Yes, the CORE platform is also used by Yahoo as an advertising tool for those who want to provide relevant sponsored content to Web browsers. Even though people seem to think anything associated with advertising is evil, since Yahoo launched CORE on the homepage, its clickthrough rates have increased 300%, which definitely fits the bill of statistical significance.

A few other interesting points Yahoo mentioned are that CORE processes 1.2 terabytes of user data every hour. That’s the equivalent of 644 million printed pages. Every hour. And on a daily basis, CORE manages to provide 2.2 billion pieces of personalized content to viewers. This is the first real big push we’ve seen from Yahoo to tout its data anlytics chops as a serious contender to Google, which loves crunching data more than anyone else. If it’s enough to pull Yahoo back into relevance in the search world remains to be seen.

[via GigaOM]

The six banks that are said to be participating in the fund-raising include Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings PLC and Mizuho Financial Group. Right now, the banks are said to be in the process of getting the internal credit approval for underwriting. The payback term is said to be three years, and the loans have a yield of about 4%.

According to the sources, the loan is expected to finalize this month. The Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo is trying to sell shares in the Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan in an attempt to raise money while it continues to struggle. Yahoo has recently lost founder Jerry Yang and other board members as it continues its downward spiral. Yahoo’s revenue fell 21% last year and the company seems to be living on borrowed time.

[via WSJ]

“Like China, we too can block such websites” Kait told lawyers from Facebook and Google, going on to refer to laws passed in India last year that mandates a 36-hour take-down from the point of complaint. Both Google and Facebook have already complied with such requests, the two companies confirmed.

Now, the high court has demanded the two firms – along with 19 others – present their plans for a blocking system that will prevent “objectionable material” from being accessed by users in India. A fifteen day deadline has been imposed, though Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft have all protested that they are yet to be targeted with specific complaints.

The argument that users are responsible for their own uploads and shared content, however, and that Facebook, Google and others have a non-interference policy, did not go down well with the Indian judge. The sites face criticisms from the Indian government that standards deemed suitable for the US market are insufficient for India’s 100m internet users.

The new Apps feature lets you type any search terms into the main Yahoo search bar and then gives you results for just those pertaining to apps. You can filter by price and category and view only iOS or Android apps. You can also go directly to the Yahoo Apps portal, where you’ll get to browse by categories.

When you find an app of interest, you can go straight from the search results to the Android Market or iTunes App Store to download the app, send a link for the app to your phone, or scan a QR code for the app. Yahoo also offers a “trending now” interface along with Yahoo user reviews for the apps.

[via Engadget]

“Email phishing defrauds millions of people and companies every year, resulting in a loss of consumer confidence in email and the Internet as a whole. Industry cooperation – combined with technology and consumer education – is crucial to fight phishing” Brett McDowell, Chair of DMARC.org and Senior Manager of Customer Security Initiatives at PayPal

According to DMARC, the widespread problems with spam and phishing today are the result of confusion and uncertainty between email providers over what security and authentication options are supported by both sender and recipient. Although existing options – such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) – can be used, there’s no way for providers to know if they’ve been implemented.

What DMARC has done, supposedly, is to integrate authentication more completely into their infrastructure. “A sender could set policies to easily request a provider to discard unauthenticated email in order to block phishing attacks” the group suggests; meanwhile, comprehensive reports are supplied to help spot any loopholes or gaps in the system.

Those taking part in the scheme are a mixture of email providers, security experts, social media firms and, not least, the banks and financial institutions that often have to pay up when credit card insurance claims are filed. AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Bank of America, Fidelity Investments, PayPal, American Greetings, Facebook, LinkedIn, Agari, Cloudmark, eCert, Return Path and the Trusted Domain Project are all involved.

