Yahoo Focuses On ''You''

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In the wake of their search engine merger with Bing, Yahoo is looking to find ways to reinvent itself as a company. For the time being, it seems they've settled on "Y!ou and Yahoo!" as the campaign to take them into the next decade. The aim of their Y!ou campaign is fairly simple. They want to turn Yahoo into the focal hub of web browsing for as many users as possible.

Yahoo has taken a number of steps to achieve this goal. They've revamped the Yahoo homepage to act as a central hub, allowing their users to visit all of their favorite websites right from the homepage. Yahoo Mail has been updated to allow better photo sharing and editing, while video-calling has been added to Yahoo instant messenger. They've also developed a new mobile version of the homepage as well as mobile versions of their most popular apps.

Posted on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:10:19 CDT | by Robert Evans

Yahoo Retains the Right to Break With Microsoft

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When news of the partnership between ailing search giant Yahoo and Microsoft was first announced, both companies presented a fairly united front. Now, however, more details about the partnership have emerged. This new information paints a somewhat different picture of the relationship between both companies.

According to eWeek Yahoo still retains the right to split with Microsoft if the US revenue-per-search-query (RPS) rate for both companies drops below Google's. This means that if Microsoft can't 'bing' home the bacon, Yahoo can split and take their market share with them. After 5 years, the deal gets even better for Yahoo. They can pull out if just their RPS drops below Google's.

Posted on Wed, 5 Aug 2009 13:40:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

A Giant Dies, Another is Reborn: The Yahoo/Microsoft Partnership

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Yahoo has been a major player in the search engine market almost since the beginning. Their share of the market has waned a lot in recent years, but they still kept a respectable portion (20%) out of Google's hands. Now Microsoft's and Yahoo have partnered up and Bing will be handling all of Yahoo's search needs. This deal will boost Yahoo's revenue substantially and give Bing the market share it needs to take the fight to Google's doorstep.

This 10 year agreement means a lot of money for Yahoo. They're estimated to rake in a mind-blowing 500 million dollars annually once the partnership is fully implemented. That's going to take about two years, a worthwhile wait for a deal this lucrative. Yahoo's yearly capital expenditure savings are expected to top 200 million and, all told, they should gain an 275 million in annual operating cashflow as a result of this arrangement.

Posted on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:35:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Microsoft Bing Yahoo Deal to be announced today

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The rumors that Microsoft's Bing will power Yahoo!'s search are supposed to become official today.
The deal would give Bing a search engine market share of 30% says AdAge. Google still of course leads with 65%, but Bing would now suddenly be a sizable player. Read more

Posted on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:59:22 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

'Bing' To Be Yahoo's New Search Engine?

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After months and months of on-and-off talks, Microsoft and Yahoo may be only a couple of days away from announcing a partnership. Sources close to Yahoo say that the deal is 'likely' to be announced this week. They expect that Microsoft and Yahoo will work out a revenue-sharing plan, rather than exchanging a big lump sum payment.

This agreement would make Microsoft's 'Bing' search engine the provider for all Yahoo users searching needs. Yahoo is currently the #2 market share holder in the U.S search market, coming in at just under 20%. If this agreement goes through, their traffic will be added to Bing's, giving the new engine a massive boost in both credibility and solvency. With close to 30% of the market in their hands, Microsoft would finally be able to give Google a real run for their money.

Posted on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:40:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Yahoo Buys Xoopit for $20 Milion

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While it won't be announced until Thursday, reliable sources state that Yahoo has acquired social media start-up Xoopit for a cool $20 mill. Xoopit focuses primarily on email innovations and their main product helps users to sift through email for photos, links, and videos that they can then share more easily. Yahoo was impressed with a plugin they made for Google's Gmail and offered to buy the company.

Their first offer of $10 million was turned down. Considering the fact that Xoopit's principal investors sunk $6.5 million into its development, that's not hard to understand. Yahoo's willingness to double their initial offer speaks to the high value they place in the Xoopit acquisition. Yahoo wants to give their popular email client a boost, and they know that Xoopit works well within their framework. The smaller company already designed a photo-sharing app for Yahoo last year.

Posted on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:20:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Yahoo's New Home Page Now in Beta

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Yahoo has had a very tough time with its financiers since Jerry Yang turned down the multiple purchase offers from Microsoft. Yang ended up losing his job over the Microsoft deal. Yahoo is still trying to find ways to attract more users and stay afloat in the search game.

