Articles of the Day
Gates: Microsoft Won’t Raise Yahoo Offer - Microsoft’s Bill Gates says “there’s nothing new” vis-à-vis the software giant’s Yahoo offer: “We’ve sent our letter and we’ve reinforced that we consider that it’s a very fair offer,” adding there are no plans to up a bid that was originally worth $31 per share. However, since Microsoft’s offer more than two weeks ago, its stock has plummeted more than 12 percent, reducing the offer price to around $29 per share, or $41 billion.
MySpace Eyes Ad-Supported Music - Free music, it seems, is here to stay. First, Imeem, then SpiralFrog, QTrax and now, News Corp.’s MySpace is aiming to bring ad-supported music to the Web’s largest social network. CNET’s Greg Sandoval says the Web’s No. 1 social network is currently in discussions with music’s big four about giving the record labels an equity stake in MySpace in exchange for offering free music.
Microsoft Moves Beyond Google Earth, to the Universe - Microsoft hopes to move light years beyond Google Earth with a new software app called WorldWide Telescope, which TechCrunch and other blogs say will be released on Feb. 27 at the TED Conference.
Is The SaaS Or Agency Model Better For SEM? - According to this face-off-style article, the answer depends on the size of the business and how much search figures into its overall marketing strategy. For small businesses, Webvisible’s David Reeve argues that the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model works best. Using an automated campaign management tool (which tackles bidding, organization and analytics) may be the best thing for a small business owner who doesn’t have the budget to devote to a dedicated search agency–but needs help tackling the nuts and bolts of SEM on a daily basis.
Google spends USD281.6m on 17 acquisitions in 2007 - Google spent USD281.6m on 17 purchases last year, excluding its USD3.1bn takeover of DoubleClick and the USD625m it paid for software firm Postini. The search giant increased its staff by more than 50% in the calendar year of 2007, to 16,805 employees from 10,674 a year before, according to its annual summary report filed with the SEC.
Toshiba Gives Up On HD DVD; To Be Out By End Of March - The reports were right on: Toshiba is quitting the HD DVD business, leaving Blu-ray as the last format standing. The recent history is well known, as Blu-ray has racked up an impressive string of wins, both from studios and electronics retailers, leaving HD DVD with little room to maneuver.