That list only refers to apps that were available for the iPhone and iPad. The former search leader also took down a handful of apps for Android. It’s a quick glance at Yahoo’s previous “kitchen sink” strategy when it came to mobile apps, and it clearly did not work. In the rare chance you happened to download any of these apps already, it’s unclear if they will continue to work. The complete list of discontinued apps, which totals 10, is as follows:

• Yahoo! Meme (iPad and iPhone)
• Yahoo! Mim (iPad)
• Yahoo! Answers (Android)
• Yahoo! AppSpot (Android and iPhone)
• Yahoo! Deals (iPhone)
• Yahoo! Finance (BlackBerry)
• Yahoo! Movies (Android)
• Yahoo! News (Android)
• Yahoo! Shopping (iPhone)
• Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search (iPad and iPhone)

This trimming process comes as Yahoo is trying to rebrand its mobile image. Before the smartphone age really took off, Yahoo had really started to cement mobile as its new forte. But just like everything else in Yahoo’s history, it failed to keep up with the changing environment and now it barely has a voice in the Android and iPhone world. The company says to expect new mobile products in 2012, “especially in areas ripe for innovation that build on Yahoo!’s strengths, such as companion experiences for TV like IntoNow, new ways to experience personalized media like Livestand, and some of our most popular and useful mobile apps like Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, Sportacular and Flickr.”

[via Yahoo Search Blog]

Yang co-founded Yahoo with David Dilo back in 1995 and has since been on the board and has also served as CEO from 2007 to 2009. The company fired Carol Bartz from the CEO post last September, replacing her with Yang and most recently inserting former PayPal president Scott Thompson as CEO.

In a letter to Roy Bostock, Yahoo’s Chairman of the board, Yang wrote:

“My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.”

[via BusinessInsider]

Although a rise in market share is usually something to celebrate, Google may be less than keen to shout about its premiere position in the segment. The company has come under renewed interest recently over its integration of Google+ data into search results, a move it calls “Search plus Your World” but which others have argued is a misuse of its dominance to boost usage of its social network.

Twitter was outspoken in its criticism of the new system, claiming to be concerned that it would make relevant tweets harder to find. Meanwhile, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) announced earlier this week that it was considering filing a complaint with the US FTC over Google’s changes, pointing to the fact that users “cannot opt out of having their information found through Google search.”

That threat has since been acted on, with EPIC urging the Trade Commission to investigate Google. “Google’s business practices raise concerns related to both competition and the implementation of the Commission’s consent order” the group wrote. It’s demands echo those of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, which put in its own call for an investigation back in December.

Google has previously argued that, while it has the leading share in search, it is not exhibiting antitrust behaviors of the sort that caused Microsoft problems a decade ago. The FTC is yet to comment on whether it will be undertaking an investigation.

There’s also one-touch voicemail access, a speakerphone and a headset socket to plug in a separate wired headset. If you’re an Ooma Premier subscriber – which is $9.99 per month – you also get second line support, multi-ring, three-way conferencing, another US phone number and speakerphone call screening.

Ooma also says it will be pushing out new feature updates to the HD2 later on in the year, such as customizable ringtones for individuals and groups.

The Ooma HD2 handset will go on sale in March, priced at $59.99. You’ll obviously need a Ooma Telo base-station to use it with, however, which is priced at $199.99; up to four HD2 units can be paired with a single Telo.

For Netflix, a Yahoo acquisition could allow management to finally take a reprieve from the barrage of criticism they’ve been facing over the last several months.

From taking heat for raising prices 60 percent on DVD-by-mail and streaming customers to trying to spin-off its rental business before quickly backtracking, Netflix management has done little to make its case that it deserves to be running the company.

Yahoo, meanwhile, seems to have an insatiable desire to acquire a prominent streaming-video provider. Last year, the company was reportedly the first to approach Hulu about acquiring that company before talks broke down. Now that it’s reportedly considering buying Netflix, it appears it has some big plans for streaming video.

But let’s not forget which company is going after Netflix. Yahoo isn’t the online giant that it once was. Sure, it has a major presence on the Web and it has the cash to back up just about any decision it makes, but it’s on the decline. And the chances of it reversing its tailspin anytime soon seems quite unlikely.

Let’s keep in mind that over the last several months, Yahoo has let its CEO go over bad performance, reportedly fielded numerous buyout offers, and all the while, failed to make a deal happen. What’s worse, all the bids that supposedly crossed the board of directors table reportedly did little to maximize the company’s potential.

So, I’m not quite sure how Netflix can change that. It’s a company that, like Yahoo, is on the decline. Yahoo might give it a bit more of an online presence, but in the hardware space, I don’t quite see the upside for Netflix.

At the end of the day, though, I think it’s the Netflix user that loses the most in this scenario. I can’t find a single instance in recent years where Yahoo has acquired a company and actually improved the experience of using its products. Too often, the online company acquires a firm, lets it operate as-is for a little while, and then tries too hard to integrate it into its services, thus damaging its market appeal. To think that wouldn’t happen with Netflix would be a mistake.

