Yahoo and AOL are in discussions to combine their web operations reports the WSJ. The move is aimed at thwarting Microsoft’s bid to acquire Yahoo.
The terms being discussed between AOL would fold into Yahoo and make a cash investment in return for about 20% of the combined entity. The deal which does not include AOL’s dial-up access business values AOL at about $10 billion. Yahoo would use the AOL cash investment and put up additional funds to buy back several billion dollars worth of its own stock at a price somewhere in the middle of the range between $30 More»

Labels: AOL, displace advertising, Online Advertising, Search, Yahoo

Yahoo said it plans to carry search advertising from Google as part of a test that could lead to a broader partnership reports the WSJ. The two-week trial, which will be limited to U.S. traffic and no more than 3% of Yahoo’s Web search queries, is designed for the two sides to evaluate the revenue potential of a broader search ad outsourcing arrangement. Yahoo already had been in negotiations to outsource its Web-search advertising in Europe to Google since last year, say people familiar with the matter.
Citigroup More»

Labels: displace advertising, Online Advertising, Search, Yahoo

In spite of the slowing economy, online retail sales is expected to rise 16.6% in 2008 to $204B in line with 2007 growth rate according to Forrester Research. Nearly all retail categories are expected to be beneficiaries but the biggest online beneficiaries are apparel which is expected to rise by $3.9 billion, or 17%, computers up $3.2 billion, or 15%, and autos up $2.5 billion, or 15%. Of course, although e-tailing is gaining in popularity, it still accounts for less than 5% of the overall retail market in the U.S. And, they are not necessarily new stores but sale More»

Labels: Online Advertising, Search Engine Marketing

Web advertising stimulates off-line sales and in most cases, online campaigns increase sales more at advertisers’ retail cash registers than on their websites, according to a report by comScore.
The data was gathered by observing the behaviors and purchase patterns of over two million people that had installed comScore’s tracking software on their PCs. The conclusion was that online advertising influences consumers’ behavior
A study conducted for a retailer with more than $15 billion in annual revenues (most from their store) revealed that U.S. sales increased by 40% online and by 50% off-line among people exposed More»

Labels: displace advertising, Online Advertising, Search

OpenX, the open-source ad server startup, has hired Tim Cadogan, Yahoo’s senior vice president for search marketing as its CEO reports AllThingsD. OpenX gives web publishers an alternative to Google Adsense to monetize the traffic on their web site.
“With open-source software, there is a lot of potential for business disruption and to open up the market,” You have not really seen open-source models really applied to the ad space until now…but there is a big business in giving publishers a really robust offering and a platform where they can also share what they More»

Labels: Online Advertising, openx

A European Commission advisory body on data protection has said that search engines should delete data held about their users within six months reports the BBC.
The proposed rule specifieds that “Search engine providers must delete or irreversibly anonymise personal data once they no longer serve the specified and legitimate purpose they were collected for.”
Google and Yahoo anonymise user data after 18 months and MSN does the same after 13 months. The body said search companies were not “clear enough” on their data protection policy and the recommendation More»

Labels: Microsoft, Online Advertising, personalization, Privacy, Search, Yahoo

Google announced plans to sell Performics, DoublClick’s search marketing division, that helps marketers place ads on search engines.“It is clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business. At Google, maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to our mission and core to the trust we ask from our users.” wrote Tom Phillips, Director of DoubleClick Integration on the official Google blog.
Rajiv Parikh, CEO of Position2, a full service search marketing company said that the Performics sale was a good move on Google’s part as it removes a More»

Labels: Online Advertising, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Google’s newest employees learned on April fool’s day that they would no longer have a job. The employess today were assured that it was not a joke but real. Vanity Fair reports that “DoubleClickers’ heads are rolling left and right. Hopefully, Google’s generous severance package—two months pay with an additional two months if you sign a non-compete agreement—will keep them from jumping out the window. Google’s suggestion? Take two months vacation and don’t even think about it. Or start looking now.“
It is rumored that the entire DoubleClick finance department will be let go. DoubleClick’s U.S. More»

Labels: Online Advertising, Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Video search engine Blinkx is launching its own Internet TV service called BBTV. Viewers will be able to surf the web within full-screen video, as well as jump around using keyword search for specific dialog. This is was something Blinkx Founder & CTO, Suranga Chandratillake has hinted to me way back at one of the WebGuild events.
According to Blinkx the service harnesses their core speech recognition video transcription technology to offer searchability and clickable subtitles that point to web pages. This allows advertisements to be targeted to certain keywords More»

Labels: Online Advertising, video, WebGuild

Yahoo has launched a web site called Shine targeted at women between ages 25 and 54. The site brings together content from other smaller sections of Yahoo, with original content and syndication deals with the likes of Conde Nast, Hearst, Rodale, Time Inc and others. The content will be focused in nine specific categories: Fashion & Beauty, Food, Healthy Living, Work & Money, Love and Relationships, Parenting, At Home, Entertainment & Culture, and Astrology.
Yahoo reports 40 million women come to the their web site each month and Shine presents an opportunity to serve More»

Labels: niche, Online Advertising, websites, Yahoo