June 24, 2009

More Former Yahoo!'s Head to Microsoft; Weiner Upgrades to LinkedIn CEO

The reasons for Microsoft to still consider a deal with Yahoo! diminished even further this week as news broke that three former Yahoo!'s have been recruited to Microsoft. They aren't the first. You would think there was a fire sale on former Purple People.

Larry Heck, Scott Moore, Qi Lu, and Sean Suchter have all ended up at Microsoft after leaving behind their Yahoo! gigs.

Now, joining them, is Kevin Timmons; Yongdong Wang, former Yahoo VP of international search; and Knut Risvik, who incidentally spent time at Google after his stint at Yahoo!

Microsoft isn't the only place former Yahoo!'s are making their mark. Jeff Weiner joined LinkedIn last year as President, having left Yahoo! last summer and then hanging out at a couple of venture capital firms. Now, he's changing his title to CEO.

What do you think about the departed? Does Microsoft have any incentive to negotiate a deal with Yahoo? Leave a comment and let us know!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 5, 2009

Former Google Recruiter Confesses Hiring Restrictions, While Yahoo! Aggressively Recruits

Yesterday, we reported on a new antitrust investigation targeting Silicon Valley tech companies regarding possible agreements to not hire away each other's talent. Now, the San Jose Mercury News is reporting that a former Google recruiter is fessing up to having a 'Do Not Touch' list of companies they were not to go after for talent. Two companies on the list? Genentech and Yahoo!

Yahoo!, on the other hand, has no such list according to a former recruiter for the company. Instead, recruiters were rewarded for wooing talent from competitors.

Simply having a list would not be automatically indicative of anticompetitive hiring practices. It could simply be an initiative by a company to prevent upsetting business partners. A 'Do Not Touch' list would be in violation of antitrust law if it were agreed to by companies. It's the collaboration where the offense occurs.

Officially, the companies being investigated and the Department of Justice remain largely mum on the issue, at most confirming that an investigation is, in fact, happening.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 9, 2009

Well, raise my rent. Microsoft is the good guy!

There is a memorable moment in Blazing Saddles, when Sheriff Bart says, "Well, raise my rent. You are the kid."

I had a similar ephiphany last month at SES London 2009, when David Naylor of Bronco said that Microsoft is the good guy in the search engine industry during a session on "Brand & Reputation Management."

Now, I should disclose that I was the director of corporate communications at Lotus Development Corp. back in the late 1980s, when our relationship with Microsoft was -- ah -- "complicated." They provided the operating system that our applications ran on; while they offered applications that we competed with.

During the 1990s, I was the director of corporate communications at Ziff-Davis. And our relationship with Microsoft was also -- ah -- "complex." On the "church" side of Ziff-Davis, our 400 editors and reporters wrote comparative, lab-based, product reviews that treated Microsoft "without fear or favor," like any other vendor. On the "state" side of Ziff-Davis, Microsoft bought a ton of advertising in our magazines, on our websites and for our cable TV channel. Plus, Bill Gates was a frequent keynote speaker at our conferences, and Microsoft paid a chunk of money for big booths at our trade shows. So, when I got into the search engine industry in early 2002, I admit that I had some preconceived notions about the folks from Redmond. And I secretly chuckled when I heard that Google's informal corpate motto was "Don't be evil." I knew which company they were taking a jab at.

But that was then and this is now.

During the past seven years, Microsofties have been model citizens. Heck, even the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has impressed me by working globally to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and working locally to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology.

Still, it came as a surprise to me when Naylor said such nice things about Microsoft. It reminded me of another memorable quote from Blazing Saddles, "I think Mongo here's taken a liking to you."

So, I interviewed Naylor right after the "Brand & Reputation Management" session. In the early part of the video interview, he shared a few tips. He also emphasized the importance of identifying who is posting negative material about your company or brand. But half way through the video interview, I asked to Nayor discuss Microsoft's reputation and why it has improved. He says Microsoft now excels at handling not just business to business but business to consumer and Google has challenges they have not yet resolved.

David Naylor, CEO, Bronco Internet, on reputation management at SES London

As luck would have it, one of the people who attended the "Brand & Reputation Management" session was Mel Carson, the adCenter Community Manager in Europe for Microsoft. Carson joined Microsoft back in the summer of 2005, so we never crossed swords in the old days. As part of Microsoft Advertising, his role is to build relationships within the online advertising community to support, educate and evangelise through Microsoft adCenter industry forums, and to speak about internet marketing at conferences, trade shows and other events.

For the last year Carson has been writing a digital blog for Media Week and at his own site, Mel Carson. You can also follow him at http://Twitter.com/MelCarson. He is a credit to his company.

In the best tradition of ambush journalism, I interviewed Carson about his favorite panel sessions from SES London. He cited panels on topics such as social media, SEO, search behavior, and keyword research. But about half way through the interview, I asked Carson about the changing reputation of Microsoft and why Microsoft is now seen in a more positive light.

Mel Carson, Microsoft adCenter, highlights panels at SES London 2009

So, there you have it. You may have noticed this before. But that was the first time that I recognized that Microsoft wasn't evil. It's the good guy.

Both Naylor and Carson will be speaking at SES New York 2009 in two weeks at the "Extreme Makeover: Live Ad Copy & Continuity Clinic" on Thursday. So, you can ask them about this topic, before or after they examine your ads and landing pages "without fear or favor."

Well, don't just stand there looking stupid, grasping your hands in pain. How about a round of applause for the Redmond Kid?

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 2:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

February 12, 2009

Yet Another Yahoo! Heads to Microsoft

Larry Heck, the vice president of Search & Advertising Sciences at Yahoo Labs, has been wooed by Microsoft. And when he gets there, he'll be surrounded by a few familiar faces. Heck is just the latest in a stream of Yahoos leaving the purple behind for employment with the Redmond-based software giant.

Sean Suchter, Qi Lu and most recently, Scott Moore have all departed Yahoo! for Microsoft.

Steve Ballmer may not be interested in acquiring Yahoo as a company any longer, but it appears that Plan B has been to acquire search-related employees instead. That leaves Carol Bartz will less leverage if she indeed wants to strike some kind of deal - even a partnership or a search-only sell-off - with Microsoft.

