November 13, 2009

Google Acquires VoIP Company, Gizmo5

Google has acquired Gizmo5, a Voice over the Internet Protocol network and software provider. The acquisition is designed to enhance Google Voice, but it's a game changer.

Google has been answering to the FCC lately about concerns over potential regulatory violations surrounding it's Voice service. AT&T publicly complained that Google had been restricting high-priced calls that telecommunications were forced by regulation. Google defended Voice by saying it's a call management system and not a true telecommunications provider.

Specifically, Google pointed out that it was not a VoIP service. Of course, that all changes with this acquisition. Google seems to be trying to downplay the change though, by vaguely labeling Gizmo5 an "Internet-based calling software" provider. This is in line with their defense of Google Voice as a web-based call management system. But careful wording isn't going to fool anybody.

Not that it's wrong for Google to get into the telecommunications game. And their entry raises some important questions about obviously outdated government regulations (which is ultimately AT&T's concern). But they'll make their point better if they stay honest about Google Voice with their acquisition.

It's possible that Google Voice will stay the same and Gizmo5's VoIP service will be nixed. But Google Voice as a call management system is somewhat limited. The demand for Google Voice shows that the public is ready for something more than what the telcos currently (are able to) provide. Far be it from Google to take on that challenge.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

October 15, 2009

Google Reports Great Third Quarter, 'Worse Behind Us' CEO States

Google had its third quarter financial report today and beat estimates of analysts with a 7% year over year growth with net income increase of 27% over same period last year, CNN Money reported.

Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, on a conference call with investors said "while there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future."

The stock price which had dropped about 1% during regular trading today jumped up by over 3% in after hour trading.

"Google's strong third quarter could be a good sign for the economy, as the company's ad clicks serve as a kind of barometer of consumers' willingness to spend. The more people click on ads, the more willing they are to buy things," CNN Money noted.

Schmidt also said Google will be "stepping up" hiring in the engineering and sales areas.

Posted by Frank Watson at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 9, 2009

Google Stockpiling Cash: Storing Nuts For Economic Winter Or Just Plain Nuts?

Seems every time Google's CEO Eric Schmidt mentions the harsh economic times we are experiencing the company's stock price drops. Now, following his comments last week about the company stockpiling cash with no immediate plans of acquiring any new companies - Twitter seems to be everyone else's popular choice - the stock has fallen again (nearly 5% at the time of writing this).

The possibility of Google acquiring Twitter has been discussed by many recently, as has the idea of Twitter challenging Google in the future.

Marketing Pilgrim's Andy Beal suggests that Schmidt's denial of plans to buy Twitter could be double talk to allow the price to drop.

"Don't believe Google's slight-of-hand talk about the timing not being right. The timing is perfect! While other companies pull back on spending-causing Twitter's valuation to drop due to lack of interest-Google can fly in under the radar and pick up perhaps the most important internet start-up since Facebook," Beal stated.

Google recently has talked about long term plays to help the economy such as going green, which Schmidt has stated will improve Google's bottom line.

Google is in a tough place themselves - stock prices have drop more than 50% over the past 12 months and over 60% from its high of nearly $750, just over 12 months ago.

Recent layoffs and closing of products once thought of as Google's move to aggregate the world's information may be eroding investor confidence. Storing nuts for a harsh economic winter shows investors that Google has no faith in its own industry. This approach is not what got Google to the forefront in the first place. They were innovators who took a stand and maintained its search core while building other ancillary products and buying complimentary companies.

Buying other companies and investing in others helps stimulate the economy at a time when there is a need for more jobs and security for the ones that exist. Even if Google does intend to hold on to its cash, making such a public statement about it may not have been the wisest move.

Obviously, Schmidt's public statements is not the only contributing factor to Google stock price drop and being a squirrel right now could be a smart long term play, but is not a leader's play. Has Google joined the status quo? It may be a safe play, but not one indicative of an industry leader.

Posted by Frank Watson at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 17, 2008

Move Over George Soros Google Wants To Play In the Forex Space

Seems legendary investor George Soros, who supposedly made a billion dollars trading on the foreign currency exchange, will have some competition from Google as they are now hedging against fluctuating currency exchange rates by investments in the forex market.

Cnet reports that Google has invested over $80 million dollars in forex trading hedges to offset the strengthening dollar against the global currencies many of their advertisers are paying them in.

Given that 51% of Google's revenue comes from outside the United States, many large advertisers are given credit in their own currency which could be worth less at the time they actually pay Google.

The value of the US dollar against the euro, Canadian dollar and the British pound has increased substantially in recent weeks, thus Google gets less US dollars when someone pays them. The actual value of the clicks is done in US dollars at the base of the calculations, so Google advertisers get to pay less than what they would if there was just one currency used in the actual bidding.

Maybe the brothers Google want to emulate Soros who was part of the Google Author series that had CEO Eric Schmidt as part of the presentation.

His Wikipedia entry about his currency speculation profits may be alluring to the Google founders who have shown a penchant for aggressive investments into a number of markets.

"On Black Wednesday (September 16, 1992), Soros became immediately famous when he sold short more than $10 billion worth of pounds, profiting from the Bank of England's reluctance to either raise its interest rates to levels comparable to those of other European Exchange Rate Mechanism countries or to float its currency.

Finally, the Bank of England was forced to withdraw the currency out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and to devalue the pound sterling, and Soros earned an estimated US$ 1.1 billion in the process. He was dubbed "the man who broke the Bank of England."

Be careful guys, it is a highly volatile market and we wouldn't want you to lose money.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

September 18, 2008

Google To Acquire Content Distribution Platform With Purchase of Valve

Google could be acquiring Valve which also owns Steam - one of the best content distributions, according to the Inquirer. Valve is also a game developer with titles like Half Life and has a game search engine, Source.

"Ostensibly, Google would want to acquire Valve to take control over the digital distribution business, which is ushering in an era of downloading games directly to consoles without physical media and the company could even use it as a new means of software distribution. And by owning some of the most celebrated titles in gaming to-date, Google could also establish a foothold in the gaming business.," the Washington Post opinions.

Who knows maybe Google could use its business strategies to build a new game - World Dominance or perhaps Big Brother.

Posted by Frank Watson at 3:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 23, 2008

Google Rumored to Buy Digg for Third Time

A few months ago we explained why Digg would be worth $200 million to Google.

Now it appears the rumor mill is reporting that Google will buy Digg for $200 million or so.

Rumor has it the two companies have signed a letter of intent and are close to a deal that will bring Digg under the Google News property.

Microsoft has an advertising deal with Digg so the deal would be a competitive blow to the Redmond giant.

This is the third time the buyout rumor has surfaced.

Is it "three strikes and you're out" or the "third time's the charm?"

Digg has yet to publicly disavow the rumor but it's still early on the West Coast.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 12, 2008

Google-Yahoo Search Partnership Today?

Google and Yahoo may announce a partnership this afternoon at 4:30pm EST / 1:30pm PST. At least, that's the rumor coming from TechCrunch. Of course, this is the same rumor that the Wall St. Journal published on May 2, 2008.

There's no question a Google-Yahoo partnership would throw a wrench into Microsoft's merger plans to create MicroHoo. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn's efforts to oust the current Yahoo management would also be derailed.

We're skeptical there's a billion dollars in cost savings through a Google-Yahoo search partnership. In the short term, it's a Yahoo win.

In the long term, a search partnership would turn Yahoo into just another portal.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

May 9, 2008

SEW Experts: Yahoo Rejects Microsoft: Worst Decision Ever?

There have been some major missed opportunities in our industry; decisions that must haunt those involved. Arguably the biggest faux pas of our industry came in 1999, when Excite had the opportunity to buy Google for $1 million and refused. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "Yahoo Rejects Microsoft: Worst Decision Ever?," Frank Watson wonders if Yahoo's turn-down of Microsoft's offer could trump it?

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008

Google CEO to MicroHoo: We'll Bank on Frank

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has named legendary Bubble 1.0 i-banker Frank Quattrone as an adviser to help reverse engineer the Yahoo-AOL and MSN- MySpace entanglements, according to the NYT blog DealBook .

For eagle-eyed readers of press releases, the news should come as no surprise. As Dealbook noted, Eric Schmidt gave a testimonial for the recently launched financial services venture last month:

"The launch of Qatalyst is an important development for the technology industry," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google. "Frank and his team bring unparalleled industry knowledge, a unique 25-year market perspective and candid, insightful judgment that CEOs greatly value on important strategic initiatives. I look forward to working with him again and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst's prospects for success."

Quattrone has advised tech companies globally since 1981 while building technology banking departments for Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse. He was also the superstar banker who faced 18 months in jail but won his appeal in a U.S. court in Manhattan.

Qatalyst Group is a technology-focused merchant banking boutique based in San Francisco. Qatalyst Partners, its investment banking business, will provide high-end M&A and corporate finance advice to technology companies globally.

Qatalyst Capital Partners, its investing business, will make selective principal investments, typically alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 6:13 PM | Permalink

April 2, 2008

Google Gets Out of the SEO Business

Google is getting itself out of a somewhat sticky situation by deciding to sell Performics Search Marketing, which it acquired as part of the DoubleClick deal. It will retain the affiliate marketing portion of the DoubleClick Performics business.

Since Google announced its intention to acquire DoubleClick last year, Google had faced criticism of the potential conflict of interest that would be created by Google owning a search marketing firm. After all, why wouldn't customers assume, even if it weren't the case, that a Google-owned agency would have inside information?

According to Tom Phillips, director of the DoubleClick integration at Google: It's clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business. Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google's mission and core to the trust we ask from our users. For this reason, we plan to sell the Performics search marketing business to a third party. We believe this will allow us to maintain objectivity and the search marketing business to continue to grow and innovate and serve its customers. While we have not yet identified a buyer, we've received preliminary interest from a number of our current partners. Search Marketing will continue to run as a separate entity until the division is sold.

So that only leaves one major search engine who's also in the SEO business: Microsoft, which acquired Avenue A | Razorfish and its SEO business with the aQuantive acquisition.

In the meantime, the New York Times is reporting that Google will lay off 300 at DoubleClick. This comes as no surprise, since CEO Eric Schmidt hinted at cuts when the acquisition closed last month.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:46 PM | Permalink

March 31, 2008

Google + DoubleClick = 69% of Online Advertising Market

When Google raised concerns over a possible Microsoft-Yahoo merger, it may have just been the pot calling the kettle black. According to new stats released by Attributor, Google's acquisition of DoubleClick gives them a whopping 69% of the online advertising market share. This comes in the wake of news that Google saw 59.2 percent of all US searches in February.

Furthermore, DoubleClick has 48% share of sites with 1 million unique visitors per month, while Google enjoys a whopping 71.38% share of sites with less than 100,000 unique visitors per month.

MSN has a lot of work to do if it wants to catch Google, as Steve Ballmer has declared in recent months. Currently, they only have 9.86% of the total market share. Even adding Yahoo, with an 11.54% market share, they will only come in at 21.4%.

Attributor also shared telling statistics for content distribution. For every article Attributor tracks, there are an average of 20 copies published. 57% of copies do not contain links back to the author, and 64% of copies have ads on them. Most copies are published on sites with less than 1 million unique visitors.

