Search News Desk

Yahoo-Alibaba Talks Reportedly Collapse

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST

Yahoo’s critical negotiations with Alibaba to sell part of its stake in Alibaba back to the Chinese company have collapsed according to All Things Digital, a report later confirmed by CNBC. Apparently the collapse includes Yahoo’s parallel and intertwined negotiations with Softbank to dispose of Yahoo’s piece of Yahoo Japan. Yahoo’s position in the two operations is valued at around $17 billion. Yahoo’s stock dropped 6.5% on the news. CNBC said it heard Yahoo lacked the resolve to get the complex deal done, impeded perhaps by fears the IRS would ultimately shoot it down. It was trying to cut a tax-free deal that would save it $4 billion in US taxes by trading operating assets as well as cash.

Yahoo Co-Founder Jerry Yang Decides "To Pursue Other Interests"

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:15:00 EST

After the market closed Tuesday, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, who’s been generally considered a pimple on the ass of progress since turning down Microsoft’s handsome $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo four years ago, resigned from the Yahoo board and “all other positions with the company.” That includes his board seats at Yahoo Japan and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Yahoo’s prized Asian assets, as well as his quixotic title of “chief Yahoo.” Yahoo owns 40% of Alibaba, a position valued at around $14 billion, the bulk of its current $19 billion market cap. It’s unclear what provoked the surprise but popular move. A beleaguered Yahoo, which has been steadily losing to Google and Facebook, is supposed to be in the middle of strategic review that could see it dispose of its Asian interests and sell a minority stake in its core business to private equity. Alibaba has said it would like to buy the whole company. Yang may have tried to torpedo the company’s progress with these transactions. Activist shareholder Third Point LLC has wanted Yang gone and has been threatening a proxy fight. In a letter to Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock, Yang, 43, wrote, “The time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo.” He owns about 3.8% of the company. His departure, which may also signal the departure of Bostock and other board members, may give Yahoo’s new CEO Scott Thompson, two weeks in the job, room to maneuver. It would be really interesting if Thompson’s taking the job was contingent on Yang leaving. Thompson was president of PayPal. Yahoo’s stock price jumped 3% to $15.90 after-hours on the news.

Google Buys More Patents Off IBM

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:15:00 EST

IP-short Google has gone back to the Big Blue well again for another 217 patents and patent applications. The transaction turned up in a search of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s patent assignment database the other day by SEO by the Sea, the blog that has been keeping tabs on the IP transfers that have been going on between IBM and Google for at least the last eight months. The PTO’s records show that Google has bought over 2,300 patents from IBM on undisclosed terms. The latest deal includes patents related to wireless phones and JavaScript widgets. Bill Slawski, who writes SEO by the Sea, says the 188 patents and 29 patent applications cover a “broad range of topics, such as presentation software, blade servers, data caching, server load balancing, network performance, video conferencing, e-mail administration, and instant messaging applications. A number of the patents cover specific Internet, phone and mobile phone technologies as well.” Florian Mueller, who’s been following Google’s patent travails, figures Google, with IBM’s connivance, may be building up to file suit against Oracle using IBM’s database and enterprise software IP in retaliation for Oracle’s Java suit and its recently revised (upwards) demand for $2.7 billion in patent damages alone and that’s before trebling. No figure has been put on its copyright claims. For a selected list of patents in the latest cache see www.seobythesea.com/2012/01/ibm-assigns-patent-filings-to-google/. The December 28, 2011 deal was recorded by the PTO on December 31.

Return on Information: Improving Your ROI with Google Enterprise Search

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:45:00 EST

As organizations consider the benefits of bringing high-quality search to the workplace, it’s critical to assess the various factors influencing the ROI they seek. Google search solutions can add to your ROI and boost your bottom line when searching intranets, content systems and applications.

Yahoo Reportedly Entertaining Offers for Minority Stake

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST

Yahoo is reportedly moving ahead with the idea of selling off a minority stake to a private equity company. The Wall Street Journal claimed Tuesday that Yahoo wants to have a deal in place by Christmas. Otherwise it will pursue other alternatives. The paper said Yahoo has gotten offers for a 20% stake from TPG Capital and a consortium consisting of Silver Lake Partners, Microsoft, and others. It said Andreessen Horowitz may join. The price is supposed to be between $16 and $18, but Yahoo wants a few bucks more and is anticipating other bids. Its shares closed Tuesday at $15.70. Its board will meet Wednesday after dinner together Tuesday. As previously reportedly Yahoo also wants to sell off its Asia holdings in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. It's reportedly had a joint offer from Alibaba and Yahoo Japan's co-owner Softbank who would also like to buy all of Yahoo perhaps in concert with other private equity houses. Yahoo owns 40% of Alibaba and 35% of Yahoo Japan.

