Yahoo

Average Contributed Method

2008-05-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

The average contributed method of calculation of MGR or rakeback is dependent on the contributions made by the player. Under this method a player has to be dealt with and he also has to make contribution to the pot in some way.

The formula is: MGR = amount raked in the pot / number of players who contributed to the pot.

For example if there are only 5 players who are dealt with and only 3 contribute to the pot and theamount raked is $3 then each contributed player will get = $1 that is $3/3.

Yahoo Tests Google Search Ads: A Search Rivalry

2008-04-12T03:21:00.000-07:00

A Monthlong Magnification of Google: the Company, the Technologies, and the Extracurricular Activities

With over 66% of US search volume (1), Google is clearly the dominant player in search. And, though Google has more than three times the search volume of Yahoo, their closest competitor has managed to hang on to their competitive status despite Google's enormous growth. On April 9, 2008, Yahoo announced that it will be testing Google's web search ads on Yahoo's own search service (2). So, what does this mean for Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and users?

The Yahoo-Google Test

In what has been discussed as an attempt to push Microsoft to raise its bid to purchase Yahoo, Yahoo has agreed to a two-week test of Google's search ads. Yahoo will serve Google search ads to approximately 3% of the users on Yahoo's own search services. Though there is no comment from Google or Yahoo on the likelihood of this becoming a larger scale or longer term deal, analysts and sources seem to think a more permanent agreement would be good for Yahoo:More Details>>

Microsoft Gives Yahoo Ultimatum on Buyout Offer

2008-04-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer tells Yahoo's board he wants to complete a purchase deal by the end of April. Or else they will go right to shareholders.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer lowered the boom on Yahoo April 5, telling the company that if the two companies can't come to a decision regarding Microsoft's $31 per share purchase offer within three weeks, it will take its offer directly to Yahoo's shareholders.
Ballmer offered the ultimatum, which signals the beginning of a proxy fight, in a letter sent to Yahoo's board Saturday, an unusual move for a dialogue that has been conducted throughout the course of the business week.
The letter comes after Microsoft and Yahoo have held casual but fruitless negotiations regarding Microsoft's offer, which was worth $44.6 billion when it was first made Feb. 1, but has sunk to about $42 billion due to decline in both company's shares.http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Search/Microsoft-Gives-Yahoo-Ultimatum-on-Buyout-Offer/.More Details>>

Yahoo, Google To Test Alliance

2008-04-09T20:56:00.000-07:00

In the test scheduled to begin this week, search queries entered by Yahoo customers will return results generated by Yahoo as before, but the ads running alongside the results will be provided by Google.
Google's expertise in serving ads with its own search results is the source of its riches, and its agreement with Yahoo, if expanded, could improve Yahoo's lagging financial performance. Yahoo will receive a share of the revenue generated from the ads. Google already provides a similar service for the search engine Ask.com.
The tentative partnership comes as a $44.6 billion buyout bid from Microsoft has pressured Yahoo to improve its financial position. More Details>>

Yahoo Shares May Fall After Microsoft Threatens to Lower Bid

2008-04-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

April 7 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc., the Internet company that snubbed a $44.6 billion takeover bid from Microsoft Corp., may drop in Nasdaq trading after the software maker threatened to cut its bid if directors fail to give in soon.
If Yahoo's directors refuse to negotiate a deal within three weeks, Microsoft plans to nominate a board slate and take its case to investors, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said April 5 in a statement. He suggested the deal's value might decline if Microsoft has to take those steps. April 7 (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo! Inc., the Internet company that snubbed a $44.6 billion takeover bid from Microsoft Corp., may drop in Nasdaq trading after the software maker threatened to cut its bid if directors fail to give in soon.
If Yahoo's directors refuse to negotiate a deal within three weeks, Microsoft plans to nominate a board slate and take its case to investors, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said April 5 in a statement. He suggested the deal's value might decline if Microsoft has to take those steps. More Details>>

Windows Vista Launch Hurts Yahoo, But Not Google

2007-03-07T23:40:00.001-08:00

The launch of Windows Vista has lifted Microsoft's Live Search share of the U.S. search market, but Microsoft's gain has come at the expense of Yahoo and Ask rather than Google.

"We saw a pretty substantial lift for the first time this year for Live Search," says Jeremy Crane, director of client services at Compete, an online market research firm. "And it happened to coincide with the consumer launch of Vista."

Live Search is the default search engine in Vista, a home-field advantage that Google has sought to counter with distribution deals for its search software.

In a blog post published today, Compete reported that Windows Live had received almost 590 million Web search queries in the United States in February, a 10% increase from 534 million in January.

