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Tag: Yahoo

  • MSN India appoints Samir Saraiya as head of business development

    MSN India appoints Samir Saraiya as head of business development

    MUMBAI: MSN India, the leading online destination for Indians across the globe, today announced the appointment of Samir Saraiya as head of business development.

    Saraiya will be reporting to MSN India & Windows Live country head Jaspreet Bindra.
    According to Bindra in an official statement, “The Indian Internet market is flourishing and the growth that MSN India is experiencing reflects that. The appointment of Samir is part of our commitment to strengthen our pool of experience and expertise that MSN customers have come to expect.”

    In this newly created role, Saraiya will be responsible for leveraging the strengths of MSN India and Windows Live to create new opportunities and relationships with businesses in the Indian market.

    He has been with the internet industry for the past several years. The early dotcom wave saw him shifting to Mid-Day where he headed the group’s business development portfolio across its digital assets. He then joined the Indian media conglomerate, The Times of India Group, where he worked with the vice chairman’s office overseeing business strategy across the Group’s media properties, including Indiatimes, The Economic Times and Bombay Times.

    In 2003, he moved to Yahoo! India where he was responsible for creating new revenue streams across both the internet and mobile divisions including launching Yahoo! India’s E-commerce initiative and its mobile adverting products, states the release.

  • News Corp launches MySpace in Japan

    News Corp launches MySpace in Japan

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp has launched a Japanese-language version of its social networking site (SNS) MySpace. This marks MySpace’s first Asian entry.

    Media reports state that News Corp has formed a 50:50 JV with Softbank to operate the site. The venture will initially offer services for personal computers. Later, people will be able to use mobile phones to post photos, write Web logs and download music.

    Partial services are available on a trial basis at jp.myspace.com.

    Reports add that while it is hard to predict how things will unfold , other attempts by foreign SNS’ to break into the Japanese market have not fared well. Softbank is a broadband services provider in Japan and earlier this year paid $15.6 billion to acquire Vodaphone’s Japanese mobile phone service.

    Existing social networking sites in Japan – including Softbank subsidiary Yahoo Japan – have about 10 million users. Softbank has a 41 per cent stake in Yahoo Japan.

    Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son was quoted in reports saying that his company would guide the new venture so that it met the requirements of Japanese users, while News Corp, which invested in MySpace through its Fox Interactive Media subsidiary, would provide the ‘formula’ for operating the Web site.

  • Website marketing firm Intralink launches Search Engine TV

    Website marketing firm Intralink launches Search Engine TV

    MUMBAI: The US-based website marketing and internet market research firm Intralink has launched Search Engine Television, a weekly video stream of the latest on search engine news and website marketing tips, suggestions and processes.

    The first episode is an overview of the current state of the search engine market with a focus on Google, Yahoo and MSN. The first episode also offers interim results of Intralink’s next search engine relevance report due to be released on 2 October, as per an official release.

    The next episode will be released on 18 August at 6 pm (Eastern time) and discusses the latest trends in new media marketing, website marketing and the integration of traditional marketing methods and website marketing, the release adds.

  • Fox to stream content across many sites

    Fox to stream content across many sites

    MUMBAI: US broadcaster Fox will stream free episodes of select series on dozens of Internet portals and websites from 22 August.

    In this marketing initiative, episodes of Prison Break and Vanished will be available at no charge and commercial-free to viewers across multiple portals and websites, including the network’s own Fox.com as well as AOL.com, Google Video, Yahoo!, TVGuide.com and IGN.com, among others.

    Fox executive VP, marketing Chris Carlisle says, To launch our two big thrillers – Prison Break and Vanished – both of which have continuing storylines, it is critical to get viewers invested out of the gate. Our strategy supplies as many opportunities as possible for viewers to sample the first few episodes across the Internet. Since the Internet is so communal, we also hope they will immediately buzz about them to their friends on-line.”

    More than 50 portals and websites will stream the first three episodes of Prison Break and the first three episodes of Vanished, which will be available online as early as the morning following their initial broadcasts on Fox. The episodes will be available for approximately one week.

  • Global broadband households will more than double between 2005 and 2010: InStat

    Global broadband households will more than double between 2005 and 2010: InStat

    MUMBAI: Worldwide broadband households will more than double between 2005 and 2010, growing from about 194 million in 2005 to more than 413 million by 2010.

    Market research firm In-Stat notes that of all broadband households today, 12.8 per cent are already regularly viewing professional content via online content aggregators.

    Traditional broadcast TV networks are finally figuring out that they need to capitalise on “all this personalization stuff” or they will have deep trouble ahead.

    The Pay-TV services have realised that personalisation is the trend for the future, and they won’t be left behind while TV keeps expanding onto the Internet.