Suffice it to say I just don’t think Yahoo buying Netflix is a good idea for any party. Yahoo would find itself with a streaming company that has lost its footing. Netflix would find itself with an online firm that has forgotten what it takes to be successful on the Web. And users would lose Netflix as they know it today.

Leave Netflix alone, Yahoo. It’s better for all of us.

Although Munster has a mixed track record, particularly on his usual beat of Apple predictions – he’s been shouting about the Apple television for a couple of years now – the suggestion of potential Netflix interest has had a healthy reaction in the streaming media company’s share price. Stock leapt on Wednesday, by over 11-percent, after Neftlix announced its users had watched more than 2bn hours of content in Q4 2011.

Previous acquisition rumors had pegged Verizon as a potential suitor to Netflix, something the carrier moved to dismiss in December. The streaming firm had struggled in 2011, after an aborted attempt to split away its DVD business as “Qwikster” and price increases drove customers away.

Netflix now intends to invest in its own original content, with the first show premiering next month. That’s arguably something Yahoo! might want to get involved in, making its own portal a destination with content viewers can’t see elsewhere.

[via PC Mag]

The Yahoo! board is obviously hoping Thompson can bring some of his PayPal shine to its own bank account. While at the payments company, he saw the user-base more than double and pushed revenues over the $4bn mark.

“Scott brings to Yahoo! a proven record of building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo! His deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core business and deliver increased value for our shareholders. The search committee and the entire Board concluded that he is the right leader to return the core business to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation” Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board

However, Yahoo!’s problems – and the road ahead – certainly seem more troubled than what PayPal faced. The company has 700m users, though has struggled to find a role in the current online ecosystem. “Speed is important but we will attack both the opportunity ahead and the competitive challenges with an appropriate balance of urgency and thoughtfulness” Thompson says of the challenge.

Acting CEO Tim Morse will return to his role as CFO when Thompson joins Yahoo! next week.

Thompson is currently the President of PayPal. Yahoo canned its former CEO Carol Bartz back in September and she didn’t take the firing kindly. Bartz was very graphic in how she felt about being fired even as she left holding $14 million. Yahoo has also reportedly been looking at possibly selling off part of its assets.

Yahoo is still apparently considering the sale of some of its Asian assets to the Alibaba Group and those talks are ongoing. AllThingsD reports that Thompson recently “liked” the Yahoo page on Facebook. Granted liking a page is certainly no indication you are taking the CEO job at the company. The real question here is can anyone save Facebook at this point.

[via AllThingsD]

Microsoft’s Bing search engine was Google’s primary rival in this deal, and the the company’s long-living Internet Explorer is still the top Internet browser on the web, by user count, although Google Chrome is ever so climbing nearer and nearer to take the spot away, potentially in the near future. Yahoo was apparently in the bidding competition as well, but prices were too high for the company, who has its own internal troubles to deal with at the very moment.

Last year, Google paid over $100 million to Mozilla for a deal in providing the default search engine for Firefox, which expired at the end of November. Though even with the new deal with Google, Mozilla still retains current partnerships with other search providers, including Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Amazon and eBay. We can say one thing for certain; Google’s hoping for their own sake that Mozilla’s extravagant sum is worth it.

[via AllThingsD]

The former leading search engine’s company board is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the sales of its stakes in Chinese internet company Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan, claimed sources close to the New York Times. If the company decides to go along with the deal, it could possibly choose to reject investment proposals by Silver Lake and TPG Capital, stated the same sources.

However if the board can’t reach a consensus, the situation could very well incite Yahoo’s Asian partners into going hostile. As we reported earlier last month, both Alibaba and Softbank are quite keen to regain their stakes from Yahoo. Should the board reject the Asian assets deal, the two companies are prepared to bid for all of Yahoo in conjunction with both veteran private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.

[via New York Times DealBook]

To be fair, his exact words are a bit different than that, but essentially speak the same message. What Yahoo wants to do is to have everyone you know seeing everything you do, not just in the way Facebook and Google+ show activity related to your media, but in a more expansive way like Facebook’s Frictionless Sharing — this time on everything. As Kerns tells Josh Constine:

“[These changes will] increase engagement and traffic. If we can scale [the Facebook success of Yahoo! News US] globally, it will have a a big impact on our media inventory. … The younger demographic is totally comfortable with a persistent state of sharing. People should be comfortable as themselves.” – Kerns

Notifications will have users bouncing between Yahoo properties (unless they can stave off the clicking of notifications, of course) and the group hopes it will stopper up the recent losses the group has seen. A net income decrease of 26% in Q3 of 2011 isn’t news anyone wants to hear, is it?