Microsoft Signs Yahoo NDA: NYT

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:45:00 EST

Microsoft has signed an NDA with Yahoo so it can look at its books, the New York Times reported Wednesday citing a person briefed on the matter. The move could translate into Redmond making a bid for the dysfunctional portal. Microsoft apparently got around Yahoo’s “no crosstalk” stipulation preventing potential buyers from forming a consortium by doing its talking beforehand. Private equity houses Silver Lake, KKR and TPG Capital have also reportedly signed NDAs. Reuters reported last month that Microsoft could help finance a consortium led by Silver Lake and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board. Blackstone, Softbank and Alibaba are also interested but frustrated by the strings on Yahoo’s NDA.

Australia Is Ready for Next Big .Thing

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:00:00 EST

The decision taken by some of the country’s State Governments to make a gTLD application will put Australia’s capitals on par with some of the world’s most innovative cities including, London, Paris and Tokyo. On June 20th, 2011 The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced its intention to release generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) to established entities anywhere in the world. For a limited three month window, starting on January 12th, 2012, companies, cities and organisations can apply to operate their own gTLD registry, .sydney and .melbourne for example. In their press release ICANN said that “Internet address names will be able to end with almost any word in any language, offering organizations around the world the opportunity to market their brand, products, community or cause in new and innovative ways.” The introduction of this new internet infrastructure will change the face of the web. Currently there are 22 gTLDs, such as .com, .net and .org and thousands more will be created with this program. Over the past few months, many of the world’s most recognizable brands have publicly announced their intention to apply for their dotBrand. For instance Canon, Motorola and UNICEF. While requesting tenders, UNICEF offered their opinion on gTLDs, ”Taking the long view, as time goes on, a name such as www.donations.unicef and www.cards.unicef will become more intuitive in a more crowded Internet, and thus more valuable because the name reflects exactly that of an organization and declares what it does”

If Nothing Else, Yahoo Is Sticky

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:45:00 EST

Yahoo is reportedly proving itself the stickiest of creatures. After putting itself on the block, it now supposedly doesn’t want to get bought – again – like some nasty reprise of the Microsoft fiasco. Instead it maybe wants to sell its Asian assets – its positions in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan – and pay off its stockholders with a tax-avoiding special dividend – it could do that if Yahoo didn’t change hands – and/or buy back shares. All Things Digital thinks the Yahoo Japan deal is the closest to getting done and could bring Yahoo maybe $6 billion. Of course the sale of its Asian assets wouldn’t necessarily stop Yahoo from getting sold afterwards and the price would then represent its core assets – or what’s left of them – and the negotiations might be simpler and more profitable provided anybody is still talking to Yahoo.

Microsoft Reportedly Teaming for Another Run at Yahoo

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EDT

Microsoft might take another whack at buying Yahoo. Having been saved by happenstance from overpaying for the joint in 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that Microsoft, private equity house Silver Lake Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, one of Silver Lake’s investors, are putting together a bid. The Journal said it got it from people “familiar with the matter.” Apparently the idea is for Microsoft, now a partner of Yahoo, to put up several billion dollars, banks some more and Silver Lake and the national pension fund the rest, but less than Microsoft’s contribution. There’s no telling if they’ll go ahead.

Yahoo Loses Cloud Chief

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:00:00 EDT

Guess Yahoo is in the market for a new cloud/Hadoop chief having lost its chief cloud architect Todd Papaioannou to Battery Ventures where he will be entrepreneur in residence. He was only at Yahoo 14 months. According to what he told GigaOm, which broke the news, internal IT holds no allure for him. He wants to get back to the trenches selling software against the competition and eventually start his own company. Before Yahoo, he was at Teradata for about five years and before that chief architect and director of engineering at Greenplum. So he’s definitely a Big Data boy.