Attributor analyzed 68 million domains for their ad-server crawls and compared it with unique user data from Compete.com.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:00 PM | Permalink

March 12, 2008

Job Cuts Likely in Google-DoubleClick Merger

In the wake of EU's approval of Google's DoubleClick acquisition comes the news that job cuts will likely result from the deal. Google Chairman and CEO, in a statement posted on the company's official blog, said "As with most mergers, there may be reductions in headcount. We expect these to take place in the U.S. and possibly in other regions as well. We know that DoubleClick is built on the strength of its people. For this reason we'll strive to minimize the impact of this process on all of our clients and employees."

Staff reductions will be the result of an alignment process to eliminate redundancies and ensure that roles have been assigned to the right people. Wrote Schmidt, "An immediate task we'll undertake over the next few weeks is matching and aligning DoubleClick employees with our organizational plan for the business. This will involve determining the right staffing levels for all functions and will ensure that we have the right people assigned to the right responsibilities within Google."

Most of the cuts will occur within the United States. Overseas cuts will be subject to meetings with employee representatives and local laws. Google expects to finalize the process by April.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:36 AM | Permalink

March 11, 2008

EU Approves Google DoubleClick Deal

The EU approved Google's acquisition of DoubleClick today and Google's ready.

As speculated last week, the EU today approved Google's Acquisition of DoubleClick. The $3.1 billion deal went through despite concerns over privacy and antitrust issues.

The commission addressed those concerns by stating that users still had access to similar services offered by Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL.

Penry Price, Google VP Advertising Sales, said this morning that Google will soon start integrating DoubleClick technology with Google's online platforms.

During the due diligence phase in mergers & acquisitions, companies typically review technology platforms. Comprehensive due diligence engages all relevant disciplines: legal, tax, accounting, investment banking, general management, information technology (IT) and human resources (HR), among others.

Price noted that Google hasn't reviewed DoubleClick technology during the review process, so there's not yet a product road map in place. Expect that to change soon as Google engineers upgrade DoubleClick technology.

Last December, the US Federal Trade Commission approved the deal, providing momentum for today's decision. The EU typically does not reject mergers that the United States has approved.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:27 AM | Permalink

March 7, 2008

Why Digg's Worth $200 Mllion or More to Google

Digg IPO? No. Digg FSBO. For Sale By Owner. Again.

The auction for social search engine Digg begins when Microsoft and Google make their bid. Both search engines are digging through Digg's financials to see if they can make the numbers work. Microsoft signed a three year advertising deal with Digg last year. Microsoft's guarantees providing the lion's share of Digg's revenue.

Did Steve Ballmer like his Digg advertising deal so much he decided to buy the company? Not at all. So who else might bid? Time Warner. NewsCorp. Round up the usual suspects.

TechCrunch reported this morning that two media titans are in the mix too for the fire sale prices being discussed. Mike Arrington notes this isn't the first time there's been due diligence with Digg. Last year the number was $300 million. This year? Only $200-$225 million.

Microsoft, expected to bid lower, may cancel their advertising deal if they lose out (again) in a bidding war with Google.

Blodget says "a knowledgeable SAI reader" values Digg at $100 million. In any case, Kevin Rose, Digg's co-founder, must know his tech team can't satisfy his customer base with the new Digg voting algorithm that essentially takes the social out of the social search engine.

Google would be able to design a superior Digg voting algorithm for the community; Digg apparently can't.

Arrington observes that Google wouldn't value Digg based on revenues. No surprise there. Google's acquisition of YouTube as a video search engine wasn't valued based on revenue either. Nor was Microsoft's stake in Facebook.

For Google, the acquisition of Digg would have strategic value. Ask Google execs what the near-term future of search looks like and they'll answer "social search."

Digg would be an extension of Google's search engine empire: Digg votes may become one more signal in the Google natural and paid search algorithms. Diggers voting for YouTube. A link is a vote in PageRank. Why wouldn't a Digg vote be one too?

Google may have reduced PageRank for Digg-juiced sites that rose in natural search rankings due to Digg. No company knows the power of Digg better than Google.

It's not about the short-term AdSense revenue all those Diggers would provide. It's about their behavior: what they vote for and why.

Search behavior is the key driver behind Google's acquisitions. The benefits of amassing a higher share of searches on the Internet accrues to Google. No one on Wall St. values a company based on the activities of its members.

But then no company before Google has ever built an empire as a global R&D lab.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 8:57 AM | Permalink

March 6, 2008

EU Approval of Google's DoubleClick Acquisition is Imminent

The EU is reportedly planning to approve Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising powerhouse DoubleClick. Though the Commission gave itself an April 2 deadline, approval is expected to come as early as next Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.com.

The EU decision comes on the heels of the US Federal Trade Commission's approval this past December. This will come as unwelcome news to Microsoft, which has been complaining about the potential for Google to gain monopoly status in the online advertising market. The company said last year that the acquisition would provide bring 80 percent of the market under Google's control. Last year, Microsoft acquired DoubleClick competitor aQuantive for $6 billion.

Another concern of both Microsoft and EU Commissioners has been the question of privacy with the combination of Google and DoubleClick's massive databases. But with the EU apparently set to approve the acquisition unconditionally, those fears have either been alleviated or will go unanswered for the time being.

The news gave Google a slight boost in stock prices today, which have declined in recent months over reports of a slowdown in growth on clicks for their internet ads.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:00 PM | Permalink

February 6, 2008

Yahoo Desperately Seeking Suitor

With limited options, Yahoo board members face increased pressure to accept Microsoft's hostile bid. Yahoo has resisted Microsoft's advances in the past, convincing shareholders a turnaround was just around the corner.

So how much money did Yahoo leave on the table by declining the earlier offer? Microsoft won't publicly reveal the bid. Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang would be loath to share the offer from the company the Valley loves to loathe.

Here's the rumored Microsoft bid made last year: $40 plus per share. That's the number Oppenheimer analyst Sandeep Aggarwal cited in a note to clients, suggesting a potential 26-40 percent upside for investors from the current offer of $31 per share - if Yahoo can negotiate a better deal for its shareholders or find a more suitable suitor.

So who's willing - besides Google - to play white knight to Yahoo's digital damsel in distress?

The knights hardly comprise a round table. Only five companies have been widely reported as possible suitors: AT&T, Comcast, News Corp, Time Warner, and Verizon Communications. None has stepped up to enter the fray. Rupert Murcoch of News Corp publicly stated he didn't plan to prepare a competitive bid.

The Wall St. Journal (subscription) reported this morning that Yahoo's hoping against hope that a rival bidder or a business tie-up with Google would save the day. Google desperately wants to derail the deal, even though their share of searches continue to erode Yahoo's market share.

Mike Arrington of TechCrunch expects shareholders to approve the deal soon.

A Google-Yahoo partnership, though, isn't an ideal solution for Yahoo either. It's not as if Google could sign a noncompete agreement with Yahoo in lines of business Yahoo has strength in: local mobile, e-mail, display advertising, or e-mail.

How much revenue Google would be willing to forego by partnering with Yahoo in search also remains in question. In its quest to index the world's information, Google has become a victim of its own success.

A grizzly bear hug (not even a teddy bear hug) from Ballmer may have squeezed the life from Silcon Valley's once and future king.

Now it seems Google's mouth-to-mouth resuscitation of Yahoo's search business will be the only hope for Yahoo's survival.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 8:07 AM | Permalink

February 3, 2008

Microsoft-Yahoo A-Bombed by Google

Google blasted the Microsoft bid for Yahoo on the official Google Blog this afternoon. SVP Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond, characterized Microsoft's proposed acquisition as a "hostile bid" that threatened the underlying principles of the Internet: "openness and innovation."

Google then went nuclear, dropping the "A-bomb" -- invoking anti-trust concerns and citing as evidence Microsoft's "unfair practices" and "legacy of serious legal and regulatorty offenses" in the Netscape browser wars.

Google also stated, "Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts."

Google went on to note, "And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet."

Google's conclusion? A question all regulators and policymakers need to ask themselves:

"Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and web-based services?"

Last we heard, Google was pleased with the "App" strategy that would accelerate the transition of search from the desktop to mobile devices.

Former Netscape exec and Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on the Jan 31 Q407 earnings call, "The App strategy, which we announced earlier in the year, now fully visible -- more innovation, data portability, all the apps now either in place or coming and mobile, which we are very excited with Android, the My Location service as part of Maps and many other new features that are both out and coming. So we are optimistic about 2008. We have growing revenue streams across a broad range of verticals and markets."

So was the Google celebration of "cloud computing" an illusion?

Or is Google just dropping a smartbomb on the Microsoft-Yahoo combo?

Welcome, to the new "slash and burn" take no prisoners politics of Google lobbying.

Full text of Google's response after the jump.

Yahoo! and the future of the Internet

2/03/2008 11:45:00 AM Posted by David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

The openness of the Internet is what made Google -- and Yahoo! -- possible. A good idea that users find useful spreads quickly. Businesses can be created around the idea. Users benefit from constant innovation. It's what makes the Internet such an exciting place.

So Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies -- and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.

Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft -- despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses -- to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and web-based services? Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions -- and consumers deserve satisfying answers.

This hostile bid was announced on Friday, so there is plenty of time for these questions to be thoroughly addressed. We take Internet openness, choice and innovation seriously. They are the core of our culture. We believe that the interests of Internet users come first -- and should come first -- as the merits of this proposed acquisition are examined and alternatives explored.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 6:05 PM | Permalink

Google Weighs In On Microhoo: It May Be Evil

David Drummond, Google SVP corporate development and chief legal officer, issued the company's official response to Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo this afternoon. Essentially, Google's position is combining its two main competitors could be bad for the Internet...even border on evil.

Drummond says in the official Google statement:

"It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

"Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies -- and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.

"Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft -- despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses -- to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and web-based services? Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions -- and consumers deserve satisfying answers.

"This hostile bid was announced on Friday so there is plenty of time for these questions to be thoroughly addressed. We take Internet openness, choice and innovation seriously. They are the core of our culture. We believe that the interests of Internet users come first -- and should come first -- as the merits of this proposed acquisition are examined and alternatives explored."

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 5:18 PM | Permalink

January 27, 2008

Google NYC and Digitas Lead Google-Publicis Partnership

Google's Tim Armstrong, president North American advertising and commerce, and Penry Price, vice-president of North American sales, with Digitas Chairman and CEO David Kenny will lead the global Google-Publicis partnership.

Abby Klaasen broke the news late last night in Advertising Age. The news tops off a terrific week for Digitas, which won the P&G Crest digital account. Crest is P&G's second biggest spending brand online. Should be interesting to see what products Google engineers can build to help digital agencies scale their business.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Google Publicis partnership elicited a scathing exchange between WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell and Publicis CEO Maurice Levy. (Google CEO Eric Schmidt was, in effect, switzerland.)

Nikki Sandison of Brand Republic reported the barbs traded by Sorrell and Levy this weekend. Sir Martin Sorrell told Reuters:

"Next time I meet with Eric Schmidt, I think we'll send out a press release. This morning I met with Maurice Levy, does this mean we're putting together a joint venture?

"What Publicis is doing represents a little bit of a concern that they didn't get the technology right. I think Maurice is acknowledging a bit of an Achilles heel when it comes to technology."

