Voice Post 3: Conversational Judo, Percocet

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:40 AM
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Bald Promo: Check Out the Conversational Marketing Summit

The early bird discount for registration at FM's Conversational Marketing Summit ends Weds, so if any of you are thinking about joining us in San Francisco this September, now is the time to register.

Please do RSVP soon, because our capacity at the Golden Gate Club is limited. We'll have to cut off registration for both the public and VIPs once we hit capacity, and that's at about 300 or so. We're already at nearly 200. And man, if you care about the future of marketing, check out who's joining this conversation (note that Google's new VP of Marketing, David Lawee, is going to be there):

# Jay Adelson; CEO, Digg.com
# Heather Armstrong; Founder, Dooce
# Jon Armstrong; Founder, Dooce
# Paul Beck; Senior Partner, Ogilvy
# Barak Berkowitz; CEO, Six Apart
# Matt Cohler; VP Strategy, Facebook
# Laura Desmond; CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group/The Americas
# Scott Donaton; Publisher, AdAge
# Sarah Fay; President, Isobar US
# Shawn Gold; SVP Marketing & Content, MySpace.com
# David Grubb; Worldwide Media Director; Microsoft
# Curt Hecht; EVP, Chief Digital Officer, Starcom MediaVest Group
# Carla Hendra; Co-CEO, Ogilvy North America
# Casey Jones; VP Marketing, Dell
# Patrick Keane; EVP, CMO, CBS Interactive
# David Lawee; VP Marketing, Google
# Ross Levinsohn; Former President, Fox Interactive Media
# Daina Middleton; Dir, Global Interactive Marketing , Imaging and Printing Group, HP
# Jon Miller; Former Chairman & CEO, AOL Inc
# Kent Nichols; Writer, Performer, Beatbox Giant Productions
# Greg Ott; VP, Global Marketing, Ask.com
# Randall Rothenberg; President & CEO, Interactive Advertising Bureau
# Suzie Reider; Head of Advertising Sales, Youtube
# Douglas Sarine; Writer, Performer, Beatbox Giant Productions
# Tina Sharkey; Chairman and Global President, BabyCenter, LLC
# Suhaila Suhimi-Waldner; East Coast Director, Digital, OMD
# Rishad Tobaccowala; CEO, Denuo
# Johnny Vulkan; Founder, Anomaly
# Jeff Weiner; EVP, Network Division, Yahoo!

More will be announced soon, so sign up now!

• Posted by John Battelle at 10:02 AM
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Lanzone As The Boss

THe NYT does a "Boss" column Mondays, this week's victim is Jim Lanzone....

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:50 AM
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Yahoo's Search Assist

SEL covers a neat new feature that's being tested at Yahoo: Search Assist.

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:37 AM
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Google Promotions

The ever watchful Philipp has found another example of a promotion on Google's main search index. This one is in the products section, and it promotes Checkout.

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:24 AM
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Dear Washington: Let Us Buy DoubleClick

Google's policy blog points out that everyone's buying ad-related companies, implying that it's time to move on and approve the DoubleClick deal.

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:23 AM
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Face First: LiveSearch Adds Face, Portrait Filtering

Kinda neat: Three new features in Live Search Images

We know you love searching for people with our image search engine—we’ve worked hard to make it easy and fun. Now we’ve made it even better. Today we shipped three new features that help you find faces, portraits and black and white images.

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:21 AM
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Wales, Wikia, Search, Grub

Jimmy Wales' Wikia has bought Grub and open sourced it. Om has a good write up that includes this quote:

“Search is part of the fundamental infrastructure of the Internet. And, it is currently broken,” Wales said back in December 2006, when Wikia launched Search Wikia effort. “Why is it broken? It is broken for the same reason that proprietary software is always broken: lack of freedom, lack of community, lack of accountability, lack of transparency.”

Remember my early coverage of Nutch? This reminds me of those themes...

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:18 AM
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Hell Bent

Ballmer:

"We are hell-bent to absolutely become a powerhouse in the ad business." (Infoweek)

With deals from Digg (an FM partner, and now, FM is partnering with Microsoft), and EA, as well as buying AdECN and aQuantive, it's clear we're out of the "playing around" phase and into the "we're not f*cking around" phase.

The aircraft carrier is turning, Mountain View....

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:50 AM
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Think Google Earth Is Cool?

Well, dork that I am, I think Google Earth Enterprise is cooler!

More here.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:21 PM
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Integration, Microsoft

That's the name of the game, now that it's acquired AdECN and the aQuantive acquisition is set to close. I've heard from very good sources lately that Ballmer spends more than a third of his time "thinking about the media business." Well, time to stop thinking and start integrating...