Part of its new service offerings is a new home page that has hit beta status and is available for users in the US to check out via the link at the end of this story. Yahoo says that the new home page is the most significant change in the history of the search engine. Read more

Posted on Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Could The Microsoft/Yahoo Partnership Finally Happen?

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Yahoo is an impressive company. Despite plenty of hardships and often getting caught in the crossfire between Microsoft and Google, they still hold close to 20% of the world search market. Only Google (65% of the market) has a bigger share. That's why Microsoft wants so badly to partner up with Yahoo. If they can acquire the smaller company's search engine, they'll gain a substantial boost against their rival.

Despite Bing's massive first month successes, many still doubt that the new engine has any staying power. Yahoo, on the other hand, has a proven track record. Microsoft needs that extra twenty percent to shorten the massive gap between it and Google (Microsoft's only got an 8.4% share). That's why they've spent so much time over the last few years trying to iron out a deal, always failing in the end for one reason or another.

Posted on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:09:55 CDT | by Robert Evans

Yahoo Mobile Coming to Mobile Phones

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Yahoo has announced a new mobile service called Yahoo mobile that it bills as a highly personalized starting point for the Internet. Yahoo Mobile will be available as an app for the iPhone and will be offered for devices from Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola. Windows Mobile devices will be supported as well.

The design offers an open environment that can be used to bring favorite content from the Internet into one place. Content can be found via Yahoo search, editor selected content and new map tools. Access to email and social networks and IM is offered as well. Read more

Posted on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Carol Bartz is new Yahoo! CEO, Jerry Yang back to Chief Yahoo Role

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Former Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz takes over the CEO position at Yahoo!. Founder Jerry Yang is back at his Chief Yahoo role.
Prior to becoming Executive Chairman of Autodesk in 2006, Bartz, 60, led Autodesk as CEO for 14 years, transforming the company into a leader in computer-aided design software. During her tenure as CEO, revenues increased from less than $300 million to more than $1.5 billion, and the company's share price increased nearly ten-fold.

Carol Bartz said, "Yahoo! is a powerful global brand with a great collection of assets, strong technology, and enormously talented employees. The Company has accomplished a great deal in its relatively short history and I look forward to working together to take it to the next level. There is no denying that Yahoo! has faced enormous challenges over the last year, but I believe there is now an extraordinary opportunity to create value for our shareholders and new possibilities for our customers, partners and employees. We will seize that opportunity." Read more

Posted on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:29:56 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Microsoft to indirectly take Control over Yahoo Search?

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The Microsoft Yahoo story apparently gets a new twist according to the Times Online.
The Times reports that Jonathan Miller, ex-chairman and chief executive of AOL, and Ross Levinsohn, a former president of Fox Interactive Media would become the new Yahoo management team after Jerry Yang stepped down.
Microsoft would provide $5 billion to the management duo and they would raise another $5 billion to take control of 30% of Yahoo Read more

Posted on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:03:44 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Google and Yahoo try to avoid Anti-trust Suit over Advertising Deal

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The WSJ reports that Google and Yahoo are in talks with the Justice Department to avoid antitrust challenges to their advertising agreement, which originated during the Microsoft Yahoo takeover ordeal back in June.
The settlement negotiations are at an early stage and it is not clear yet if it will resolve the Departments objections. Read more

Posted on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:02:12 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Yahoo Adds Online Calendar to Email Service

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Yahoo has added a new feature to its online services called Yahoo Calendar that was made available to users in beta form yesterday. The new program is based on open standards and allows users to discover, share, and track events and appointments. The calendar is a pop-up feature in Yahoo Mail accounts.

Yahoo Calendar is built on the Zimbra platform using iCalendar and CalDAV standards and is interoperable with other calendar services from Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, AOL, and Google. Appointments can be dragged and dropped and users can zoom in for a day view or zoom out to see the month at a glance. Read more

Posted on Thu, 9 Oct 2008 09:46:42 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Yahoo oneConnect for iPhone Preview Available

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Yahoo announced that a preview for its new iPhone application oneConnect is now available. The software is a type of social address book that brings a circle of friends, communication, and social networking into one application.

