Google is backing Yahoo in its effort to stave off an unsolicited takeover by Microsoft because an independent Yahoo will increase competition in the internet search and advertising markets, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report also quoted Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt sayiing that Google “absolutely supports the decision that Yahoo made” in rejecting the Microsoft overture.
He made the comments during an hourlong interview with reporters. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were also present, the report said.
“There is no question in our view that an independent Yahoo is better,” Schmidt It “will provide more competition in search and other advertising markets, in particular in display advertising,” he said.
Google is the leading seller of internet ads, but most of its revenue comes from paid search ads, which appear next to the results of an internet search using Google.
Yahoo, which is stronger in display ads, rejected in May a €29.8 billion (US$47.5 billion) offer from the world’s largest software maker. Schmidt would not say whether the informal offer fairly valued Yahoo, but said there is no way to know what the actual bid would ultimately be.
“Microsoft has a long history of having deals that look quite good and end up looking not so good when you read the fine print,” he said.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is also in Sun Valley, but has so far ducked reporters’ questions. A Microsoft spokesman did not immediately return calls seeing comment.
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Microsoft Windows Mobile is beating the iPhone by a wide margin, according to figures from mobile and computer industry research firm IDC.
According to a top Windows Mobile executive, Microsoft shipped some 4.5 million Windows Mobile devices during the first quarter of 2008, up 1.8 million units year over year.
The executive, Andy Lees, cited IDG figures showing that Apple sold only 1.8 million iPhones during the same quarter.
Lees, who replaced Pieter Knook earlier in 2008 at the helm of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile business, called Windows Mobile a “gold rush of opportunity.”
Lees was delivering a keynote speech at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference.
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As the 3G iPhone launches in Germany and the UK today, comScore M:Metrics reports that more than 80% of iPhone users in France, Germany and the UK browse the mobile web, compared to 32% of other smartphone users.
Even on 2.5G networks, the iPhone has increased internet consumption by 13 times for social networking sites: 42% of iPhone users visited a social networking site on their device in May compared to the market average of 3% and 10% of other smartphone owners.
Nearly 70% of iPhone users send and receive e-mail, compared to 26% among other smartphones users and 7.6% of the mobile phone market overall. Given stories of massive demand for the 3G version, it will be interesting to see how it is put to use.
In the meantime, Nokia claims operators and other interested parties are flocking to join the new Symbian Foundation whose first version of royalty-free software is due out next year followed by open source in 2010.
Whatever their functionality, it turns out that 97% of mobile phones no longer in use languish in drawers: the Western world need to do much better at recycling. Ignorance is no defence.
Dan Kaminsky announced that he had saved the world – having discovered an security flaw in the internet six months ago, he immediately set about fixing it in secret, in cahoots with some of the world’s biggest tech companies. Now it’s fixed with a software patch and a global phishing phest has been averted – we hope.
The European Parliament decided it would like to have a single telcom authority after all – to be known as BERT – and opted to pursue a policy of functional separation, which managed to enrage both incumbents and alternative service providers. Quite a coup.
The European Commission continued to rain on the mobile industry’s parade, outlining plans to change the way mobile termination rates are regulated by 2012, suggesting that wholesale charges should be calculated on a different basis.
The UK’s Competition Commission is taking immediate unilateral action: its enquiry into mobile termination is likely to run and run.
Vimpelcom, Russia’s second largest mobile network operator, has finalised its mobile joint venture with Vietnamese state companies. A Reuters report said this will be the Russian carrier’s launch pad for its Asian expansion.
It’s likely to meet the Chinese coming the other way, so to speak: Huawei’s 2007 revenue was up 48% to almost €8 billion, due in large part to expansion outside its home market.
And of course the week wouldn’t be complete without more action on the Yahoo/Microsoft/grumpy shareholders front. Microsoft has given shareholder agitator Carl Icahn assurances that if he manages to oust Yahoo’s board at the general meeting in early August, it will put another deal on the table.
Yahoo decided that a new approach to search is the way to attack Google.
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Software giant to take sole control of MSN Israel; dissolves partnership with Internet Gold.
Microsoft is to take sole control of MSN Israel, the Internet portal it currently operates in partnership with Israeli ISP Internet Gold, the firms announced at the weekend.