No comment from CEO-engineer Eric Schmidt, but technologist/engineer CEO Maurice Levy didn't take the slight lightly, telling Reuters:

"I'm sorry Martin said that -- it's really cheap, but it's probably the result of his lack of understanding of technology.

"He's a financier, I'm an engineer, and you can see the difference. I'm pleased with what we have done, and I'm sorry that my dear friend has not understood it."

With "dear friends" like that, who needs frenemies?

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 10:18 PM | Permalink

January 16, 2008

$25 Million Google Giveaway

When one of the Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women in Business leads a conference call, you can bet Search Engine Watch will be there. Sheryl Sandberg, Vice President, Global Online Sales and Operations, Google Inc. and Board Member, Google.org will join top Google executives to discuss the launch of five strategic Google.org initiatives.

No hints in the press release on how much green will be found in the initiatives outside of the color of money. When Google Sales and Operations leads the way, the smart money's on an innovative program.

From the Google press release:

WHEN: Thursday, January 17, 2008, 9:00am PST/ 12:00pm EST

WHY: In its continuing effort to use the power of information and technology to help people better their lives, Google.org tomorrow will roll out five core initiatives that will be the focus of its philanthropic efforts over the next five to ten years.

The $25 million? Earmarked for new grants and investments to initial Google.org partners.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 11:12 PM | Permalink

December 20, 2007

Free Google Flip Video Camcorder --No purchase necessary

OK, strike "no purchase necessary." Free Flip video camcorder: "big purchase necessary?"

Google gave big-time advertisers and SEMs (whose clients spend big) a Flip Video Ultra Series camcorder with recording time up to 30 min. and 1GB internal memory.

Search marketer Shimon Sandler recorded an Oscar-worthy short film (YouTubed) of his Google Video Ultra gift being unwrapped. You'll watch the film again and again, if only to get into the Xmas spirit of green envy that children of all ages feel during the Holiday Season.

Google Flip flopped with all the SEMs who only received Google 2GB USB memory cards instead of the Google Flip (with MSRP of $149.99!). The 2GoogleByte USB card was described by our friends at SERoundtable as more or less a lump of coal -- way inferior to last year's Google gift gadget: a sweet digital picture frame.

It would seem only the FTC approves of Google acquisitions these days.

Here at Search Engine Watch, we'll be providing the P.O. Box for Google Customer Returns and the address of the secret Google Gift Exchange location.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 6:46 PM | Permalink

November 20, 2007

Senate Subcommittee Cautions FTC on Google-DoubleClick Acquisition

U.S. Senators are urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look with a critical eye on Google's planned acquisition of DoubleClick. According to ClickZ News, the heads of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights sent a letter yesterday to FTC Chairperson Deborah Platt Majoras urging her to examine the competition questions raised by the deal.

"While we have not reached any definitive conclusion regarding this issue, we urge that you only approve the merger if you determine that it will not cause any substantial lessening of competition with respect to Internet advertising," the Senators wrote.

The deal is also being looked at by the European Commission, which has until April 2 to render a decision. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approved the deal earlier this month.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:22 AM | Permalink

November 1, 2007

GoogleClick Clears One Hurdle, Another Looms

Google's planned $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick cleared another regulatory hurdle this week when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced on Monday that it would not intervene in Google's plans, according to ClickZ News.

The deal is still working its way through Congressional and FTC approval in the U.S., though experts expect approval of the deal to come soon. Google is still facing anti-competitive troubles in Europe.

The Brussels-based European Commission is currently weighing anti-competitive concerns that may arise from the transaction. A verdict is due November 13. The FTC can approve the deal irrespective of the EU verdict, but Google and DoubleClick cannot complete the deal unless both EU and FTC approve it.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:05 PM | Permalink

October 11, 2007

Google Buys Social Messaging Vendor Jaiku, Where Is This Leading?

Google has purchased a social instant messaging company, Jaiku, though how it is planning on using it is being kept secretitive, according to reports.

The company in essence provides the technology for creating social portals and networking applications. Where this will lead will be interesting to watch.

The Google blog describes the acquisition this way:

"Technology has made staying in touch with your friends and family both easier and harder: living a fast-paced, on-the-go lifestyle is easier (and a lot of fun), but it's more difficult to keep track of everyone when they're running around at warp speed. That's why we're excited to announce that we've acquired Jaiku, a company that's been hard at work developing useful and innovative applications for staying in touch with the people you care about most -- regardless of whether you're at a computer or on a mobile phone."

Posted by Frank Watson at 12:21 AM | Permalink

September 28, 2007

Google-DoubleClick Hearings Get Muddled

Google's potential acquisition of DoubleClick is now under scrutiny by a U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, and based on yesterday's hearing, the closing of this deal could still be a long way off. Senators are hearing conflicting and confusing testimony from Google, Microsoft, privacy advocates, and free-market thinkers, according to ClickZ News. The subcommittee's decision may ultimately be determined by whether or not the companies are deemed competitors or complements.

Google's lawyers argued that DoubleClick is complementary, potentially delivering ads that Google sells. Opponents pointed out that the companies compete for the same ad dollars and share the same viewers, advertisers, publishers and data.

While Google's argument is not exactly accurate, given the fact that Google does deliver ads as well as sell them, the two companies are complementary, since they are delivering different kinds of ads, and serve different needs, for the most part. Besides its ad-serving business, DoubleClick also has other products for advertisers and publishers which Google does not offer.

Lots more coverage on Techmeme.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:26 AM | Permalink

July 19, 2007

Google-DoubleClick Deal Faces Congressional Scrutiny

Google execs will be called to defend the potential $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick before both House and Senate Subcommittees, according to the New York Times. A subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on consumer protection are each planning to call a hearing to explore the antitrust and privacy issues.

The deal is already being looked at by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has opened a preliminary antitrust investigation, which telecom analyst Scott Cleland expects to end badly for Google.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:14 AM | Permalink

July 16, 2007

Rediff Possible Google, Yahoo Buy To Imrove India Presence

The value of Rediff India Ltd. - which owns one of India's most popular consumer Internet portals - has been speculated as a possible acquisition by Google and Yahoo by numerous publications recently.

"Talk of the deal is emerging in the context of a general worldwide rebound in the Internet business, and India emerging as a hot story in the global economy with strong growth in both telephone penetration and the Internet in urban areas," the the Hindustan Times reported today.

While Barrons suggested the price of Rediff right now may be too high.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:18 AM | Permalink

June 1, 2007

Google Acquires Feedburner

As expected, Google announced today that it has acquired Feedburner. The move brings feed distribution and management tools, as well as potential RSS distribution of AdWords ads.

Feedburner CEO Dick Costolo shares his thoughts on the Feedburner blog.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 2:28 PM | Permalink

May 23, 2007

Google Buying Feedburner?

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch says that he's confirmed that Google is acquiring Feedburner for close to $100 million. He's citing "a source close to the deal," so he could still be wrong, but if he's right, it's an all-cash deal, mostly upfront, with Feedburner's founders to stay on for a couple of years, at least.

The deal had been rumored to be in the works earlier this week, and ValleyWag said it had confirmed the deal as well.

The move gives Google a working feed-based ad network, but more importantly it keeps Google close to publishers, which it can then try to entice to take on more of its services. Feedburner also offers an impressive analytics package that can be incorporated into both Blogger and Google Analytics.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:33 PM | Permalink

April 29, 2007

Google and DoubleClick's Integration Hurdles

The New York Times is picking up on the fact that Google's potential DoubleClick acquisition gets more difficult when you consider Performics, DoubleClick's search and affiliate marketing agency. In The Pangs of Two Becoming One, reporter Dan Mitchell notes that the DoubleClick deal is facing antitrust challenges from Microsoft and IBM (oh, the irony), as well as worries from privacy advocates. But the biggest challenge may well be what Google should do with Performics.

There's just no way that a conflict of interest would not arise, or at least the appearance of a conflict, which would be just as bad for Google. Every time a Performics client's site showed up at the top of the SERPs, competitors would cry foul. And every time a Performics client's site did not show up first, it would be assumed that Google is being too tough with those clients, and so those clients would eventually leave to find an agency that actually helped them improve their rank.

As we noted last week, Google appears to already be moving toward the possibility of selling off the division.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:31 PM | Permalink

April 24, 2007

Google Buys Web Conferencing Software

Google tried something different the other day. Instead of buying the company - Google bought the software the company makes. They purchased Marratech's web conferencing software - used by Microsoft among others.

"Privately held and based in Sweden, Marratech develops downloadable conferencing software for Microsoft and Apple platforms, including chat, document-sharing, and online videoconferencing", according to the Motley Fool.

The Google blog distinguishes the fact that Google did not buy the company this time.

Posted by Frank Watson at 4:30 PM | Permalink

April 23, 2007

Google Changing Tune on Performics?

Since Google announced its intention to acquire DoubleClick, the industry has been buzzing with speculation about what would happen to Performics, the search and affiliate marketing agency side of DoubleClick.

In a FAQ issued when it announced the news last week, Google had said, "Performics is part of DoubleClick, and we are acquiring it as part of the transaction. We have no plans to dispose of it at this time."

A check of that same FAQ today reveals a different statement on Performics:

What will Google do with Performics? A. They have built a strong business that is valued by their clients, and we will be evaluating all strategic alternatives for this business. We are committed to continuing to meet the needs of Performics clients, and we expect no interruption in service during this transition. Google has many important agency, SEM, and other partner relationships, and we continue to value those relationships.

That's a bit more realistic, as the idea of Google owning a large SEM firm raises several issues around potential conflicts of interest. It looks like the document was updated on Friday afternoon.

Some people had been speculating that Google would simply shut Performics down, which doesn't seem to make sense, on the face of it. Performics' president Stuart Frankel has been busy debunking these rumors, issuing a statement to Pepperjam blog and others saying the company has no plans to shut down.

Let me make this absolutely clear. We are not dissolving or shutting down or significantly altering the Performics business. To the contrary, we continue to actively build our core affiliate and search business units. In fact, we are currently recruiting for 25 open positions across all areas of Performics.

His statement doesn't mention any potential sale of Performics by Google, which doesn't really say much, since the acquisition has not gone through yet, so there would be no way he could talk about those plans.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:12 PM | Permalink

April 16, 2007

Google/DoubleClick Deal Shakes Things Up

As has been widely reported, Google has announced plans to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. Details from Google can be found in the official press release, on the Official Google Blog, or in a five-page FAQ Google created.

Google also held a brief press conference on Friday, which paidContent has available as an MP3 for download.

Besides the display ad-serving side of DoubleClick, the deal also includes Performics, a search and affiliate marketing agency. There's also the idea of an ad exchange that DoubleClick recently announced, though there's nothing concrete there to speak of.

The deal is being lauded by some as a strategic imperative, while apparently already facing pressure on the anti-trust and privacy fronts.

