Month: February 2008

Yahoo Is Opening Up, But What’s The Big Vision?

At the IAB yesterday Jerry Yang promised that Yahoo would follow a more open path, but didn't delve into specifics. But there are plenty of specifics to talk about. First, Yahoo Buzz, which launched this week, is a step in that direction, though it's a limited beta for now….

At the IAB yesterday Jerry Yang promised that Yahoo would follow a more open path, but didn’t delve into specifics. But there are plenty of specifics to talk about. First, Yahoo Buzz, which launched this week, is a step in that direction, though it’s a limited beta for now. Secondly, Yahoo Search has opened its platform for publishers, allowing them to pull Yahoo results and redesign them as the publishers see fit (not to mention the incorporation of Hadoop, an open source project, in Yahoo Search results) . And third, Yahoo is opening up its home page to selected content contributors.

I plan a longer post on Yahoo if/when I get a chance to talk with folks there. It’s clear they are beginning to roll out a strategy, but, well, it’s not clear to me what the big vision is. I see parts of it – boil the all-in-one advertising platform ocean, make Yahoo more open, create exchanges between publishers and advertisers – but I can’t see the whole dern thing. And from the buzz at the IAB conference after Jerry and Sue’s presentation yesterday, I ain’t the only one.

Update: Sue Decker has posted more of her thoughts on Yahoo’s strategy here. Also, I’m in touch with Yahoo to get a briefing, though skeds being what they are it might not happen for a few weeks…

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Hulu At IAB

Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, gave a very impressive demo today at the IAB. I was prepared to not be impressed. I was wrong. It's a smart company with a good plan, very customer focused. I can only imagine this is what the folks at YouTube wished they could…

Hulu

Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, gave a very impressive demo today at the IAB. I was prepared to not be impressed. I was wrong. It’s a smart company with a good plan, very customer focused. I can only imagine this is what the folks at YouTube wished they could have done. I have a few nits with what I heard, more after I corner Jason after the event. But honestly, it was pretty damn cool.

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LiveBlogging Jerry Yang and Sue Decker At IAB Conference

Jerry Yang had the grace to not cancel on the IAB keynote interview today, not sure I would have done the same were I in his shoes. We spoke briefly before he went on, he seemed in good spirits, though clearly the reality of Yahoo's situation sat heavy in…


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Yang Iab

Jerry Yang had the grace to not cancel on the IAB keynote interview today, not sure I would have done the same were I in his shoes. We spoke briefly before he went on, he seemed in good spirits, though clearly the reality of Yahoo’s situation sat heavy in the air.

He and President Sue Decker (that was a surprise) took the stage together, and Jerry spoke solo for a bit. Notes:

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At the IAB Conference

As I noted before, I'm at the IAB conference for the next few days (the mobile phone shot above is of Randall Rothenberg, IAB CEO). Wenda Harris Millard, the new Chair of the Board (on which I serve) just laid out a line I really loved: "We must not…


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Iab Conf

As I noted before, I’m at the IAB conference for the next few days (the mobile phone shot above is of Randall Rothenberg, IAB CEO). Wenda Harris Millard, the new Chair of the Board (on which I serve) just laid out a line I really loved:

“We must not trade our advertising inventory like pork bellies.”

She refers to the commoditization of branded advertising inventory via ad newtorks and algorithms. It was quite inspiring. But folks were not sure whether to clap. I say: Bravo!!!

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Links

Work checking out: Concerns loom as Google begins testing health records system (ars) The Search for the Golden Geek (to lead Facebook) (AllThingsDigital) Superdelegate layer in Google Earth (Official Google Blog) Maybe Microsoft Should Stalk Different Prey (NYT)…

Work checking out:



Concerns loom as Google begins testing health records system (ars)

The Search for the Golden Geek (to lead Facebook) (AllThingsDigital)

Superdelegate layer in Google Earth (Official Google Blog)

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Spring Training: Practice Time

I've got an IAB Board meeting and annual conference in Phoenix starting today, and last week was winter break for my kids. So we combined the two and spent a few days as a family in Scottsdale, home of my hometown team. Yesterday my son and I walked over…


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I’ve got an IAB Board meeting and annual conference in Phoenix starting today, and last week was winter break for my kids. So we combined the two and spent a few days as a family in Scottsdale, home of my hometown team. Yesterday my son and I walked over to the Giants’ training facility and were pleased to find it open, with about fifty or so die hard fans taking in a glorious early camp practice. I shot a few pictures off my mobile phone, here they are, to warm your still wintry hearts.

Ian At Practice

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Again With the High Click Fraud Stats

Click Forensics, a company that certainly benefits from press about high click fraud, has come out with another scary statement: Click Fraud accounts for more than 28% of clicks on content networks, which I assume means AdSense and similar types of syndicated networks. The overall rate of fraud is…

Click Forensics, a company that certainly benefits from press about high click fraud, has come out with another scary statement: Click Fraud accounts for more than 28% of clicks on content networks, which I assume means AdSense and similar types of syndicated networks. The overall rate of fraud is more than 16%, the company claims. Seeking Alpha covers it here.

The thing is, we’ve heard this before, and before that, and probably before that, and the response from Yahoo and Google is always the same: Click Forensics has got it all wrong. We catch nearly all fraud before anyone has to pay for it. All of this is overblown and misunderstood.

So why does Click Forensics keep at it? Who’s right here?

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Microsoft President on Yahoo

Just sent this link – an internal email from Kevin Johnson, Microsoft President, to employees (and posted to Microsoft's press area as well). Can't find much news in it but……

Just sent this link – an internal email from Kevin Johnson, Microsoft President, to employees (and posted to Microsoft’s press area as well). Can’t find much news in it but…

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Google Responds to Privacy Fears On Searchblog

A while back I wrote a piece in which I expressed concerns about how Google might use data it has on individuals, and suggesting that I and perhaps others have hit their "Google saturation point." The post elicited alot of comments, including Matt Cutts of Google, who promised to…

A while back I wrote a piece in which I expressed concerns about how Google might use data it has on individuals, and suggesting that I and perhaps others have hit their “Google saturation point.” The post elicited alot of comments, including Matt Cutts of Google, who promised to respond with some policy clarifications. Well, the response got stuck in his mailbox, but he just posted it now. Here is the highlight:

For example, our internal user data access agreement explicitly mentions that Google employees are not allowed to try to access data on any public figure, any employee at a particular company, or any acquaintance. To do so would be grounds for immediate termination. So for the case that you’re worried about (running a start-up using Google’s tools), we have mechanisms and policies in place that specifically protect your privacy in that situation.

But…this allows them, from what I can tell, to access information on anyone who is not a “public figure, any employee at a particular company, or any acquaintance.”

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It’s Unnerving

Tactic or honest response? Sergey on Microsoft: "The Internet has evolved from open standards, having a diversity of companies," Brin told The Associated Press after the event. "And when you start to have companies that control the operating system, control the browsers, they really tie up the top Web…

Tactic or honest response? Sergey on Microsoft:

“The Internet has evolved from open standards, having a diversity of companies,” Brin told The Associated Press after the event. “And when you start to have companies that control the operating system, control the browsers, they really tie up the top Web sites, and can be used to manipulate stuff in various ways. I think that’s unnerving.”

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