It seems that Microsoft will acquire Internet Gold’s 50.1% share in the venture for an undisclosed sum, to give it 100% ownership of the portal.
The companies did not publish further details, simply stating that they are currently “discussing the terms of migration and possible future cooperation”.
According to various local press reports, the transition will take place by October.
“We have been happy to partner with Microsoft in establishing MSN Israel over the last eight years,” Eli Holtzman, CEO of Internet Gold, said in a statement.
“Given the change in the parties’ online strategies we have agreed it makes sense for Microsoft to operate msn.co.il independently. We believe this is the right move for both parties and anticipate it will have a positive impact on our results,” he added.
Indeed, the move backs up Microsoft’s strategy of having majority control of all its MSN portals. MSN operates in 44 countries worldwide, and in most cases its local operations are 100%-owned by Microsoft.
“Our relationship with Internet Gold has worked well to establish strong foundations for our online business but both parties now feel that the time has come to operate independently to allow us both to deepen our impact on the Israeli market,” said Danny Yamin, general manager of Microsoft, Israel.
“We are very excited about our future in Israel and see some fantastic opportunities for growth and development of both the MSN portal and the Windows Live services,” he added.
Meanwhile, Internet Gold was keen to play down the importance of MSN Israel to its business, noting that the portal accounted for less than 3% of its total revenues last year.
Internet Gold reported revenues of 1.18 billion shekels (US$306 million) in 2007, up 188% on-year, although the bulk of that increase was attributable to the merger of 012 Golden Lines into the company’s Smile.Communications brand. On a pro forma basis, revenue growth was 6.6%. The company posted net income of 158 million shekels ($41 million), up from 26.3 million shekels in 2006.
012 Smile.Communications provides broadband and fixed-line services to business and consumer customers. Following its IPO in October 2007, Internet Gold owns 72.4% of 012 Smile.Communications.
Internet Gold’s portfolio of Internet portals and e-commerce sites, including MSN Israel, is held via its wholly-owned Smile.Media unit.
“During the last few years, the Internet Gold Group has significantly expanded its activities in a variety of communications areas and, as a result, our MSN Israel operations currently represent a minor portion of the group’s total revenues,” said Holtzman.
“Thus, we have decided recently to change course and seek alternatives for growth,” he concluded, adding that Internet Gold would seek opportunities “in and out of Israel”.
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In the 1976 British DJs were bereft when Queen’s six minute Bohemian Rhapsody was no longer in the charts – it had been a staple for so very long. Technology journalists are going to feel the same about the final outcome of the Microsoft/Yahoo debacle because here we go again.
Yesterday Microsoft issued a statement saying it wanted to reopen talks to acquire either the search business or all of Yahoo, on the condition that the current board was replaced first.
The software company also acknowledged, for the first time, that it has been discussing its plans with billionaire shareholder and agitator Carl Icahn. He has campaigning to get rid of the board since it blocked the original Microsoft bid as he does not believe it was in shareholders’ interests.
Should Icahn succeed in his campaign to get rid of the board – his big chance is looming, at Yahoo’s general meeting that is to take place on 1 August – Microsoft wants his support.
And it looks like they’ve got it: Icahn has apparently written to shareholders saying that if they support his proposals for a new board, then negotiations with Microsoft will be reopened forthwith.
News of the behind the scenes action drove Yahoo’s shares up almost 12%, to US$23.89: in May Microsoft’s offer of US$33 per share was rejected.
Yahoo said it was open to negotiations, but argued that effectively placing Yahoo in Icahn’s hands for sale to Microsoft at an unknown price would not be putting shareholders’ interests first.
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Unable to strike a deal on its own, Microsoft reportedly is hoping to snap up Yahoo’s online search operations with the help of News Corp. and Time Warner.
An Associated Pres report also said the latest twist in Microsoft’s convoluted courtship caused Yahoo’s shares to rise more than 3%, even though the chances of a deal getting done still seemed remote.
If nothing else, the enthusiastic reaction to the unconfirmed report in The Wall Street Journal served as another reminder that investors want Yahoo to pursue a different path than the one mapped out by CEO Jerry Yang.
And that could be bad news for Yang, who started Yahoo as an internet directory 14 years ago.
Unless he can sway shareholder sentiment before Yahoo’s annual meeting August 1, Yang could lose his job in a boardroom coup being attempted by investor Carl Icahn.