Google’s WebM Codec Allegedly Treads on 12 Pairs of Toes

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:00:00 EDT

MPEG LA, the royalty-collecting agency for AVC/H.264 and other multimedia codecs, told Streaming Media that 12 patent holders have responded to its call for submissions from folks who think the VP8 video codec, a key element in Google’s “royalty-free” WebM codec widgetry, infringes on their IP. MPEG LA has yet to name names. Patent watcher Florian Mueller calls 12 a “high number” that could increase in the future and figures there’s an “overlap between those 12 companies and the ones that contributed to MPEG LA’s AVC/H.264 pool.” MPEG LA’s next step would be to form a VP8 license pool, fix a rate and work out how to divvy up the money. Apparently negotiations are underway. It’s unclear what happened to that open source-leaning Justice Department look at whether MPEG LA was, as the Wall Street Journal described it, “trying to smother a free rival technology for delivering online video that is backed by Google.”

Schmidt to Testify

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EDT

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt has been delegated to go and testify before the US Senate’s antitrust subcommittee in September. Google has been reluctant to send any of its managers but then the Senate reminded Google that it had subpoena powers. Google had offered its chief legal officer David Drummond but the subcommittee wanted either Schmidt or new CEO Larry Page. The Federal Trade Commission started a formal antitrust investigation of Google last month and the European Commission is already doing the same thing. The Justice Department is also investigating Google for illegally profiting from the sale of prescription drugs from online pharmacies and reviewing its recent $400 million acquisition of Admeld.

Google Confirms FTC Investigation

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:00:00 EDT

Google has confirmed in a regulatory filing that the Federal Trade Commission means to investigate its search and advertising business for abusing its dominance like the European Commission is doing. It got the subpoena last Thursday, the day the Wall Street Journal reported that the shoe was about to drop. Subpoenas to competitors and customers will follow. Observers like the Journal immediately drew comparisons to what happened to Microsoft and suggested that Google could be defending itself for years, condemned to distraction while facing a nemesis like Facebook.

Google Sued for ‘Suffocating’ French Rival

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Google’s been sued in Paris for anti-competitive behavior by 1plusV, a French specialty search firm that also complained to the European Commission last year and again this year about the search giant’s alleged habit of blocking rivals and depriving them ad revenues by manipulating search results. It’s asking for €295 million (~$424 million). Its beef goes back four years. It claims Google blacklisted 30 of its search engines from 2007-2010 and pushed its own services instead. Besides the EC probe, Google is now being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for the same thing. Google owns at least 80% of the European search market.

Opera Founder Out

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 06:00:00 EDT

Opera founder Jon von Tetzchner is leaving the company because of differences with the board. He wrote in an e-mail to Opera staff that “It has become clear that the board, management and I do not share the same values and we do not have the same opinions on how to keep evolving Opera. As a result I have come to an agreement with the board to end my time at Opera. I feel the board and management is more quarterly focused than me.” He told Reuters that “I’m probably more ambitious and would like to move faster in all areas than the board and the current management do.”

FTC to Investigate Google for Antitrust: WSJ

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:00:00 EDT

The shoe that’s been dangling at the end of Washington’s toe for ever so long has finally dropped, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly ready to serve Google with civil subpoenas, kicking off what the paper says will be a “wide-ranging, formal antitrust investigation into whether the search giant has abused its dominance on the web.” Google should get served with demands for information in days. Competitors and customers will get theirs later.

The Importance of a Link Building Service in SEO

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 07:33:00 EDT

Those who are into search engine optimization typically do a lot of activities to enhance the web visibility of the client’s website. They will change the meta tags, particularly the title, description, keywords, and the alt tags. They will change the HTML coding of the page to make it easier for the search engine robots to spider through it. Some SEO professionals will even remove tables, frames, and flash files to better the prospects. There are those who will write a lot of content because content always does well with the search engines. Some people will even try to spam the search engines by including the keywords deliberately. There are other issues too such as social media marketing, viral marketing through YouTube and other channels, and others like this. But among them all, link building service probably remains as the most important.

FTC Gearing Up for Google Antitrust Probe: Bloomberg

Tue, 03 May 2011 07:00:00 EDT

The Federal Trade Commission is going ahead with an antitrust investigation of Google, according to Bloomberg. The wire service reports talking to three people “familiar with the matter” who said that the FTC has told “hi-tech companies to gather information for the probe.” The story suggests it might be hard for the FTC to nail Google on search but it might charge it with leveraging its monopoly into adjacent markets. Bloomberg says the agency recently hired Columbia Law professor Timothy Wu, an expert in telecommunications and copyright, who wrote both Who Controls the Internet and The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires and clerked for both the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Wu coined the term net neutrality and BusinessWeek once credited him with providing “the intellectual framework that inspired Google’s mobile phone strategy.”