[via TechCrunch]

This most recent report looks to be one of several recent ones all leading towards discrete collaboration between companies that are eyeing part or all of Yahoo’s business with predatory visages. Yahoo’s board is claimed to be meeting with other potential buyers, including TPG Capital and Silver Lake, which have proposed minority stake offers. Those bids are speculated to be less than $17 per share, while an outright all-out purchase is expected to fetch more than $20 per share. Yahoo shares rose 6.9 percent to $16.79 in trading today.

The Alibaba-led group is said to be waiting for Yahoo to engage in talks toward a potential outright acquisition, although the companies are said to be leaving open the possibility of a hostile takeover. That sounds dangerously (to Yahoo, at least) likely, especially with both veteran private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital on board. It seems like the once-leading internet company has some thinking to do, before their stock dwindles even further (remember Microsoft’s offer for $33 a share a couple years ago? Well, Yahoo, that offer ain’t there anymore).

[via Bloomberg]

Thomas H. Lee Partners already has experience running Nielsen Co, Clear Channel and Univision, and believes it can use the same understanding to return Yahoo!’s US business to its former fortunes. However, it will go up against a Microsoft-backed investment, among others, previous sources have claimed; the software giant is tipped to be contributing to a proposal by private equity firm Silver Lake, though the extent of its involvement is unknown.

A common theme for potential investors is the belief that they can do a better job at the helm of Yahoo! than the current management has done, something not hard to believe when you look at the company’s recent performance. Previous CEO Carol Batrz was ousted in a high-profile decision by the Yahoo! board, leaving with a $14m bounty and an angry rant against management.

Yahoo! has since attempted to make itself topical once more, with an HTML5 digital news app called Livestand announced earlier in the month. That’s expected to be released for Android devices in the first half of 2012.

The move to acquire Yahoo would help Microsoft secure its existing search and advertising deal with the floundering search pioneer, which currently sells advertising using Bing as its primary search. Microsoft had unsuccessfully attempted to buy Yahoo back in 2008 with a bid of as much as $47.5 billion and last month began talks with other potential partners about another possible bid.

Other interested parties include TPG, which has signed an NDA but is considering making a minority investment rather than buying Yahoo outright. The Alibaba Group, which Yahoo owns 40% stake, has also been in talks about bidding for Yahoo, but has not yet signed an NDA.

Since Yahoo ousted former CEO Carol Bartz in early September, the company’s board has been mulling over its next step. It’s said to be considering several options, including selling the company’s Asian assets, such as its stake in the Alibaba Group, or auctioning off the company entirely instead of hiring a new CEO.

[via CBS]

Inside Livestand, users will be able to search titles and articles from titles such as Forbes, Parenting, Bike, Powder, Surfer, and ABC News. The app contains the ability to watch video and the first version of the app will be released in the first half of 2012 on Android devices. Blake Irving, Yahoo executive vice president and chief product officer, had the following to say about the app:

“It’s beautiful. It’s fast. You will forget that it’s HTML5. We did an ass-kicking job to get this into shape with quality, [and] we feel quite good about that.” – Irving

In addition to this app, Yahoo introduced new features for its Yahoo News web-based service that’ll aid in users in discovering and navigating through their Yahoo friends Web movements. Of course these features might not seem all that unfamiliar to your Facebook and Google+ users, they including such gems as a Conversations feature that’ll let users have a group chat using e-mail or Facebook and a new Notifications feature that’ll pop up in a similar manner to what Google is using for their own social network.

Additional announcements included an iPad version of Yahoo’s IntoNow app, a new Android app by the name of Yahoo Weather, and only one mention of the business end of Yahoo, again from Irving:

“We all know what we’re doing…There’s very little confusion. Sure, the other noise that’s out there, you’re talking about it at parties. But we have dreams about what this company can be.” – Irving

Reassuring!