A few more interesting viewpoints:

• Google "closes the loop" with Doubleclick acquisition, Forrester's Charlene Li
• Google Takes DoubleClick for $3.1 Billion, Forrester's Shar vanBoskirk
• GoogleClick: Positioning for the Integrated Search and Display Exchange, JupiterResearch's David Card
• Google Acquires Internet (May 2017), Google Blogoscoped
• DoubleClick's Past, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Acquired DoubleClick To Create A People-Driven Advertising Platform, Publishing 2.0
• Doubleclick + Google: Looking at Some of the Doubleclick Patent Filings, SEO by the Sea
• Google to own a SEM and SEO firm?!, Stephan Spencer

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:48 AM | Permalink

April 13, 2007

Google to Buy DoubleClick

$3.1 billion -- ClickZ has the story.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 8:09 PM | Permalink

March 16, 2007

Google Goes on Acquisition Binge

Google has been very busy on the acquisition front lately, it was revealed today. This afternoon, Marissa Mayer, VP of search products and user experience, announced the acquisition of Gapminder's Trendalyzer software. Trendalyzer is a data display technology for creating data maps and moving visual representations of data.

Mayer was short on detail of how the Trendalyzer application would be incorporated into Google's offerings, but it seems likely that it will be used to enhance the reporting capabilities of Google Analytics, or possibly as an addition to Google Apps. Trendalyzer's developers, previously based in Sweden, are part of the deal, and will join Google's team in Mountain View.

Later in the day, Google confirmed the long-rumored acquisition of in-game advertising technology provider Adscape Media.

In a post on the Google blog, new "dean of games" Bernie Stolar shared the news that he and his team will join Google to continue building the technology. An FAQ provides the reasoning for the move: "In-game advertising is an area where we believe Google could add a lot of value to users, advertisers and publishers. Adscape Media's technology and talented team are a great addition to Google's current advertising solutions for advertisers and publishers."

Google also sees great value in video game advertising, according to the FAQ:

"Over the past few years, the video game experience has become richer and more interactive. We think this rich environment is a perfect medium to deliver relevant, targeted advertising that ultimately benefits the user, the video game publisher and the advertiser."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:11 PM | Permalink

February 16, 2007

Google Reportedly Buys In-Game Ad Company

Google's on-again, off-again deal to buy AdScape is apparently on again, according to Red Herring. Google will reportedly buy the in-game advertising technology provider for $23 million.

The company built a platform to sell dynamic, performance-based ads in video games, but has not announced game publishers that are using its system. Adscape launched in February 2006 with $3.2 million in funding from Atlanta's HIG Ventures.

A Wall Street Journal report puts the purchase price between $200 and $400 million, which is similar to what Microsoft reportedly paid when it acquired in-game ad provider Massive last year.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 PM | Permalink

December 18, 2006

Google Buys Swiss Mapping Company

Adding to the Google Maps and Earth, Endoxon was acquired by Google today. The Swiss-based mapping company offers Google a base of operations in Europe to further their mapping division.

Endoxon also provides the mapping for the Swiss local search engine, local.ch, that launched this year.

The addition also brings experienced personnel in the European market which will help Google develop their mapping of Europe.

Google announced the acquisition today.

Posted by Frank Watson at 10:46 AM | Permalink

November 15, 2006

Google Holding $200 Million In Escrow For Possible YouTube Copyright Cases

First Google was rumored to be keeping $500 million back from the YouTube sale to settle possible legal problems. Then Google CEO Eric Schmidt said they weren't. Today, turns out they are. Google holds back stock in YouTube deal from the Associated Press covers the details about keeping 12.5 percent of the stock swap for one year "to secure certain indemnification obligations." What Eric Schmidt Meant When He Said Google Wasn't Holding $500 Million From YouTube For Lawsuits: We're Holding $200 Million from TechDirt does a summary, plus gives you a funny headline about the entire thing.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:12 AM | Permalink

November 14, 2006

Google Officially Buys YouTube

Yesterday, Google announced that they have officially closed the deal on YouTube, acquiring them for "3,217,560 shares, and restricted stock units, options and a warrant exercisable for or convertible into an aggregate of 442,210 shares, of Google's Class A common stock." For more details, please check out the press release.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:21 AM | Permalink

November 10, 2006

Battelle "Grilled" Schmidt On Google Video, Google Docs & More

PC Magazine has an excellent write up on John Battelle's interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google at the Web 2.0 conference named Google's Schmidt Grilled At Conference . John Battelle (which PC Mag spelled wrong), sat with Eric Schmidt for 30 minutes and asked him tough questions on YouTube, Google Docs & Spreadsheets and more. For example, Battelle asked, "So why did you buy YouTube? Was Google Video not doing well?" Battelle then noted that Google Docs and Spreadsheets were a Microsoft Office replacement, in which Schmidt replied, "We don't see it as a replacement of Office. The focus we have is not the focus they have." Battelle's response to that is the focus is that it is free. I wonder what the audience reaction was to this interview?

Postscript: Danny has coverage on the Web 2.0 conference from earlier this week here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:23 AM | Permalink

November 9, 2006

Google, Microsoft & Yahoo Acquisitions Charted Via VentureBeat, Acquisition Mashup: Google-Microsoft-Yahoo from Shmula is a nice chart listing acquisitions by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft together. Click on any item to learn more about the purchase. I wish there was a way to reduce the font size, so that you could see more of the chart -- or perhaps a way to make it go vertical, rather than horizontal. Still, very cool. Related, see this analysis of some Google acquisitions by Bill over at SEO By The Sea, this list from Wikipedia for Google, this chart for Google from Tristan Louis and this expanded chart based on Tristan's that Philipp at Google Blogoscoped made.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:50 AM | Permalink

November 6, 2006

Google Wins Right To Buy YouTube In Antitrust Review

The Chicago Tribune reports that Google has won the right to buy YouTube after antitrust authorities reviewed the documents by the Federal Trade Commission. So now it is official, Google can go through with the acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:49 AM | Permalink

November 2, 2006

Google To Partner With Clear Channel Communications?

Business Week's Steve Rosenbush thinks it is a good idea for Google to partner with Clear Channel Communications. The article explains that Google has been "adding "high profile" radio sales people in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Chicago." And Google is known to be working towards embedding ads into radio with recent rumors that Google AdSense For Audio Coming Soon.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:53 AM | Permalink

October 31, 2006

Google Buys Wiki Maker, JotSpot

The Google Blog announced that they have bought JotSpot, a Wiki maker software solution. JotSpot updated their site to include an FAQ on Google, while Google has turned off signup for the service and locked it down to invite only. You can sign up for JotSpot at the www.jot.com, luckily, I am already signed up with them. Gary Price explains that the "financials are NOT being disclosed."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:10 AM | Permalink

More Details On YouTube & Google Acquisition

Blog Maverick has some intimate details on the Google YouTube Deal from a "trusted anonymous author" in a message board. Here are some of the excerpts:

The first request was a simple one and that was an agreement to look the other way for the next 6 months or so while copyright infringement continues to flourish. The second request was to pile some lawsuits on competitors to slow them down and lock in Youtube's position. Infringement lawsuits will be served on Youtube and the new proud parent Google in the coming months. Google will respond with two paths: an expensive legal fight or a quick and easy settlement with most choosing the latter.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:26 AM | Permalink

October 11, 2006

MySpace Threatens YouTube After Google's Buyout

A Wall Street Journal article shows how the folks over at News Corp., the owners of MySpace.com, have threatened to cut "off the MySpace links to YouTube" because YouTube didn't respond to News Corp's email request to have an "opportunity to participate in the sale process." Google with YouTube and News Corp. with MySpace are to meet this week in LA to "discuss new ways of working together." The Wall Street Journal explains that News Corp. is threatened by the acquisition of YouTube by Google, making YouTube a much more powerful competitor to the MySpace property.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:44 AM | Permalink

October 6, 2006

Google Acquisition Of YouTube Rumor

Speculation about a potential acquisition of YouTube by Google is heating up. The Wall Street Journal reports and here's more coverage and buzz. Previously it was reported that Yahoo was in similar talks to buy the site. The rumor first appeared this morning on TechCrunch.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 12:13 PM | Permalink

September 14, 2006

Google: Expanding One Start-Up At A Time

The Washington Post has an interesting article looking at Google's acquisition strategy, in Google Goes to Market. The article shows how Google has spent a lot less than its competitors. In fact, it appears Google's goals behind their acquisitions differ greatly from Yahoo and eBay. The article describes that Google tends to buy companies that are early in the stages of development, and then when they acquire them, Google "has done little to highlight them." It is rare for Google to tell the public why they bought a certain company. It is also not like Google wants to buy software, they tend to want to by the brains behind the software and then build it internally.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:21 AM | Permalink

August 16, 2006

More than Organizing Photos? Google Acquires Neven Vision

Adrian Graham, Picasa's Product Manager, made a post Tuesday morning on the Official Google Blog titled A better way to organize photos? in which he announced that the team at Neven Vision has now joined Google. His post tells us that Neven Vision's software will make it easier for people to find and organize their photos. But, is there more to the purchase? Looking around some blogs that discussed the acquisition holds hints to possibily more.

I first read about this acquisition over on the Google Operating System Blog, in Object Recognition Is The Future Of Google, where I learned that the facial recognition software developed by Neven Vision will run on the types of microprocessors found in mobile phones.

It sounded like more might be happening than just putting pictures in order, so I tried to see if I could find any clues involving the intellectual property behind the company, with a trademark search and a patent search on their name. I came up with nothing. No patents assigned to Neven Vision, and no trademark in that name. At the time, their site was still working. A visit now yields the following message:

Thank you for your interest. Neven Vision was recently acquired by Google Inc. and Neven Vision product information is no longer available on this site. Click here to learn more.

But the site was up most of the day, and it did provide some helpful information. A search at the patent office on Hartmut Neven, one of the board members of Neven Vision, showed patents assigned to Nevengineering, Inc. A page on their site also listed a number of patents that they had been granted, and the numbers from those matched others that I found from the patent office. The oldest was originally filed back in 1996, and was followed by a number of others. The company it was originally assigned to was Eyematic Interfaces, Inc., but the patent had been reassigned to Nevenengineering in March of 2004. It seems that at some point in 2003, Eyematic Interfaces, Inc., transformed into Nevenengineering, Inc., with a focus that may have been more aimed at mobile technology.

I made a list of the patents I could find and some of the details about them in Google Acquires Neven Vision: Adding Object and Facial Recognition Mobile Technology.

While I was digging through the patents, a discussion started up at Google Blogoscoped on the purchase, and the news spread to GigaOm in Google Buys Photo Recognition Company, which both mention previous attempts by Google to purchase Riya, another recognition software company.

My friend Loren, over at Search Engine Journal, draws some other conclusions from other pages found on the Neven Vision site in Google, Neven Vision & Image Recognition. Loren ties together information from my patent post, what Liz Gannes at wrote at GigaOM, and from a number of other sources into a thoughtful analysis of what the acquisition may mean for Google in the future. And it's more than just organizing photos in Picassa.

Robin Good wrote a post on his blog at the end of July which shows an approach one image recognition company is taking in Visual Similarity Search Engine Finds Images According To Your Specs. What might we see from Google?