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:14 PM
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Oh Lord. Helmet Cams

Tim shows us what's up in the UK.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:02 PM
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Folks Leaving Google

It happens, part of the deal, vested, done what they think they can do, then they leave.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:59 PM
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Games Work

At least, that's what Microsoft learned with its recent search share increase. Covered by SEL here.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:56 PM
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Femtocell

What?
This.

About Femtocells
Poor indoor coverage often prevents mobile customers using cell phone services at home and is impeding take-up of multimedia 3G offerings. Ubiquisys was formed in 2004 to address this challenge by bringing its innovative ZoneGate femtocell technology to market. The ZoneGate femtocell is a small ‘zero-touch’ plug-and-play device that plugs into a home broadband connection and provides high-quality 3G coverage in the home. Unlike WiFi, ZoneGate allows people to use their usual 3G cell phones to access services. ZoneGate means excellent mobile coverage at landline rates and allows mobile carriers to deliver innovative new services right where their customers need them - in their homes.

The ZoneGate system is unique in applying a standards-based approach to network integration by supporting both UMA and SIP/IMS protocols.
For more information, please visit www.ubiquisys.com.

And this:

Ubiquisys Ltd, pioneer of intelligent 3G femtocell access points for the residential market, today announced it has secured B-round funding totaling $25m. The company’s A-round backers– leading technology investors Accel Partners, Atlas Venture and Advent Venture Partners – have been joined by search engine Google in the investment.

Google seems obsessed with connectivity, no?

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:54 PM
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Ask Eraser

While I'm obsessing on issues related to the DBoI, I failed to cover the AskEraser last week. Fortunately, Ars did.

Ask.com took a major step toward protecting protecting the privacy of its users when it announced yesterday that it would be launching a new tool that would allow users to use its search engine anonymously. The tool, called AskEraser, will ensure that users' search records will not be retained by the company in any form for any period of time. Users will be able to set AskEraser settings in their privacy preferences, and the company says that the settings will be clearly displayed on results pages so that users will always be aware of the privacy status of their Ask.com searches.

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:40 PM
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Politics.

Look, if you've read this site for a while, you know that from time to time I delve into politics. Not that I want to, or that this site is about it, more that politics forces its way into the site - the issues I care about deeply often intersect with politics. Well, often enough.

Today is such a day. Atty General Alberto Gonzales is in hot water - again - for possibly lying under oath about a bedside visit to an ailing former Atty General, a clandestine visit that had to do with securing (unsuccessfully as I understand it) permission to execute a warrantless domestic-spying program.

What the hell does this have to do with search?

Everything, everything, folks. The core issue here is warantless wiretapping. In other words, access to your Database of Intentions without due process.

My hand aches. I can't write much more. I may voice post on this Friday, as I have some time in the afternoon. But I sense a Big Story brewing, and I am, well, pleased it's finally breaking.

• Posted by John Battelle at 5:35 PM
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Updated: Hakia Bows Highlighter & ScoopBar

Hakia, the search engine start up with big plans, added a new feature today: The Hakia Highlighter. I've been playing with Hakia for a bit and I like the new approaches to interface I'm seeing there. This new feature is pretty small, but it shows that upstarts can play around with new stuff easier than the incumbents - there's less to lose.

Update: Hakia announced the ScoopBar as well, another tool for searchers....

• Posted by John Battelle at 3:58 PM
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Voice Post 2: Privacy, Ask, etc.

• Posted by John Battelle at 10:01 AM
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Business.com Goes To RH Donnelley

I am happy for Jake Winebaum, the CEO of Business.com, who I've known for a long long time. From the release:

R.H. Donnelley Corporation , one of the nation's leading Yellow Pages and online local commercial search companies, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Business.com, a leading business search engine and directory and pay-per-click advertising network....Under the terms of the agreement, R.H. Donnelley will acquire Business.com for $345 million in cash and deferred purchase consideration.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:41 AM
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Auction Theory

Alas, I am on a plane most of today, but this caught my eye:

U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said an airwaves-leasing proposal by Google Inc. may discourage bidders in a government auction from developing their networks.

Google said last week that it will bid at least $4.6 billion for the airwaves if the winner of the auctioned spectrum is required to lease access to the airwaves at wholesale rates. That may make bidders ``less willing'' to build out that network, Martin said today.

Google, owner of the most popular search engine, has sparred with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, the two biggest U.S. mobile- phone companies, over rules for the auction. The carriers plan to use the airwaves to offer more of their own mobile Web content, while Google wants the network to be open to all devices. Google also wants the spectrum to be resold if there's excess capacity.

