Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /aol/

Yahoo! hustles display ad deal to fend off Facebook

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 06:49:00 GMT

Carol Bartz may have just left the building, but Yahoo!'s newest CEO Tim Morse is already attempting to boost the portal's performance and fill the firm's coffers by flash-selling display adverts.

According to The Financial Times, Yahoo!'s top brass are hustling to secure a mutual ad-selling arrangement with Microsoft and AOL in a bid to ramp up ad revenues and stop Facebook from toppling Yahoo! in the US display-advertising market.

All three firms have remained tight-lipped on the issue, but industry sources let slip that the trio seem close to finalising a deal after making successful pitches to New York ad buyers earlier this week.

Details are still thin on the ground but it's thought that each of the firm's mad men sold premium ad space on their own pages to Manhattan buyers, as well as second-tier slots on partner sites.

The move could make buying display ads across Yahoo!, Microsoft and AOL as quick and easy as buying search-related ads on Google.

However, critics have been quick to note that each firm can only guarantee premium space on its own network. Good placement on secondary sites, however, will likely be subject to each partner site's discretion depending on its own ad sales - potentially making for a tough sell to savvy media buyers.

Criticisms aside, Yahoo! seems quietly bent on rolling out the system by the end of this year - especially as the firm's second quarter display advertising revenues came in at just $467 million - $40 million below forecast - after a sales shake-up left the company with fewer hands to sell premium ads to big-name customers.

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Michael Arrington gets crunched by AOL

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:25:00 GMT

TechCrunch editor and founder Michael Arrington has left the technology site only a year after being purchased by internet giant AOL.

In a statement, AOL said: "The TechCrunch acquisition has been a success for AOL and for our shareholders, and we are very excited about its future. Michael Arrington, the founder of TechCrunch, has decided to move on from TechCrunch and AOL to his newly formed venture fund."

The move comes hot on the heels of a bitter dispute between Arrington and AOL blog network editor-and-chief Arianna Huffington, who took over at the helm after AOL acquired the Huffington Post for $315 million.

The two became embroiled in a public debate over editorial independence at TechCrunch after news emerged that AOL invested $10 million in Arrington's venture CrunchFund.

According to the Guardian, the news was also met with opposition from journalists who argued that any start-ups Arrington's CrunchFund invested in would also receive preferential treatment at TechCrunch.

The relationship between Huffington and Arrington has often been strained, but came to a head last week when confusion over Arrington's role at TechCrunch resulted in him publicly issuing an ultimatum on the TechCrunch site.

Days later, AOL reported that Arrington was moving on from TechCrunch.

AOL said: "Michael is a world-class entrepreneur and we look forward to supporting his new endeavour through our investment in his venture fund. Erick Schonfeld has been named the editor of TechCrunch. TechCrunch will be expanding its editorial leadership in the coming months."

Schonfeld joined the technology blog in 2007 as co-editor and will serve as interim editor for the time being.

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Bebo - redefined and refreshed?

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:36:00 GMT

Five years ago, Bebo was one of the leading social networking sites, a real rival to the then all-important Myspace. Then Facebook came along, AOL bought the site in 2008 and Bebo fell into neglect. AOL then sold it on last year to Criterion Capital Partners, a private equity firm for $10 million - a fraction of the $850 million it bought Bebo for two years earlier.

The new owners are now revamping the site as a viable alternative to Facebook, with games, customisable profiles and media content.

Original owner Michael Birch has re-invested in the company and told the Telegraph he is confident the site can hold its own, even in the shadow of Facebook.

"There are lots of gaps in what Facebook provides; it doesn't provide media or lots of games - apart from its apps. Nor are users able to change their profile that much," Birch said. "The site stays largely the same - whereas on Bebo we are going offer users an online location they can really personalise."

The new-look Bebo also has features such as emoticons for the user express his or her feelings (instead of Facebook's famous 'Like' function), video chat, an activity feed for each user and a games platform. Interestingly, Bebo's Facebook Connect function signifies its intent to direct link to the social media giant.

