Google Ups the Ante in Bid for On2; ReachLocal Files for IPO
During the holidays, a few search-related business dealings were going on. Google wants to buy video compression company On2. Their initial offering was 0.0001 shares of Google Class A common stock for every share of On2 stock. Shareholders were hesitant, so Google has returned to the bargaining table with an additional 15 cents in cash per share. As a result, shares of On2 were up 15 cents today.
Meanwhile, on December 22, ReachLocal filed for an IPO. ReachLocal is an online marketing company that provides a platform to manage search and display ad campaigns across a variety of networks.
While many of the specifics of the IPO are being ironed out, the company is planning for its IPO to sell up to $100 million of stock. Revenue for the first nine months of 2009 came in at $143 million, up 38% versus 2008. The company made $11.7 million in profits during that time.
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Search Gives Back: eZanga Gets Jolly and Donates Thousands to Charity
eZanga is spreading holiday cheer in a big way this year. So far they’ve donated thousands to the following:
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Boost eLearning Provides Course on New Google Search Features
Boost eLearning provides search training for organizations, so that employees can conduct efficient searches for their business research. Now, Boost eLearning has unveiled a new course featuring Google’s new search features.
The new course explores the new “show options” feature which allows searchers to filter their searches by time and type.
“A large percentage of enterprise employees use Google for business research,” said Victor D. Alhadeff, CEO of Boost eLearning. “Enterprises therefore gain significant benefits when they help employees learn a greater portion of Google’s powerful search features. With a few minutes of easy online training dramatically improving both search speed and accuracy, employees and employers both come out winners.”
With knowledge workers spending an average of 30 minutes searching, courses like this can help employees streamline their search activity and increase productivity. 40% of searches do not return a desired result, and learning these new features could help reduce that number.
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Question Box Aids Search in Developing Areas Without Web
If you’ll join me in crawling out of our connected lives for just a second, let’s remember that there are still parts of the world that still don’t have the internet. These areas more than any other are in dire need of answers that search can provide. Answers related to farming and entrepreneurship. Answers that could transform a community, improving its economics and health.
The New York Times featured a nonprofit organization called Question Box is determined to bring those answers to such communities. Founded by Rose Shuman, Question Box staffs calling centers who receive questions, via cell phone, from developing villages in Uganda. Though the internet remains slow and elusive, cell phones have taken hold in Africa.
Question Box got its start in India, where people have access to an actual box containing a phone. Question Box isn’t alone. Google launched a similar effort in Uganda through its foundation this past June.
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SEMPO Adds Two New Working Groups: San Fran and the ATL
SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) has announced two new working groups for search marketing professionals. The new working groups will be located in Atlanta and San Francisco.
“We’re excited about adding San Francisco and Atlanta to our list of SEMPO’s local working groups, which are a very effective vehicle for addressing the local search community’s challenges and opportunities,” said Geoffrey Shenk, Managing Director of Kenshoo and Chairman, SEMPO North America. “They are becoming an increasingly popular way for SEMPO members to share ideas and expertise and, in the end, they benefit the SEMPO organization and the SEM industry.”
There are 5 other working groups in the following cities: Arizona, Boston, Chicago, Colorado and New York.
Personally, if I were to add to these 7, I would add Raleigh-Durham and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Where would you add a search marketing working group?
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Apple Seeks to Improve App Search (Without Google?!)
Say you’re searching the App Store on iTunes, but you can never find what you want. That’s because Apple, who has thus far stayed out of the search game, has enjoyed profits from iTunes despite a despicable search experience.
iPhone developers have had to get pretty creative to get the word out about their apps. (Full disclosure: I’ve marketed a couple of my husband apps and it ain’t easy.)
Now, things are getting easier if word from Apple Insider is true. According to the blog, Apple is asking developers to submit up to 255 characters containing keywords related to their app. The keywords will be used for searches conducted via the iPhone or iPod Touch devices. (If the iTunes desktop software is seriously left out of this update, it makes no sense to me.)
I’ve felt for a several months now that Apple should seriously look at getting involved in search. They’ve missed their chance with Yahoo! now that Microsoft sealed the deal, unless it unravels in an antitrust investigation (wink, wink).
Sounds like a job for Google CEO Eric Schmidt who currently sits on Apple’s board and maintains close ties with the White House. Last year, Google backed out of a deal with Yahoo!, which was clearly designed to keep Yahoo! from being bought by Microsoft’s initial acquisition offer. Google will no doubt lobby the DOJ in an attempt to kill the MSFT-YHOO deal.
In fact, they could potentially kill two birds with one stone. Since Google and Apple are themselves under antitrust scrutiny, […] Read more »
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Amazon.com to Aquire Zappos
I love Amazon. I love Zappos. I love how they compete against each other. That’s why I’m kind of disappointed that Amazon is acquiring Zappos. It would be like Duke acquiring UNC or the Red Sox acquiring the Yankees.
Alright, alright, here’s the details.
Amazon is buying Zappos for 10 million AMZN stock, which is currently worth around $807 million. Also, Amazon is providing Zappos employees with $40 million in cash and restricted stock units. Cha-freaking-ching.
Don’t worry, Zappos.com won’t be 301-redirecting to Amazon.com anytime soon.
“We are joining forces with Amazon because there is a huge opportunity to utilize each other’s strengths and move even faster towards our vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees and vendors,” said Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. “We will continue to build the Zappos brand and culture in our own unique way, and we believe Amazon is the best partner to help us do this over the long term.”
Alright, Tony. I hope this is the right decision. Don’t mess with 6pm.com. I want to get Oakley sunglasses on the cheap!
Social Media Show Big Search Jumps, Google Drops For May
The comScore’s monthly numbers show a drop in growth for Google, Yahoo and MSN, yet an increase for social sites Facebook and Craigslist over last month was noted. Google’s numbers fell to 65% of search share - a 2% drop from last month - while Craigslist gained 12 percent.
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