Then again, since it was widely speculated that Yahoo's woes were management-related, maybe Bartz knows best that saying goodbye to a few execs is a good thing for Yahoo afterall.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 1, 2009

Rumors Have Microsoft Laying Off 17% of Work Force This Month

Though the possibility of Microsoft laying off 15,000 employees this month is getting some attention, it is definitely in the heavy rumor category, as Ars Technica reports.

We will not have long to see if it is real as the sack by date is January 15, a week before the company's earning report, Ars Technica noted.

The 15,000 possible Microsoft unemployed represents about 17% of the global company's work force. Fudzilla, one of the two sources for the report, has misreported possible actions by Microsoft in the past.

The rumor suggests a large number will come from MSN which includes their search space - so could be a waving of a surrender flag in the search traffic competition.

Posted by Frank Watson at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

December 17, 2008

Live Search General Manager Brad Goldberg to Exit Microsoft

Live Search general manager Brad Goldberg is leaving Microsoft. His next venture will be heading up the online business at Peak6 investment company.

Microsoft is promoting from within to replace Goldberg. Mike Nichols will fill the role next. Nichols has held roles with search engineering and strategic partnerships.

Recently, Microsoft has added a couple of Yahoo's and promoted Yusuf Mehdi to senior vice president of online audience business.

via TechFlash

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 24, 2008

Microsoft Reorganizes Platforms & Services Division; Kevin Johnson is Out

Microsoft has announced the reorganization of its Platforms and Services Division (PSD). The department will split into two new divisions: Windows/Windows Live and Online Services. Kevin Johnson, PSD President, is leaving Microsoft to head up Juniper Networks.

Senior vice presidents Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte will report directly to CEO Steve Ballmer to lead Windows/Windows Live.

The Online Services Division will be headed by a newly created senior lead position for which an executive search will be conducted among external and internal candidates. For the duration, Senior Vice President Satya Nadella will continue to lead Microsoft's search, MSN and ad platform engineering efforts.

In a memo to Microsoft employees, CEO Steve Ballmer addressed goals for many of Microsoft's products and services. Here's what he had to say about search: Google: We continue to compete with Google on two fronts—in the enterprise, where we lead; and in search, where we trail. In search, our technology has come a long way in a very short time and it's an area where we'll continue to invest to be a market leader. Why? Because search is the key to unlocking the enormous market opportunities in advertising, and it is an area that is ripe for innovation. In the coming years, we'll make progress against Google in search first by upping the ante in R&D through organic innovation and strategic acquisitions. Second, we will out-innovate Google in key areas—we're already seeing this in our maps and news search. Third, we are going to reinvent the search category through user experience and business model innovation. We'll introduce new approaches that move beyond a white page with 10 blue links to provide customers with a customized view of their world. This is a long-term battle for our company—and it's one we'll continue to fight with persistence and tenacity.

Yahoo: Related to Google and our search strategy are the discussions we had with Yahoo. I want to emphasize the point I've been making all along—Yahoo was a tactic, not a strategy. We want to accelerate our share of search queries and create a bigger pool of advertisers, and Yahoo would have helped us get there faster. But we will get there with or without Yahoo. We have the right people, we've made incredible progress in our technology, and we'll continue to make smart investments that will enable us to build an industry-leading business.

What do you think about Microsoft's reorganization? Will Kevin Johnson's departure hurt them? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 20, 2008

Microsoft Adds Record Number of Employees, Rules Out Acquisitions

Last year, Microsoft added a record 11,200 employees last year, according the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Many of those employees were gained through acquisitions that are part of Microsoft's attempt to make a land grab in the search market.

The acquisition of aQuantive added 2,600 employees to Microsoft's payroll. Travel search site Farecast and enterprise search company Fast Search & Transfer out of Norway were also acquired by Microsoft in the past year.

But don't expect any more internet acquisitions anytime soon. Microsoft is ruling out buying up major internet real estate, such as Facebook, in the wake of its failed attempt to acquire Yahoo, according to the Financial Times. Steve Ballmer and Kevin Johnson told FT that search is a part of the larger goal of generating revenue from advertising.

Now it seems those goals will be pursued internally. Microsoft just announced plans to build a search technology center in Europe. And recently, they rolled out the Cashback program, which rewards searchers who conduct online shopping at Live Search.

Microsoft did make an ad-related acquisition recently, but it was for television ad solutions provider Navic Networks. Still, this looks like an attempt to catch Google, which released opened up its Television Ads in Adwords up to everyone last month after being in private beta since last summer.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 14, 2008

Microsoft Shuffles Execs, Berkowitz to Exit

Microsoft today announced the executive shake-up that has been rumored to be coming. Microsoft packed a number of promotions and departures into the press release. Most notable among them is the departure of Steve Berkowitz, who left Ask.com to join Microsoft nearly two years ago. Berkowitz will step down from his role as senior vice president of the Online Services Group at the end of August.

Satya Nadella has been named senior VP of the Search, Portals and Advertising Group, heading up Microsoft's engineering efforts across Live Search, Microsoft adCenter, and Subscriptions, Points and Billing platforms. Windows VP Bill Veghte moves up to senior VP of the Online Services and Windows Business Group, which will include Windows Live, MSN and Search.

Nadella, Veghte, and former aQuantive exec Brian McAndrews, now senior VP of Microsoft's Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group, will play key roles in Microsoft's plans. No new role was named for McAndrews, leaving many to speculate that he is being held in reserve to lead an acquired Yahoo, if that should come to pass.

For in-depth looks at all the changes, see Mary Jo Foley's All About Microsoft blog or Joe Wilcox's Microsoft Watch. Om Malik has copies of Microsoft memos discussing the moves.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:42 PM | Permalink

March 22, 2007

Microsoft Names New Search & Ads Lead

Microsoft has named a company insider to replace Christopher Payne, corporate VP of Windows Live Search, who decided to leave Microsoft earlier this month to start a new company.

Satya Nadella, who's currently heading the Microsoft Dynamics team in the Microsoft Business Division, will move out of that role by mid-April. Nadella will lead a newly formed Search and Ad Platform Group within the Platform Services Division, reporting to Kevin Johnson.