The program is available via the Apple App store now and will be offered for other devices in the coming months. Using the application users can integrate their contacts, send IM and SMS messages, post status, and view activity from their favorite social networks. The application will support Bebo, Dopplr, Facebook, Flickr, Friendster, Last.fm, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube. Read more

Posted on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:39:10 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Intel and Yahoo Team up to Bring Internet Content to TV

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Intel and Yahoo have given a preview of plans for a Widget Channel, which is an application framework for optimized TV and related consumer electronic devices using Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel is intended to allow consumers to enjoy Internet applications designed for the TV while watching their favorite TV programs.

The channel will be powered by the Yahoo Widget Engine, which Yahoo says is a fifth-generation applications platform that allows small Internet applications to be displayed on TVs while watching traditional TV content. Widgets for the channel can be designed by developers using JavaScript, XML, HTML, and Adobe Flash. Read more

Posted on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:10:19 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Yahoo Launches Fire Eagle Platform

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Yahoo announced the launch of its Fire Eagle open platform today that allows users to display their location on the web, while giving them control over how their location information is displayed. The platform provides clear protocols on when location information can be updated or accessed.

Users can allow access to the location information with Web, mobile or desktop applications that update their location automatically. Users can also update the location information manually and hide themselves when wanted. Read more

Posted on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:54:01 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Yahoo Kicks Off Fantasy Football Season

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Football season is almost here and if you are into fantasy football, Yahoo is ready to help kick off your fantasy stuff. Yahoo has announced new features for fantasy football season along with announcing Braylon Edwards as its Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football 2008 cover athlete.

Yahoo is providing new features for the season including a new draft application with extensive player data and more personalization options. Mobile access is integrated as well to provide fans with injury updates and the ability to upload custom logos. Read more

Posted on Fri, 8 Aug 2008 06:08:43 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

HP, Intel and Yahoo Start Global Cloud Computing Test Bed

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HP, Intel and Yahoo announced this week that they will all be working together and have started a global, multi-data center, open source test bed for the advancement of cloud computing. The goal for the test bed program is to promote open collaboration among industry, academia, and governments.

The test bed devised by the three companies will provide a globally distributed, Internet-scale testing environment designed to encourage research on software, hardware issues and data center management. The three firms have collaborated with the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore, the University of Illinois, and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. Read more

Posted on Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:04:40 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Yahoo! settles with Carl Icahn

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Yahoo! announced today that it has reached an agreement with Carl Icahn to settle their pending proxy contest related to the Company's 2008 annual meeting of stockholders.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, eight members of Yahoo!'s current Board of Directors will stand for re-election at the 2008 annual meeting: Roy Bostock, Ronald Burkle, Eric Hippeau, Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern, Mary Agnes Wilderotter, Gary Wilson and Jerry Yang. In view of the settlement agreement with Mr. Icahn, and the termination of the proxy contest, Robert Kotick has decided not to stand for re-election to the Board at the 2008 annual meeting. Read more

Posted on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:23:21 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Yahoo! wants to be bought as a whole, rejects latest Microsoft and Icahn Plan

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Yahoo! announced yesterday that it has rejected a joint proposal from Microsoft Corporation and Carl Icahn for a complex restructuring of Yahoo! that would include the acquisition of Yahoo!'s search business by Microsoft.

Roy Bostock, Chairman of Yahoo! said, "This odd and opportunistic alliance of Microsoft and Carl Icahn has anything but the interests of Yahoo!'s stockholders in mind. Clearly, Microsoft, having failed to advance in search, is aligning with the short-term objectives of Mr. Icahn to coerce Yahoo! into selling its core strategic search assets on terms that are highly advantageous to Microsoft, but disadvantageous to Yahoo! stockholders. Yahoo's Board of Directors will not allow that to happen. Yahoo!'s Board remains open to any transaction that delivers full value to our stockholders - we just do not believe such a transaction should be dictated by Microsoft and a single short-term investor." Read more

Posted on Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:19:46 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Yahoo back in the News with AOL Merger Talks and rekindled Microsoft Interest

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Microsoft and Billionaire financier Icahn had a chat last week and the message to Yahoo is that Microsoft is still interested to reopen talks if Yahoo elects a new board.

Meanwhile The Times Online reports that Yahoo is talking again with Time Warner to fend of a Microsoft takeover. Read more

Posted on Mon, 7 Jul 2008 10:00:28 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr