Yahoo Microsoft, Google, AOL - The Web Wars

If you are an obsessed Internet nerd like me you have already heard, read, debated and theorized about the possibility of a Microsoft / Yahoo merger. There are a lot of people who do not want to see a Yahoo/ Microsoft merger, but the most influential “Hell No! That can't go” is none other than Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt. So opposed to the deal was he, that he immediately raised the anti competitive war flag and even called Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang to offer his company's help in any and all effort to squash Microsoft unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo.


Let The Games Begin!


What sort of help could Google offer? Lets start with huge amounts of lucrative deals to sell advertising on Yahoo’s search results. It's extremely unlikely that Google could buy Yahoo outright, for antitrust reasons. However, Google could offer a long-term guarantee for advertising revenue on Yahoo’s search pages. This would enable Yahoo with the finances it needs to stay competitive and give some of that money back to shareholders in the form of a share buyback or special dividend (i.e. shareholders would be less likely to say a hardy F you and ditch Yahoo.)


Here is the problem for Google – It is said that Yahoo hates Google. Is that hate strong enough for Yahoo to disregard any Google offers and finally accept a partnership for MicroSurf? Meanwhile AOL is preparing to dump Netscape which is the daddy who gave birth to Internet surfing popularity. Where do they stand in all this?


A lot of people disagreed with Yahoo when they decided to take on Google and fight fire with fire in search engine competition. Industry people felt that Yahoo should have partnered up with other companies so that Yahoo could concentrate on brand advertising, where it had been the leader. Taking that approach would have limited their presence in search advertising and probably would have given Yahoo a much smaller role in the future – which is now today. But that is neither here nor there. As it stands Yahoo has a link fence surrounding them with a couple of very dangerous corporate dogs salivating at the prospect of biting off a rather nice chunk of Yahoo's limping behind.


But what does it all mean and why is it such a big deal?


If Microsoft buys Yahoo, Microsoft will have a dominance in search engine marketing and advertising that would surpass Google. The buy out will take Yahoo's loyal readers, subscribers, searchers and all over to Microsoft – even though they continue to use Yahoo applications. Than again, if Microsoft was to buy Yahoo, would MS intergrade Yahoo's email with Hotmail?


The challenges, the advantages and the integration is much bigger than just email use. If Microsoft did buy Yahoo, Microsoft would acquire a much larger set of online services, a better advertising network, and can better utilize the people who know how to build, brand, and market web products and services that people actually want and use. Yahoo would suddenly be part of an organization with an even more diversified revenue source.


Microsoft takes the long-term view approach and pours money into projects that takes years to turn a profit. One of these long-term projects, hopes and goals is web presence. They say they are dedicated, serious and they are a force that cannot be stopped. However, there are days when I seriously doubt that belief. Management from both Yahoo and Microsoft have not presented a concrete vision of where and how the companies should tackle web presence. That lack of vision leaves us, the users and clients asking if they combine, will they finally be able to create a solid vision that will build loyalty and support and can they follow through with it?


When Microsoft announced that they had made a bid offering, Yahoo stocks soared while Google's dropped. Microsoft has the resources to pay for the development that Yahoo does not. The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo would have the second largest advertising network and a vast array of sites on which to place its own ads. But, where does AOL stand in all of this?


Why so quiet?


The Microsoft's bid revived gossip about AOL's online advertising goals. The main question on mouse click gossip was -- is AOL a target for acquisition and will Google consider purchasing part or all of AOL's (advertising network) Platform A in an effort to balance a potential Yahoo / Microsoft combination?

In November 2007, Time Warner chief executive Jeffrey Bewkes said he would consider selling parts of the company to enhance its "strategic advantage." The Time Warner / AOL merger of 2001 has never lived up to it's promises of grander times and as a direct result, the company stocks have suffered. However, other than yet anther AOL purchased of yet anther technology based media business – this time Goowy Media on February 3rd, 2008, AOL has been strangely quiet. Time Warner has never said that AOL is for sale, but there has been rampant speculation for years.