Previously, R&D for search and ad platforms were under separate groups, with Live Search residing in the Windows Live Services group. Under Nadella, the two will be aligned to take better advantage of synergies in search, commerce and payments infrastructure, according to a statement from Microsoft.

Tami Reller, corporate VP of Microsoft Dynamics, will serve as the acting leader for the Microsoft Dynamics business, reporting directly into Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division.

Microsoft also announced that Harry Shum, who leads Microsoft Research Asia, will take on the additional role of Chief Scientist of the Search and Ad Platform Group.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:29 AM | Permalink

November 28, 2006

Live's Erik Selberg On Microsoft's Tough Search Challenge

Talk about the echo chamber coming full circle. The stats on Microsoft's search share decline that I posted last week were commented on by Erik Selberg of Microsoft's Live.com search team in his General disarray at The Big 3 post. He provides a fresh, honest assessment of Microsoft's search challenge ahead from someone in the rank-and-file:

Microsoft will continue to lose share until it can make Live.com something people chose versus just the IE default. That will happen when the average person starts to see Live.com as a bit better than Google. Right now, Google wins on brand (people like them a lot) and quality, so it's to be expected that existing Yahoo / Live customers will migrate to Google than vice-versa and new customers will pick Google more than Live or Yahoo.

If that sounds dismal, it gets worse:

Google is making people focus on features, which should tell people that they're worried about how we're catching up, and are going to put more people on their core products to keep and extend their lead. So it's going to be a tough, tough battle for Microsoft to get there

And how long a battle? We've had Microsoft execs say it would take months to overtake Google in quality to years, with the spin that we're still in the early days. Erik's in the realistic years camp:

While our management set the goal of having relevance that beat Google after 2 years (then 3, and I believe 4 now…) it's not realistic to think that it can be done quickly. If you ask Google, Yahoo, or the fine SEOs at WebMasterWorld or other such places, they'll all say that Live Search has increased in quality over the years so that it's much closer to Yahoo and Google. Not yet better, but no longer laughable. And yeah, we've done our own share of copying feature parity, and we're starting to do a few things that cause Google and Yahoo to do the same (ok, noODP is a small feature, but it's a start!).

How about some optimism? Erik sees Google's stability working against it in some ways, making it stagnant (see my Why Search Sucks & You Won't Fix It The Way You Think post for more on that concept). Potentially, this is true. But realistically, I think the fact that Google has changed slowly is reassuring to the searching audience.

Microsoft has changed four or five times in radical ways over the past two years, including an entire brand change. The last service to change so much like this was AltaVista, which I joked could give Madonna a run for her money in the image change department. None of those changes helped AltaVista. For Microsoft, I think it would actually benefit from really locking down the overall look-and-feel for an extended period. The good news is, I suspect that's actually going to be the case. New features seem likely to be added, but yet another redesign doesn't seem in the works.

I actually think Google's weakness is the same as the weakness Erik sees with Yahoo:

Yahoo is just in a rough place. They've got Google dominating, and they've got us coming up from behind. So they're trying to do everything to avoid getting squeezed everywhere… and the result is too many people doing too many things in a mediocre way (the buzz-speak is “not enough critical mass in several areas”). Nothing surprising here either.

On the upside for Google and Yahoo lovers, both companies themselves understand this. The now famous Yahoo "Peanut Butter" memo covers some at Yahoo internally understanding the issue, while in October, it came out that Google was supposedly refocusing on core product and cutting new releases -- and that all the frenetic activity had been hurting core search there.

Fully recognizing the challenge ahead, Erik's still optimistic

Hopefully the chaos that starts out with a new Senior VP turns into increased efficiency sooner versus later. I know I'm working as hard as I can to make this happen sooner versus later, but nevertheless, it's gonna be a stand-up fight against someone who has reach over us. Time to be smart.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:18 AM | Permalink

November 21, 2006

Steve Berkowitz Of Microsoft (Windows Live) News.com Interview

News.com has an extensive interview with Microsoft's Steve Berkowitz, who formerly worked at Ask.com. He goes over the current market, Microsoft's advantages and challenges, and how they want to compete with Google.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:47 AM | Permalink

Google Beats Microsoft, Yahoo As College Grad Choice

Online Recruitment reports on a CollegeGrad.com poll showing Google is the most desired place for technology students to work for. The poll asked 1,600 respondents in October "Who would you rather work for?" The results:

Google - 49%
Microsoft - 29%
Yahoo - 12%
IBM - 10%

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:30 AM | Permalink

October 12, 2006

Ballmer: YouTube Overvalued & Google Transferring Wealth From Content Owners

The Web According to Ballmer from BusinessWeek has Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer questioning the value of the Google-YouTube deal and oddly warning that Google is transferring wealth away from rights holders. It's an odd statement, since that's what Microsoft wants to do as well.

First the questioning of the YouTube value:

[You've got to ask] could Google do whatever it is they're hoping to buy without paying $1.6 billion? Is YouTube really some permanent, long-term thing, or is it a fashion?....Right now, there's no business model for YouTube that would justify $1.6 billion.

Though strangely, when BusinessWeek tries to pindown what seems a clear statement that Google overpaid, Ballmer says:

I'm not saying it is overvalued. I'm not trying to say that. It depends on a set of factors. I'm not saying I wouldn't write a check for that amount of money. I might.

And back to the controversial statement about Google's relations with content:

And what about the rights holders? At the end of the day, a lot of the content that's up there is owned by somebody else.

The truth is what Google is doing now is transferring the wealth out of the hands of rights holders into Google. So media companies around the world are all threatened by Google. Why? Because basically Google is telling you how much of your ad revenue you get to keep. They better get some competition. Us. Yahoo! (YHOO). Somebody better break through or you can short all media stocks right now. As long as there are two, you can hold onto media stocks. Google understands that. And that's one reason why they're willing to lose money up front.