There are a lot of possibilities that become available with software that can recognize faces and objects. It will be interesting to see how Google might use some of the intellectual property and the expertise that they acquired with the folks from Neven Vision joining them. One of the newest patent applications published from Neven Vision, Image-based search engine for mobile phones with camera, lists some possibilities:

• Image Based Searches
• Optical Character Recognition with Language Translation
• Mobile Advertising
• Print-to-Internet
• Payment System (using barcodes and labels)
• Learning Tool for Children
• Treasure Hunt Games
• Virtual Annotation

Another, Image base inquiry system for search engines for mobile telephones with integrated camera, adds even more:

• City and Museum Guides
• Providing Product Information
• Face Recognition
• Product Part Replacement

Adding the ability to sort and search photos in Picassa is probably just the start of what we will see from this union.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 2:57 AM | Permalink

April 12, 2006

Google Buys Dulance; To Open Russian Research Center

Sergei Burkov, Founder & CEO of Dulance will run Google's development center in Russia. This was first reported by TechWorld yesterday and brought to my attention by Googlist this morning.

I asked Sergei if Dulance was acquired by Google, and he forwarded me to Google's PR department which just confirmed the acquisition.

To provide some context to the acquisition, Google's shopping comparison engine, Froogle, originally started out as a crawler but switched to taking data feeds fairly early on. Because the service is completely free, Froogle probably has around 50,000 data feeds (no confirmation), although the quality of those feeds isn't always that great.

For comparison, many of the leading shopping comparison engines (by traffic) only have 5,000 - 10,000 data feeds, so I've argued for a while that these comparison engines are not truly comprehensive and therefore don't always provide a valuable user experience. In fact, some of the leading shopping comparison engines rely on Google AdSense ads to supplement search results.

Dulance was the first of a new breed of shopping search engine which was based on crawling technology. Today there are a number of these engines inclduding Pronto, FatLens, and ShopWiki.

When I've had time to digest the news and do more research, I'll update you with how Google might use Dulance. In the meantime, here's the official Google press release:

Monday April 10th 2006 ? Moscow: Google announced today that it is to open a research and development centre in Russia later this year as part of its ongoing investment in Europe.

The centre will be based in Moscow and run by Sergei Burkov Ph.D. Dr. Burkov is a former research physicist who has worked at both Cornell and the University of Wisconsin. In addition he co-founded three companies, Bilbo Innovations (computer pedals, distributed through Fry's Electronics), Invincible Data Systems (acquired by VASCO Data Security) and Dulance.

Google plans to use Russia?s phenomenal engineering talent to help develop great new products both for the Russian market and globally. According to the Russian Software Developers Association (RUSSOFT) Russia has the third highest number of scientists and engineers per head of any country in the world. Google also hopes to establish long-term partnerships leading with Russian institutes and universities.

Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President Engineering and Research at Google said: "It?s great to have Sergei on board. Technology is at the heart of everything we do at Google - we?re looking forward to working with our new Moscow team to develop great products for Russian users?.

Google's Russian R&D centre is the latest addition to a growing number of global engineering offices, which include the UK, Israel, Norway, Tokyo, Japan, Zurich, Switzerland, India and America (New York, Santa Monica, California, Kirkland, Washington and Mountain View).

Posted by Brian Smith at 12:27 PM | Permalink

March 29, 2006

Google Reaches Definitive Agreement To Buy 5% Stake In AOL

Reuters reports that Google has finally reached an agreement with AOL to buy a 5% stake in the company. You can view the update here that says, in part; "On March 24, 2006, the parties signed definitive agreements governing this $1 billion investment in AOL and Google expects that the investment will close in the second quarter of 2006." So Google needs to hand over $1 billion in cash to AOL to acquire a 5% equity interest in AOL.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 4:09 PM | Permalink

March 9, 2006

Google To Buy Writely, A Browser Based Word Processor? Om Malik has heard rumors that Google may be buying Writely, a company that can enable you to "write a document in a browser, much like you write on Microsoft Word." Postscript: Google just announced they bought them, more information here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:21 AM | Permalink

February 15, 2006

Google Acquires Blog Tracking Software, Measure Map

Google announced that they have acquired Measure Map, a blog tracking software product. This product "helps you understand what people do at your blog, and what influence you are having on the world." I haven't tried the product, but reportedly, it is easy to set up and gives you information that you want to see, quickly. Some of the information includes number of visitors, number of links to your blog, number of comments and number of blog entries views out of the ones posted.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:50 AM | Permalink

February 5, 2006

Google and Others Invest in Wireless Servies Company

Om Malik reports that Google, Skype, and others have invested in FON, a wireless services startup.

FON describes itself this way: FON is a Global Community of people who share WiFi. Share your WiFi broadband access at home/work and enjoy WiFi all over the world! FON, small cost, great benefit!

People who use FON are called Foneros and according to their blog: "...the service was launched just 90 days ago and we already have over 3,000 registered Foneros. While that number may seem small, 3,000 registered Foneros puts us at 10% of our 2006 objective in only 3 months? FON can now count Google, Skype, Sequoia Capital, and Index Ventures as investors and backers."

Om has described it in the past as, "Skype+Boingo+Open Source" but only in a WiFi context.

Om's friend and also a friend of all of us here at SEW Blog, Glenn Fleishman*, shared some less than positive comments about what FON is trying to do on OM's blog in the past. Tonight, Glenn has posted some new thoughts about today's announcement.

He believes that FON faces some major issues with ISP's and also thinks that municipal Wi-Fi networks like the one Google wants to offer in San Francisco and other muninicipal models would "distort the Fon model."

Btw, Glenn "strongly" believes that, "Google will not become a Wi-Fi provider beyond San Francisco and Mountain View (at least not on any large scale) because their interest is high-margin businesses like advertising not low-margin ones like service provision."

Late last week we posted comments from a Google representive about the company's WI-FI desires, plans in SF, and how they might fund such a project using highly targeted localized advertising delivered to users of the municipal WI-FI network like the one Google hopes to build in San Francisco.

From the artice: By keeping track of which access point a user is connected to, Google will be able to locate users within two blocks for the purposes of sending them advertising for businesses nearby, [Google's Christoper] Sacca said. Google would sell ads by postal code, potentially uncovering a new class of advertisers among small local businesses that don't buy space in other media today, he said. Google's localized ads would be a more efficient way for them to reach likely customers, according to Sacca..."Highly targeted ads may be able to pay for these things," Sacca said.

My question, would Google considering offer those who run FON routers the chance to make extra cash via localized Google advertising that's delivered to users who are are receiving WiFi bandwidth from a FON router? Would this provide extra incentive for different categories of providers as described by Glenn (free operators, for-fee operators, and non-operators) to offer FON services?

* On a completely unrelated note, Glenn Fleishman is also the developer and provider of the wonderful ISBN.nu book comparison pricing database.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:03 PM | Permalink

January 17, 2006

Google Buys Radio Ad Firm; AdWords Headed To Radio Distribution

Wow. Google is to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, a company that puts ads into radio stations, paying up to $1.1 billion for it. Google plans to distribute AdWords via radio this way. Says Google VP of advertising sales Tim Armstrong in the press release (and here at Google):

"Google is committed to exploring new ways to extend targeted, measurable advertising to other forms of media," said Tim Armstrong, vice president of Advertising Sales, Google. "We anticipate that this acquisition will bring new ad dollars and accountability to radio by combining Google's expansive network of advertisers with dMarc's talented team and innovative radio advertising technology. We look forward to working together to continue to grow and improve the ecosystem of the radio industry."

Google is to pay $102 million up front as part of the deal, with a maximum amount of $1.136 billion possibly paid over the next three years. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2006.

Guess anyone still entertaining the notion of Google as a technology company versus a media company can put that to bed. Putting ads on radio isn't really a technology business. Nor is it central to that mission of organizing the world's information. Neither is putting ads into print or slapping them up all over the web, either

I wrote earlier that Google's philosophy page needed some changes to keep up with the times. In particular, that famous mission that currently reads:

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Really ought to say:

Google's mission is to fund and organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Because the ads to little to organize anything. At best, they can be argued to help fund information (along with a lot of crud -- I just saw an AdSense ad promising "AdSense Ready Content: Over 300 premade websites ready. Immediate download! 1000's of pages."

Postscript from Gary: Here are a few facts about dMarc that I've learned from perusing their web site:

• Although I wouldn't doubt that Google goes out one of these days a purchases radio stations, dMarc doesn't own any radio stations they provide the advertising and programming software.
• They also have their own advertising network that you can learn about their network here. This page explains how the dMarc tech can be used to target an audience.
• dMarc has more than 4600 radio stations using it's "digital trafficking" (ad scheduling) and "studio automation" software.
• dMarc used to be in the online ad business. From their web site, "In 1998, dMarc management launched an online advertising sales and media group, 2CAN Media, which became the 3rd largest ad network on the Internet, which represented marquee clients such as Better Homes and Gardens, MotorTrend, and Jacor Communications (later acquired by Clear Channel Communications). 2Can Media was later sold to CMGi, managed under Engage Media."
• Learn more about dMarc software here.

Postscript 2 from Gary: In a report to clients, Benjamin A. Schachter from UBS Investment Research writes, The key takeaway from this transaction is that it highlights GOOG's intention to export its advertising solutions across all forms of media. We think The Street too often looks at GOOG's product pipeline as a means to diversify revenue, when it is really a means to increase distribution of ads. Increasingly, these ads will be positioned on non-PC devices, through radio, video, mobile, etc...

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:32 AM | Permalink

January 6, 2006

Canadian Wireless Software Development Company Now Part of Google

With so much attention on Google's new video service and the Google Pack today, little attention has been paid to the fact that Google has acquired Reqwireless based in Waterloo, Ontario.

According to the National Post article: Waterloo gets Googled, Google acquired Reqwirless last summer but was disclosed yesterday. The article also says Google will, "staff up a recently established research and development facility." I was unaware of this facility but have blogged about an Open Text research initiative at the university.

The acquisition of Reqwireless once again reaffirms Google's interest in the wireless marketplace. The company develops wireless web browsers (Opera is a big player in this space) and wireless email tools. Products listed on their web site include: + Reqwireless Web + Email Viewer + Hot Viewer

In August, we learned that Google acquired Android Inc., another developer of mobile phone software.

Waterloo, Ontario is also home to Research In Motion (BlackBerry), OpenText, and the University of Waterloo which is well-known for the high quality engineers it turns out. According to the article, Google has been recruiting at UoW for years.

Google, which has recruited University of Waterloo graduates to work in Silicon Valley for several years, recently placed a job posting on its Web site looking for a mobile wireless application developer based in the southern Ontario city. "Google is hiring engineers to bring our wireless products to the next level," the company says in the posting

Gary Will, the editor of Waterloo Tech Digest, has comments and background about the acquisitin on his blog.

Sun's Tim Bray has strong ties to the Waterloo area and the Univ of Waterloo. It's there he worked on the New Oxford English Dictionary and then founded Open Text (remember the Open Text web engine?) and Antarctica Systems. Of course, Bray is also one of the original developers/editors of XML.

A current student at the University of Waterloo and well-known for creating useful web search tools is Michael Fagan. Mike's the developer of FaganFinder, URLInfo, and the very useful Translation Wizard. I also see his introduction to RSS and syndication linked to fromn many sites and articles. He's also the developer of UWHub, a search tool for University of Waterloo info.

