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July 26, 2009 - August 1, 2009

July 31, 2009

Help! Someone Stole My Twitter Photo and Bio

Okay, I'm in double trouble on Twitter.

Someone or something is posing as me on Twitter - not once, but twice.

My image and bio can be found on at least two other accounts.

Problem is, some tweets include links to XXXBlackBook, an X-rated site. (My employer isn't going to be happy about that.)

Plus, a typical search on Twitter did not turn up this problem. Someone tipped me off to it instead.

To make matters worse, the tweets include some pretty strange words you'd never hear uttered from my lips.

Though I reported this account, below, and a second offender to www.twitter.com/spam at about 7 a.m. ET today, they were still live 10 hours later.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

How MSFT/YHOO Could Affect Newspaper Consortium

How might the Microsoft/Yahoo search ad pact affect Yahoo's newspaper partners? It's a question I asked aloud Wednesday morning when the deal was officially announced. I contacted consortium watcher and all-around sector analyst/critic, Ken Doctor, to see what he thought. Well, turns out he posted his insights on his Content Bridges site.

He's got some good stuff to think about, and overall seems to believe the pair-up will benefit the paper partners. The reason: Yahoo will be able to focus more on its display ad platform.

"Newspaper companies like being able to sell Yahoo.com inventory, a key part of the consortium deal....So if the deal gets DOJ approval, if it gets done 'early next year,' then, maybe Yahoo will focus more on the business that is key to Yahoo's -- and its newspaper partners' -- future: BT-driven display advertising," writes Doctor. Evidently, the consortium's executive director thinks Yahoo will be able to focus more on the needs of the paper partners now.

Doctor also thinks if the newspapers do transition from Yahoo to using Bing search on their sites, they may score higher ad revenues. However, newspaper sites may not get special treatment in Bing search results as they do with Yahoo's Panama. "No Microsoft preference in this deal," notes Doctor.

Over the past few days I've thought a lot about the deal, particularly the fact that Yahoo will no longer -- we can assume -- be investing in a search ad platform that will effectively be replaced by Bing. In terms of Yahoo's search capabilities and innovation going forward, that doesn't bode well. However, as Doctor suggests, we can expect Yahoo to now be freed up to continue improving its display ad platform.

And think about this: the fact that Yahoo will now handle search ad relationships with agencies and brand advertisers making medium-to-large buys on behalf of Microsoft as well as Yahoo, the company may be able to build client relationships that lead to more display advertising sales.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 29, 2009

Photo: Bartz and Ballmer Seal the Deal

Yahoo just released the above photo, in which Ballmer wields a huge purple pen to sign today's landmark 10-year search deal. Read ClickZ's coverage here.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 28, 2009

Google Sells Its AOL Stake Back to Time Warner

What ClickZ's editors are reading:

Google Sells Its AOL Stake Back to Time Warner (WSJ) The $283 million transaction was processed earlier this month, consolidating full ownership of AOL under time Time Warner in preparation for a spin-off later this year.

Mom Bloggers Debate Ethics Of 'Blog-Ola' (NPR)

Friendster Shopping Itself Around In Asia (TechCrunch)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Alternate Deal Reality: Yahoo, Microsoft Might Create a Joint Venture

Conventional wisdom says the imminent deal between Microsoft and Yahoo will be structured as a search syndication partnership. Yahoo will begin carrying Bing search technology, and Microsoft will sell the bulk of ads against those results. Yahoo would confine its ad sales efforts mainly to display, and would receive payments (and user data) from Microsoft for search activity on its domain.

However other scenarios are still being floated internally at Microsoft. According to one senior Microsoft source outside the negotiations, a joint venture has also been discussed and was rumored to be CEO Steve Ballmer's preferred outcome.

Under such a set-up, the source said, a new company owned by both Microsoft and Yahoo would be in charge of selling search and possibly some display ads for both companies. Bing technology would presumably replace Yahoo Search, since Microooft is so keen on extending its technology.

Interesting notion, but it's hard to imagine such a JV could serve the best interests of both Yahoo and Microsoft equally. It's much easier to imagine this working for search than for display ads, unless both companies migrated their entire sales forces to the joint venture -- almost unfathomable. On the other hand, a joint venture housing only search ad sales would go against the idea of integrated display and search ad planning.

Why would this appeal to Ballmer? According to the source, Ballmer has come to accept Microsoft just isn't very good at sales

"Microsoft doesn't directly sell," he said. "It sells software through its vendor relationships... A joint venture would essentially be just a sales force."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 27, 2009

U.S. Government Calls for Comments on Cookie Policy

The U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy put out a request for comments Friday on proposed changes to its Web tracking policy for government sites. "The goal of this review is to develop a new policy that allows the Federal Government to continue to protect the privacy of people who visit Federal websites while, at the same time, making these websites more user-friendly, providing better customer service, and allowing for enhanced web analytics," stated the office in a blog post.

According to the post, a three-tiered approach is being considered involving single- and multi- session technologies for Web traffic analysis and personal preference settings. So far, the comments are making for a lively, educated conversation. Of course, there are always a few offbeat remarks to be expected. This is my favorite so far:

One thing you should do is monetize this site and save us on tax's. I don't know if that's legal but if it saves us money do it. With The President using a Blackberry you could create a blackberry site like http://blackberrystormsale.com and make enough to give us all a break.

Evidently this commentator hasn't heard about the industry's plummeting CPMs....

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Internet GRP Notion Gains Momentum

What ClickZ's editors are reading:

Internet GRP Notion Gains Momentum (comScore)

IAC, Ben Silverman Partner on Multi-Platform Programming Startup

Aussie Publishers Mull Pulling Google Ad Spend

(Sydney Morning Herald)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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