Microsoft has its own video sharing service up, Soapbox. It has a question answering service, Q&A. It has an entire search engine that crawls the web like Google, Windows Live. Microsoft has plans for contextual placement of ads on pages, similar to AdSense. It's specific to MSN content now, but that will inevitably change. All of these things leverage the content of others in order to make money from Microsoft. So if these actions leverage wealth away from content owners, Microsoft is just as guilty of it as Google.

Frankly, all Ballmer seems to be saying is content owners would be better off if Microsoft was a strong third participant in ad game. Sure -- but let's not kid ourselves. Microsoft gets a lot better off by that as well, and it didn't jump into the game out of some desire to counter-balance the power of Google. It's in it to make as much money as it can, as well.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:42 AM | Permalink

August 16, 2006

The Inside Scoop from Search Bloggers

The major search engines all have unofficial bloggers talking about what's going on in their respective companies. At a recent SES session, search-blog stars Jeremy Zawodny, Gary Price, Matt Cutts and Niall Kennedy all revealed their modus operandi, and guest writer Sara Holoubek was there to capture their insights for today's SearchDay article, Expose: Search Engine Bloggers Tell All.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 7:44 PM | Permalink

August 2, 2006

MSN Search Hires Media Analytics Executive

ClickZ reports that Microsoft has hired Harrison Magun away from Avenue A/Razorfish Search to be the new director of media analytics. Harrison Magun direct role at Microsoft is not exactly known, "Microsoft spokesperson was able to confirm the hire, but could not provide any details on what Magun's new position will entail."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:41 AM | Permalink

July 27, 2006

Microsoft Hires Over Ten Thousand Employees In Past Year

The Seattle Pi reports that Microsoft has broke their own hiring records, by hiring 10,081 new employees worldwide over the past fiscal year. The article takes the angle that the hires were in order to compete with Google. Now Microsoft has 71,553 people worldwide as of June 30, 2006. Wow!

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:24 AM | Permalink

July 14, 2006

Caffeine and Tin Foil At Windows Live Search

What do Microsoft Interns, birthdays, caffeine and tin foil have to do with each other? Well, nothing. But at Microsoft, they have tin foiled and over caffeinated an Intern in the Windows Live Search group. Check out this picture of the Intern sitting at his desk, with his computer wrapped up in tin foil and with 99 cans of Cherry Coke. Why did they do this to that Intern?

They didn't want me to do any work on birthday, so they unplugged my computer and its many peripherals and wrapped them in foil along with pretty much everything else in my office. The soda cans I did to myself (thanks Microsoft for free soda) but the Dixie-cups full of diluted Cherry Coke were part of the "upgrade."

And you thought only Google and Yahoo had fun with search. I guess Bill can get down with it also.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:50 AM | Permalink

June 29, 2006

Another Microsoft Executive Leaves To Join Google

Business 2.0 in Microsoft exec jumps to Google reports that another Microsoft executive has left the company this month. A 15 year veteran, general manager for platform evangelism at Microsoft, Vic Gundotra, has left Microsoft to join Google. This news comes after shocking news that Microsoft VP Martin Taylor has departed from Microsoft. Vic Gundotra has a non-compete that will not allow him to work for Google for at least one year. During that time Gundotra will be working on his "charitable endeavors."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:02 AM | Permalink

June 21, 2006

Martin Taylor, VP Of Windows Live & MSN Marketing Leaves Microsoft

ClickZ reports on a Bloomberg story about Martin Taylor, the vice president of Windows Live and MSN marketing group has left MSN. Reportedly, Taylor was good friends with CEO Steve Ballmer and was a possible candidate in the future for that position. The ClickZ article says, "The wording of the Microsoft statement seems to imply the company, and not Taylor, made "the difficult decision to part ways."" But why then would Taylor just be appointed the VP position and credited with being the "a go-to guy for problem areas," in late March? I dunno. Interesting and I wonder what type of impact this will have on Microsoft's push into the search market.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:58 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Employees Use Google More Than MSN?

Philipp Lenssen reported on a Andrew Hitchcock post that detailed search engine usage by search engine firm. It appears that Microsoft employees prefer Google to MSN Search when searching the web. At Microsoft 66.31 percent use Google, 19.65 percent use MSN and 10.18 percent use Yahoo. Yahoo employees aren't afraid to use Google search either, with 29.80 percent of searches conducted on Google and 68.87 percent on Yahoo Search. Google employees seem to be 100 percent loyal to Google search, based on the data.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:48 AM | Permalink

June 16, 2006

Bill Gates To Work Part Time at Microsoft in 2008

Tons and tons of news coverage on Bill Gates's announcement he has given up his "chief software architect" role now and will be stepping down to be a part time employee and chairman in July 2008. Gates would like to spend more time working on his charitable foundation the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The BBC has a nice Q&A on the changes here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:57 AM | Permalink

June 12, 2006

Robert Scoble Departs Microsoft To Startup Podtech

Blogvangelist Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft to work for start-up Podtech.net. Robert's not been tied into the Microsoft search efforts, but he has commented publicly on them on many occasions, providing an unofficial voice in the way he's done on many things Microsoft. His departure certainly is a PR blow to Microsoft.

Robert Scoble leaving Microsoft for a Silicon Valley startup from Niall Kennedy is a nice, short rundown on the news. Niall was a recent PR win for Microsoft in terms of bloggers, so perhaps he'll benefit from Robert's departure.

Microsoft's top blogger Robert Scoble is leaving from Silicon Valley Watcher has the first news on Robert leaving. Robert himself has thoughts up in Correcting the Record about Microsoft.

Podtech, FYI, is down both for me and Barry, probably under the traffic for everyone checking it out. That's not a good sign, though I'm sure they'll recover.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:59 AM | Permalink

April 22, 2006

Ask.com Chief Steve Berkowitz Jumps Ship To Microsoft's MSN

Steve Berkowitz, head of Ask.com and the man who has helped steered that service to new successes, has been hired by Microsoft to run its online business group.

Steve will be senior vice president of MSN's Online Business Group. Microsoft says:

He will be responsible for running the Online Business group, which includes include MSN.com, MSNTV and MSN Internet Access programming, advertising sales, business development, and marketing for Live Platforms, MSN and Windows Live. This team?s mission is to deliver world-class go to market leadership, that wins customers to our services and builds a world leading advertising business. The responsibility for the monetization of our Live Platform, MSN and Windows Live assets is owned by this team, and includes end-to-end management of the online P&L.

