Posts tagged yahoo
Google has slight fright from Microsoft Yahoo deal
Aug 11th
Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. hoping to boost up their wearisome battles with common rival Google Inc. by their online search agreement late last month.
The 10-year agreement is for Microsoft’s Bing search engine to power Yahoo’s search site and for Yahoo to sell premium search advertising services for both companies.The deal is to be close early next year and is expected to be reviewed by U.S. and European regulators.
Analyst says this partnership will provide more control to both the companies in their enduring battles with the Google in the search market,though none expects to lead to any striking changes in that arena.
In provisions of search market share, both Yahoo and Microsoft have long lagged far behind Google, which held nearly 80% of the market in June.
An analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc. Dan Olds, says:
Both Microsoft and Yahoo need this deal if they harbor any hopes of getting back into the lucrative search game.
Separately:
Microsoft and Yahoo have invested billions of dollars in trying to build search and content portals that would be able to command Google-like ad revenues. But both have failed to blunt Google’s revenue growth.
However, Olds added that:
Google has had plenty of time to plan for [a Microsoft-Yahoo partnership]. I would expect [Google] to continue to tend to business.
An analyst at research firm IDC. Karsten Weide said:
It’s not like this is going to change the world or turn things upside down,This is going to make Microsoft and Yahoo more competitive, but it’s not going to dethrone Google.
A Google spokesman said:
the company is interested to learn more about the deal.
The agreement comes about two months after Microsoft revamped its Live Search tool and relaunched it as Bing, simultaneously Yahoo has a larger network of search advertisers, which are now more accessible to Microsoft.
After full accomplishment, which the companies foresee will come about two years after regulatory approval, Yahoo expects the agreement will generate about $500 million in operating income and a savings of about $200 million in capital expenditures. The company also expects to add $275 million to its annual operating cash flow.
An analyst at Forrester Research Inc. Rebecca Jennings, said:
the deal should boost Microsoft’s share of the U.S. online advertising market to about 30%, up from 8% to 9% today. That would translate to significant dollars, since Jennings projects that the market will grow by about 15% annually and reach about $30 billion by 2014.
Yahoo benefits by no longer needing to invest in its search engine, which was not gaining traction against Google anyway
An analyst at In-Stat in Scottsdale, Ariz suggested that Yahoo will likely merge with Microsoft before the close of the contract period. He says:
Once you give up a key part of your business, it’s hard to regenerate that. What you do is merge with your partner. And a 10-year deal is kind of unheard of in this industry. They did this as a permanent thing.
Bing gains 1 percent more in US search market
Aug 3rd
Microsoft‘s latest search engine sensation Bing keeps on gradually gaining ground in the U.S. search market. Bing has managed to increase its share in the US search market by 1 percent for the month of July. Bing alongwith its new search partner Yahoo takes its combined share to 20.36 percent.
Our old and reliable friend StatCounter once agains revealed the statistics which we will be sharing with you guys. According to StatCounter, Bing managed to secure 9.41 percent of U.S market search in July compared to 8.23 percent for the month of June. Interestingly Google’s share slipped from 78.48 percent to 77.54 percent. StatCounter believes that with the recent signing of deal between Microsoft and Yahoo, both the parties have to come up with something big to give a fight to Google. StatCounter stated:
Bing continues to make slow but steady progress but the combined Yahoo figures suggest that the deal announced last week will have to demonstrate major future synergies if it is to make any dent in Google’s dominance.
It would be interesting to note that even at the global level, Google’s share dropped from 89.80 percent in the month of June to 89.23 percent for the last month (July).
It would be interesting to know how is Bing performing at the global, but the current statistics do suggest one thing Bing is gaining ground in the U.S. search market, the pace at which it is gaining is another thing. However Microsoft might like to see Bing gain ground at a faster pace.
Yahoo shares affected by the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal
Jul 30th
Yesterday, it finally happened. Yes Microsoft and Yahoo finally reached the search deal. As always many questions would have arose in people’s mind. One of them would possibly be “What impact would it have on the shares of both the parties?‘. While Microsoft’s shares received a boost Yesterday, exactly the opposite happened for Yahoo. Sadly Yahoo’s shares recorded a decline. As of writing Yahoo’s shares read/ dropped to 15.14.
Is this the sign of things to come for Yahoo. We certainly hope that it is not the case. But if it is the case, then Yahoo is in for a rough ride in the coming months. Thorolad Barker of Wall Street Journal criticized the move by Yahoo’s CEO and believed that Carol Bartz missed a trick when signing the deal. There was a time when Microsoft was ready to offer Yahoo a handsome amount of $48 billion for acquiring Yahoo as a whole. Conisdering this fact, one can agree with Barker’s point since the current deal does not bring any cash upfront for Yahoo, whereas Microsoft gets what it always wanted: Yahoo’s search business.
But you never know, something else would happen and one may start praising Yahoo’s decision to give their search business to Microsoft.
Yahoo and Microsoft finally reach a deal, Bing to power Yahoo! search
Jul 29th
There were talks all around of Microsoft and Yahoo might finally do it and Yes it has happened. Finally it can be said with 100 percent assurity that Yahoo and Microsoft have reached a deal. This deal is entirely restricted to the search domain.Microsoft has confirmed that the deal with not close until 2010. Consumers will not see a change until 3 to 6 months after that. For now Yahoo! search will be the same until the deal is approved and complete and then Yahoo! search results will be provided and branded with Bing, “powered by Bing” will appear.
CEOs of both the companies confirmed the deal in a joint statement. Steve Ballmer thought that this agreement will give Bing that much needed scale which would enable the Bing to compete in a more effective manner and attract and bring in more advertisers and users. Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO said on this occasion:
This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development.
What impact will this news have on the shares of Microsoft and Yahoo. Just to give an idea, Yesterday when rumors started appearing regarding Microsoft and Yahoo reaching a deal, Microsoft shares showed a significant rise
The key terms of the agreement are as follows:
- The term of the agreement is 10 years.
- Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms.
- Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology.
- Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.
- Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.
- Yahoo! will innovate and “own” the user experience on Yahoo! properties, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology.
- Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!’s network of both owned and operated (O&O) and affiliate sites.
- Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88% of search revenue generated on Yahoo!’s O&O sites during the first 5 years of the agreement.
- Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships.
- Microsoft will guarantee Yahoo!’s O&O revenue per search (RPS) in each country for the first 18 months following initial implementation in that country.
- At full implementation (expected to occur within 24 months following regulatory approval), Yahoo! estimates, based on current levels of revenue and current operating expenses, that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual GAAP operating income of approximately $500 million and capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 million. Yahoo! also estimates that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual operating cash flow of approximately $275 million.
- The agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies. The agreement maintains the industry-leading privacy practices that each company follows today.
Yahoo board meets to consider the Microsoft search deal
Jul 25th
We came to know that The Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo’s board of directors met this Thursday to discuss a possible search ad-sales deal with Microsoft.
It is also being reported that during Yahoo’s earnings conference call Wednesday, CEO Carol Bartz notably praised Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.
The CEO Carlo Bartz said:
“I think actually Bing is a good product. It actually extends sort of the experimentation around search and how people use it instead of just thinking like a standard blue link,I think they have done a good job. Unfortunately it is only a month into it so it is pretty hard to understand whether it is just curiosity driving what is happening or they are actually going to gain share. I think Microsoft should be given kudos for Bing. I think they have done a nice job.”
The Analyst Gerg Sterling analyzed the possible Microsoft-Yahoo deal saying:
There’s been lots of buzz and speculation that a deal between the companies is “imminent.” The Journal article suggests that some Yahoo board members are fearful of potential objections from regulators who essentially forced Google to abandon the search-ads deal it struck with Yahoo. That earlier Google-Yahoo deal was partly responsible for thwarting Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo.The scope of a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo has also been a matter of considerable speculation. After the initial collapse of the acquisition talks between Microsoft and Yahoo, Redmond tried unsuccessfully to buy just the search portion of the business. Now the question is: if a deal does happen will Bing essentially take over Yahoo search? In other words, will we see: Yahoo search, “powered by Bing.”
Industry analysts suspect a deal is close, especially with earnings reports out of the way. (Yahoo’s profit rose 8 percent where Microsoft’s profit reached 29 percent.)
Google growth takes a back seat
Jul 19th
Unfortunately Google‘s performance in terms of growth is not improving or increasing. Instead the growth rate continues to slow down and drop in the second quarter. What this means is that the online ad market is in a bad situation.
Search Engine giant’s revenue dropped down from 6% growth in the first quarter. In the second quarter, it fell below the 39% growth Google saw in the second quarter.
These results do not bring good news for the U.S. Internet Advertising market. It suggests that it will take time for the market to rise again to the desired level. Market research firm eMarketer predicts that U.S. online advertising will show a 4.5 growth for the current year (2009).
Eric Schmidt, Google’s Chief Executive in a conference call stated that the results were good keeping in mind the current recession scenario. In a cautious manner, he stated
it is too early for us to tell when the recovery materializes.