Talking to the BBC, Bebo's chief technology officer, Akash Garg said: "When AOL bought the company, it was unclear to me what their strategy with Bebo was and I don't think they ever really worked that out or articulated a vision to make it long lasting."

"Bebo didn't get the attention or the feature sets it needed under AOL, and I saw this as an opportunity to develop some new ones and energise and reinvigorate the user base."

As an alternative to Facebook, Bebo is looking to attract those no longer interested in Facebook or too young to have an account. Furthermore, they are looking to make Bebo enjoyable, something that Michael Birch feels is lacking in the market.

"Bebo is going to be the social network that offers lots of content, games, and just be a place of fun online. That's what's missing from the social network space - some fun."

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Huffington Post set for UK launch

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 02:49:00 GMT

Arianna Huffington is to launch the Huffington Post in the United Kingdom this summer, which will initially be a homepage with mainly UK content on it linking back into the regular Huffington Post site.

Ms Huffington, speaking to the Telegraph, spoke of how she wanted to expand the brand internationally.

"The Huffington Post is a very strong global brand on the internet. It is huge in America; it has one million users in the UK, one million users in Canada. We are looking at a brand that is going to explode from a brand and usage standpoint," she said.

These ambitions to extend the Post's international reach are likely financed by the sale of the site to AOL last month for £195 million. The takeover meant Ms Huffington was able to bring forward plans to launch the UK site and to possibly hire journalists to write for it.

Tim Armstrong, Chief Executive of AOL told the Guardian why they were keen to expand abroad: "Both companies may be big in the US, but the US only represents four per cent of the world's population."

The UK version will follow the same model as the US version with a central staff of writers and editors, plus a number of unpaid bloggers who will get their work showcased on the site. The Huffington Post currently employs 200 writers and journalists; whether these staff will provide content for the UK edition or UK staff will be recruited is not known.

Ms Huffington is also planning to set up Huffington Post websites for other countries, including Canada, France and Brazil.

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AOL ditches 30 sites as reshuffling continues

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:24:00 GMT

AOL will be discontinuing 30 of its sites, partially as a result of the Huffington Post merger.

The cull of these websites follows on from AOL making over 200 members of their staff redundant just two weeks ago. According to Business Insider, several sites, such as Holidash and Luxist, were completely without staff after the layoff, making the chop inevitable.

Kara Swisher, reporting on the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital site, said this development has gone against AOL's recent directives.

"The changes are causing some tension within AOL, given it is a drastic shift from relatively recent efforts to expand its portfolio of editorial sites," she said.

These sites will reportedly be 'integrated' into Huffington sites sharing similar content, now that there is very few staff to man them. For example, Walletpop will be absorbed into Daily Finance, Politics Daily will fold into HuffPost Politics and Urlesque will disappear into HuffPost Comedy. This move could also mean many freelancers may lose an outlet for their work.

Swisher believes this is due to Huffington's desire to concentrate on in-house production: "According to several sources, AOL content head Arianna Huffington outlined the plan to editors recently, stressing the need to focus on staff-generated and more journalistically focused content."

Some territories, such as PopEater and StyleList will not be folded, keeping their names but becoming sections within the Huffington Post instead of being separate websites.

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Google's mad men say 2011 will be mobile advertising's year

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:13:00 GMT

While communication magnate William Eccleshare has said it's back to the future for out-of-home advertising as traditional outdoor ad platforms such as billboards and posters are likely to get a mobile payment tech makeover by 2 020, Google's Mad Men have tipped 2011 to be the year of mobile, in-app and display advertising as smart phone adoption soars globally and mobile payment (or m-commerce) quickly follows.