Steve is currently CEO of IAC Search & Media, which encompasses Ask. His start date with MSN is May 8. The New York Times reports that Steve's job at Ask is now being assumed by IAC Search & Media president Doug Lebda.

The news of Steve's hire was sent out to MSN employees on Friday with this announcement from Kevin Johnson, Microsoft's copresident of the platforms & services division:

I am pleased to announce that Steve Berkowitz will be joining the Platforms and Services Division (PSD) as Senior Vice President, Online Business Group, reporting to me. Steve succeeds David Cole, who will begin his leave of absence in May.

Most recently, Steve was the CEO of Ask.com, a division of IAC/InterActiveCorp. At Ask, Steve is credited with building the management team that orchestrated the turnaround of Ask.com, grew their user base, increased customer satisfaction, and gained share in the search market over the last year.

Steve is an accomplished senior executive with a rich skill set, including consumer brand building, media, marketing, operations, people management, finance, and technology. He also brings a great blend of start-up and high growth business experiences. Prior to joining Ask, Steve was the President and COO of IDG Books, where he successfully built a consumer brand by expanding the "Dummies" series of books to cover topics ranging from C++ to pet care.

Steve?s management experience, deep functional knowledge of the search and Internet space, and understanding of both the offline and online publishing worlds make him a great choice to lead the Online Business Group. He is a proven leader, and is excited by the opportunity to take the assets we?ve built in MSN and drive our software + services vision forward.

Steve will start this assignment on May 8th. David Cole and I will work together to ensure a smooth transition to Steve.

Please join me in welcoming Steve to Microsoft, and thanking David for his contribution to the company and to MSN.

Regards, Kevin Johnson Co-President Platforms & Services Division

I won't go into more depth on the move right now as it's the weekend, and I almost never work weekends. But I had to check my email today, saw the news from Microsoft and wanted to get something up quickly.

In short, I think it's a great win for Microsoft. Steve knows what it's like to be an underdog in the search space and fight your way back onto the radar screen. My main reaction really is why stop at Steve? Microsoft should have bought Ask long ago.

As I wrote before about the current search wars, Microsoft entered the battle against Google and Yahoo from square one. When it took on Netscape (and other players), it at least acquired technology rather than try to start from scratch.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Ask.com Chief Berkowitz Heads To MSN.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:57 AM | Permalink

April 11, 2006

Niall Kennedy Joins Microsoft's Windows Live

Niall Kennedy writes that he will be joining the Microsoft's Windows Live division next week. While at Microsoft, he will be working on creating a "feed syndication platform" to be leverages on devices such as "desktop, mobile, media center, gaming console, widget, gadget, and more." Niall comes from Technorati, so he has a true excitement and desire to take ATOM and RSS to the next level.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:42 AM | Permalink

April 6, 2006

Search Technologists Flake & Broder Speak There are two good interviews with search technologists out there for us to read. John Battelle posted A Frank Interview with Gary Flake yesterday. Battelle introduces Gary Flake as "a veteran of Overture, Yahoo and now Microsoft's vaunted research labs (he's founder and director of the new "Live Labs.")" Also about a month ago, the Yahoo Search Blog posted "A chat with Andrei Broder" Part I, Part II and Part III. Andrei Broder was the VP of research and chief scientist at AltaVista, and is now the Yahoo Research Fellow and Vice President of Emerging Search Technology.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:38 AM | Permalink

April 5, 2006

MSN Search's Brady Forrest Now At O'Reilly Radar

A surprise in my newsreader today. Brady Forrest, formerly a prominent product manager for MSN Search, has departed for the different pastures of O'Reilly. He posts on the O'Reilly Radar blog that he's to work on the Where 2.0 conference as co-chair.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:23 PM | Permalink

March 28, 2006

Ballmer: My Kids Are Banned From Google

I've got to hand it to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. He believes in his products enough to demand family loyalty. In an interview with Fortune, he tells the magazine:

My children--in many dimensions they're as poorly behaved as many other children, but at least on this dimension I've got my kids brainwashed: You don't use Google, and you don't use an iPod.

Of course, perhaps brainwashed is a telling word. Better that they were convinced that using Windows Live Search (TSEFKAMS - The Search Engine Formerly Known As MSN Search) is better. Brainwashed sounds like they know it's not but have been mindwiped to ignore the fact.

The interview also touches on the AOL deal that Microsoft wanted and Google got. Rather than say AOL made a mistake, Ballmer pushes the idea that Microsoft will be big in the new era of advertising, since computers will know you better.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:20 PM | Permalink

March 27, 2006

MSN Names Yusuf Mehdi New Chief Advertising Strategist

ClickZ reports MSN has named Yusuf Mehdi as the chief advertising strategist for the new MSN Online Business Group. MSN's Online Business Group is to manage the ads sales, work on business development and marketing for the MSN Live products, Windows Live products and other "MSN platforms." David Cole, who will be leaving MSN in April, will temporarily run the Online Business Group at MSN.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:43 AM | Permalink

February 21, 2006

David Cole of MSN Leaving in April

Seattle PI reports that Microsoft's MSN leader is leaving. David Cole, Senior Vice President, MSN and Personal Services Group, will be leaving MSN at the end of April. It is unclear if David Cole will be returning to MSN and his reasoning for leaving is also not exactly known. Todd Bishop of Seattle PI has posted the text of Cole's email about the news, making it clear that his reason for leaving is completely personal and he has the outmost "confidence in MSN's ability to win."

It is interesting that about ten-days ago, we covered that John Nicol was asked back to MSN to help build the MSN portal into "what it should be," an entertainment hub.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:20 AM | Permalink

February 15, 2006

Gates Outdoes Brin & Page on Single Largest Payday

The New York Post reports that Bill Gates brought in $298.8 million last week by selling off 11 million shares of Microsoft stock. That beats Brin & Page's previous record of selling off enough Google shares to bring in each $43 million.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:28 AM | Permalink

January 4, 2006

Bill Gates Keynote Address at Consumer Electronic Show Will be Webcast Tonight; CES Podcasts via Yahoo

As many of you know, the Consumer Electronics Show begins today in Las Vegas with keynote presentations from Bill Gates, Terry Semel, and Larry Page. You can view a live webcast of the Bill Gates keynote address live, beginning at 6:30 PM/PST tonight. What will he have to say about search? I'm sure an archived version of the video and a text transcript will be available soon after the speech concludes.