The auction rules should provide ``maximum incentive to invest in the underlying wireless network,'' Martin said during a U.S. House of Representatives Telecommunications subcommittee hearing. The FCC expects to vote on the rules by July 31, Martin said after the hearing.

Martin, who has proposed a minimum bid price of $4.6 billion for the spectrum Google is seeking, wants the winner to open its network to any legal mobile device or application. While his plan would allow companies to resell airwaves, it wouldn't require it.

Seems that Google's game theory is starting to play out...OK, I'd wager Google isn't playing games, per se, but I plan to speak to Google about this in the coming days...

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:14 AM
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First Voice Post: Thoughts on Web 2, Google and Auction Game Theory

Here's the post:

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:20 AM
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AOL Takes Tacoda

And the beat goes on...

Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy Tacoda, an online advertising company that uses behavioural targeting techniques to track Web user habits.

The deal is the latest acquisition by AOL to bolster its online advertising tools following its decision to move away from its Internet access business and instead offer consumers free services supported by ads.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies. A person familiar with the situation said AOL was paying $275 million (133 million pounds) in cash for Tacoda.

• Posted by John Battelle at 6:35 AM
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Most Important Thing that Happened...

...while I was gone was clearly Google's declaration of interest in bidding for spectrum. NYT story here.

• Posted by John Battelle at 2:44 PM
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Facebook: Cooler Than Google?

I'm starting to read my massive backlog of feeds, and the theme is clear: Facebook has grabbed the mojo stick from Google. They got Blake Ross and Parakey, for example, and the momentum is building for the company to take the platform mantle. As Fred says, fasten your seat belts.

• Posted by John Battelle at 2:41 PM
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Posting to resume shortly...

I managed to break my hand this past week. But I'll be back soon...

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:19 AM
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Gone Fishin'

My annual trek to the mountains starts today. Posting will be....more than light over the next week.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:32 AM
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This Is Not How To Do It - Updated

Sprint decided to pull the plug on 1200 of its customers who complained too much (including some soldiers, oops).

Man.

Did the company not realize the letters would end up on the web? Did it not think through the potential jujitsu it might do - instead of giving these customers the finger, it just might find a way to turn them into brand evangelists?

Why not listen to these complaints, see if there are valid ones that the company can address, address them, and enlist these chief complainants as citizen omsbudmans of a sort?

Egad.

Updated: Sprint is now saying the customers it cut off were defrauding the company. Well, that's a good reason. Why not say that to begin with? (Thanks, Darius)

• Posted by John Battelle at 11:03 AM
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Signs of Live

Er, life, in MSN LiveSearch. Compete says its share has jumped, the speculation is that it's due to Live Search Club, a new set of search games created to pump up search volume.

• Posted by John Battelle at 10:51 AM
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The Microsoft Cloud

This is getting interesting-er and interesting-er. I can't wait for my time away (starts soon) where I will have more time to write and think. From a Cnet article:

Microsoft is in the early stages of a plan that will see virtually its entire lineup of underlying Internet services opened up to developers, the software maker made clear this week.

In addition to making available its existing services, such as mail and instant messaging, Microsoft also will create core infrastructure services, such as storage and alerts, that developers can build on top of. It's a set of capabilities that have been referred to as a "Cloud OS," though it's not a term Microsoft likes to use publicly.

• Posted by John Battelle at 10:28 AM
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The Find: $15million

From a release sent to me:

TheFind.com (www.thefind.com), a leading product discovery search engine known for delivering a compelling shopping experience for lifestyle goods, today announced that it has secured $15 million in Series C financing led by Bain Capital Ventures. The new financing round, which includes additional participation from existing investors Redpoint Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, will be used to continue product development, accelerate TheFind.com’s traffic and revenue growth, and further expand the company’s business development efforts.

I use TheFind from time to time. I like the thumbnail interface.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:57 AM
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The Web in 1994

Thanks to Philipp!

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:00 PM
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WHOA. That was Fast

You may recall that I posted on Google's implorations with regard to the 700MhZ spectrum yesterday. Well, check this out, folks (USA Today):

Coming soon could be a wireless broadband world in which consumers get to pick any smartphone or other device and load any software on it — not have to take what the wireless carrier wants to sell.

That's the goal of Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, who will propose sweeping new rules for wireless airwaves the government is auctioning early next year. The 700 MHz spectrum, being vacated by TV stations as they go digital, is coveted for its ability to penetrate walls and other obstacles.

Under Martin's proposal, to be circulated in the agency as early as Tuesday, mobile services in these airwaves would have to allow consumer choice.

