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Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Search engine giant, Yahoo!, has announced that its social news sharing tool, Yahoo! Activity, will now be available to use in the United Kingdom and Europe, according to an article published by New Media Age.
Launched in September, the tool uses Facebook’s Open Graph to allow users to share the content they’ve been reading on their Facebook accounts.
To use Yahoo! Activity users are simply required to login to Facebook via the tool; it will then automatically do the sharing.
Yahoo! – a popular platform for search engine marketing initiatives – has revealed that the application has attracted 11 million users in the US already, and are hoping to see a similar kind of success in Europe.
Yahoo!’s UK MD and VP of sales, James Wildman, spoke about what Yahoo! Activity had bought to Facebook so far.
He said: “When Facebook recently unveiled its most-shared stories in 2011 in the US, of the 40 most shared, 12 came from Yahoo!.”
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Tags: facebook, Facebook Open Graph, Social news sharing, yahoo, Yahoo Activity
Posted in Search Engine News
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Friday, December 9th, 2011
Yahoo! has announced an update to its image search results. An idea previously implemented by rival Google and search partner Bing, Yahoo! search now features an infinite scroll, according to an article published by Search Engine Results.
Users will also be able to share any image that catches their attention via both Facebook and Twitter, as part of the update.
Infinite scrolling has become a common feature in image searching but has not yet made the transition to standard search results – though it has been rumoured and could have a potentially massive impact on SEO.
Rather than featuring pages of results, infinite scrolling – as it suggests – simply allows users to scroll down the page.
Yahoo! has also revealed that other features in image search will remain as they are when the users is scrolling down the page.
Although a positive move by Yahoo!, the move has widely been considered as being implemented too late.
Bing have had the feature in place since 2009, whilst Google implemented the feature into their own image search function last year.
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Tags: Bing, Google, infinite scroll, SEO, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Search engine giants Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Bing, are reportedly looking to attract smaller businesses to their platforms by attempting to demystify search engine marketing and PPC advertising, according to an article published by USA Today.
All competing in a market which is set to reach $17 billion by next year – according to figures released by eMarketer – Google, Yahoo! and Bing are looking towards small businesses as a revenue generator.
However as the two disciplines can leave many bewildered, the search engine giants have tried to simplify the process; for example, Google recently released AdWords Express, which sees local businesses’ PPC ad campaigns managed by Google.
Meanwhile Microsoft have launched a loyalty program to encourage advertisers to make the switch to Bing adCenter – a platform that supports ads on both Bing and Yahoo!.
CEO of search consultancy firm, Didit, Kevin Lee, emphasised the importance of local businesses for search engines.
He said: “Small advertisers are critically important, not only because of the huge revenue opportunities, but also because a broad spectrum of local advertisers provides a better user experience.”
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Tags: Adwords Express, Bing, Bing adCenter, Google, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
With rumours of a possible sale intensifying, Yahoo! is being sued by its investors who claim that members of the board aren’t partaking in their duty to seek the best price for the search engine giant – if it is indeed sold – according to an article published by Bloomberg.
Yahoo! are said to have implemented bidding rules that would discourage a purchase that would lead to the replacement of the company’s current directors – which include the search engine giant’s co-founder, Jerry Yang – according to the lawsuit filed by M&C Partners III in Delaware Chancery Court, Wilmington on December 1.
M&C have also claimed that the company “has adopted a confidentiality agreement” for potential bidders, which prevents them from speaking with other bidders and confines “themselves to a bid for only a minority stake,” according to court papers.
They also allege in their lawsuit that this confidentiality “constitutes an unreasonable anti-takeover device” and “tilts the playing field” in favour of co-founder, Yang, who they state wants to have “a disproportionate influence” over the Yahoo!’s affairs.
According to Bloomberg News sources, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Softbank Corp are said to be in talks with Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC with regards to making a bid for the whole of Yahoo! – a popular platform for search engine marketing.
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Tags: lawsuit, shareholders, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Rumours surrounding the potential sale of Yahoo! have been circulating for a considerable period of time; however, it has now emerged that private equity firms, Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, along with Asian partners are in the process of preparing a fresh bid for the search engine, according to an article published by the Guardian.
Microsoft had put forward a bid as part of a consortium worth around $20 billion – lower than another received bid.
The new consortium’s bid could value Yahoo! at $25 billion, according to a Reuters source.
The new consortium would feature prominent Asian businesses including Alibaba Group from China and Softbank Corp from Japan – though final plans have yet to be confirmed.
Spokesman for Alibaba Group, John Spelich commented yesterday, stating: “Alibaba Group has not made a decision to be part of a whole company bid for Yahoo!.”
It is believed that Alibaba Group are primarily interested in buying back a 40 per cent stake currently owned by Yahoo! – a popular platform for search engine marketing initiatives.