On Friday, Yahoo's Terry Semel speaks at 9am PST and Google's Larry Page addresses a CES audience at 4pm PST.

At the moment, I can't find any links to where webcasts of the speeches by Semel and Page will be available. If I do, I'll add them to this post as a postsript. Often, presentations from Yahoo execs are linked here and Google speeches here.

On a somewhat related note, Yahoo is offering various podcasts and from CES via their podcast service. It's accessible here.

Update: Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's keynote address on Friday will be vidcast. You can find all of the details here.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:28 PM | Permalink

December 23, 2005

Kung Fu Over Kai-Fu Between Google & Microsoft Ends

Microsoft, Google Settle Suit from Red Herring covering the fact that Google and Microsoft are no longer going to fight over Google China head Dr. Kai-Fu Lee. Terms of the agreement aren't disclosed.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:58 AM | Permalink

November 25, 2005

The Google Battle For Hiring Tech Talent (Yahoo Sez They Win)

From the Wall Street Journal, Google ignites hiring frenzy is yet another article on how Google and other companies are after tech talent. This has a few more details and more depth about the Google recruiting juggernaut and "Google Stock Units" that are offered. Yahoo says they've won the majority of head-to-head battles over candidates.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:58 AM | Permalink

October 25, 2005

Full Text of Steve Ballmer's Keynote Interview

We've posted a bunch of quotes from Steve Ballmer's keynote interview at the Gartner/IT Expo last week. Now, if you would like to read the full-text of his comments, a transcript is available here. Using edit/find will locate numerous mentions of the words Google and search.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:16 PM | Permalink

October 19, 2005

Microsoft's Ballmer on Chair Throwing and Competing with Google

In comments made at the Gartner's Symposium/ITxpo and reported by News.com: Ballmer: Trusting Vista, battling Google, the Microsoft CEO made a few comments about rival Google.

"I have never, honestly, thrown a chair in my life." Ballmer is referring to comments made in documents filed in the Kai-Fu Lee case.

Ballmer said that MS will use innovation to compete with Google.

From the article: There are many things--who knows--Google may or may not do. If you read the papers, other than curing cancer, there are many things Google is going to do," Ballmer said.

Overall, an article worth reading if you have an interest in Microsoft.

More comments from Ballmer regarding search via this InfoWorld article: With companies like Google and Yahoo Inc. developing a strong presence on the Internet based on the quality of their search results, Microsoft must also look to leapfrog those companies with new search capabilities and technologies, Ballmer said. "In general, 50 percent of searches do not lead to the desired outcome. Does anybody not believe that the search experience is going to be dramatically better 10 years from now? Does anybody deny it would be nice to search within the enterprise and outside the enterprise?" Ballmer asked the audience.

Btw, another Microsoftie you've heard of, Bill Gates, said in January that the search of today is nothing.

If we thought somebody was doing the best possible job that could ever be done in search and there wasn't some big revenue out there, maybe we wouldn't do it, but quite to the contrary. Whether it's understanding maps or virtual worlds or document analysis, today's search is nothing, and we've got the software technology that will drive it to those new levels, as well as being a very significant business.

Note to Mr. Ballmer: I've seen many sophisticated (some better than others) market ready search tools that allow the searcher to simultaneously search both intranet, extranet, fee-based databases, open web content, you name it USING A SINGLE INTERFACE while still being able (if needed) to get the power out of the database that some searchers might require. Isn't this called federated or metasearch? Trust me, this technology once very poor, has greatly improved over the past few years and is getting better all of the time. Toss in some personalization and database selection tools (which database(s) should I use) and away you go.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:06 PM | Permalink

September 29, 2005

AltaVista's Former Engineering Director At Microsoft

AltaVista's former director of engineering Don Dodge turns up now working at Microsoft. Robert Scoble talks with him a bit about the old days here. Don's got a blog you can tune into over here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:49 AM | Permalink

September 14, 2005

Microsoft Email On Employee Loss To Google & Sneaking Lee In The Back Door

Google exodus feared early on, e-mail reveals from the Seattle Times passes along two tidbits out of the recent Google-Microsoft fight for Kai-Fu Lee. Microsoft has been worried about Google gaining its employees since at least March 2004, when the leader of MSN's search team wrote an email called, "Losing people to Google -- and a potential solutions." Sorry, what was actually in that email wasn't released to the public, but high-ranking execs up to Bill Gates took part in the discussion from it. And also, to keep things quiet about Lee coming over, Google brought him into a remote building on the campus with a private entrance and no receptionist for his interview. Hmm -- I didn't know Google had many remote buildings. They've all seemed pretty close to each other to me. But getting past a receptionist is easy for any employee with a key card.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:38 PM | Permalink

September 13, 2005

Google's Dr. Lee Can Recruit In China But Can't Work on Search or Speech Technologies

A ruling from a King County, Washington judge was handed down today that says Google employee (formerly of Microsoft) Dr. Kai-Fu Lee can immediately begin recruiting for Google's new research center in China but can not work on speech, search and other technologies. The ruling comes after Microsoft asked for the court to stop Dr. Lee from doing any work for Google until after the January trial saying that it would violate a noncompete agreement he has with Microsoft.

From a News.com article: In his 13-page ruling, Judge Steven Gonzalez restricted Lee to recruiting for Google in China and to talking to government officials about getting a license to do business there, but said Lee cannot work on technologies including search or speech. Lee also cannot set budgets or salaries or decide what research Google will do in China, according to the order.

If you would like to read the ruling, a copy of it (13 pages; PDF) is available here.

Postscript: Danny emailed me that the Google blog is touting the win while Microsoft has just posted this statement.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:08 PM | Permalink

September 7, 2005

Opening Day In Microsoft-Google Fight Over Kai-Fu Fee

Courtroom showdown for Microsoft and Google from News.com covers the opening arguments in this week's court fight over whether Google China chief Kai-Fu Lee violated a non-compete clause by going over to Microsoft.