"Whoever wins this spectrum has to provide … truly open broadband network — one that will open the door to a lot of innovative services for consumers," Martin said in an interview Monday.

This could mean we get the Internet in the air. I mean, the real Internet. Wow.

• Posted by John Battelle at 6:54 PM
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Ask: We Got Your Data Center Right Here

Ask announces today that it's opening a data center in Washington state. From the release:

OAKLAND, Calif. and MOSES LAKE, Wash., July 11, 2007 – Ask.com®, a leading search engine and wholly-owned business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI), and Moses Lake Mayor Ron C. Covey today announced that Ask.com will house a new data center in Moses Lake, located in Eastern Washington. The eco-friendly server facility will enable Ask.com to support its growing query volume and provide additional computing power for processor-intensive search services, including the new Ask3D. Ask3D combines rich media like images, video and music as well as traditional Web links on a single search results page, helping people find what they are looking for faster.

With the new facility, Ask.com will provide an enhanced search experience for users, while furthering its commitment to environmental responsibility. The data center will be located within the TITAN complex, an efficient, highly secure data storage and telecommunications hub. The TITAN facility has zero carbon emissions, and it utilizes renewable hydropower and a low-energy cooling design.

It's cool that the center is zero carbon emissions. I pinged Ask CEO Jim Lanzone and asked what he thought was significant about this new data center. In short, he said it's a sign of growth, of a willingness to make big investments, and a sign of preparations for new things to come (Edison, I'd warrant).

• Posted by John Battelle at 6:35 PM
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Facebook: $6 Billion? Nah.

Look. If you're Facebook, why on earth would you sell to Microsoft for $6 billion if you didn't sell to Yahoo for $1 Billion last year? You just wouldn't. You don't NEED anyone right now. Do you? Mark and his senior team has probably already been "de-risked" by the last round of investment, meaning they've taken money off the table and are not lured by possible riches (this is pure speculation, mind you, not personal knowledge). It must drive everyone who is trying to buy them crazy.

Facebook has a tiger by the tail. Today I turned down a chance to discuss "if Facebook is the next Google" on CNBC. It's the current fascination. Why Facebook, why now, when there are dozens of other social networks out there? I've heard valuations for the company that put it at past $12 billion. On $30 million in estimated earnings this year.

Wow. Get me that multiple, please! Even $6 billion is what - 200 times earnings?

It got me thinking. After all, in 2002, tons of folks were asking the same question. Why Google, why now, when there were dozens of other search engines out there?

Last time, there was an easy answer: PageRank.

Is there an easy answer this time?

I don't see one. Do you?

• Posted by John Battelle at 6:12 PM
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Yapta Gets Funding

Remember FareChase? Yeah, me too. Gary notes that Yapta, another airfare search service, just got funded. His post also has a roundup of similar search services.

• Posted by John Battelle at 3:53 PM
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FM Launches Conversational Marketing Summit

News over on the FM front, but I know a lot of Searchblog readers are interested in my take on conversational media and marketing. FM today announced its Conversational Marketing Summit in SF in September. I hope many of you can make it! For more details, head here.

• Posted by John Battelle at 3:16 PM
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Google On Wireless Auctions and Spectrum Use: Worth Reading

Google just posted a lengthy explanation of its position with regard to an upcoming government auction in the 700mHz spectrum. It's fascinating reading, and one of the reasons I'm having Reed Hundt, of the Google-supported Frontline Wireless, coming to Web 2 to speak this Fall.

In short, Google claims that it's most likely that the incumbent telcos and cable companies will win the auction, simply to insure they don't have any competition.

From the post:

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been taking a closer look at whether and how Google might participate meaningfully in the auction. As part of that look, we've consulted with spectrum auction experts and conducted various game theory scenarios. Our analysis has confirmed that, under the originally proposed rules, the existing national wireless carriers are likely to prevail in the bidding process against a potential new entrant like Google. While we remain interested in the possibility of participating in the auction, it’s clear that the incumbent carriers have built-in advantages that will prove difficult to overcome (particularly the economic and operational barriers to entry for a company like ours, and the relatively greater value and usefulness that spectrum brings to existing carriers).

What would happen if one or some of the existing national wireless carriers win this valuable spectrum at auction? They would probably use it to protect their existing business models and thwart the entry of new competitors -- both understandable actions from a rational business perspective. Beyond the loss of a valuable public resource, however, that outcome would not bring us any closer to fostering much-needed competition in the broadband market, or providing innovative new web applications and service offerings.

