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Yahoo Lands Exclusive Mobile Deal With Telefonica

Here are a few facts about Telefonica: it’s a huge telecommunications company.  It’s based in Spain.  And it’s a good friend of Yahoo’s, considering that Telefonica has named Yahoo the exclusive search and search advertising provider on its mobile portal in Spain. The Telefonica-Yahoo relationship actually goes back a couple of years, since in late 2007, Telefonica...

FTC Takes Closer Look At Google’s AdMob Deal

The "Facts about Google’s acquisition of AdMob" page Google established in November of last year apparently hasn’t satisfied the Federal Trade Commission’s curiosity.  A fresh report indicates that the FTC has stepped up its investigation of the deal by seeking sworn declarations from third parties. This isn’t a good sign for Google.  Todd Shields and Dina...

Yahoo on Microsoft Deal Benefits for Advertisers, Consumers, Publishers

Yahoo’s line of thinking with regards to the big Microsoft/Yahoo search and advertising deal is that it will benefit both Microsoft and Yahoo’s advertisers, as well as consumers and publishers. It will benefit advertisers because it will increase search volume, with results from both Bing and Yahoo being taken into consideration. It will benefit consumers because by combining advertisers...

Google Acquires DocVerse, Takes Aim At MS Office

The acquisitive arm of Google reached out again today, and this time, grabbed DocVerse, a company that specializes in the real-time sharing and editing of documents.  The unusual thing is that DocVerse doesn’t deal with just any documents; instead, it focuses on Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents. A post on the Official Google Enterprise Blog explained the purchase by stating,...

Yahoo’s Bartz Keen On Making Acquisitions

Believe it or not, Yahoo has a market cap of about $22 billion, and the company intends to put some of that money to good use in the near future.  Carol Bartz stated at the Transformation 2010 conference that she intends to acquire more stuff this year. In response to what could have been a "yes" or "no" question concerning acquisitions in 2010, Bartz answered "absolutely,"...

Google Buys Cloud Photo Editing Service

Google announced today it has acquired Picnik, a cloud-based photo editing service. The company consists of about 20 employees. "Google processes petabytes of data every day, and with their worldwide infrastructure and world-class team, it is truly the best home we could have found. Under the Google roof we’ll reach more people than ever before, impacting more lives and making more photos...

eBay Buys World Of Good

World of Good is likely to get a lot bigger in the near future.  The brand, which helps artists in developing countries connect with buyers, has been acquired by eBay, and expansion seems to be the first thing on both sides’ "to do" list. Believe it or not, this isn’t at all the random move it might appear to be.  World of Good has been around for five years and boasts...

Google Video Compression Developer Acquisition Complete

Update: Late Friday, Google announced that it closed the On2 Technologies acquisition, valued at about $124.6 million, after On2’s shareholders voted to approve the transaction. "We’re excited to welcome the On2 team to Google and to continue to enhance the video experience for users on the web," said Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google. "Through...

Google Reconnects With/Acquires Aardvark

Aardvark has, in a sense, returned to its roots.  Or in other words: Two of the four men who created the social search engine are former Googlers, and now, it’s been confirmed that the search giant’s acquired Aardvark. Details regarding timeframes and the fate of Aardvark’s technology and employees are sadly lacking at this point.  "[A] source that has been briefed...

Dailymotion Partners With EMI On Music Videos

Dailymotion has reached a deal with EMI Music to offer the record label’s library of music videos on its website, mobile site, iPhone app and the Dailymotion channel on Internet connected TVs. Beginning in April, Dailymotion users will be able to view EMI music videos from artists including Coldplay, Katy Perry, Robbie Williams, David Guetta and others. The agreement makes use of Dailymotion’s...

Google May Invest In Chinese Media/Ad Firm

A little less than a month ago, Google announced that it might shut down Google.cn and its offices in China.  The search giant may not be giving up on the country entirely, however, as a new report has indicated that it’s part of a group attempting to invest in a large Chinese media and advertising company. According to George Chen and Melanie Lee, Disney is leading a consortium that includes...

Monster Announces HotJobs Acquisition

Yesterday and this morning, reports indicated that Yahoo wasn’t having much luck selling its small business unit and HotJobs.  HotJobs has, however, found a new home.  This afternoon, Monster announced that it’s agreed to acquire the property for $225 million, and Monster’s reached a traffic agreement with Yahoo, too. The agreement will see Monster provide career- and job-related...

Yahoo’s Business Garage Sale Not Going Well

Go to the Yahoo Small Business homepage, and you’ll be informed that "PC Magazine named us ‘Editors’ Choice.’"  It seems that not many other entities are interested in either Yahoo’s small business unit or HotJobs, however, as plans to sell both may have fallen through. More than six months ago, reports indicated that Yahoo was trying to get rid of these...

Report: Google Planning “Aggressive” Pursuit Of AOL Deal

Last month, we learned that AOL’s CEO, ex-Googler Tim Armstrong, doesn’t intend to blindly renew AOL’s search deal with Google when it expires in December.  Google doesn’t appear ready to stand back and let Microsoft or some other company take its place, however. Nicholas Carlson spoke to an unnamed source "close to Mountain View’s headquarters," and this...

Netflix Reaches Deal With Indie Film Distributors

Netflix said today it has reached deals with a number of distributors of independent film that will give its members the option to instantly watch hundred of new indie titles. Netflix said it has reached non-exclusive licensing agreements to stream films from distributors The Criterion Collection, Gravitas Ventures, Kino Lorber, Music Box Films, Oscilloscope Laboratories and Regent Releasing. "We...