There is a lot of money and Internet power at stake and if we the pubic could watch the inside corporate drama of all four companies (or at least the 3 biggies) to see how this will all play out it would be better than any reality tv show in the history of television. Better than any celebrity reality tv cat fight and better than any MTV Real Life boy band look-a-like dawg fight. This is what would bring me back in front of the television.

Advertising: The Box Is Gone - You Need To Think Outside

Innovative thinking for innovative consumers

Thats a lot of shaving






An interesting twist on ambient billboards - Ponds has changed advertising ideals by changing the shape of the billboard itself. This is a perfect, although probably very expensive, execution of this idea.






Interactive Billboard

Online Sports Spending To Hit $1 Billion By 2011

Story Highlights:


MARKETERS WILL SPEND SOME $727 million on paid search and rich media ads on sports Web sites in the U.S. next year--up almost 33% from this year, reports eMarketer. And while advertiser spending on the Beijing 2008 Olympics will fuel much of that bump, the upward trend is slated to continue, pushing sports site ad revenues to top $1 billion by 2011.

The popularity of fantasy sports leagues has also drawn advertiser attention, as the fantasy games bring in between 15 and 18 million players each year. In 2006, marketers spent $150 million on branding and advertising deals with these online communities, and analysts are forecasting the dollars to continue to flow.

Streaming video is the only questionable component in the online ad spending forecast, as user adoption of online video for sports has been slow. The eMarketer report found that only 11% of consumers "were likely" to stream sports clips, compared to almost 50% that "were likely" to stream news clips and music videos.

Source: Online Media Daily

Camera Phones Will Exceed One Billion

From: The Center For Media Research


According to a market study by Strategy Analytics, one third of the world population will own a camera phone by 2011. The number of camera phones in use this year will exceed one billion, with new sales boosted by early adopters replacing one-Megapixel handsets and first-time buyers alike.

Other key findings from the study:

• Nokia is the clear market leader at 28% global share, while Motorola also shipped over 100 million units in the last 12 months
• SEMC has raised the user experience bar for camera phones with their Cybershot range, and has outperformed in this category as well as in the music domain
• VGA camera phones' share of the market will fall from 38% to under 7% over the forecast period

One Megapixel Camera Phones Are Now "Table Stakes"

From Online to Offline - How Things Spread

A survey released by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) of more than 15,200 shoppers looked at the most common ways that people spread the word about interesting products. It also looked at what types of offline channels were most likely to send people online for further research.

Here's a summary of the findings.

After some online research, consumers are mostly likely to share the information with others in the following ways:

Face to face communications - 68.9%

Sending e-mails - 53.1%

By telephone - 50.9%

By cell phone - 30%

Young adults (18-24)

Instant Message - 37.5%

Text messages - 23.7%

Online communities - 20.6%

The survey does shows that traditional forms of media often send people online in order to find more information about a product or service. 92.5% of adults go online "regularly or occasionally" in order to do more research before making a purchase.

Magazine ads - 47.2%

Reading articles - 43.7%

Newspapers - 42.3%

Television - 42.8%

Traditional advertising isn’t dead, it shows that this product is available. Companies need to interlock their offline marketing with online advertising along with product / service information in order to capture people's attention and loyalty.

Egg Advertising

TOKYO, Feb 1 (Reuters Life!) - Which came first -- the chicken or the ad?

In a month-long campaign that began in Japan on Thursday, 1.8-cm (0.8-inch) advertising stickers touting chicken ramen instant noodles will be stuck on the shells of ordinary eggs, sold in packs of 10.

"The chance of people taking the ads directly into their hands is very high this way," said Takako Maruyama, a spokeswoman at public relations firm Sunny Side Up Inc.

Plans are to sell some 300,000 packs by the end of the month at certain branches of retailer Daiei Inc.

Although cost-per-egg figures are not available, she said the total cost for the campaign, whose sponsor is Nissin Food Products Co., will run some 7 million to 8 million yen ($58,000-$66,000).

The ad campaign, inspired by similar advertising in the United States, is the first of its kind in Japan, said to be the world's largest per capita consumer of eggs.