    Although online content aggregators are in the early experimentation stages of rolling out video services, they will have some dramatic revenue-generating opportunities in the next five year. The worldwide market for online content services is expected to expand by a factor of 10, growing from about 13 million households during 2005 to more than 131 million households by 2010, the high-tech market research firm says.

    In-Stat analyst Gerry Kaufhold says, “AOL, Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Apple, major broadcast TV networks, Pay-TV services and local TV stations are all working on ways to blend their video assets with personalised TV services.

    “The future of television is slowly being defined online, where the big Internet portals are finding ways to blend professional video with their high-touch services that follow consumers from screen to screen during the course of a typical day.”

    Although there has been much hype about multimedia home networks, low-cost portable storage devices that can move content throughout the home via sneakernet may win the favour of consumers because luggable media provides low-cost, high availability and convenience.

  • Time Warner to offer AOL service free-of-cost

    Time Warner to offer AOL service free-of-cost

    MUMBAI: What is perceived as a last ditch attempt to save its sinking internet business initiative AOL, Time Warner has decided to switch the service to free-to-access mode from September.

    With this move, AOL will attempt to transform itself into a full-fledged online media business venture, banking purely on advertising revenue and competing directly with rivals in this space Google, Yahoo and MSN. Approximately $2 billion subscriber revenue, which the company will miss now with the move, is expected to be made up in advertising.

    Time Warner will be implementing the free service in September this year. Former customers will be able to reactivate their accounts for free when the effort takes effect in September. According to industry estimates, AOL has lost a third of its subscribers since 2002.

    This is the next logical step for AOL to capitalize further on the explosive rise in broadband usage and online advertising. With its robust and rapidly expanding advertising operation, we expect to put AOL back on a growth path,” Time Warner president Jeff Bewkes has been quoted in media reports as saying.

  • Yahoo and Canaan Partners invest US$8.95 mn in BharatMatrimony

    Yahoo and Canaan Partners invest US$8.95 mn in BharatMatrimony

    MUMBAI: Yahoo! Inc., and Canaan Partners, a global venture investor in technology companies, have announced that the companies have both invested US $8.65 million in BharatMatrimony.com Pvt. Ltd. Both investors will be represented on the board of the company. Veda Corporate Advisors acted as a strategic advisor to the transaction.

    The BharatMatrimony Group plans to significantly expand its presence on-ground and will also invest in the global personals space. BharatMatrimony already offers content in six Indian languages and soon plans to offer content in two more languages. As part of its expansion plans, BharatMatrimony Group expects to double its headcount to 700 by the end of this year.

    The company also plans to increase the number of BharatMatrimony Centres (BMC), its offline initiative, from 38 to over 300 across the country by 2008. BharatMatrimony has plans to open offices in UK and in key South East Asian markets to cater to the Indian Diaspora and to open up religion / country based matrimony portals, informs an offcial release.

    The matrimony service provider with 7.5 million registered members, BharatMatrimony Group CEO Murugavel Janakiraman said, “It gives me immense pride that two of the world’s leading companies in the technology and Internet space have invested in our business. More importantly, the global knowledge, partnerships and experience that both these investors bring will help us scale our business globally. The infused capital will be used to further sustain our leadership position in the matrimony sector. The investment will also be used to enhance our portfolio of services and take them to leadership positions in their respective sectors.”

    Canaan Partners executive director – India Alok Mittal said, “We are very excited to be an investor in BharatMatrimony. The company is very well positioned to grow rapidly and maintain its leadership in the Indian Internet landscape while continuing to be a highly valuable company from a social standpoint. The company’s services truly change the lives of millions of Indians around the world. India is one of the key markets for Canaan Partners and we are looking at creating lasting partnerships in the technology space and generating shareholder wealth over the coming years.”

    Mittal, who will represent Canaan Partners on the Board, was the founding managing director of a prominent job portal, JobsAhead.com. Janakiraman says that Mittal’s experience and expertise will give a strong competitive advantage to BharatMatrimony’s ClickJobs.com, adds the release.

    Commenting on Yahoo!’s investment in BharatMatrimony, , Yahoo! Inc. chief financial officer Susan Decker said, “India is one of the fastest growing Internet markets and our investment in BharatMatrimony furthers Yahoo!’s plans to extend our leading position in the country.”

    Yahoo! India managing director George Zacharias said, “BharatMatrimony Group’s strength in matrimonial and other services complements the strong offerings we already provide in the Indian market across communications, search, and mobile. On completion of the investment, Yahoo! India and BharatMatrimony Group will cooperate through a business partnership”.

  • Motorola, Yahoo! expand global alliance

    Motorola, Yahoo! expand global alliance

    MUMBAI: Motorola and portal Yahoo have announced a new multi-year agreement to distribute Yahoo! Go for Mobile on tens of millions of new Motorola mobile devices.