Thanks to Michel for the news tip.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:53 PM | Permalink

December 23, 2005

Google's AOL Stake Rolling Into Holding Company It Can Take Public In 2008

I got a research note from Ben Schachter over at UBS Investment Research flagging that Google has now filed an 8-K form on the AOL deal that sheds light on some new details, include rolling its AOL stake into a new company that it can take public in 2008. You'll find the filing here. Highlights below:

• Some of the exact details of the agreement are still being worked out. That's expected to complete the first quarter of next year.  
• Should some details not be agreed, a resolution will be reached through binding arbitration.  
• Google is going to hold its 5 percent share of AOL through a new limited liability company (either called HoldCo or that being the term used to indicate a yet to be named holding company)  
• Google can sell the HoldCo interests in a public offering as of July 1, 2008 or afterward (so you're were right, John -- it is a second IPO, but in a different way than you thought!).  
• AOL can prevent a sale by exercising its right to purchase HoldCo from Google at an appraised fair market value.  
• The deal runs for five years, substantially longer than any previous deal Google and AOL have had.  
• It covers AOL being able to sell text ads on its own site in addition to carrying the same type ads from Google.  
• It covers AOL being able to sell display ads on the Google network.  
• It covers AOL being promoted on Google "consistent with Google principles," plus AOL receiving ad credits.  
• Google will fund marketing efforts for AOL through third party media outlines to promote agreed upon properties.  
• It covers the previously promised help for AOL and Time Warner to understand how to be indexed by Google better: "We have agreed to assist AOL and Time Warner in understanding our published and/or publicly available tools for improving the accessibility of a web site?s content to Google?s web crawlers."  
• Google Talk users will have to register their names with AIM in order to interact with AIM clients.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:42 AM | Permalink

December 22, 2005

Google Not Buying Riya

Just to tidy up loose ends, photo search service Riya quashed recent rumors that it would be bought by Google.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:48 AM | Permalink

December 20, 2005

Google/AOL Deal is a Go: AIM and Google Talk To Become Interoperable, White Labelling of Google Ad Technology, and Expansion of Display Ads on Google Network All Part of "What's New"

Reuters is reporting that the deal $1 billion deal that has Google buying a 5% stake in AOL is a go after being approved at today's Time Warner Board Meeting.

A press release from Time Warner officially confirms it's a go.

The news release calls the deal an expansion of the AOL/Google strategic partnership that's been around for three years.

Here are some highlights from the news release.

What's new? In my original post from last week I wondered aloud if a this new AOL/Google deal would mean anything in the IM world where AOL's AIM is the market learder and the new Google Talk. Would interoperability be possibility? It looks like my thoughts were right along with what was being discussed between the two companies.

News release passages in italics: + Google Talk users and AIM users will be able to communicate with one another if, and the following is a direct quote, "if certain conditions are met."

+ Collaborating in video search and showcasing AOL's premium video service within Google Video I spent quite a bit of space speculating on what this might mean for AOL Video and Google Video now and in the future my post from last Friday. Between the two companies they sure have a good chunk of video search technology.

+ Creating an AOL Marketplace through white labeling of Google's advertising technology - enabling AOL to sell search advertising directly to advertisers on AOL-owned properties.

+ "Expanding display advertising throughout the Google network." Exactly what type of display ads and where they will be seen is not specified. Danny has blogged about Google and displayed ads (before this official announcement).

+ Making AOL content more accessible to Google Web crawlers. Again, what this precisely means was not made clear in the release. I guess placement of this content is what many of us are wondering about. Danny's article linked above also talks about the, "SEO advice Google already gives other large companies as part of the sales pitch and support to get them to buy ads."

+ Providing AOL marketing credits for its Internet properties.

Non-US AOL and Google have also agreed to extend the term of their existing European relationship, and, subject to mutual agreement, they may extend the AOL Marketplace internationally. In addition, Google, AOL and Time Warner may choose to expand the new partnership to Time Warner's other advertising opportunities.

Bottom Lines and Comments from Management: + "The agreement creates a global online advertising partnership, makes more of AOL's industry-leading content available to Google users, and includes a $1 billion investment in AOL by Google."

+ Google will become the only shareholder in AOL other than Time Warner. Google will have certain customary minority shareholder rights, including those associated with any future sale or public offering of AOL.

+ Time Warner Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dick Parsons said: "We're very pleased to build significantly on our special relationship with Google in a way that will meaningfully strengthen AOL's position in the fast-growing online advertising business and help drive more advertisers to its Web properties...A critical piece of this strategic alliance will be our content, which we will be making more accessible to Google users."

+ "We've also created a simple way for AOL Marketplace advertisers to buy and place search-related advertising across the AOL network. This partnership is an important next step for our companies." --Eric Schmidt, Google CEO

+ "AOL and Google have a very successful history working together, and this is an opportunity to take it to a new level that will benefit both companies and the customers we serve. We are excited about working with Google on the next generation of AOL products, while further expanding our presence on the Web. This is a great moment for AOL." -- Jonathan Miller, AOL's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Additional Coverage From + News.com + Wall Street Journal (sub req.)

Posted by Gary Price at 6:47 PM | Permalink

December 19, 2005

Time Warner Investor Works to "Derail" Rumored Google/AOL Deal

Legendary investor, the 24th richest man in America, and a major holder of Time Warner stock, Carl Icahn, is not happy with the rumored AOL deal with Google and according to this News.com story*, is working to "derail" the deal.

From the article: "Like all shareholders, I am not opposed to Time Warner entering into an AOL transaction that creates long-term value. However, I am deeply concerned that the Time Warner board may be on the verge of making a disastrous decision concerning an agreement with Google if this agreement would make it more difficult in any way or effectively preclude a merger or other type of transaction with companies such as (InterActiveCorp), eBay, Yahoo or Microsoft." Icahn wrote in an open letter to the Time Warner board of directors.

The full text or Mr. Icahn's letter is available here.

The letter includes the following paragraph where Icahn questions of Google is the best partner for AOL: I also question whether Google is the best partner for unlocking the value of the AOL asset. Indeed, a recent Goldman Sachs report concludes, "In contrast to the conventional perspective, we believe that eBay, followed by InterActive Corp, would provide greater incremental benefits to AOL's option value with fewer conflicts of interest than Yahoo while MSN and Google would provide the least incremental benefits."

Icahn has been building support for a proxy fight to split AOL off before last Friday's news.

Icahn's letter goes on to say: The real risk for Time Warner shareholders is that a Google joint venture may be short sighted in nature and may preclude any consideration of a broader set of alternatives that would better maximize value and ensure a bright future for AOL.

Once again, I am not opposed to the Board using its business judgment to enter into a transaction with Google or another suitor so long as the transaction does not destroy or impede Time Warner's flexibility to unlock shareholder value in the near and long term.

We should know more later this week afer the Time Warner Board Meeting.

More coverage of the possible Google/AOL deal is available here.

* Postscript: On Jan. 24, 2006 I noticed that the live version of the News.com story was no longer available. That's why we are now linking to a cached version.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:11 PM | Permalink

December 16, 2005

Sorry Bill and Steve, WSJ Reports Google Near $1 Billion Deal With AOL

If Gates and Ballmer wanted a deal with AOL (Time Warner) as a Christmas gift, it appears that they're not going to get it. The MSFT vs. GOOG game of the "Price is Right" appears to be ending according to this just posted story from the Wall Street Journal: AOL Nears Deal With Google (sub req).

Here are a few key facts and passages from the article by Julia Angwin, Kevin J. Delaney and Dennis K. Berman:

+ AOL and Google are now in "exclusive negotiations." Microsoft has been "shut out" of the negotiations at this point.

+ Google will pay $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL.

+ "AOL would be able to sell advertising among the search results provided by Google on AOL Web properties." At the moment, sponsored links come from Google...AOL's sales staff would also sell display ads across Google's network of Web publishers."

+ "Google will promote AOL's Web properties among the sponsored links in its search results, and will include AOL's collection of online videos among its search results. Google's arrangement to provide search technology for AOL, which was set to expire at the end of next year, would be extended for five years."

+ Don't look for a deal and/or an announcement until next week after a Time-Warner board meeting.

With multimedia search being one of the hot topics of 2005, I find it interesting that AOL Video, which we've been talking about a lot this year both in terms of content and UI, will be visible in Google results in one form or another. It's obvious that video and video search have been a high priority to the company over the past year and they've done some impressive work. AOL has easy access to lots of video content from Time-Warner, deals with other providers, and also its own multimedia crawler with SingingFish. It will be interesting to see (no pun) if any exclusive video that Google has would/will begin appearing on AOL? Also would future deals that both companies make for video content be made so the material would be accessible on both services? Will the AOL Video database of crawled video content continue to use SingingFish technology or will Google begin to using the SingingFish crawler?

Btw, don't forget that AOL is currently testing (it works great for me) the delivery of high-quality videos while your computer is quiet.

I'm also wondering about future issues with Google and AOL in the instant messaging space. AOL is the leader. Will Google Talk become interoperable with AIM, so the two systems and their users can chat or talk to each other? Earlier this year, MSN and Yahoo announced a deal that will allow users of either service to chat with each other. Would the AIM and Google Talk tech be merged? I could go on with VoIP, broadband, wi-fi, cable tv, and all sorts of other stuff but let's not get way ahead of ourselves.

From the SEW Archives: + Overture & Inktomi Out, Google In At AOL (May 1, 2002) + AOL Moves Fully To Google (August 5, 2002) + AOL Renews With Google (October 8, 2003)

Want to discuss? Check this thread in the SEW Forums.

Postscript: Reuters has now published a story on the still yet to be announced deal. The Google-AOL talks would expand on a relationship which analysts estimate account for 2 percent to 4 percent of Google's revenue on a net basis. AOL uses Google's search engine

Postscript 2: Perhaps the most interesting part of all of this is found (via Searchblog ) in this coverage from the NY Times that says that Google will give AOL preferred placement on the Google site.

Here's the passage: Google, which prides itself on the purity of its search results, agreed to give favored placement to content from AOL throughout its site, something it has never done before.

Does this mean "favored placement" of ads or of organic results? I think before starting to speculate we need to know more on just what Google is thinking here. If Google would start giving "favored placement" for organic results then it would sure be a "wow" moment/change of direction in Google's history. From an advertising standpoint it would be interesting to see how the SEM community would respond. Battelle uses the expression "jump the shark" to describe the NYT passage in his post but adds that it also just might be a "trial balloon."

Of course, it's very unlikely we hear anything official about any of this until next week.

Postscript 3 (Saturday): David Vise's article from the Washington Post on the possible deal. From the article: + AOL also will get the exclusive right to sell online banner ads for Google. AOL will keep about 20 percent of the proceeds from those ad sales, while Google will get about 80 percent.

+ "AOL is a valued partner," Google spokeswoman Lynn Fox said yesterday. "We look forward to continuing to work with them."

+ AOL has provided Google with more than $400 million in ad revenue so far this year, according to public filings.

+ The existing arrangement -- under which Google provides text-based ads and free search results on AOL -- will continue, with AOL keeping 80 percent of those ad proceeds and Google taking 20 percent.

+ One source said AOL will also have the right to buy graphic ads that appear alongside the text-based ads Google traditionally has displayed to the right of its free search results.

+ Google's search results, based on equations that rank them according to relevancy, will not be changed as a result of the new partnership with AOL, sources said.