Microsoft says Lee's conduct shows he wasn't willing to live up to the restrictions, with allegations of helping Google with recruitment and advice even before departing Microsoft.

Google argues that Lee should be able to work for Google until a formal trial over the issue happens in a few months. This week's case is over lifting a temporary injunction on Lee doing work for Google. Google says Lee would do no work for Google in speech or search technology, the areas said to be the biggest concern to Microsoft.

Videotape depositions from Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer were introduced. Ballmer called Lee "the godfather" of Microsoft's China strategy. More use of the f-word by Microsoft execs also comes into the case, as Lee explains Gates told him "First, we were f'ed by the Chinese people, and now the Chinese government has f'ed us." Microsoft denies Gates made such statements, as it previously denied statements by Ballmer on how he was going to "f*king kill Google."

Meanwhile, John Battelle gets more legal documents in the case, highlighting parts of Microsoft's request along with Google exec Jonathan Rosenberg calling Lee an "all star" who will contribute "substantially beyond China" and wanting Google to close around and protect him like "wolves."

He also highlights a Google rebuttal with parts saying this isn't over specific areas covered in the non-compete by Microsoft wanting to delay Google's entry into China.

Postscript from Gary: The Seattle Times provides reports on what went on in the courtroom on Monday. The article also contains the full text of an email that Kai-Fu Lee sent to Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt that began a discussion about a job at Google. Finally, the article mentions a couple of research areas that were discussed in court yesterday. A Microsoft attorney talked about voice-activated search research (speak your search) going on at MS. This type of work is also going on at Google, In fact, Google Labs once offered this type of thing with Google Voice. The demo is no longer available but you can read about it here. Also mentioned by the MS attorney was "Geegle," research going on at Google that uses, "natural-language processing to extract information from the Internet."

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:47 AM | Permalink

September 5, 2005

"I'm Going To F*king Kill Google" - Alleged Ballmer Temper Tantrum

The Microsoft-Google fight over Dr. Kai-Fu Lee takes another bizarre turn as allegations are levied in court documents that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had a tempter tantrum involving chair throwing and a declaration to "f*king kill Google" over another Microsoft employee departing to Google.

John Battelle's got a screenshot and extract of a legal declaration in the case by Mark Lucovsky, the former Microsoft distinguished engineer who went over to Google earlier this year and has posted of Microsoft not knowing how to "ship software" any more.

In a November 2004 meeting, Lucovsky met with Ballmer to talk about leaving, with Google being where he was going:

At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office. Mr. Ballmer then said: "F*king Eric Schmidt is a f*king pussy. I'm going to f*king bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f*king kill Google.

The * are mine. We're a family friendly blog :)

For his part, Ballmer denied the allegations, saying in a statement:

Mark Lucovsky's account of our conversation last November is a gross exaggeration of what actually took place....Mark's decision to leave was disappointing and I urged him strongly to change his mind. But his characterization of that meeting is not accurate.

More on other developments in the case from Court docs: Ballmer vowed to 'kill' Google at News.com, including Microsoft documents submitted to back claims of Lee telling Google that he was a VP at Microsoft working on areas "related" to Google as well as "unprecedented" signing bonuses to come work at Google (though given how much the company and many of its employees are worth, $2.5 million here or $1.5 million there doesn't sound so high).

FYI, another former Microsoft employee Joe Beda blogged yesterday about having been out of Microsoft at at Google for a year now:

It is one year later and I'm sure that I made the right decision. I've been much happier over the last year at Google. I'm sure some of it was the excitement of just doing something different, but a lot of it really came from the energy of those I work with and actually shipping product.

Oh yeah, and my non-compete and non-solicit contracts with Microsoft have now expired. If you are looking for new challenges feel free to send me a resume.

Of course, Google's got it own accusations to deal with. Former Google Exec Files Suit Over Alleged Pregnancy Discrimination from a few weeks ago covers allegations that Google unfairly fired a pregnant executive with quadruplets who later lost three of her unborn children. As with the Ballmer allegations, the allegations in that filing (PDF file) raise eyebrows as well, such as:

The employee called an "HR nightmare"
The employee being fired over the phone
The rehired employee given work similar to that of interns and being placed in a remote cubicle

As with Ballmer's denials, Google also denies the allegations in the pregnancy case.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:52 PM | Permalink

August 31, 2005

Google and Microsoft Back in Court

The News.com story: Google asks court to void Lee's Microsoft pact, discusses another chapter in the case that took place last week when Google asked a federal judge in California to rule that Dr. Kai-Fu Lee's contract with MS is "unenforceable." Dr. Lee is a former MS exec who was Google hired in July to head a new research center in China.

Google has now asked that federal court judge to--as a matter of law--rule on Google's behalf without a trial. In court papers filed Friday, Google argued that "this motion for summary judgment is made on the grounds that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact" and that the noncompete clause of Microsoft's employment contract violates California law.

More SEW Blog coverage: + Google Anticipated Potential Problems in Lee Hiring + Microsoft Gets Temporary Restraining Order in Google Case + Ruling Soon In Dispute Over Microsoft Exec With "Playbook" At Google + Lee Hits China For Google, Didn't Foresee Non-Compete Problems + Microsoft Sues Google Over China Hire + Google Will Open Research Center in China, Hire Microsoft VP to Run China Operation

Posted by Gary Price at 2:18 PM | Permalink

August 17, 2005

Kai Fu Lee: Following His Heart To The Miracle Of Google

Kai Fu Lee: I need to follow my heart from ZDNet is a continuation of the Microsoft-Google fight over Kai Fu Lee, the in limbo head of Google China. It summarizes a letter Lee published on the web to former students, explaining that he's following his heart to Google because of the new passion he finds there to explore technology and products "beyond just the search." He even gives a formula of:

youth + freedom + transparency + new model + the general public's benefit + belief in trust = The Miracle of Google

Google's been compared to God before, and now it's miraculous as well. Whether it will be able to work a miracle in getting Lee free of his non-compete clause with Microsoft remains to be seen. More background on that in our past post, Microsoft Gets Temporary Restraining Order in Google Case.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:51 AM | Permalink

August 3, 2005

Google Anticipated Potental Problems in Lee Hiring

The MS/Google "search war" (aka the hiring of Dr. Lee) continues with newly unsealed court documents showing that Google anticipated possible "issues" when they hired Dr. Kai-Fu Lee to lead Google China.

