ArticleSnatch Blog

You are browsing the search results.

There was much buzz over the weekend about a military report suggesting the popular mass Instant Messaging tool Twitter could be used by terrorists. They cited as an example the protestors at the Republican National Convention using Twitter to inform about police actions and movement.

In that case, Twitter becomes a better counterterrorism tool than it does the next training exercise for Hamas and Al Quaida. Tweets are public and searchable which kind of kills (no pun intended) the element of surprise that terrorists crave.

In fact, Twitter has been a great source of information during earthquakes and other crisis. It’s far more likely that Twitter would be a great asset to emergency response agencies and law-abiding citizens during a terrorist attack than it would be an aid to the terrorists themselves.

Related Reading:
Zappos + Twitter = Innovative Success!
Using Twitter as an Education Tool
FriendFeed Adds Duplicate Detection! And Twitter Tweaks Interface Design

Guess the wagon circling has begun over at Yahoo in preparation of the stockholders’ meeting August 1. They sent out a letter to stockholders outlining the various events of the past few months and promoted voted for the existing board of directors.

The letter attacks Carl Icahn.

“It is time for Yahoo! to turn its undivided attention to implementing its key strategies, and we therefore urge you to reject Mr. Icahn’s slate and his ill-defined agenda,” the letter from Yahoo CEO Roy Bostock states.

The letter - posted below - is very slanted towards the actions of the existing executives. Right now the Microsoft offer of $31 to $34 looks good given the stocks major slump to the low $20s.

The letter read:

Dear Fellow Stockholders:

We are writing to update you on the latest developments here at
Yahoo!, including our recently announced commercial agreement with
Google and the outcome of our discussions with Microsoft regarding a
potential transaction.

On June 12, we announced a non-exclusive agreement with Google that we
expect will generate approximately $250 to $450 million in
incremental operating cash flow for Yahoo! in the first twelve months
following implementation. This cash flow will enhance our
profitability as well as help support achievement of our key
strategic objectives. Combined with continuing advances in our own
search capability, the agreement is an important step in our efforts
to capitalize on the high-growth online advertising opportunities
where we are best positioned to compete successfully and create more
value.

Let us explain why we find this new agreement so exciting.

The Yahoo!-Google Agreement is Financially Attractive and Strikes the
Right Strategic Balance.

Under the agreement with Google, Yahoo! will continue to provide
algorithmic and sponsored search results, but now will also have the
ability to run sponsored search ads supplied by Google alongside
Yahoo!’s search results. Advertisers will pay Google directly for
each click on Google paid search results appearing on Yahoo!. Google
will then pay us a fee (in industry jargon, traffic acquisition cost)
based on revenue realized from click-throughs on ads supplied to
Yahoo! by Google.

This carefully structured agreement strikes the right strategic
balance, enhancing our financial results while advancing our
strategic objectives of being the “starting point” for the most users
on the Internet and offering such compelling value that advertisers
will see us as the “must buy” in online advertising.

One of our key strategies for achieving these objectives is to
capitalize on the increasing convergence of search and display
advertising, where we are especially well positioned to compete and
succeed. We have already accelerated our efforts to strengthen our
presence in display through a variety of initiatives and acquisitions
in recent months. Our new commercial agreement with Google enhances
our ability to pursue this strategy.

Another key strategy is to open our platform to other developers to
optimize monetization for our advertisers and publishers and provide
the best experience for our users. We see this agreement as a natural
extension of the efforts we have already made toward an open
marketplace.

The Google agreement is non-exclusive and provides strategic and
operational flexibility for Yahoo!. It allows Yahoo! to use Google’s
services in those areas where Google monetizes our inventory more
effectively but also permits us to continue to use our own search
technology in areas where we believe we are most competitive. The net
result is that the agreement helps us accelerate one of our strategic
aims–closing the monetization gap. At the same time, it allows
Yahoo! to continue to compete aggressively in search and display
advertising.

Importantly, the agreement does not prevent Yahoo! from pursuing other
alternatives that could increase stockholder value. Because the
agreement can be terminated by either party upon a change in control,
it would not preclude a transaction with Microsoft or any other
potential acquiror in the future.

The Yahoo!-Google Agreement Does More for Stockholder Value than
Microsoft’s Search-Only Hybrid Proposal.