    TThe deal brings an integrated suite of Yahoo!’s services including Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Address Book and Yahoo! Local into a single application that connects consumers to their personalized Internet experience through their mobile device.

    As part of the agreement, Motorola will pre-load and prominently feature Yahoo! Go for Mobile on optimised handsets worldwide starting in the first half of 2007, giving consumers quick and easy access to their Internet content and services. The devices will be available to consumers in a number of markets across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

    Motorola corporate VP product and Xperience invention, mobile devices Scott Durchslag says, “This agreement is an important next step in showing the world the best of what can happen when Motorola’s Seamless Mobility meets Yahoo!’s Connected Life services,” said “Our collaboration with Yahoo! on exciting future versions of Yahoo! Go for Mobile will ensure that our customers and consumers get the most optimized Yahoo! experience possible on the coolest mobile devices.”

    Yahoo senior VP connected life Marco Boerries, “Consumers are no longer tethered to just accessing Internet on their desktop computer, so we are bringing the best of Yahoo!’s services to the device they always have with them and use multiple times every day – their mobile phone.

    “Together, Yahoo! and Motorola are making it easier than ever before for consumers to seamlessly access their favorite web services, information and content across both their personal computer and mobile phone.”

    Motorola and Yahoo! had announced their global alliance in July 2005 and have worked closely over the past year to deliver on their commitment to make it easy for consumers to access and use Internet services on Motorola devices. The companies will jointly market the Motorola devices with Yahoo! Go for Mobile pre-installed through their online networks, device packaging and other targeted channels.

  • Yahoo! & Microsoft to merge online chat services

    Yahoo! & Microsoft to merge online chat services

    MUMBAI: In a significant development that the web business space witnessed, Yahoo! and Microsoft announced limited public beta testing of interoperability between their instant messaging (IM) services.

    This would enable users of Windows Live Messenger, the Next Generation MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger with Voice to connect with each other.

    To be made available to their consumers in the coming months, this interoperability between the two global consumer IM providers is expected to form the world’s largest consumer IM community, approaching 350 million accounts, informs an official release.

    Consumers worldwide from Microsoft and Yahoo! will be able to join the limited public beta program and exchange instant messages across the free services, see their friends’ online presence, view personal status messages, share select emoticons, view offline messages and add new contacts from either service at no cost.

    The new beta program will be rolled out in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada (English and French), China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, the UK and US (English and Spanish).

    Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger with voice users in the US and more than 15 international markets can register to participate in the IM interoperability beta by visiting Yahoo! at http://messenger.yahoo.com or Microsoft at http://ideas.live.com, adds the release.

    Microsoft’s Windows Live Platform corporate vice president Blake Irving comments about the landmark agreement, “This first-of-its-kind interoperability between consumer IM leaders Microsoft and Yahoo! gives our customers tremendous control, convenience and freedom in their Web communication experiences with Windows Live. We’re proud to deliver this latest advancement in IM services that empower people to communicate with virtually whomever they want, wherever they want and whenever they want.”

    “Interoperability between IM services has consistently topped our users’ wish lists, and through the collaborative efforts between Yahoo! and Microsoft we are delighted to provide our combined global users with the ultimate IM experience. A new era for staying connected with friends and family is here, and the bridge between Yahoo!’s and Microsoft’s IM communities is bringing people around the world closer together,” adds Yahoo! Communications, Community and Front Doors senior VP Brad Garlinghouse.

  • Yahoo introduces new finance features

    Yahoo introduces new finance features

    MUMBAI: Yahoo Inc. is revamping the finance section of its web site with more interactive stock charts and other features. The redesigned web page will be unveiled on 17 July.

    The new system design has the static, two-dimensional stock chart where scrolling elsewhere on the page was required for getting additional data or a different timeline view removed. Instead, users can stay on the chart itself to view major events such as splits or dividends or drag the timeline to a desired period.

    Users can also type in specific dates to create a chart and compare the performance of multiple equities within the same graph. They can then easily print the customized chart or send it to others via e-mail, states a medial release.

    Google Inc., had introduced similar interactive chart features when it launched a finance section in March 2006. But Yahoo’s new customisation features raise the bar for its major competitors, reports quote said Charlene Li, an Internet analyst at Forrester Research, as saying. “This takes stock charts to another level. And, you don’t stay the leader if you don’t innovate, ” Li says.

    Yahoo will also be adding an online tool for other online publishers to distribute stock charts, quotes and news headlines from Yahoo Finance – all free of charge. The syndication offering, christened the Yahoo Finance Badge, lets web sites of all sizes display market data that Yahoo already receives and processes from the leading stock exchanges.