Recognizing Yahoo’s vulnerability, Microsoft is trying to recruit News Corp., Time Warner’s AOL or other media partners to put together a joint bid that would slice Yahoo into pieces, according to the Journal.
The story cited undisclosed people familiar with the discussions.
Microsoft declined comment. A Yahoo spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
Under the reported breakup plan, Microsoft would emerge with Yahoo’s online search operations, the main object of the software maker’s desire since it began stalking Yahoo as long as ago as 2006.
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Barely had the door closed on Bill Gates’ last day at Microsoft HQ when the company proclaimed it had bought Powerset, a privately owned outfit that is reputed to have developed an innovative suite of search tools.
Intelligibly Microsoft has not given up its assail on Google’s dominance of internet search.
Microsoft insists the acquisition procedure had been underway for some considerable time, irrespective of the Yahoo negotiations.
Powerset approach has given rise to much publicity because it uses “natural language” to search the web instead of keywords like Google. Powerset’s technology seeks to understand the meaning and context of the query and the web pages it searches to produce far more precise results.
Let’s hope so: I searched for a Juliet Balcony yesterday on eBay and clicked the ’search similar items’ link, only to be taken to a page full of balcony bras, which would not preclude people falling out of an upper floor window.
However, language and its use is endlessly elusive, so meaning is often hard to grasp. Powerset’s critics have argued that the company is years away from a commercially viable version.
That will be no storm to Microsoft, which is in this for the long haul: no less an authority than Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who is generally credited with inventing the web, has said that web 3.0 will be driven by semantics. But right now, we are very much in the land of web 2.0.
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Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to buy MobiComp, a Portuguese company that makes software for the mobile world, including mobile posting to Web sites such as Facebook.
Microsoft hopes the acquisition will further its mobile ambitions, particularly in building new mobile data protection and sharing services, the company said in a statement. The company also plans to use MobiComp to further expand its ability to provide compelling software that can be used for work and play with mobile phones, PCs and the Internet
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
MobiComp offers several Web based software services. For example, its MobileKeeper Backup & Restore backs up mobile phone data, while MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities connects mobile phone to social networking sites and gain updates on entertainment and news.
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Microsoft Taiwan, mobile phone maker High Tech Computer (HTC) and several other companies on Thursday announced a mobile Internet service station in Taiwan called Pl@net.
The mobile Internet service platform puts a host of entertainment and shopping options in users’ hands via their mobile phone, including news, travel planning and purchase, as well as concert tickets and content from Warner Music.
Several Internet shops well-known in Taiwan also signed on to Pl@net, including an online bookstore run by Eslite and the HappyGoCard, a shopping discount and point card.
Pl@net formally launches on July 1.
HTC also announced the release of HTC My Connect 2.0, a new version of mobile software that puts a button on a handset’s touchscreen that users push for quick software downloads, to share pictures, and more. One button on My Connect sends users right in the services and entertainment offered on Pl@net.
HTC is the world’s largest maker of smartphones based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile OS.
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New deals in Asia boost Yahoo’s mobile search reach as the try to grab a bigger slice of the market for advertising on the small screen.
As we get caught up in the search ad machinations between Yahoo and Google in the United States, it’s easy to lose focus on international deals. Over the past year, Yahoo has been making deals with a number of wireless telecoms, and becoming the default search provider for their customers.
The latest set of agreements pulled in six more telecoms in Asia. Reuters cited David Ko, Asia managing director and vice president of Yahoo’s mobile division, on the latest round of deals.
These put Yahoo’s reach on mobiles to 600 million, Ko said. In countries where use of the wireless web and associated services exceeds that per-person of US subscribers, it’s easy to see the benefit. Yahoo gets more usage, more chances to display mobile ads, and more opportunities to make money from subscribers.
The only little setback we have seen for Yahoo on mobiles was the end of a one-year deal with Opera Software, which had offered Yahoo as the default search for its excellent mobile browsers. That agreement ended with Opera switching back to Google for its search.
If Yahoo keeps securing deals in Asia, they won’t miss Opera. Now they just need the monetization to reach or exceed expectations in order to help satisfy shareholders who are miffed over the loss of a deal with Microsoft to sell the company.
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Google CEO backs independent Yahoo (USA)
