleClick before the European Commission, which is also scrutinizing the deal. John Majoras said Wednesday that he has not been involved in any aspect of the transaction.

In a statement, Deborah Majoras said that her husband was no longer an equity partner in the firm.

“Any decisions that I may make in any case in which Jones Day represent a party cannot be said to directly and predictably affect my husband’s interest in Jones Day. Hence, I do not have a financial conflict in this matter,” Majoras said in a statement.

Marc Rotenberg, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and Jeff Chester, of the Center for Digital Democracy, said in a statement that “we do not believe that the chairman has made a persuasive case against recusal.” The two groups requested the recusal on Wednesday.

They argued that, contrary to what Majoras said, Jones Day had advertised on its Web site that it represented DoubleClick at the FTC. But, they said, that information was pulled off the site after their recusal request.

Statement of Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras

More at FTC.

Related:

Senators Urge FTC to Review Google-DoubleClick Deal Closely

EU Opens In-Depth Investigation of Google’s DoubleClick Purchase

OAKLAND, Calif — Ask.com a search engine owned by IAC on Tuesday, Dec 11, announced the launch of AskEraser, the first product to give consumers privacy control over their online searches.

When enabled by the user, AskEraser completely deletes all future search queries and associated cookie information from Ask.com servers, including IP address, User ID, Session ID, and the complete text of their queries.

An AskEraser link is featured prominently in the upper right corner of the Ask.com homepage and search results pages - clearly and constantly indicating to the user that their search activity will be ‘erased’ from Ask.com servers. AskEraser remains ‘on’ for searches conducted across Ask.com’s major search verticals: Web, Images, AskCity, News, Blogs, Video, and Maps & Directions - and can be turned ‘on’ or ‘off’ by the user at anytime.

“For people who worry about their online privacy, AskEraser now gives them control of their search information,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com. “AskEraser is simple, straightforward, and easy-to-use. It is an idea whose time has come.”

Earlier this year, Ask.com also announced that it is implementing a new data retention policy to disassociate search history from IP address and User ID after 18 months.

In addition, Ask.com has taken steps to further industry collaboration and dialogue on privacy issues. In July, Ask.com and Microsoft joined together in urging the online industry to develop global privacy principles for data collection, use and protection related to searching and online advertising.

AskEraser launched Tuesday in the United States and in the United Kingdom - and will be deployed globally in 2008. More at Ask.com.

Dec 05, ‘07 — LA Times is reporting on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, Dec 04, reaffirming its earlier support for the socially redeeming value of searching the Internet for nudie pictures.

LA Times further writes, “The San Francisco court, in reviewing a case it initially considered in May, reiterated its finding that Google could display tiny versions of photographs by Perfect 10 Inc., a Beverly Hills-based adult publisher, in search results, even when those images were copyrighted.

The court said, Google met that test. The justices ruled that a larger public interest in searching for information — or, in this case, images of partially clad women — amounted to a “transformative use” that trumped Perfect 10’s copyright claims.

The court overturned part of a ruling by the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, which had found that Google’s thumbnail-sized images of Perfect 10’s nude models constituted infringement. The lower court imposed an injunction barring the use of the images, but the appeals court invalidated that decision.” More at LA Times.

REDMOND, Wash — Dec 03, 2007 — Microsoft today unveiled two tools and an accreditation program designed to help customers make the most of their experience with Microsoft adCenter and Live Search.

Microsoft adExcellence

The Microsoft adExcellence program provides agencies and advertisers with the opportunity to become certified adCenter experts. The program offers more than 20 free training modules and a fee-based examination, providing users with the ability to demonstrate to their customers and prospects that they are fully trained and proficient in using adCenter. More at adExcellence.

Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007

Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007 is a fully integrated Microsoft Office Excel-based tool that enables adCenter customers to easily research keywords to help them reach and capture the right audience with their paid search advertising campaigns.

Webmaster CenterThe Webmaster Center is a portal specifically designed for webmasters and search engine optimizers. It provides all the necessary resources to optimize a Web site for achieving the highest possible algorithmic or “organic” listing on Live Search.

This includes information about how Live Search crawls and indexes site pages; site map creation and submission; statistics about Web sites currently indexed by Live Search; consolidated content submission guidelines; and new content and community resources. The beta version of the Webmaster Center can be accessed at webmaster.live.com.

About Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions

Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) provides world-class advertising platforms and tools for advertisers, agencies and publishers. Its mission is to make buying and selling media simpler, smarter and more cost-effective across media and devices in the Microsoft network of properties and beyond.

The APS portfolio includes Microsoft adCenter, Atlas, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic. APS businesses span search, display and emerging media including mobile, gaming, video on demand and IPTV. More information can be found at advertising.microsoft.com.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif — November 30, 2007 — Google announced today that it will apply to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming auction of wireless spectrum in the 700 megahertz (MHz) band.

As part of the nationally mandated transition to digital television, the 700 MHz spectrum auction — which begins January 24, 2008 — will free up spectrum airwaves for more efficient wireless Internet service for consumers.

Advocacy by public interest groups and Google earlier this year helped ensure that regardless of which bidders win a key portion of the spectrum up for auction (the so-called “C Block”), they will be required to allow their users to download any software application they want on their mobile device, and to use any mobile devices they would like on that wireless network.

The winner must ensure these rights for consumers if the reserve price of $4.6 billion for the C Block is met at auction.

“We believe it’s important to put our money where our principles are,” said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. “Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today’s wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet.”

Schmidt also praised the leadership of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his fellow commissioners for adopting the new rights for consumers earlier this year.

Google’s formal application to participate in the 700 MHz auction will be filed with the FCC on Monday, December 3, 2007 — the required first step in the auction process. Google’s application does not include any partners.More at Google.

Bidding separately instead of assembling a coalition does not rule out Google later signing up partners if it wins the bidding, said a source familiar with the company’s strategy. But the FCC has “anti-collusion” rules that prevent deal-making between potential bidders during the auction period.

The auction is expected to take several weeks, or even months, of daily, back-and-forth bidding, with the identities of the bidders kept secret. Big spectrum bidders typically draw up elaborate strategies, often with input from game-theory experts.

FCC officials hope the company’s participation will mean a possible new player in the wireless business and boost the amount of money the government can bring in from the auction.