[via ZDNet]

It was July that Microsoft dropped out of the bidding war, no more Windows on the Glee! toter. July also had Amazon, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless thinking about bidding on Hulu, but as it turns out, carriers and keepers of the books and movies of the world not ending up able to reach any sort of agreement on the big H. DirecTV, Starz, and Netflix got in on the war, but they clashed opinions and wants to the max.

Then there’s the most recent news from September where we heard that there were too many low ball bids to continue the sale successfully. Turns out that was probably pretty true, as today Hulu and crew have released the following statement:

The following is a joint statement from Hulu owners News Corporation, Providence Equity Partners, The Walt Disney Company and the Hulu senior management team:

“Since Hulu holds a unique and compelling strategic value to each of its owners, we have terminated the sale process and look forward to working together to continue mapping out its path to even greater success. Our focus now rests solely on ensuring that our efforts as owners contribute in a meaningful way to the exciting future that lies ahead for Hulu.”

What will they do next?! We shall see!

Some of those magical mystical “sources close to the situation” said this Wednesday that Microsoft was currently in with a host of other companies putting their 2 cents in on Yahoo Inc, the latter company currently appearing to be at right around $18 billion for market value. These sources speaking with Rueters this week note that Microsoft and these other businesses are already in the works with Yahoo! to take a look at some financial pitch books. The other businesses in this deal are said to include buyout shops Providence Equity Partners, Hellman & Friedman and Silver Lake Partners, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Russian technology investment firm DST Global.

News of this possible buyout seems to have had an effect on stocks: Yahoo! shares jumping 9 percent earlier today upon the news breaking to $15.80 in afternoon trading, while Microsoft, comparatively, were doing OK, having risen 3 percent earlier in the day and up 2.2 percent at $25.91 later in the afternoon. Rueters notes that they’ve got a “high ranking Microsoft executive” on the line as a source, this exec noting that Microsoft may seek a partner to go in on a bid.

This same executive noted the following:

“Yahoo’s value hasn’t grown in years, and some executives feel we should buy something that is more forward-looking,” – Microsoft Executive source for Rueters

Needless to say, not everyone is on board with this possible deal.

[via Rueters]

Yahoo is in a place where it is seeking anything and everything that might help turn its traffic around. In that vein, Yahoo and ABC News have teamed up for what the pair calls a news and information partnership. The collaboration will be used to leverage Yahoo’s reach, content breadth and technology with ABC’s news, anchors, and global news gathering operation.

The partnership is kicking off today with the debut of GoodMorningAmerica.com on Yahoo and three new online first video series with ABC anchors and correspondents. One of the video programs is Newsmakers and it will debut today with the George Stephanopoulos interview of President Obama at 2:35 p.m. ET at the White House. ABC News will also now be the premier news provider for Yahoo News.

“This relationship will give ABC News an unrivaled ability to reach across the Web, combining Yahoo!’s vast distribution and cutting-edge technology with our award-winning journalism. For years, we’ve proudly proclaimed that more Americans get their news from ABC News than any other source,” said Ben Sherwood, president of ABC News. “Going forward, we will greatly expand this leadership by building a connection with a whole new online audience.”

Another round of bids are expected next week with current bids reportedly ranging from as low as $500 million to as much as $2 billion. Google has been said to be willing to spend big in return for extended rights to content, although it’s not been confirmed whether they have already submitted a bid. Yahoo was one of the top runners, but its recent implosion with the firing of CEO Carol Bartz has it busy dealing with its own issues.

It’s believed that there’s a wide gap between the bids offered and what Hulu owners are willing to accept. Perhaps with Google’s significant figure on the table, Hulu owners are becoming more adamant about their asking price. But bidders are also questioning what they would get for their money, hence the sale process has overall slowed down.

Additionally, the issues of digital rights to the content is complicated. Hulu’s demands on content rights has been undermined by NBC’s recent offering of programs for free via an iPhone and iPad app without requiring cable subscription. The move may have also conflicted with Fox’s strategy of offering the latest TV shows to only paid subscribers.

[via Reuters]

We got the chance to go hands-on with this television this past week at Pepcom’s 2011 Holiday Spectacular in New York City and have come back with a video that runs you through the switches. What you’ve got here is a 3D TV that’s also “smart”, smart with the ability to run Yahoo widgets and a slew of other TV-minded applications that’ll have you Netflixing in no time.

