Microsoft shakes up online management

JUST as Microsoft appears ready to up the ante in its US$45 billion (A$49.6 billion) unsolicited takeover bid for internet giant Yahoo, the company has shaken up management of its online division.

And reports in the US say the management changes – announced by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer – prepare the ground for a merge with Yahoo.

The company said former aQuantive chief executive Brian McAndrews – who joined Microsoft when the digital advertising firm was acquired last year – will take expanded roles in the Microsoft Online Services division.

Steve Berkowitz will step down as senior vice-president of the Online Services Group. He will remain with the company, focusing on a smooth transition of the business, until the end of August.

Mr Ballmer also announced the promotion of Satya Nadella to senior vice-president Search Portals & Advertising Group, and Bill Veghte to Senior VP of the Online Services and Windows Business Group.

Analysts in the US say the promotion of Mr McAndrews is significant and that he will most like be the top lieutenant in any Microsoft-Yahoo combination

Microsoft responded saying the raft of changes had nothing to do with the Yahoo bid, and that there had been other senior management changes also announced yesterday that were outside of the Online Services Group.

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News Corp enters Yahoo discussions

RUPERT Murdoch’s News Corporation has entered discussions with Yahoo about an alliance that would combine the News-owned MySpace with the internet giant, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The talks add both flavour and drama to what is becoming a fight for Yahoo. The WSJ says the discussions are part of a strategy to thwart Microsoft’s US$45 billion (A$49.9 billion) unsolicited bid for Yahoo.

According to unnamed sources, the deal would involve News Corp getting a stake of 20 per cent or more in Yahoo. The IT industry blog TechCrunch is also reporting the discussions.

News and Yahoo have held discussions about a tie-up in the past that focused on the MySpace property being used to swap for Yahoo equity, but those talks have previously broken down over the valuation of MySpace.

But since Microsoft’s hostile takeover bid earlier this month, Yahoo has aggressively pursued other strategic alliances that would keep the company outside of Redmond’s grip.

The Yahoo board formally rejected the Microsoft earlier this week saying it undervalued the company. But Microsoft responded saying it would take all necessary steps to consummate the deal, and is likely to come back with a revised offer.

Meanwhile, TechCrunch is reporting that the first of the “inevitable” lawsuits have started to be filed against Yahoo from shareholders unhappy that the company rejected the Microsoft offer.

The web site reports that more shareholders are expected “to pile on board” legal actions as Yahoo further resists the Microsoft overtures.

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T-Mobile dumps Google for Yahoo

EUROPEAN mobile phone giant T-Mobile is to end its relationship with Google as preferred search provider, instead signing a strategic partnership with rival Yahoo.

From March 30, Yahoo will become the preferred search provider for T-Mobile in Europe with the companies cooperating on developing industry-leading mobile search solutions.

T-Mobile said Yahoo’s oneSearch quickly and easily delivers relevant results and instant answers to search queries, removing the need for consumers to navigate through a sea of PC Web links.

“This cooperation agreement offers significant advantages to our mobile Internet customers, and creates the foundation for successful cooperation in the future,” T-Mobile International chief executive officer Hamid Akhavan said.

“With Yahoo, T-Mobile has entered into a partnership with a true Internet pioneer,” he said.

T-Mobile is also expanding partnerships for its social web services by cooperating with communities such as YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and bebo, the company said.

“Cooperation with YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and bebo allows T-Mobile customers to develop and expand their personal networks whenever and wherever they like,” T-Mobile International Group Product & Innovation Officer Christopher Schläffer said.

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Yahoo ramps video with Maven

THE air around Yahoo might be thick with anticipation over what Microsoft’s next move might be in its hostile acquisition bid for the company, but that hasn’t stopped it getting on with business.

Yahoo has announced a major expansion in the video content sector, acquiring online video platform provider Maven Networks for US$160 million (A$177 million).

The company said the acquisition gives Yahoo the opportunity to expand both its consumer video services and its video advertising offerings.