However the Californian based company’s profit increased about 19 percent. Schmidt further identified that some advertisers marketing their products in certain areas/categories were recovering. The categories which showed a positive trend include shopping and travel. However fields such as finance still remain on the weaker side. Sticking to the positive side, Google has managed to perform rather outperform its competitors such as Yahoo and Time Warner‘s AOL even in the economic downslide.
Google in order to manage this slow growth rate might need to consider and perform cost reduction activities. That is what we have observed as Google has released 300 employees, closed a few engineering offices and has delayed its expensive projects like finishing and completing its new data center.
Google continues to invest in new businesses for instance online software for businesses and bringing advertisements to cell phones.
Microsoft and Yahoo close to reaching an agreement
Jul 18th
As we gather from Bloomberg, Microsoft and Yahoo are close to reaching a partnership agreement. According to that agreement both parties will cooperate and collaborate on search and advertising fields. This agreement can be considered as a move to challenge the search Engine giants Google.
The two parties which were involved in communication for the past few months are expected to reach an agreement next week. However prospects of reaching the agreement in the following week is more likely.
While Yahoo and Microsoft are ever closer to reaching an accord than they have been in the past, the chances of the agreement failing and not reaching a common point are still there.
Adam Sohn, a spokesperson from Microsoft, when asked to comment declined to do so. May Petry who happens to be the spokesperson for Yahoo stated in an email:
Yahoo is committed to delivering wow experiences to our users and continue to explore innovative ways to do so. Beyond this, we have nothing to announce and do not comment on rumor or speculation.
Microsoft’s bing has surpassed Yahoo Search
Jul 11th
The monitoring service StatCounter has showed that for the second time since the launch of Microsoft’s Bing, it has surpassed Yahoo Search as the second most used search engine in the United States. Bing has proven to be a very solid product that many seem keen to try out even after a month.
According to the new stat, Bing took 12.9% of the U.S. market like comScore had earlier measured. With the good progress, Bing comes out ahead of Yahoo Search (10.15%), while Mountain View remains the undisputed king of the mountain with a U.S. market share of 75%.
“The jump in Bing?s share may reflect a positive review of the search engine compared to Google which appeared online in the New York Times on the 8th and in the print version on the 9th July.” said StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen.
After all, Microsoft has shown a remarkable drive to keep the momentum for its decision engine going, recently adding Twitter messages to search results and bringing the search platform to its Hotmail service.
Microsoft’s Bing had being working hard on its feature which initiated a layer of worries between the competitors. Google is not worried about losing its market in search market yet, while the other share holders in the field better be watching Bing’s progress very closely. Microsoft is doing it right, and users are noticing it too.
Google Image search gets the Usage Rights feature
Jul 9th
During the course of last month (June), Google announced their plans for adding options that would make is possible to search only those images that were licensed by Creative Commons. Creative Commons happens to provide various flexible licenses that allow content creators to share their works with the world. These options have been added to the advanced search page for Images: Google Advanced Image Search. The options include:
- Not filtered by license (Search for non licensed Images)
- Labeled for reuse
- Labeled for commercial reuse
- Labeled for reuse with modification
- Labeled for commercial reuse with modification
Google Image Search happens to be the first search engine to provide this interesting option.Yahoo happens to provide support for Flickr images only. Go ahead and give it a try and reuse material in a safe manner.
Yahoo all set to launch Search Pad: a research tool
Jul 7th
Yahoo is all set to launch Search Pad for the public, as gathered from the people familiar with the company’s plans. Search Pad is a search feature that Yahoo has been developing with the primary intent of assisting the users in storing and organizing their search results.
Search Pad allows users to save and take notes on search results for future reference and visits. Yahoo has been testing this since February. Infact February happens to be the same month during which Yahoo revealed this feature. Larry Cornett, Yahoo Search’s Vice President said:
Introducing Search Pad, a new feature we’re testing on Yahoo! Search that helps you keep track of websites and take notes whenever you do research online. It intelligently understands when you’re in research mode and, if you choose, collects information about the sites you visit. You can create research documents with saved websites, edit and reorder your personal notes, and share them with friends. No more handwritten scrawls, Post-Its or scattered documents. And you can access them from wherever you are.
Search Pad is on the lookout for users performing research based searches by focusing on the patterns in the search queries. These search queries include ski vacations, cheap lift tickets, weather Colorado. It then prompts the user and asks them whether they want to save the results. If the answer is yes, Search Pad saves the user clicked links onto a separate screen where user also has the option to write a note related to the link such as economical vacation packages. Any user who is logged in can access their precious and saved links and even share them with their buddies.
Yahoo during the testing period has made a few changes more on the refinement side. But sadly that is all we know and not the essential details.
Yahoo will be hoping that this feature does wonder for them and maintain if not increase their market share. What will be the ultimate result only time will tell.
