After a couple years of false starts, aborted mergers, and other behind-the-scenes mishaps, Microsoft and Yahoo are ready to form a search partnership to better compete against Google, which continues to blow away its competitors in online search. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft’s Bing engine will power both the Bing and Yahoo search sites, with any differentiation coming at a more superficial level.

It’s not exactly clear yet how Yahoo will add value to Bing’s search results. According to the companies’ press release, “Yahoo will innovate around those listings by integrating rich Yahoo content, enhanced listings with conveniently organized information about key topics, and tools to tailor the experience for Yahoo users.”

OK, what rich content? Enhanced listings, key topics, and tools? I contacted both Microsoft and Yahoo on Tuesday for more details, but got none. (Microsoft directed me back to the joint release, and Yahoo didn’t respond by the end of the day.)

Which led me to wonder: Is Yahoo the next Alta Vista? OK, I realize many of you won’t get the reference — which is exactly my point — so allow me to explain. Alta Vista, which ironically is now owned by Yahoo, was once one of the most popular search engines on the Web. In the mid-to-late 90s, Alta Vista provided a streamlined, Google-style search experience. Sadly, the service bounced around from owner to owner, was reborn as a Yahoo-style Web portal at one point, and began to lose market share. Alta Vista is still around, but few people even know it’s there.

Source: PcWorld

When Internet giants team up, civil-liberties advocates tend to worry that their consolidated power will end up hurting the privacy of average users.

An agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo to work together on Web search is no different. But at least one expert thinks it could re-energize a three-year trend that has delivered to consumers more privacy protections around the search data Internet companies store.

Jules Polonetsky, director of the research group Future Privacy Forum and formerly chief privacy officer at AOL and DoubleClick, thinks the tie-up could restart competition among the big search providers for bragging rights to who has the best practices.

“Both Microsoft and Yahoo are deeply committed to protecting consumer privacy,” said Mike Hintze, associate general counsel at Microsoft. “We will continue to look for ways to enhance consumer privacy as we move forward with this agreement, in close collaboration with customers, consumer advocates, industry partners, and governments.”

Yahoo currently retains data about people’s search queries — including keywords searched, cookie information and IP address, but no names or addresses Microsoft retains search data for 18 months, after which it says it moves to “complete anonymization.” The company has also said it will reduce its retention period to 6 months — the time frame preferred by European regulators — if Google agrees to do so as well.

Google, the search-market giant with 65 percent share, retains data for nine months, after which it makes IP addresses more difficult to tie to actual people. Then at 18 months, it makes cookie information anonymous. Retaining and mining vast amounts of data reinforces Google’s supremacy in search because the insight it gains helps it to improve its engine and services.

The incident set off a new conversation about what data search engines keep and how long they keep it (and got Mr. Polonetsky the top privacy job at AOL). Soon, European regulators signaled that they thought Internet companies should not hold on to search data beyond six months. The companies, which aim to operate under one global policy, began making changes.

“Three years ago they all had the data forever,” Mr. Polonetsky said. He then added, “They’ve all brought the time frames down and added privacy restrictions. I’m hoping that this period we’ve seen of search competition is given another boost by this” team-up of Microsoft and Yahoo.

People uncomfortable with the big three’s policies have options. You can use Ixquick, which runs queries through popular engines anonymously and doesn’t keep IP addresses. And there is Ask.com and its AskEraser feature for deleting search activity from the engine’s servers, though it has not entirely escaped criticism.

Source:Gadgetwise.Blogs

There are signs that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is taking measures to better compete with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) after the internet-giant-turned Android-maker outbid Apple for AdMob and released a phone of its own that it will sell directly to the public.

The two companies, which have been on friendly terms for years, have now entered a new, more adversarial phase, reports Business Week, which talks to sources close to Apple that say given recent actions by Google, Apple is beefing up activity on two fronts: advertising and mergers and acquisitions.

Apple’s new mobile advertising strategy: After Google outbid Apple and spent $750 million to purchase AdMob, Apple went out and purchased Quattro Wireless. Now, sources are saying that Apple aims to create “new kinds of mobile ads,” which wouldn’t really compete with Google, but to make searching on mobile phones obsolete. The sources would not say how Apple plans to do this, it could tap into user data and location information to make ads more relevant. Theories also suggest Apple could have someone shake the device to win a rebate the same way they do to roll dice in games.

Apple’s new take on M&A: Apple has also hired Adrian Perica, an M&A specialist, formerly of Goldman Sachs, to better compete for deals, according to BusinessWeek. Historically, Apple was never eager to grow by acquisition. Since 1997, Apple has bought only 11 small companies, but that’s set to change. So, what will Apple buy next? AllThingsD suggests Adobe, which has rumored to be a potential candidate for a long time. Whether Apple is considering big-ticket items, like Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE), it’s unclear. It’s market cap is currently at $18.66 billion.

Source: Moconews.Net