Google Rallies WebM Alliance to Fight Patent Threats

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:40:00 EDT

Google has formed a new group called WebM Community Cross License initiative in order to protect its WebM video codec from patent attacks. Under this collaboration, group members will license WebM-related patents to each other under royalty-free terms. So far sixteen companies are involved in this launch including AMD, Cisco, LG and Samsung, browser makers Opera and Mozilla. This move on part of Google is certainly a defensive one to protect WebM’s reputation as a royalty free and open codec considering that MPEG LA , the patent pool organization which handles licensing for the H.264 video codec has reportedly been inspecting a similar patent-pool license for VP8 and WebM.

Google’s Product Chief Leaving

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:30:00 EDT

Google is losing its product development chief Jonathan Rosenberg, who reportedly felt he couldn’t give the company’s brand new retread CEO Larry Page the open-ended commitment to stay on the job that Page wanted. Or so the story goes. Rosenberg was planning to leave in 2013 when his younger kid starts college. Now he’s going this summer with plans to write a book with Google’s old CEO-now-executive chairman Eric Schmidt about Google’s management culture. Apparently he’ll come back as a Google consultant after a vacation.

Google Gets ITA & Maybe More Trouble

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EDT

Google got its way. The Justice Department isn’t going to oppose its $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, which provides the data for airline tickets to airlines and online travel companies, a purchase the agency has been reviewing since last July. But unlike Google’s equally opposed $3.2 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, the display ad house, in 2008 or its $750 million acquisition of AdMob, the mobile ad company, last year, the DOJ put strings on this one.

The Internet's Midlife Crisis

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EDT

Remember way back when the Internet first became popular? Its main use seemed to be downloading videos of monkeys doing weird things and people having accidents on their skateboards? The Internet was young and it was fun. Then things got serious. The Internet had to get a job, move out of its parents house and be an adult. Well, maybe its time for a mid life crisis for the Internet. Sure, the Internet is a great tool for large companies to show off and sell their wares. It's a great tool for small business to compete on a local scale. It's also a great tool for people to share online and to communicate with others. Etcetera etcetera. But, it's also a great tool for just having fun and goofing off.

Google Could Face FTC Antitrust Investigation: Bloomberg

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:00:00 EDT

Already under investigation for antitrust in Europe, Google could face a broad parallel investigation of its dominant search business in the US by the Federal Trade Commission, Bloomberg said Monday quoting two unidentified people “familiar with the matter.” A heck of a way for Larry Page to start his run as Google’s new CEO. Looks like Eric Schmidt stepped down just in time.

Microsoft Complains to EC About Google

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EDT

Microsoft filed a formal complaint with the European Commission Thursday charging Google with unfair practices in search, online advertising and smartphone software, a broader raft of charges against the search giant than the EC is believed to be currently investigating. It is the first time Microsoft has ever complained to the EC about anybody. Historically the complaints have been made against Microsoft and its chief lawyer Brad Smith took note of that fact saying, “Having spent more than a decade wearing the shoe on the other foot with the European Commission, the filing of a formal antitrust complaint is not something we take lightly.”

Baidu Planning Its Own OS: FT

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Baidu, China’s dominant version of Google, is building its own Chrome OS-like lightweight mobile operating system, the Financial Times said Tuesday after a chat with Baidu’s CEO Robin Li. It appears to want Baidu to open a “web search box” within a second of turning on a smartphone or tablet. “Right now,” Li told the paper, “when you power on an iPhone, it takes 45 seconds before you can do anything. In the future, one second, you turn on the device, and you can start using the box. That’s our mission for the future of the Internet.” Gee, apparently people in China turn their phones off. And apparently Baidi’s not in a rush. It seems to imagine obviating operating systems taking three to five years. Here’s something Google can relate to: “The goal is to let people become increasingly dependent on the Baidu box,” Li is quoted as saying.