Via the Seattle Times:

When it hired Kai-Fu Lee, Google agreed to pay his full salary and let his stock options vest even if he couldn't work for up to 12 months because of a noncompete agreement he signed at Microsoft...Google declined to comment on the employment agreement, but spokesman Steve Langdon said the company is still on track to open the China lab this fall. Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake said the employment agreement "underscores the fact that Google was aware that Dr. Lee had a noncompete agreement with us and had the expectation that by hiring him, he could be breaking that agreement."

Btw, several of the unsealed court documents (some heavily redacted) are available (PDF) via the Seattle Times.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:12 PM | Permalink

July 28, 2005

And More On Search Hiring!

At the end of my post about Yahoo raiding IBM for employees, I originally concluded, "Where have all the engineers gone? Off to Google, Yahoo and MSN." Sounds better if you hum the tune of "Where Have All The Flowers Gone." Thought it was a bit lame so cut it -- then just came across Anyway, Revenge of the Nerds -- Again from BusinessWeek, where Ben Elgin looks at the brain drain happening as Google and Yahoo suck up tech talent. Geez, 230 engineers hired by Google in the second quarter of this year! A nice recap of who's gone where.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:06 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Hiring From IBM

We don't need no stinkin' Microsoft execs like Google, says Yahoo. We'll rob IBM! Yahoo Is Wooing I.B.M. Technical Talent from the New York Times looks at how Yahoo just picked up Prabhakar Raghavan, formerly of the much cited Clever project (and part of the foundation for Teoma), as head of research. He's not directly from IBM but comes to Yahoo via Verity. But another direct IBM hire has happened and Yahoo says more are in the works. This follows on Yahoo recently opening a new research lab at UC Berkeley, though they did lose their former Yahoo Labs head to Microsoft in April. Google, meanwhile, prefers to raid Bell Labs. See From Bell Labs To Google Labs for that.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:30 AM | Permalink

Ruling Soon In Dispute Over Microsoft Exec With "Playbook" At Google

Google: Microsoft Suit Is 'Charade' Aimed At Scaring People from Dow Jones covers court arguments in the fast moving tussle between Google and Microsoft over Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, the former Microsoft exec now at heading Google China. Arguments were heard yesterday with some interesting revelations and accusations, and a ruling may come today.

Google says Lee had no real connection to search at Microsoft, so issues over a non-compete aren't an issue. Microsoft says the opposite, and that Lee is leaving with Microsoft's Google "competition playbook."

Lee also says Microsoft chair Bill Gates warned him he'd be sued, apparently to make an example of him to others who might be thinking of jumping ship to Google.

You've got to feel sorry for Yahoo in all this. Why? They are a serious thread to Microsoft as well, but executives attended a "The Google Challenge" meeting in March, the arguments say.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:36 AM | Permalink

July 22, 2005

The Hiring of Dr Lee: Google Strikes Back

The Microsoft vs. Google "Search War" continues to escalate. Another lawsuit was filed yesterday, this time by Google.

Here's a review:

Episode 1: On Tuesday we learned that Google has hired Dr. Kai Fu-Lee away from Microsoft to lead Google China

Episode 2: Several hours later, news that Microsoft was suing Dr. Lee in King County, WA Superior Court. The lawsuit claims that Dr. Lee was breaching the Microsoft employee confidentiality and non-compete agreements by joining Google before the agreements had expired.

Episode 3: Late yesterday, word that Google is was countersuing Microsoft in a California court.

Via the AP: Google retaliated with its own complaint in California seeking to override Microsoft's noncompete provision so it can retain Lee. In its suit, Mountain View-based Google contends the clause violates California laws giving workers the right to change jobs. Microsoft's restriction is "clearly an illegal restraint of trade," Nicole Wong, Google's associate general counsel, said in an interview Thursday night. "Google is trying to create an environment for innovators. Microsoft is focused on litigation and intimidation."

The AP's Michael Liedtke continues: In its complaint, Google argues California laws should apply because its headquarters ? and most of its nearly 4,200 workers ? are in the state. What's more, Google said Lee already is registered to vote in California, pays taxes in the state and plans to buy a Silicon Valley home. But Google's initial announcement of Lee's hiring made it sound as if the engineer will be based in China, overseeing the company's new research office there. "I look forward to returning to China to begin this exciting endeavor," Lee said in a Tuesday statement. Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake McCredy described Google's complaint as a desperate act. "Microsoft is confident in our case and that Google's legal maneuvers will ultimately be rejected by the court," she said.

On a Related Note If you're in need of a smile, take a look at the great "Search Wars" logo that Philipp Lenssen has posted over at Google Blogoscoped.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:49 AM | Permalink

July 19, 2005

Google Will Open Research Center in China, Hire Microsoft VP to Run China Operation

News from the Googleplex today that the company is increasing their presence in China by opening a product research and development center sometime this quarter.

And now an item for your Google vs. Microsoft file.

Google also announced today that they've hired away Dr. Kai-Fu Lee from Microsoft (ouch!) to run Google's operations in China. Dr. Lee was most recently an MS corporate vice-president and also the founder of Microsoft's research lab in Beijing. It will be interesting to see if Dr. Lee brings some/many/all of his MS colleagues with him to Google.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 12, 2005

MSN Steals Head Of Yahoo Labs MSN tells us it has just hired Dr. Gary Flake as a distinguished engineer, the first such external hire for a distinguished engineer for the company. Formerly, Flake was head of Yahoo Labs. He joined Overture back in 2003 and later became part of Yahoo through its purchase of Overture. Our Gary -- Gary Price -- did a three part interview with Flake last year. You can find all parts referenced from the top of the last one: Behind the Scenes at Yahoo Labs, Part 3

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:52 AM | Permalink

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