We also want to update you on the conclusion to our discussions with
Microsoft regarding a potential transaction. As we explained in our
last letter, our board and management held numerous meetings and
conversations with Microsoft about its proposal to acquire Yahoo!,
both before and after Microsoft withdrew that proposal on May 3. On
June 8, our Chairman, Roy Bostock, other independent board members,
and members of Yahoo!’s management team again met in person with
Microsoft representatives. At that meeting, Microsoft stated
unequivocally that it has no interest in acquiring all of Yahoo!,
even at the price range Microsoft had previously suggested.

Microsoft did propose an alternative transaction. Rather than acquire
our whole company as it had been proposing for months, Microsoft now
proposed to acquire only our search business for $1 billion and a
share of future search advertising revenue. This proposal also
included an $8 billion investment in Yahoo! but required Yahoo! to
commit to a 10-year exclusive arrangement that would have made us
dependent on Microsoft for all of our search business. It would also
have given Microsoft veto rights on certain future Yahoo! actions,
including a sale of Yahoo!. Our board of directors and management
made a great effort–and conducted in depth negotiations–to elicit a
feasible proposal from Microsoft that made strategic and financial
sense for Yahoo!, but without success.

While Microsoft’s search-only hybrid proposal may have been helpful to
Microsoft, our board and management concluded it would have had a
significant adverse impact on Yahoo! strategically, leaving the
Company without the operational control of search assets and
technology we view as critical to our objective of becoming a leader
in the converging search and display advertising business. The board
and its advisers also carefully studied the financial impact of
Microsoft’s proposal and concluded that it would have provided no
meaningful improvement to our operating cash flow. In short, this
proposal would have generated substantially less value for Yahoo!
stockholders than Microsoft has suggested.

Based on all the key factors–strengthening our competitiveness,
protecting our strategic position, generating attractive financial
returns–the Google agreement is far better than Microsoft’s search-
only hybrid proposal. That’s why we moved forward with it.

Your Current Board of Directors Has the Knowledge, Experience and
Commitment to Best Represent Your Interests and Maximize Stockholder
Value.

The events of recent weeks underscore the fact that your board of
directors is far better qualified to represent your interests in the
effort to maximize stockholder value than the slate put forward by
Carl Icahn.

Based on Mr. Icahn’s narrow agenda, it seems highly unlikely that
either he or his slate would bring added value to Yahoo!. Consider
the following:

– Mr. Icahn put forward his slate so as to sell Yahoo! to Microsoft,
even though he had no knowledge of the sustained efforts made by your
current board and management to determine whether Microsoft was
willing to engage in a transaction that would provide appropriate
value and certainty of achieving that value. On June 8, Microsoft
once again made it perfectly clear that it is not currently
interested in acquiring Yahoo!.
— Mr. Icahn publicly opposed any alternative form of transaction
with Microsoft. Your board and management, after thorough and
deliberate negotiations and evaluation, separately concluded on its
own that the alternative hybrid deal proposed by Microsoft was,
indeed, not in the best interests of the Company or its
stockholders.
— Mr. Icahn urged, as an alternative to a Microsoft transaction,
that Yahoo! find a way to partner with Google that would not
preclude a transaction with Microsoft in the future. We have done
exactly that through the commercial agreement with Google we
announced on June 12.

Simply put, you can choose to vote for a slate of nominees with no
articulated plan for the future of Yahoo!–and who now have
essentially no alternative agenda to offer you–or you can choose to
vote for your existing board of directors which has the independence,
experience, knowledge and commitment to navigate the Company through
the rapidly-changing Internet environment, execute on our strategic
objectives and deliver value for Yahoo! and its stockholders.

It is time for Yahoo! to turn its undivided attention to implementing
its key strategies, and we therefore urge you to reject Mr. Icahn’s
slate and his ill-defined agenda.

We strongly urge you to vote your WHITE Proxy Card today for your
current board of directors.

We look forward to sharing our progress with you as we move forward
and we thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Roy Bostock Jerry Yang
Chairman of the Board Chief Executive Officer

Douglas Merrill, Google CIO and VP of engineering, has accepted a new gig: president of digital at struggling EMI Music, home of the Beatles and former home of Radiohead.

So who’s Douglas Merrill?

As Caroline McCarthy of The Social noted in this very funny exhange: “Doug Merrill is leaving Google.” “Doug who?” “The Google exec who looks liike Ethan from Lost.” “Ohhhh.”

As only the second senior executive to leave Google, Merrill and his departure won’t cause a panic in the Googleplex Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was the first senior exec to leave Google. As the former VP global sales and operations, Sandberg, who left last month, is tackling a major problem that Google’s largest social search competitor hasn’t solved: monetization.