You’ll also be working with full 1080p resolution playback on all the video you’ve got set up to do so, 240hz, local dimming, and of course, Toshiba’s Natural 3D technology. This lovely way of viewing the 3D universe is done through 3D glasses, four sets of which come with the set right out of the box. You can also purchase a “Party Pack” of glasses for right around $60 USD (depending on where you shop). Look like a pretty neat television set to you?

This isn’t the first TV set we looked at in the event, the rest available by you clicking on the big [Pepcom Holiday Spectacular 2011 portal] to catch em all. You’ll also be able to see a whole couple of handfuls of gadgets and technologically superior products from all corners of the universe there, hands-on videos of them all. Check em out!

A source speaking with Business Insider spoke of a “definite” set of talks about consolidation of the groups, be they Microsoft and AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo!, or others. Speaking anonymously for fear of being chopped into a million pieces for revealing said information, this BI trusted source spoke thusly on the matter:

“Definitely, people are talking about it. People generally expect AOL to come apart one way or another. I don’t think that’s an interesting asset. It’s just been so beaten down. Yahoo is a lot more interesting. If it comes into play, then at least their U.S. media business is a pretty interesting asset. It’s complicated because of those Asian assets.”

This same source also spoke on how Microsoft is re-evaluating how powerful MSN is and how crucial it is to have MSN help Bing “win.” Ex-AOL rep Ted Cahall recently came to Microsoft and turned MSN around to make it the growing business it is today. In the face of lowering stocks and reports of less than positive inner-workings going on, this is all great news for Microsoft’s online devision. The source noted:

It’s not every day that you watch both of your competitors blow themselves up. It’s like watching a train wreck. … The portal space is challenged. Facebook is just absorbing more and more minutes – usage. That’s having an effect on portals. The time shifting toward mobile is another factor weighing on portals. The problems AOL and Yahoo have are exacerbated by management.”

What do you think? Microsohoo!? Perhaps the key to making both AOL and Yahoo! prosperous to a giant degree again is to give the big ax to the entire management board? Microsoft, can you do it?

[via Business Insider]

“Why don’t you have the balls to tell me yourself” the ejected exec apparently asked Bostock, before going on to say that the board had “f*#ked me over.” She also claimed to be the best person to guide Yahoo! through its tumultuous times, suggesting that it had been board members’ concerns over appearing weak that led to them axing her before her regrowth strategy had a chance to succeed.

No matter which strategy Yahoo! now takes, however, if it’s successful then Bartz actually stands to benefit even more. Part of her contract details a share-related payout based on Yahoo!’s stock price hitting a certain figure – if a turnaround is achieved, and the market rallies behind the company, she could end up taking away considerably more than $14m.

Nonetheless, Bartz says she did not argue with the board’s decision, only telling Bostock that “I thought you were classier.” Having heard that the Yahoo! lawyers were headed over to her hotel to hand her the official paperwork she, somewhat bizarrely, immediately checked out and into another one.

Asked who Yahoo! should bring in as CEO to guide the company through its difficult period, Bartz wastes no time with rival execs. “They should bring me in” she insists. “I knew what to do.” Nonetheless, employee and stockholder satisfaction with her strategy hardly held up to scrutiny, both having slumped considerably over her tenure.

Bartz blames the Yahoo! board for short-sightedness, however, and being too willing to sacrifice long-term recovery for short-term image rebuilding. “They want revenue growth, even though they were told that we would not have revenue growth until 2012″ she explains of her plans for the company, pointing to long-standing criticism of the board’s decision – prior to her joining – not to sell Yahoo! to Microsoft back in 2007 as leaving them over-sensitive.

“Independent directors did a study of Yahoo’s assets and performance in the past two weeks and concluded the company wasn’t performing as well as it could” another source told the newspaper. The board had been discussing Yahoo!’s slump for twelve months, but the decision to fire Bartz – which was done over the phone, a leaked email to staff revealed – still came as a surprise to the ousted CEO.

Although no official comment about being up for sale has been made, the suggestion of being “open to selling itself to the right bidder” is being interpreted as a clear message that the Yahoo! board is looking for a relatively easy out. Meanwhile, a strategic review is expected to begin in the near future, looking at what Yahoo! could do to turn itself around – including partnerships or acquisitions – if a sale doesn’t present itself. Previous potential suitors have been tipped to include AOL.

To all,

I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.