Postscript 4: See AOL's Choice of Google Leaves Microsoft as the Outsider has more details on AOL having concerns over MSN's new ad network and arguing that its own ad serving software was beter.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:44 PM | Permalink

December 14, 2005

Rumor Mill: Acquisition Time? Is Google Going To The Opera (Browser)?

I'm not one for spreading rumors but sometimes...? Feel like a hot one? OK, we've got one or should I say Dirson has one. What is it? Google is going to acquire Opera. That's right, the wonderful and powerful Opera browser from Norway (Opera Software ASA to be precise) might become Google's latest acquisition.

In addition to offering a traditional web browser, Opera also plays very hard in the mobile browser space. Might the acquisition be Google's holiday present to itself? I haven't heard anything other than what Dirson reports.

Ok, now to the source of what's going to be getting lots of blogosphere buzz in the coming hours. Dirson's New Google Blog links to a French language blog by Pierre Chappaz (former president of Yahoo! Europe), says that the acquisition is going down but to use the terms given in Google's mechanical translation of the post, this info needs to be "taken with precaution." That's one of the things that make it a rumor. If you don't read French and want it translated (CAVEAT EMPTOR) here's a mechanical translation from Google and from other sources.

I've asked Google for a comment and will post if/when one is received.

The Opera browser, once fee-based, if you wanted banner ads powered by Google removed, became totally free with no banner ads in September. You can still purchase premium support.

Talk about Google and a Google browser (aka GBrowser) goes back a long time. In recent months Google has not only recruited several key people from the Mozilla Foundation (the Firefox people) but is still looking for more Firefox engineeers. Also, Danny's post: Googlebar For Firefox, Plus The Google & Firefox Deal, reports on a "business relationship alongside Firefox."

Though she [Google's Marissa Mayer] didn't reveal specific terms, she said it encompassed a variety of things, such as hosting the Firefox start up page (which will increasingly grow in traffic and bandwidth demands) plus distribution gains for Google by being a favorite in the browser.

So, needless to say Google and Firfox/Mozilla Foundation are very close.

Speculation: As I mentioned earlier, Opera is a key browser in the mobile space so that might be an excellent reason for an acquisition plus it takes it off the market and keeps it from another company (take your pick, nane your reason) from acquiring what in my opinion is a wonderful and constantly improving tool. You've got to wonder if Opera's removal of Google ads, making the product free, and an acquisition by Google are all related? According to Om Malik, it was Google that helped to make Opera free. Huh?

Om writes in a September post: I found out that the decision to give away the browser came after the company struck ?compensation deals? with some of the search engines. Apparently, the premier tenant for browser?s built-in search window, is Google. ?The current most important deal now is with Google,? company spokesperson Eskil Siversten wrote in an email. The company indicated that it has similar referral-for-dollars agreements with the likes of eBay and Amazon.

Last February, Google Maps became usable on the Opera browser.

I use Opera all the time (I even paid for it) and will admit to being a bit sentimental about it. Why? The first article I ever had published was a review of Opera in Online Magazine back in 1998. It was titled, The Little Browser that Can."

Stay tuned.

Postscript: Google said it had no comment on the "rumors and speculation" about Opera.

Postscript 2 (Thursday, December 15th): Reuters is reporting that the CFO of Opera says his company is NOT in talks with Google (or any other company) about an acquisition.

Christian Jebsen, Opera's Chief Financial Officer told Reuters, "We have heard the rumours but know nothing more about this."

Posted by Gary Price at 4:01 PM | Permalink

December 7, 2005

Google and Microsoft Play "The Price is Right" with AOL

According to a Reuters story (via News.com): Microsoft, Google still vying for AOL: that proposals from both Microsoft and Google have been submitted to AOL to "strike an internet advertising partnership" with the company.

Julia Angwin And Kevin J. Delaney in the WSJ (sub required) write: People familiar with the matter said that under the proposal being discussed, AOL, whose current ad partner is Google, would switch to using Microsoft's search engine, and the two companies would set up a joint venture to sell online advertising across both AOL and Microsoft's MSN portal. The services would remain under control of their respective owners, but their ads would reach many more online customers than they do now, these people said.

But Google remained in its own partnership talks with Time Warner late yesterday and still could emerge on top, these people cautioned. A sticking point so far has been its reluctance to guarantee Time Warner a minimum amount of revenue, which Microsoft has done, said one person familiar with the talks.

Reuters reports that at least another round of negotiations are likely and we might learn of a final decision by Christmas.

In other talks, Comcast Corp., which sources said was considering a joint deal with Google, is now also seeking a separate arrangement with AOL, regardless of the outcome. The top U.S. cable operator is discussing how it can market its high-speed Internet service to AOL's dwindling but still large dialup customer base, among other topics.

Micrsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, while in DC remained quiet on any sort of deal but said:

Online advertising is of keen interest to us, and I have absolutely nothing to say about the AOL deal or (any) deal whatever," Ballmer said. "If you ask, particularly our consumer-facing businesses, what will be the most rapidly growing revenue stream at Microsoft, it's absolutely going to be advertising.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:34 PM | Permalink

December 2, 2005

After Product Pitch, Google Won't Call Back But Still Tests The Product

Spotted via Threadwatch, search tech start-up Kozoru finds that after presenting to Google, they won't return emails or phone calls -- but will happily continue checking out the service through the private access they were given. From Kozoru founder John Flower's blog post:

Everything we saw and heard and felt seemed like we were getting along great with everyone there. Everything, that is, until three weeks ago when - without warning - they stopped responding to e-mails or returning phone calls. They did, however, take the opportunity to log into our private interface and see what we were doing (after we shared it with them), even after the calls stopped and the radio silence continued.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:58 AM | Permalink

November 28, 2005

Google & Yahoo: The New VCs?

Two articles out this week cover how Google and Yahoo are duking it out not with each other but instead with venture capital firms to gain promising companies.

Googling For Gold from BusinessWeek starts out what Google might buy when it goes on a "long-awaited shopping spree." Why everyone always assumes that Google must go out and buy lots of things fast, I don't know. Yes, it raised money not too long ago and said this might be used for future acquisitions. But they didn't say they'd have a "spree," nor has Google ever gone on a shopping spree in the many years when many have predicted that they "must" do so.

The story points out that Google's "shown little interest so far in doing big deals with anyone." Interestingly, Google offers up an official comment -- "we're not going to manufacture opportunities solely because of the currency." It then goes on to look at AOL as perhaps shaping up as the key exception to the Google "no big deals" rule.

The article concludes by talking about what apparently was an abortive "Startup Day" where Google was going to have venture capital groups pitch them on making investments. It goes on about all the gripes VCs have and might have with Google for various reasons, such as grabbing startups fast and directly, before VCs get much involved.

Google also comes under fire for being "anti-business people" inside and out, which it denies. Of course, I still haven't heard of non-engineering types at Google getting any of the famed Google 20 percent time to work on whatever they want.

Over from Knight Ridder, Net giants in search of startups step on VC toes covers some of the same VC upset as BusinessWeek details, but this time Yahoo along with Google is also making waves. In particular, it details how Yahoo made a fast snap-up of Oddpost, suprising those who had invested in the company.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:24 PM | Permalink

November 21, 2005

Google/Riya Acquisition Update

On Thursday, we posted about a rumor that Riya, an image search company that utilizes face/image recognition technology was about to be acquired by Google.

Well, it's Monday afternoon and still no official word either way.

However, Om Malik, who first broke the news of a possible acquisition, has updated his post saying that he's tentativly confirmed the deal with Google paying about $40 million for the company.

A clue? At the moment, the Riya web site is online but all of the content has been removed. It states that the site is getting some "TLC."

The company blog has no acquisition news but does say that a second Alpha version of the product will be released in the "next few days." Our post on Friday also included a bunch of info/links on image/face recognition searching.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:37 PM | Permalink

November 17, 2005

The Google-Riya Rumor and Image/Face Recognition Searching

Ready for some material for your "Google is Going to Acquire" rumor list? Om Malik (a very trustworthy source) places the rumor that Google is going to acquire Riya, an online photo service, in his "highly rumored and unconfirmed category." Riya is based in California and uses face recognition and text recognition to automatically tag and search photos. That sure sounds Google.

Om writes: Riya, as a company hasn?t even launched, and is supposed to have a coming out event at Tech Crunch?s BBQ this friday! Riya?s technology could be used to extend Google?s reach in the picture domain, where they are completely overshadowed by Yahoo. If this company ends up in the hands of Yahoo, well as far as photos go, its end game! I wonder if Microsoft made a play for the company? Of course, Riya is just the kind of technology that could help tag the photos of the big GigaPixel project.

Niall Kennendy has posted that it's a done deal. Techcruch also has comments.

I've posted about image/face recognition search in the past. These posts contain lots of links and a few demos. + Finding "Patterns" in Your Face This post includes a link to a German site where you can limit your search to only images that contain a human face are visible. + Image Databases to Find "Visually Similar" Imagery and More + All About Content Based Image Retrieval

Posted by Gary Price at 3:46 PM | Permalink

November 10, 2005

Yahoo No Longer Bidding for Piece of AOL

Reuters and the Wall Street Journal report that Yahoo is no longer interested in getting a piece of the AOL pie.

After we learned what their proposed deal terms were, we passed and we've never looked back," a Yahoo spokeswoman said on Thursday, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal.

She denied that the company had made an offer for AOL but confirmed that Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel met with Time Warner chairman Richard Parsons in October.

The full text of that Wall Street Journal article is here. This week acccess is free to non-subscribers.

The article reports that AOL is still in talks with Microsoft and Google/Comcast.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:55 AM | Permalink

October 12, 2005

Google and Comcast are in Talks to Acquire Minority Stake in AOL

Here we go again. More news on the AOL/Microsoft/Google story.

The Wall Street Journal has just posted a report that Google and cable television/high-speed Internet giant, Comcast, are in "serious discussions" with AOL (Time Warner) about acquiring a "minority" stake in AOL's portal business (not the dial-up access part).

From the WSJ: How closely Google and Comcast are aligned in the talks isn't clear. Google approached Comcast about participating in a bid for AOL last week, according to a person familiar with the matter. But Google may end up making a bid on its own, another person said.

We've mentioned several times that AOL has yalked to Microsoft about acquiring a minority stake in the company. Actually, the original NY Post story in September noted that AOL had also talked at that point to Google and Yahoo. A few weeks later the Time Warner CEO told the NY Times that he sees AOL has an important asset for his company.

Is any of this surprising? Hardly! It's war out there folks especially between MS and Google.

Btw, if you're thinking the local tv ad buys, an ad on Google could also get you an ad on a Comcast Cable System. Comcast has about 21.5 subscribers. Of course, a new MSN adCenter ad could also get you placement on the many cable systems TW owns and operates. TW Cable has about 16 million subs (analog and digital). Both companies also operate hi-speed net accees, digital phone, and digital recorder services.

Postscript: TheStreet.com has more from the WSJ story including some numbers.

Postcript 2: From Reuters: The talks between AOL, Google and Comcast have progressed over the summer, but one source warned that the discussions were still in early stages and could fall apart.

AOL contacted Comcast earlier this summer and has held separate discussions with Google over potential investments, the sources said.