Google is now lobbying the government asking that whoever wins be regulated to insure openness:

Late yesterday, we filed a letter urging the FCC to take concrete steps to make sure that regardless of who wins the spectrum at auction, consumers’ interests are best served. We believe that the winning bidders should be required to adhere to enforceable rules that require the adoption of four types of "open" platforms:

Open applications: consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
Open devices: consumers should be able to utilize a handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
Open services: third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
Open networks: third parties (like internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at a technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee's wireless network.

It's interesting to note that while Google seems to be strike fear in nearly every player in the media and technology business, the same does not apparently hold true for telecom.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:19 AM
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Google $700

That's what one analyst is now predicting (via Barrons).

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:58 AM
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Google Can Even Help Two Dumb*sses Steal $12k

I just love this. Love, love love this.

The burglary at Bigg City, formerly Mr. Bigg’s Family Fun Center, turned into a comedy of errors early June 10. The burglars tried to disable a security camera by repeatedly spraying it with WD-40 — it only cleaned the lens — and spent an hour and 15 minutes trying to open three safes — apparently unaware that some types require the dial to be turned two or three times around.

They finally did a Google search for “how to open a safe” and “how to crack a safe” on a computer in the next room.

“They’re not professional safe people,” said Colorado Springs police detective Chuck Ackerman. “No, they’re not.”

On the other hand, the Google query apparently worked; they haven’t been caught, and they did get about $12,000.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:34 PM
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Social Networking, So Hot, Google and Yahoo Are Doing It Twice!

We know 360 and Orkut were not hits, and that FaceBook has both of them green with envy. So what to do? Speculation is, Yahoo's doing Mosh. And Google's got an iron in the fire with SocialStream.

• Posted by John Battelle at 1:57 PM
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That, This, The Other

News and insights I've seen over the past few days:

First, Google hit a new high Friday.

Second, BB on Weinberger on the telcos. Delaminate, baby!

Third, online spending is up again. Another study says so.

Jantsch notes that Intuit has a "follow me home" service to understand its customers better. Great idea.

Ars on Google on MSFT Vista integration. This is not going to go away soon.

Microsoft clears a hurdle to approval of its aQuantive acquisition.

Another Google wall of ideas.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:55 AM
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Google Acquires Postini

Well, this is interesting:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - July 9, 2007 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)
announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire
Postini, a global leader in on-demand communications security and
compliance solutions serving more than 35,000 businesses and 10
million users worldwide. Postini's services -- which include message
security, archiving, encryption, and policy enforcement -- can be used
to protect a company's email, instant messaging, and other web-based
communications. Under the terms of the agreement, Google will acquire
Postini for $625 million in cash, subject to working capital and other
adjustments, and Postini will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Google. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and
is expected to close by the end of the third quarter 2007.

"With this transaction, we're reinforcing our commitment to delivering
compelling hosted applications to businesses of all sizes. With the
addition of Postini, our apps are not just simple and appealing to
users -- they can also streamline the complex information security
mandates within these organizations," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman of
the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Google.

Postini is backed by August Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital, Pacifica Fund, Summit Partners and Sun Microsystems. More here from Alarm Clock.

Happy days in those offices, I'm guessing.

• Posted by John Battelle at 8:06 AM
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A Brief Interview with Michael Yavonditte, Quigo

Way back in 2004, I spoke to Michael Yavonditte, the CEO of Quigo. In that post, I noted:

According to Yavonditte, Quigo has perfected a relevancy algorithm that does AdSense one better - far better, to paraphrase his words. Quigo is focusing on picking off the high-brand-value publishers who use AdSense but are looking for a network solution that pays them more for what they believe is significantly better inventory than the lowest common denominator AdSense approach.

Well, it's been a long three years, but Michael recently landed Time Inc. as a customer, in a high profile partnership that has shined the spotlight on the (sort of) startup. So I asked him for a Searchblog Brief Interview. The results are below.

So, first question. What do you think motivated Time Inc. to work with Quigo over Google?

A few reasons: Quigo will make Time Warner more money over the next 3-years. They can leverage their dominant media brands to command top
prices from advertisers and begin to "bundle" performance-based advertising with more traditional forms such as banner ads. 

Time's senior management team spent a lot of time with Quigo's team over the past 6-months. It's a real partnership based on economic and product
development considerations. They want to sell their advertisers into the program --- an important yet misunderstood part of our business model,
and not an area I wish to spend too much time on here. They want to control their pricing and relationships. Our system let's them do both.
They want to collaborate to build new ad formats. And, they want world-class yield management. Yield is one of our core competencies.

We package all this up like no one else in the world today and deliver within a white label environment. The macro trends favor our approach here.


When you say "macro trends", can you elaborate?

Sure. We're seeing more and mor