Carol

While it may have been Bartz “pleasure to work” with the Yahoo! team, it seems employees themselves weren’t so keen. In a survey by Glassdoor, Bartz’s approval rating by Yahoo! staff has been generally on the decline since midway through 2009. Based on reports from almost 300 staff, the rating has dived to 33-percent most recently, but was as low as 24-percent in Q1 this year.

A comment by an unnamed Yahoo! Technical employee says it all: “Please stop making senseless speeches about your vision and strategic plans” they suggest, “instead, focus more on quality engineering and addressing the platform problems.” Bostock seems to agree, suggesting that “we have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the Company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.” Whether the struggling giant can actually achieve that remains to be seen.

This device has a fully waterproof body, boasts a 3.4-inch LCD touchscreen display with 854 x 480 pixel resolution, has a fabulous 0.7-inch OLED sub-display, connects along IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 EDR, and will be rolling out on the same carrier as the Yahoo! phone, SoftBank. This device has a massive 16 megapixel camera on the back of the base capable of 1,280 x 720 pixel HD video recording. That’s insane. The best we’ve got here in the states is 8 megapixel cameras on our most advanced smartphones capable of 1080p recording at best. This device, like any good Japanese smartphone, has a digital TV tuner and e-wallet functionality as well.

The insides of the phones are all covered in Hello Kitty including wallpapers, icons, widgets, and apps. This device will be shipping in Japan next month – can we hope for such a masterpiece of oddities here in the United States anytime soon? Something tells me that no, not a chance. Physical keypad? The West hate such atrocities in the modern world. A flip phone? The West would never be caught using another Motorola RAZR. And yet this device and its perfectly neat Qualcomm MSM8255 1GHz processor is such an awesome little package, I can’t help but wish for it — perhaps with a slightly different branding, as it were. Maybe Sponge Bob?

This device is said to be being carried in the very near future by SoftBank in Japan, still just called “Yahoo! Phone” as far as we can tell, and will feature a 1 Ghz single-core processor, a 4-inch qHD display, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. There will also be at least one camera, on the backside, this big shooter with a flash and rated at 8 megapixels strong. Similar to many devices in the country, this Japanese device will also have a TV tuner equipped for all your television watching needs.

Surprisingly, this device appears to have the official Android Market aboard, so like the LG Revolution 4G here in the USA, for example, this device will be featuring a non-Google search engine alongside a Google-run apps market. As not many more details about the device are yet known, we’re not sure if this means you’ll be getting the rest of the Google suite of apps like Gmail, and Voice search out of the box, but you’ll certainly be able to download them easily from the Android Market if indeed it does stick around for the final release.

This release make sense to those of you in Japan? Or has Yahoo! shown it’s true colors as what appears now to be a lower company than Google where it was once the clear king of the web?

The experiment has been dubbed the Small World Experiment and the goal is to find the social path between two strangers using Facebook. Anyone that has a Facebook account can participate in the experiment and figure out if they are really only six people away from some other random stranger on earth. This sounds like a really cool project to me.

The participant will be asked to select one friend that they think is most likely to know whoever their target person is. That friend can then select one of their pals they think may know the target person and so on until the target person is found or not found as the case may be. I’m not clear on how the target person is chosen. I am thinking the target person is assigned in the experiment. The official experiment description is below.

The Small World Experiment is designed to test the hypothesis that anyone in the world can get a message to anyone else in just “six degrees of separation” by passing it from friend to friend. Sociologists have tried to prove (or disprove) this claim for decades, but it is still unresolved.

Now, using Facebook we finally have the technology to put the hypothesis to a proper scientific test. By participating in this experiment, you’ll not only get to see how you’re connected to people you might never otherwise encounter; you will also be helping to advance the science of social networks.

[via ZDNet]

TechCrunch claims to have heard from a source close to Yahoo that the company “hasn’t had any meaningful conversations with Hulu about a buyout.” Interestingly, while the original offer was painted as an unsolicited one, this new source says that Hulu is “actively looking for a buyer” and has gone so far as to enlist Morgan Stanley in representing them.

Without knowledge of the exact sources – and their motivations in pushing the Hulu sale story – it’s hard to say what’s true and what isn’t. Hulu has been working hard to negotiate content access over the past few months, though faces a potential cull of free shows as networks consider alternative distribution methods. Back in February the company announced it was nearing 1m Hulu Plus subscribers, who pay to access the back catalog of the streaming service.