Google has discussed with AOL interest in AOL's free Web-based services, such as instant messaging and programming. In addition, Google contacted Comcast last week over possible interest in executing a joint investment, one source said.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:31 PM | Permalink

August 21, 2005

Report: Google, Yahoo "Talking" To Publisher of Classified Ad Papers

Are Google and Yahoo considering hooking-up in one form or another with a large publisher of classified advertising newspapers and web sites? According to several articles including: Google, Yahoo in fight over classifieds and Google and Yahoo court Trader Classified Media - paper both companies are "talking" (acquistion? partnership?) with Amsterdam-based Trader Classified Media, a publisher of 78 print guides and runs 56 Web sites with classified ads for shoppers in 22 countries.

Both articles also mention that eBay is also talking with Trader Classified Media. Neither Google, Yahoo, nor Trader Classfied are commenting on the report.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:12 PM | Permalink

August 17, 2005

Google Acquires Android Mobile Phone Software Start-Up

Google Buys Android for Its Mobile Arsenal from Ben Elgin over at BusinessWeek covers Google having quietly acquired Android Inc, a 22-month-old start up company seemingly focused on software for mobile phones.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:59 AM | Permalink

August 11, 2005

Battelle: Google Will Not Acquire Meetro

John says that the Google will not be acquiring the social networking/location-based software provider meetro. Stories and rumors about a possible acquisition have been circulating this week.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:01 PM | Permalink

August 8, 2005

Report: Google To Acquire Location-Based, Social Networking Service

InternetNews.com's, reports that later this week Google will announce the acquisition of Meetroduction.

This is Google's second acquistion in the social networking/location-based services space in recent months. In May, Google acquired dodgeball.com, a service that allows users to find "friends" and new friends using text messaging.

Meetro combines instant messaging with automatic local buddy finding. Users can log in and browse or search profiles of other members in order to find someone compatible who's nearby and also logged in. The area to be searched can be narrowed to a quarter mile. "The beauty of Meetro is the direct way in which you connect with people nearby," Paul Bragiel, CEO of Meetroduction, said in a statement about the software release. The software is compatible with AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and ICQ, adding the ability to find people outside of one's personal buddy lists. Before the acquisition, the company planned to eventually support MSN Messenger and Jabber as well.

It's not difficult to envision the marketing opportunities especially with very focused local advertising especially with being able to narrow down to a quarter mile.

Review--What does dodgeball.com offer? It works, explained founder Dennis Crowley, by having users check in with text messages announcing where they are. Then, because dodgeball maintains a database of hundreds of nightspots in each city, anyone on a user's friends list who is within 10 blocks gets a message that his or her pal is nearby.

Postscript: I'm still wondering what Meetroduction and dodgeball.com have to do with Google's mission, "to organize the world's information and make it universally useful and accessible." Maybe it's time for Google to better define their mission these days.

Postscript 2: Battelle: Google Will Not Acquire Meetro covers how this acquisition is apparently not happening.

Posted by Gary Price at 8:22 PM | Permalink

July 20, 2005

Google Acquires Brazilian Search Tech Company

Nice work by Dirson spotting this press release (in Portuguese) from Google announcing their acquisition of Akwan Information Technologies, a Brazilian search tech provider. Google will use the acquistion to open an R&D center in Latin America.

Here's a mechanical translation of the announcement using Google's translation software, caveat emptor.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:52 PM | Permalink

July 13, 2005

Chinese Search Company Baidu Files for NASDAQ IPO

Baidu files to go public on Nasdaq from SiliconBeat covers Chinese search provider Baidu filing for an IPO on the NASDAQ. The company hopes to raise $80 million with the offering. SiliconBeat's post also contains links to the prospectus and some discussion about what US copyright laws, if any, Baidu might be subject to regarding music downloads.

Google is a minority investor in Baidu, and its interest was covered recently in our Google CEO Schmidt Visits China Interest In Baidu Buyout? post. Other related posts from us are Local Search Goes to China and Baidu Beginning Work on a Film Search Engine.

See also Baidu.com, China's Market Share Search Engine Leader, Files for NASDAQ IPO with U.S. SEC (hat tip, Shak) for more background on Baidu, including cofounder Robin Li's Infoseek roots.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:41 PM | Permalink

July 7, 2005

China News For Google, Baidu & Yahoo

Lots of news in terms of China and search, ranging from Google perhaps eyeing Baidu, Baidu saying it's happy staying independent and Yahoo China losing its president.

Google facing search engine China quandary from the San Jose Mercury News looks anew at reasons why Google might be interested in owning more of the homegrown and apparently popular Baidu search engine. Google has a 4 percent share now. Gaining more might give Google access to Baidu advertisers, or perhaps more distribution for its own existing ads or perhaps give it a way to reach more of China without having to impose censorship on its own web search results at Google.

Meanwhile, Baidu makes first response to Google purchase rumor from the People's Online Daily has Baidu saying that it "belives independent development is its best way out."

Yahoo China President offers sudden resignation, also from the People's Online Daily, covers the departure of Yahoo China's president.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:48 AM | Permalink

June 16, 2005

What Google Has Bought & Should Buy

I don't really care about the speculation on what Google might buy next. Heck, some of the company's purchases have been opportunistic rather than planned (Deja, Blogger and probably Dodgeball), so saying what's "sensible" or predicting what's next is guesswork, at best. But Who Will Google Buy Next? at Kuro5hin has a nice rundown on what they've bought already. After what you bought, you can read the sensible acquisitions and "left field" ideas, then go on to agree or disagree in the comments below.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:11 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2005

Google Makes An Acquisition: Dodgeball.com

Reuters is reporting that Google has acquired dodgeball.com. Will Sergey, Larry, and Eric soon be out there promoting dodgeball games around the world? Nope, not even close. Google is now in the mobile social-software business. Here's an FAQ about the acquisition.

dodgeball.com is currently available in 22 U.S. cities (the company has been around for about 5 years) allows you to find other dodgeball.com users via text messaging. In other words, use dodgeball.com to meet-up with friends, make new friends, etc.

Still confused? Here's how dodgeball.com was described in a recent issue of New York magazine. The story ran in the "mating" column.

Now that people are breaking up with each other through text messaging, it?s only natural that the hottest social-networking program to emerge in recent months is Dodgeball, a free texting service that lets users tell their friends and crushes what bar they?re in at any moment so they can meet up.

This Wired story has more about dodgeball and a similar mobile social-networking service in the UK. It also has a useful overview of how the service works.

It works, explained founder Dennis Crowley, by having users check in with text messages announcing where they are. Then, because dodgeball maintains a database of hundreds of nightspots in each city, anyone on a user's friends list who is within 10 blocks gets a message that his or her pal is nearby.

The service also has a "crush" feature. Users view profiles of other members and designate ones they'd like to meet. If the object of a crush is nearby, he or she gets a message to that effect. The system maintains privacy by identifying users only by screen names.

Interesting acquisition? For sure. You know me and my interest in mobile. (-: Perhaps Google might be thinking of selling advertising in the text messages that get sent to dodgeball.com members looking to meet up. How about Google working with advertisers to offer special deals for members. For example, if you and your friends want to head to a movie after meeting via dodgeball.com, show a recent text message at a nearby movie theater and get in for a reduced rate.

What I'm unclear about is what dodgeball.com has to do with Google's mission to, "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Is it time for Google to modify their mission statement?

Whatever the case may be, let the speculation begin!

Posted by Gary Price at 7:42 PM | Permalink

March 31, 2005

Google Acquires Zipdash and More From The Google Annual Report

We posted yesterday, within minutes of it's publication, that the Google 2004 Annual Report was available.

After reviewing the document SiliconBeat's Michael Bazeley notes that ia the list of Google's subsidiaries, we learn that the folks in Mountain View acquired a company called Zipdash that offers maps and traffic info for mobile devices. Discussion threads about annual report are available in our forum and over at Webmaster World.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:28 PM | Permalink

March 29, 2005

Google To Acquire Urchin Web Analytics Firm

Google is to acquired the Urchin web analytics firm, which provides both hosted and log-based tools for understanding how people are interacting with web sites.

The Google press release notes that the company plans to continue offering the tools to site owners and marketers, though it doesn't say whether pricing would change. I imagine that Google might offer some versions completely free, in order to build greater marketshare. The company has done the same with many of its other products, such as with the Picasa photo management tool.

One reason to jump into web analytics is that the search companies understand that as search ad prices rise, people will only be willing to pay more if they can justify this by showing better conversions. Web analytics can help those who aren't tracking conversions or who are tracking conversions at only a basic level to better understand the full picture of what happens on their web sites. For more on this, see my Most Conversions Happen Offline; You Need To Measure These! post.

This is one reason why both Yahoo and Google already offer free conversion tracking tools to their advertisers (Yahoo info here; Google info here, though the link to the page with more info on the tool has disappeared). Providing full web analytics may help companies improve conversion even more. Yahoo already owns web analytics technology that it obtained through its 2003 purchase of Keylime. Now Google joins the club.

How much is the deal for? The Google release doesn't say, but John Battelle reports a tip of the $30 million range. SiliconBeat reports the same.

Want to discuss? Please join our forum thread, Google Buys Urchin.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:47 AM | Permalink

October 27, 2004

Google Acquires Satellite Image Software Firm

Matt Hines at News.com reports that Google has acquired Keyhole, a company the provides software to view satellite images and virtually "fly" across the world. Financial terms were not disclosed.

An FAQ on the Keyhole site reads, We do not have any announced plans regarding how this technology will integrate with our current products and services.

Here's the news release.

Google has already lowered the price of the software to $29.95. Sorry Mac users, this is PC only stuff.

This is Google's second image-related acquistion in three months. In July they acquired Picasa, digital image organization software.

Google as "big brother" types will likely have comments about the acquistion since Keyhole received funding in 2003 from In- Q-Tel, the non-profit venture capital fund of the CIA.

Two Comments:

About a year ago you were able to access some aerial/satellite images from GlobeXplorer when searching with MapQuest. However, this service is no longer available (at least I can't find it).

It will be interesting to see if Google adds satellite image links next to each address via their phone directory and/or Google Local. Of course, with all of the negative press they received (undeserved) when the masses realized that addresses were available, an image of the location (even though they're accessible eleswhere) might really cause a freak out.

The acquisition is also great marketing/branding. You'll notice on Keyhole's home page CNN and other news organizations use their products. Now, users will likely see something like, "Satellite Images from Google" on television. A great way to reinforce their brand (in a very cool way) and the belief that Google's got all the data.

Finally, and this is VERY COOL, stop by TerraFly. This database allows you to "virtually fly" across the United States (no software needed). Basic access is FREE and additional bandwidth is fee-based. Once you're on a satellite or aerial image, click on any portion of it, and access statistics and other info about the area you've selected.

UPDATE: ++ Battelle chats with former Keyhole CEO, now manager of Google's Keyhole unit, John Hanke.

++ SEW Blog reader Bernhard S. who let's us know about map.search.ch. He writes, "it uses aerial photographs from switzerland overlaid with a street map, you can interactively zoom (click mouse) and pan (drag mouse). it is only based on javascript (no java, no flash) and runs on all platforms (ie, mozilla & co, safari)."

For example, here's Google's Zurich office from above.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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