According to the Financial Times' tech blog, Google's managing director for the UK and Ireland Matt Brittin talked up mobile advertising at the FT's influential Digital Media Conference (DMC), predicting smart phone adoption would soar over the next three years, particularly in areas where there is currently no terrestrial internet access - opening up valuable, and previously unreachable, demographics to online advertisers and m-commerce retailers.

"Over the next three years or so, there will be huge adoption of mobile in markets where they have no [terrestrial] internet access. I could go on and on about mobile, because I think it's truly transformational," Brittin said.

Later, Brittin added: "What's changed is it's here and it's at scale." He revealed that a billion people currently access the mobile internet, allowing Google to generate billion-dollar mobile revenues across a single mobile ad campaign.

However, some DMC panellists remain unconvinced, with AOL's president of global advertising and strategy Jeff Levick warning that mobile ads are unlikely to take off until mobile speeds can match their desktop counterparts - even if mobile sales continue to outstrip PC sales.

Google's mad men also talked social media advertising - and are likely to have done little to dampen their feud with Facebook, as Brittin called into question whether pushing targeted advertising to social network users breached their privacy.

"There are a lot of questions around privacy," he said. "We don't know anything about anybody. Facebook knows a hell of a lot about a lot of people. [Getting permission to use that information is] a challenging thing not just for them but anybody monetising social media."

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AOL continues rebranding efforts by scooping up Huffington Post

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:37:00 GMT

Following a break up with legacy media company Time Warner at the end of 2009 and the defriending of social media outlet Bebo in 2010, AOL chief Tim Armstrong promised some "aggressive goals" for 2011, and a perfect example has just come to light - the acquisition of news site The Huffington Post.

The move will significantly beef up AOL's media content when combined with other recent acquisitions, including the TechCrunch and Engadget brands. In turn, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington will oversee all editorial content published under the AOL banner, taking the role of president and editor of the Huffington Post Media Group, a new subsidiary of AOL.

Since its birth in 2005 with a US$1 million start-up fund, The Huffington Post has become a phenomenon for online news drawing around 25 million visitors each month, according to the New York Times.

Though pundits have questioned AOL - a traditionally non-partisan portal - and its decision to purchase The Huffington Post, which has been seen as giving voice to the US's left-leaning news consumers, Armstrong and Huffington concentrated on the opportunities afforded by such a merger.

"The acquisition of The Huffington Post will create a next-generation American media company with global reach that combines content, community, and social experiences for consumers," Armstrong said. "Together, our companies will embrace the digital future and become a digital destination that delivers unmatched experiences for both consumers and advertisers."

Increased advertising revenue could be especially important for AOL's future, as its base population of dial-up users has dwindled since its late-90s heyday, and the deal could open up the possibility of paid-for content for the site.

However, the move could prove symbiotic for The Huffington Post, which has made advancements in coverage alongside its growing popularity.

"The Huffington Post will continue on the same path we have been on for the last six years - though now at light speed - by combining with AOL," Huffington said. "Our readers will still be able to come to the Huffington Post at the same URL, and find all the same content they've grown to love, plus a lot more - more local, more tech, more entertainment, more finance, and lots more video."

The agreement also boosts the social factor of AOL, which took a beating through its ill-fated acquisition of Bebo, a social networking site that floundered after the company parted with $850 million in the transaction.

The Huffington Post's popularity has been due in part to its social functions, where comments and the debates within, as well as track-backs through social networks and blogs have drawn an increasing number of readers to the portal, which offers homegrown articles and aggregated news alike.

When combined with AOL's acquisitions of TechCrunch, and its moves in local news and citizen journalism through Patch and Seed, respectively, it's also possible the portal's ramping up competition with Yahoo! News as well.

AOL reportedly paid US$315 million for the news site.

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AOL: revenue slide of a quarter, but bright end to 2010

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:01:00 GMT

AOL spent 2010 valiantly fighting pressure from all sides, as it looked for ways to cut expenses and streamline its services. From parting company with Bebo - a purchase that lost AOL a significant sum over a two-year period - in August to signing up to another five-year term with Google, AOL made some strategic moves last year.

All of its careful thinking didn't stop AOL from working at an overall loss last year however, with the company admitting to a net loss of $782.5m for 2010. Brand Republic reports AOL brought in $2.4bn (£1.5bn) total revenue in 2010 compared to $3.2bn (£2bn) in 2009, when it ended the year $248.5m (£153.2m) in the black.

Fans of AOL will be glad to hear the last quarter did see an improvement for the beleaguered company, when it managed to generate $66.2m (£40.8m) net income in a three month period, compared to just $1.4m (£863,000)for the same quarter in 2009.

AOL has credited a reduction in costs for this turnaround, and a variety of acquisitions taking place in the latter half of 2010 could help the portal carve a bolt hole for itself in coming months. These include popular tech blog TechCrunch, as well as start ups such as personalised profile company About.me and content marketing company Pictela.

According to Brand Republic, Tim Armstrong, chairman and chief executive of AOL, said: "I am very proud of what we accomplished in 2010 as we began the year with a significant restructuring of AOL and ended the year with a significantly improved balance sheet, a number of exciting new products and a new culture focussed on winning.

"We have set aggressive goals for ourselves in 2011 in pursuit of capturing the growing opportunity ahead of us."

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Yahoo! not a search company, CEO Bartz says

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:48:00 GMT

The Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco has seen a number of startling revelations - such as venture capitalist Fred Wilson accusing Google of resting on its laurels - but one quick shock came from Yahoo! chief executive Carol Bartz, who suggested her company was never in the search business.

Bartz told audience members during her address at the conference she had taken two years in her tenure to define the role of the company in the web sphere and said Yahoo! offers content, communication, media and innovation.

"I think Yahoo has always stood for those words," she said. "It went off track a bit when people thought it was a search company."

Given the company handled its own search responsibilities before handing the torch over to Bing, it's reasonable that search engine watchers could be confused by the declaration. In recent times, however, the web wonders has beefed up other offerings, such as its industry leading news section and its webmail client in an effort to get its 'cool' back.

Bartz also acknowledged the company hasn't had the greatest past few years.

"Yahoo has stood for fun, relevance, and putting context. Now, has it had a few rough years? Sure. But you're not tested as a company unless you face some challenges," she said.

The company also serves up some 18 billion advertisements per day, making Yahoo! the "largest ad network," she said.

The CEO also dodged questions about a potential private equity buyout and a merger with AOL, and a potential takeover from NewsCorp - reported by Silicon Valley Insider - was left out of the discussion.

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Google prepares to shake up the search engine market

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:49:00 GMT

Search behemoth Google still leads the way in the US search engine market, according to comScore's August 2010 U.S. Search Engine Rankings. But while the Mountain View giant's grip may be slowly loosening, competitors have been slower to catch up than in previous months.

The digital market analyst revealed that Google accounted for 65.4 per cent of all search queries last month - a 0.4 per cent fall from July's figures as the combined forces of Yahoo! and Bing slowly nibbled away at its user base. However, the slide may be less significant than analysts had hoped for, in the month that saw Bing take control of Yahoo! searches.

Figures were more drastic in terms of total core search share, which saw Google sites lose 1.1 per cent of traffic last month, gained by the combined force of Yahoo! sites (0.9 per cent) and Bing (0.2 per cent). However, Google was still found to handle 10.3 billion searches, only a minor drop from the previous month.

While Google's decline may be slowing down, the Californian company is clearly not sitting still and waiting for the Bing-Yahoo! juggernaut to steal its user base. With a number of major changes sweeping through the search landscape this month, it remains to be seen what effects the radical revamp of Google Instant will have on transatlantic users.

Plucky search engine underdogs Ask.com and AOL LLC Network remained relatively static across the months, holding on tightly to their 3.5 and 2.2 per cent market shares respectively.

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