IntoNow works like a combination of Shazam and any type of “check-in” program you’ve come across, but instead of music, IntoNow listens for the TV show or movie you’re watching. The program works by simply tapping the screen and it will take in the surrounding audio to determine what you are watching and you will “check-in” to what you are watching. This is uploaded to a social network and your friends can see what you’re watching, and you can see what they’re watching. Once uploaded you can even jump to what they’re watching if it’s live, or if it is on Netflix a link will be given to the title.

The app is limited to the iPhone right now, but the company is working on an iPad and Android version. Since the service is still so new, they are constantly compiling movies and shows, but already have somewhere between 500,000 to one million users. The staff of seven at IntoNow will be folded into Yahoo and the service will probably be integrated across all of Yahoo’s properties.

Competing TV check-in services such as GetGlue and Miso may get scooped up by Yahoo rivals, but Yahoo certainly hopes to be a step ahead with this purchase. A social TV platform is a relatively new arena and may be a good place for Yahoo to secure a lead if they can find the right way to integrate. The once popular search and news portal giant has fallen behind in recent years and is attempting to turn itself around. These days it means having to go more social.

[via TechCrunch]

What sets Search Direct apart from Google’s instant search service is that you don’t have to leave the search engine page. As you type a small window pops up with possible search results and answers. Senior vice president Shashi Seth says Search Direct’s focus is “direct answers—not the search result page.”

The beta rolls out today across the U.S. and will be available in other Yahoo products and markets later in the year. Within Search Direct there is trending searches that show the top 10 search items at that moment once you click in the search box. This is updated every 10 minutes so that the search stays current. Search Direct allows you to see weather, sports results, movie times, stocks, and shopping information without having to leave the search inquiry box. It’s a nice twist Yahoo has added to instant results searching. We’ll have to wait and see how much this helps Yahoo grab more of the search engine market, but it’s good to see Yahoo evolving.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Both are nothing compared to the gigantic portion of the global search market that Google enjoys. According to StatCoutner Google had 89.94% of the global search market for February. The results if you look at the US search market alone are a bit different. In the US Yahoo still has second place with 9.74% of the search market, Bing is third with 9.03% of the US market and Google has 79.63% of the market.

“It is significant that Bing overtook Yahoo! globally for the first time on a monthly basis but it remains a tough battle to claw back Google’s market share,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. “Although Google dipped below the 90% mark in February worldwide for the first time since August 2009 it shows little sign of losing its global dominance any time soon.”

Established independent YouTube stars aren’t excited about the new development, but understand that it makes business sense for Google to do this. Many of the more popular YouTube stars are now YouTube partners with the company meaning they get a check from YouTube for their number of views and subscriptions. These independent stars can make up to six figures a year through their YouTube channels.

With the influx of celebrity channels may give independent YouTubers less of chance to get popular. “I’m not really expecting handouts from Google, but I feel that they should definitely contribute more to people that have a proven track record of being consistent and devoted to the site from the beginning, rather than people that are using it just because they’re getting some money thrown at them,” says one independent YouTube star, Alex Negrete (keeptheheat).

[via Business Insider]

At the dinner Obama wanted to talk with the CEOs about the “promoting of American innovation, and discuss his commitment to new investments in research and development, education, and clean energy,” said a White House official.

Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg nabbed the prime seats, each flanking the President. The other invitees included: Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, Cisco CEO John Chambers, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Genentech Chairman Art Levinson, Stanford University President John Hennessy, and former state controller and venture capitalist Steve Westly.

[via TNW]

“Tablets are great for laid back experience, but most magazine content remains trapped online,” says Blake Irving, Yahoo’s Chief Product Officer. “But consumers don’t want a digitized magazine. They want rich media, they want connections beyond commenting.”

The platform will allow publishers to do away with many problems of cost and presentation of their online formats. Yahoo is hoping Livestand can bring in a new way of interacting and reading your news. Livestand will feature content from Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, Flickr, and gossip site OMG. It will also be integrated with Yahoo Finance and Yahoo mail.

“You don’t exactly curl-up with your PC, “Irving says. “With Livestand, brands can finally match the intimacy that magazines once brought to their audiences.” Livestand will be aimed at the tablet market first, then move onto smartphones and PCs. There will be subscription services for Livestand but no information is out on that yet.

[Via All Things Digital]