During this period, Microsoft also saw a 10% increase in search query volume, which translates to a market share gain of 1 percentage point, moving Live Search from 8% to 9%.

Google also saw a market share gain of 1 percentage point during the same time frame as a result of a 3% gain in overall search volume, which reached almost 4 billion queries. Google's share of the U.S. search market in February rose to 63% from 62% the previous month.

Yahoo and Ask lost market share during this period, dropping from 23% to 21% and from 4% to 3% respectively. Yahoo's market share loss of 2 percentage points was the result of a 7% drop in search volume. Ask's market share loss followed from a 5% decline in search volume.

Last month, comScore Networks reported that Google had captured 47.5% of the U.S. search market in January, a significantly lower percentage than Compete counted. comScore also noted that Yahoo's U.S. search share dropped to 28%, Microsoft's rose slightly to reach 10.6%, and Ask's declined to 5.2%.

Crane attributes the difference in statistics to different methodologies. comScore, he says, includes a variety of online properties such as video search in its search numbers, whereas Compete only counts Web search.

Yahoo! All Set To Get Google?

2007-03-07T23:37:00.001-08:00

The year 2006 was a fixing time for Yahoo!. It focused on the Panama update and now it is fully functional.

Yahoo!'s Terry Semel, CEO and Susan Decker, CFO say that last year they focused their attention on fixing up everything. With the Panama up and running Yahoo! has a lot to look forward to in the coming year.

Sooner than positive feedbacks were received for Panama, Yahoo! stock soared by 20%. Their stocks are actually in a better position when compared with Google.

A press release informs:

The top two executives of Internet media firm Yahoo! told investors Tuesday that the company hopes to gain market share against industry leader Google as its new search tool is leading to more relevant and higher quality search results for advertisers.

"We are really pleased with the new system. It is generating higher quality leads at more competitive prices. Click through rates are increasing," Decker said.
Decker also said that Yahoo is not seeing any weakness in online ad spending this year, despite some concerns about the overall economy cooling.

Yahoos Terry Semel: Call For His Head

2007-03-03T05:14:00.001-08:00

Seeking Alpha has a long story outlining Yahoo CEO Terry Semel’s failings since his hiring in 2001, and basically calls for his head on a platter. The bottom line: Google has grown its shareholder value 21 times more efficiently than Yahoo during the time Semel has been at the company. Semel supporters point out the Yahoo did buy Overture, keeping them in the game, but others note that Semel had the opportunity to buy Google instead for $3 billion or so in 2002 (Yahoo also didn’t buy YouTube or MySpace when the opportunity came up). The article also mentions Semel’s total compensation over the last 5 years - $550 million.

Panama is off to a brisk and surprisingly strong start (more on this in an upcoming post). Forgetting Semel for a moment, it may be the single most important factor keeping Yahoo an independent company in the near term. It also might be the product that allows Semel to keep his job, or at least make a graceful exit later this year.

Google- First Result for Yahoo Email Privacy Is Gmail Privacy Policy

2007-03-03T05:10:00.001-08:00

Old issue, but possibly new news: Searching on Google for "Yahoo email privacy" returns, as the first result, a link for Gmail's privacy policy. That's silly. The user is obviously looking for Yahoo! email, not Gmail. Bad Google.

A search on Yahoo for "Yahoo email privacy" returns Yahoo results first. A search on Yahoo for "Gmail privacy" or "Google email privacy" returns Gmail results first.

A few months back, Google was taken to task for promoting its own services when users searched for blogs, calendars and other tools.

Yahoo Sued for $20M for Illegal Image Use

2007-03-03T05:08:00.001-08:00

An Ohio woman is suing Yahoo for $20 million for allegedly using a photograph of her when advertising Yahoo e-mail services, Google Watch has learned.

According to a complaint filed in Ohio federal court, the woman, Shannon Stovall, learned of the alleged misuse of her likeness after she signed up for Yahoo e-mail. An image of Stovall (left) was included in the sign-up confirmation e-mail sent to Stovall's new Yahoo e-mail address.

Stovall, who is represented by attorneys from three firmsread: not a pro se lawsuitis alleging Yahoo violated her right to publicity and right to privacy.

Stovall is seeking $20 million for compensatory and punitive damages and a portion of the profits that have been generated through the use of her likeness, and to cover her legal fees.

Reps from Yahoo were not immediately available for comment. Lawyers for Stovall have not returned calls seeking comment.

Note: A previous version of this post reported the lawsuit was for $10M. That was incorrect. The lawsuit is for $20M, plus attorney fees.