Firefox 4 Out

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EDT

Firefox 4 has been officially out since Tuesday – albeit hurriedly because of IE 9’s appearance last week. It’s got an overhauled Chrome-like UI, hardware acceleration, a souped-up JagerMonkey JavaScript engine, support for HTML 5, CSS3, WebGL and the controversial WebM codec plus a “Do Not Track” option. Downloads the first 24 hours it was out hit 7.1 million, better than triple IE9’s 2.3 million, but not quite as good as previous Firefox iterations. By late Wednesday the number was over 12 million. It’ll work on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X with Android in the offing.

Schmidt Could Get Commerce Job: Bloomberg

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EDT

Google’s outgoing CEO Eric Schmidt, who’s supposed to step down next month in favor of Google founder Larry Page, may get to scratch his well-known political itch. Bloomberg says the Obama White House may consider him to replace Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who will be nominated to go to China as US ambassador. Bloomberg cited “a person familiar with the process” as its source and said Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler could also be under consideration. Schmidt will become executive chairman of Google in April. He was at that dinner at John Doerr’s house last month with Barack Obama and Steve Jobs.

Google Prepared to Change Its Algorithms

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:45:00 EST

Google is trying to sweet talk the European Commission out of declaring Google an abusive monopolist but has yet to put a concrete proposal on the table according to Reuters. The EC has been investigating the company since three European concerns, including a Microsoft subsidiary, filed complaints about its Google-preferring searches. A decision could take months. Out-going Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Britain’s Sunday Telegraph that he’d be willing to change the company’s search algorithms to avoid an antitrust finding.

Cloud Expo, Inc. Announces Cloud Expo 2011 New York Venue

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:45:00 EST

Cloud Expo, Inc. announced on Thursday that Cloud Expo 2011 New York, the 8th International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo, will take place June 6-9, 2011, at the Javits Center in New York City. The International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo series is the world’s leading Cloud-focused event and is held in New York, Silicon Valley, Prague, Tokyo, and Hong-Kong. Over 600 corporate sponsors and more than 65,000 industry professionals have participated in Cloud Expo since its inception, 10-folds more than all other Cloud-related events put together.

Google’s Hiring

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:15:00 EST

To chase and catch the elusive goddess, Innovation, and fend off clever rivals, Google means to hire 6,200 people this year, which would represent roughly another 25% increase in its workforce after last year’s, more than it ever has before. Where it’s going to hire these people is unclear other than “across the board and around the globe.” Google’s still-CEO-for-the-moment Eric Schmidt said Tuesday in a speech that the company will hire ~1,000 people in Europe. The company gets something like a million applications a year but promising pre-IPO start-ups like Facebook have proven good at raiding established Google folk. Wall Street apparently wishes Google would be more circumspect in its spending. It recently gave all its staff a loyalty-buying 10% raise.

Is Television in Eric Schmidt’s Future?

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:00:00 EST

Outgoing Google CEO Eric Schmidt is only going to stick around as executive chairman for a year after he turns the company over to co-founder Larry Page, 37, on April 4, according to the New Yorker's Ken Auletta, who wrote the book "Googled." Eric reportedly started getting antsy after he lost the China uncensored search battle last year to Page and Google's other co-founder Sergey Brin coupled with Facebook becoming the hot technology shop where the top engineers really want to work while Google looked increasingly bureaucratic and governments complained about privacy and copyrights. He was tired and couldn't "re-energize."

Google Is a Patent Dwarf

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:45:00 EST

Inspired by the recent list of who got the most US patents last year, patent watcher Florian Mueller did a flyover of Google’s patents. It was a short trip. Google only holds 576 US patents altogether, 282 gotten just last year – in a world where IBM is now doing better than 5,000 a year – and, as far as Mueller can figure out, most of Google’s patents are in search. It’s his distinct impression that Google hasn’t a prayer defending Android with its IP. There are now, by Mueller’s count, 12 infringement suits against Android though only three name Google, and he’s pretty sure there will be more – foreseeing even more Android vendors suing one another to narrow the competition.