Not that EMI doesn’t have problems of its own. Widespread piracy has taken its toll on sales and the company’s future appears to hinge on offering free music downloads supported by ad revenue with all-you-can-eat iTunes.

Will EMI be able to retain its top talent? That may be a tougher challenge than Google faces.

When Ms. Sandberg left, we noted that Google has a deep bench:

While Ms. Sandberg will be missed at Google, the company boasts a strong executive bench.

Today in The New York Times, Miguel Helft reports Google told him:

“We have a deep bench and work hard to grow leaders within the company,” Google said in a statement to The New York Times. “We are attracting immensely talented people around the world, every day.”

Google has long been hiring at a fast and furious pace with its pick of rising stars in a range of industries.

The supposition that Google faces attacks on the mothership by former employees is considered by many in the industry as absurd at best. If anything, the strong relationships and ex-Googler ties with current Google executives make alliances more likely than the forging of an axis of “Do No Evil” enemies.

New Article - Benefits of Outsourcing Accounts Payable in small and lager Business Pos.. http://tinyurl.com/2fsb8v #
Ways to Control Anxiety Attacks Posted By : Zokson Boss: Following the initial anxiety attack happe.. http://tinyurl.com/3ynt7x #
New Article - How to start a niche marketing strategy? Posted By : Terry21 Allen21: Wh.. http://tinyurl.com/2opojy #
Minnesota criminal defense lawyer Posted By [...]

New Article - Benefits of Outsourcing Accounts Payable in small and lager Business Pos.. http://tinyurl.com/2fsb8v #
Ways to Control Anxiety Attacks Posted By : Zokson Boss: Following the initial anxiety attack happe.. http://tinyurl.com/3ynt7x #
New Article - How to start a niche marketing strategy? Posted By : Terry21 Allen21: Wh.. http://tinyurl.com/2opojy #
Minnesota criminal defense lawyer Posted By [...]

My last post, about how YouTube’s new features will affect internet marketers, garnered a lot of attention—but not from SEO and PPC professionals. It was my first paragraph, about YouTube’s response to the Anonymous-vs-Scientology online battle, that got attention.

Shortly after I posted that YouTube had not removed Anonymous’ initial YouTube threat/message to Scientology, SEW was flooded with replies that YouTube had just removed it, citing a Terms of Use violation (which in theory was valid, although rarely, if ever, enforced on YouTube). Today, perhaps owing to the protests of members and the mainstream coverage this conflict is beginning to get, the video was back up (although honors for it are not being tracked correctly).

My interest piqued, I began to look even more into Anonymous’ plan of attack against Scientology. DDoS attacks aside, this secretive collection of hackers is behaving, well, much like we would when we market a client in the search engines and social platforms. They are using SEO techniques to get their sites to outrank official Scientology sites; they are banding together to influence Digg and social bookmarking results. And as with any internet marketing campaign, there is a lot we can learn from their actions.

Click to read the rest of this post…

New Article - Youtube Video Sharing Optimization Techniques Vseo Posted By : Mark Robe.. http://tinyurl.com/39wpjj #
New Article - How To Recognize and Monetize Your Expertise And Passion Part 1 Posted B.. http://tinyurl.com/3xndbp #
New Article - Business Loan Success Requires A Prepared Borrower Posted By : Chris Cha.. http://tinyurl.com/3483st #
New Article - USA Background Check Posted [...]

January was a bad month for SEO reputation. Will February be SEO Groundhog Day?

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, along comes “SEO Expert” the world’s most evil cartoon character.

We don’t know whether we should sue, or just let him do battle with Cartoon Barry. Danny calls these attacks “SEOs are scumbags” incidents. He says, “I find myself with little energy to push back against them with yet another defense of the industry.”

So SEOs of the World, Unite!

Search marketers can enrage diehard members of social communities who want to keep marketers at bay. The result? Death threats, cyberterrorism, obscene language, cyberharassment, and calls for suicide.
Social media marketers see StumbleUpon and social networking sites like Facebook as theirs to mine for traffic, links, and sales. A just-released Sapient study shows marketers [...]

Social networks are set to become targets of cyber criminals in the coming year according to security experts.
Experts in the field say that the intimate nature of the sites makes people willing to share personal information and become more vulnerable to attacks.
read more

More: continued here
social networking sites attractive to scammersRate this: 2.5