Dick Wei, an analyst at JPMorgan commented on Alibaba’s intentions, adding: “Alibaba definitely wants to get its stake back from Yahoo!, so whatever that can make that happen, they will try for it.”
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Tags: Alibaba Group, search engine, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Thursday, November 10th, 2011
In line with the search alliance formed by the two companies, Yahoo! has revealed that search adverts for the platform will be sold via Microsoft’s Advertising adCentre from next year, according to an article published by New Media Age.
The move is part of a bid to improve the collective reach of both Yahoo! and Bing – both of which are popular platforms for search engine marketing initiatives.
Microsoft’s marketing lead for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Cedric Chambaz confirmed that announcement in an official post on the Microsoft Advertising blog; he also revealed that the change has already been made in North America.
Yahoo! and Microsoft have also revealed that they will be selling their display ads with AOL, however this pact will currently only effect those buyers in North America.
A statement released by Yahoo! stated: “The ad partnership announcement today reflects a solution for premium digital display advertising inventory, that addresses the specific needs of the US market.”
The statement also added that current system in place in Europe, the Middle East and Africa was the “right one.”
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Tags: Bing, Search Ads, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Having been surrounded by rumours of an imminent sale, Yahoo! – a popular platform for search engine marketing initiatives – has seen the value of its shares drop by the most in two months, according to an article published by Bloomberg.
Share value dropped by 5.6 per cent – now with a value of $15.64 – representing the largest decrease since early August.
With rivals Google and Bing’s owner, Microsoft heavily rumoured to be looking at funding separate deals with other investors, Yahoo! is now said to be looking to sell its Asian assets – instead of selling the whole company.
Any potential sale of Asian assets would see the proceeds redistributed amongst current shareholders.
Co-founder of the search engine, Jerry Yang, speaking at the All Thing Digital Asia conference, stated: “The intent going in is not to put ourselves up for sale.”
“The intent is to look at all the options. There’s plenty of options for the board, and plenty of options for our shareholders to realize value.”
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Tags: Google, Microsoft, shares, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Monday, October 24th, 2011
Already holding the majority of the search engine market – and also a popular search engine marketing platform – Google has become the latest potential suitor for Yahoo!, according to an article published by Hexus.net.
Microsoft are said to be discussing a deal with a number of partners, however Google has now emerged and is rumoured to be talking to private equity firms about funding a potential bid.
With Google already holding a 65 per cent share of the search engine market, it would be unable to directly takeover Yahoo! – who themselves have a 14.7 per cent share.
Google would, however, be able to take over their struggling rival with a shadow bid.
If any Google takeover of Yahoo! – currently said be valued at $20 billion – was to come off, it could deal a serious blow to the ambitions of Microsoft and its search engine, Bing – which recently formed a Search Alliance with Yahoo!
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Tags: Bing, Google, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Monday, October 24th, 2011
With speculation rife for months that Yahoo! is soon to be sold, Microsoft is rumoured to be working on another possible bid, this time with Silver Lake Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to buy the search engine, according to an article published by The Wall Street Journal.
The bid, which is currently being discussed, would see Microsoft put up the majority of the finance – around several billion dollars – with both Silver Lake Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board contributing a lesser sum to the deal; while banks would arrange the rest of the financing.
However, insiders close to the matter have revealed that should the financing plan fall through or become too complex, the deal could be abandoned.
Microsoft previously made a bid for Yahoo! back in 2008.
The bid, worth around $44.6 billion, was rejected and since then Yahoo!’s share value has plummeted – losing nearly 44 per cent of their value.
Although a reasonably popular platform for search engine marketing ventures, any potential Microsoft bid for Yahoo! will be aimed at protecting the Search Alliance partnership that the two struck up following Microsoft’s failed bid.
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Tags: Microsoft, search engine, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
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Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Having always traditionally played second fiddle to Google – and now third with the introduction of Bing – Yahoo! Inc is in the process of preparing financial information for potential sale, according to an article published by the Wall Street Journal.
Yahoo! has suffered from the increase in power that its rivals, including Google – one of the biggest platforms for search engine marketing – and social networking site Facebook, have gained.
The search engine company is currently undertaking a review of its strategy, having previously sacked chief executive, Carol Bartz, last month.
As a result, Yahoo!’s board is also considering a number of different options, including the sale of its assets or the striking of partnerships.
Members of the board at the search engine informed staff, last month, that the company was “fielding inquiries from multiple parties that have already expressed interest in a number of potential options.”
Chairman of the Chinese company, Alibaba Group Holding Corp, Jack Ma, is amongst the interest parties. He previously made his interest in buying the company known – stating that he was “very interested” in a possible acquisition.
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Tags: sale, Search Engine Marketing, yahoo
Posted in Search Engine News