Schmidt Out as CEO of Google; Larry Page To Take Over

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:30:00 EST

The Google boys are growing up. They’re bouncing their adult supervisor. CEO Eric Schmidt, who twittered “day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed!,” will cede his title to Google co-founder and president of products Larry Page on April 4, the company said in a surprise announcement Thursday. “Larry is ready to lead,” he said. Schmidt will remain executive chairman, focused, he said, “externally, on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google’s global reach; and internally as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.” Eric said it’s an effort to streamline the company’s clumsy three-way management structure and speed up decision making. In a statement he said “the triumvirate approach has real benefits in terms of shared wisdom, and we will continue to discuss the big decisions among the three of us. But we have also agreed to clarify our individual roles so there’s clear responsibility and accountability at the top of the company.” There was immediate speculation that the shift is connected to Facebook now being the world’s most visited web site. Eric suggested he will stick around. The shakeup announcement came within minutes of Google posting handsome earnings of $8.75 a share versus estimates of $8.09 on revenues of $6.4 billion. Whip lashed, Google’s stock didn’t know which way to go.

Microsoft’s Free Web Kit Packs in 40 Open Source Application Partners

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:45:12 EST

Microsoft Corp. has released an all-comprehensive free web development kit called WebMatrix to create, customize and publish websites to the Internet. Meant for designers of varying skill levels ranging from students to professional developers and agencies building data driven SEO friendly online sites, the platform comes with video tutorials, how-to tips and other ancillary resources.

DOJ May Block Google’s ITA Acquisition

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:00:00 EST

Bloomberg followed by the Wall Street Journal said Thursday that the Justice Department is working on an antitrust suit to stop Google’s $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, which provides online flight and ticket information to popular Internet booking sites. It would be the second time the DOJ has run up antitrust papers challenging Google’s plans. It previously derailed a Google-Yahoo advertising pact. Both Bloomberg and the Journal say the DOJ isn’t sure yet whether it will actually try to stay the ITA acquisition. Google triggered DOJ lawyers into wetting their pencils over Christmas when it demanded last month to know in 30 days whether the deal would be sanctioned or not. The deal was announced last July. Microsoft, Expedia, Sabre and others oppose the deal.

Canadian Outfit Releases Encrypted Portable Private Web Browser

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 04:45:00 EST

Vancouver-based ENC Security Systems, which is supposed to make “un-hackable” Encrypt Stick flash drive software, has released an Encrypt Stick 5.0 Private Browser, a digital privacy browser that it claims is the safest way to browse the Internet. Its timing couldn’t be better considering the Federal Trade Commission is now backing the development of a Do-Not-Track system for web that’s got the online ad people worried about their $23 billion sector and claiming it will mean the end of free content and Firefox revisiting a Do-Not-Track mechanism after Mozilla, pressured by an ad exec, killed such a tool a few months ago for fear Madison Avenue would come up with something sneakier, the Wall Street Journal says.

Google May Have to Disclose Its Precious Algorithms

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST

Europe’s antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia told the European Parliament Tuesday that the Google investigation is likely to be a “difficult case,” Bloomberg said, and apparently one that absorbs a lot of resources. The European Commission couldn’t say whether Google will be forced to tell regulators – and from there everybody else – all about its precious search algorithms said to be as closely guarded as the recipe for Coke. Google is also facing national antitrust probes in Germany, Italy and France. Google owns more than 90% of the European search market. The Justice Department was officially apprised of the EC’s investigation.

Google to Translate European Patents

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST

How’s this for scary. Google has cut a deal with the European Patent Office (EPO) to turn its still primitive machine translation widgetry loose on about 1.5 million patents because the Europeans can’t agree on a common language. French, English and German aren’t good enough for Spain and Italy. There’s no Europe-wide patent system and the EPO is hoping the arrangement with Google will nudge the naysayers toward one. It’s also supposed to cut the huge translation fees that reportedly make a European patent 10 times more expensive than a U.S. patent.

Google-Groupon Deal Stalls

Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST

Chicago-based "social buying" site Groupon will not, after all, be acquired by Google for approaching $6 billion. That's because Groupon's investors and its CEO Andrew Mason have reportedly ended the "direct negotiations" between the two companies that Reuters was already reporting on Wednesday were in full flow.

Google Reportedly Ready To Blow $6 Billion on Groupon

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:25:00 EST

Google is reportedly ready to shell out $5 billion-$6 billion – evidently more like $6 billion – to buy two-year-old Groupon. The All Things Digital blog says the bid works out to $5.3 billion down and $700 million in earnouts unless negotiations fall apart. That’s more than Google paid for any other acquisition. It only spent $3.1 billion on DoubleClick and $1.65 billion on YouTube. Naturally there’s talk it’s overpaying.