Companies say they have a right to collect information for advertisers
Wall Street Journal Apr 10, 08 4:15 PM CDT
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Google, Yahoo and a bevy of Internet biggies have joined to fight a proposed New York state law that would limit their ability to collect information about people's web habits for advertisers, reports the Wall Street Journal . The coalition says the law would endanger the future of online advertising and “the availability of free content on the Internet.”
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Two Internet-shaking deals stem from Microsoft-Yahoo talks
Wall Street Journal Apr 9, 08 10:34 PM CDT
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Two groundbreaking Internet deals are in the works, both related to Microsoft's desire to take over Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal reports. In one, Yahoo is considering combining its online operations with Time Warner's AOL. In the other, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is in talks to join Microsoft in its bid to acquire Yahoo.
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Startups look to combine social network feeds
MIT Technology Review Apr 9, 08 8:15 PM CDT
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Several new services join personal Internet feeds into a single space, meaning you don’t have to re-post the same new information to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. The CEO of Seesmic, a video-conversation service, says it’s frustrating to pick through 10 different social networks—and his company has just bought Twhirl, which allows users to post on three different feeds at once, Technology Review reports.
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Deal could help company fend off Microsoft or get a improved offer
Wall Street Journal Apr 9, 08 4:56 PM CDT
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Yahoo will try carrying ads from Google as it seeks to ward off a takeover by Microsoft—or at least get an improved offer, the Wall Street Journal reports. The test will run two weeks, and only 3% of Yahoo search results will come up with Google ads. Google, in a statement, said the test doesn't preface any longer-term cooperation.
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Venture capital has dried up, stocks have sagged in tech hot spot
New York Times Apr 9, 08 11:51 AM CDT
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Venture capital in Silicon Valley is drying up as angel investors, wary of the fickle stock market and tightening credit markets, become more cautious with their cash, the New York Times reports. Their hesitance has slowed the pace of job growth and expansion at tech start-ups, and has dramatically cut the number of firms going public.
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UN info on displaced peoples now available through Earth mapping feature
Associated Press Apr 8, 08 5:45 PM CDT
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A new feature allows Google Earth users to take a tour of the world’s refugee hotspots, with images of camps supplemented by information from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the AP reports. The search titan has greatly improved the available resolution in its satellite photos of refugee areas—for example, individual tents are visible in a Chadian camp for Darfur’s displaced.
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Companies should delete users' info within six months, advisory group says
BBC Apr 8, 08 3:51 PM CDT
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A European advisory body has sharply criticized Internet search companies’ use of personal data, the BBC reports. Its recommendations, likely to be adopted by the European Commission, say search companies should delete users’ information within six months. The opinion comes alongside reports of a new kind of computer cookie that tracks Internet surfers’ behavior in much more detail than ordinary cookies.
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Privacy-seeking couple claims 'mental suffering' after home appears online
The Smoking Gun Apr 4, 08 6:11 PM CDT
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Google gave in to the Defense Department, but can it fight a couple in Pittsburgh? Aaron and Christine Boring are seeking more than $25,000 for invasion of privacy by Google's “Street View” feature, the Smoking Gun reports. The couple says that a “major component of their purchase decision was a desire for privacy,” and Internet images of their home diminish its value.
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Search giant OK with not winning FCC spectrum auction
New York Times Apr 4, 08 1:02 PM CDT
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Google nearly became the unenthused owner of a $4.71 billion slice of wireless airwaves in a recent Federal Communications Commission auction, the New York Times reports. Its bid was part of a deal with the FCC to open some spectrum to third-party services, but for much of the bidding, Google had the top price—until Verizon swooped in with the $4.74 billion winner.
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First major layoff in search giant's history follows merger
New York Times Apr 3, 08 1:25 PM CDT
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Some 300 DoubleClick employees, who briefly enjoyed a taste of Google culture after the ad agency was acquired in March, are facing layoffs as the search giant merges the two operations, reports the New York Times . It’s the first major layoff in Google’s history and trims DoubleClick’s US workforce by about 25%. DoubleClick employs about 1,500 globally.
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Engineering VP is the second senior exec to jump ship in two months
New York Times Apr 2, 08 11:56 AM CDT
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A top Google engineer has signed on to help guide EMI Music through a restructuring, in the wake of its acquisition by after private equity firm Terra Firma, reports the New York Times . Douglas Merrill, Google’s VP of engineering, will become president of digital at the world’s fourth-largest music company.
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it's april 1
Search engine
pranks users with email time machine, mission to Mars
CNET Apr 1, 08 3:44 PM CDT
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Google continued a time-honored tradition of April Fools’ Day pranks today with foolish new email features and a mission to Mars, cNet reports. Gmail users found a new feature, “Custom Time,” which would allow emails to be sent back in time. And not to worry in case of problems, the site said—an “e-flux capacitor is on hand to resolve issues of causality.”
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