“Video is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the online ad market, and Maven will significantly help advance Yahoo!'s strategy, expanding the video opportunity for publishers and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness for advertisers,” said Yahoo Global Partner Solutions executive vice-president Hilary Schneider.

The acquisition better positions Yahoo to take advantage of the growing market for online news and entertainment, and to offer advertising in video bundles. Research group eMarketer estimates the advertising spend on internet video will triple over the next three years to US$4.3 billion.

Yahoo says it already has the largest library of professionally produced legally licensed video content and has video advertising relationships with over 75 per cent of the top TV advertisers. It also has advertising relationships with a growing number of premium publishers including eBay, Comcast, Forbes.com and others.

The Maven platform is currently used to manage, distribute and monetise premium online video content for over 30 major media companies, including Fox News, Sony BMG and CBS Sports.

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Yahoo ramps video with Maven

THE air around Yahoo might be thick with anticipation over what Microsoft’s next move might be in its hostile acquisition bid for the company, but that hasn’t stopped it getting on with business.

Yahoo has announced a major expansion in the video content sector, acquiring online video platform provider Maven Networks for US$160 million (A$177 million).

The company said the acquisition gives Yahoo the opportunity to expand both its consumer video services and its video advertising offerings.

“Video is projected to be the fastest growing segment of the online ad market, and Maven will significantly help advance Yahoo!'s strategy, expanding the video opportunity for publishers and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness for advertisers,” said Yahoo Global Partner Solutions executive vice-president Hilary Schneider.

The acquisition better positions Yahoo to take advantage of the growing market for online news and entertainment, and to offer advertising in video bundles. Research group eMarketer estimates the advertising spend on internet video will triple over the next three years to US$4.3 billion.

Yahoo says it already has the largest library of professionally produced legally licensed video content and has video advertising relationships with over 75 per cent of the top TV advertisers. It also has advertising relationships with a growing number of premium publishers including eBay, Comcast, Forbes.com and others.

The Maven platform is currently used to manage, distribute and monetise premium online video content for over 30 major media companies, including Fox News, Sony BMG and CBS Sports.

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Yahoo spurns Microsoft offer as too little

GLOBAL Internet pioneer Yahoo has rejected Microsoft’s US$42 billion unsolicited takeover offer, saying the bid was too low and not in the best interests of shareholders.

“The Yahoo board of directors has carefully reviewed Microsoft's unsolicited proposal with Yahoo's management team and financial and legal advisors and has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo and our stockholders,” the company said in a statement.

“After careful evaluation, the Board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo, including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects,” it said.

The rejection had been largely expected by both the finance and technology community. But in dismissing Microsoft’s initial overtures, the carefully-worded Yahoo statement was in no way antagonistic toward a future, larger offer from Microsoft.

It did not cite anti-trust concerns, not allude to any misgivings about Microsoft’s intentions for the company and its technology.

“The Board of Directors is continually evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximise value for all stockholders,” the Yahoo statement said.

Microsoft issued a statement describing the rejection as “unfortunate,” and left the door open to further pursuit of Yahoo, saying “moving forward to consummate the transaction” was best for all concerned.

“A Microsoft-Yahoo combination will create a more effective company that would provide greater value and service to our customers,” Microsoft said.

“Furthermore, the combination will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising.”

“The Yahoo! response does not change our belief in the strategic and financial merits of our proposal. As we have said previously, Microsoft reserves the right to pursue all necessary steps to ensure that Yahoo!’s shareholders are provided with the opportunity to realize the value inherent in our proposal.”

Reports from the US say one option that Yahoo is exploring is a possible merger with struggling internet firm AOL, a part of the Time Warner media behemoth.

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Yahoo to reject Microsoft offer: Report

ONLINE giant Yahoo’s board of directors is preparing to reject Microsoft’s hostile US$45 billion (A$50 billion) acquisition proposal, according to reports from the United States.

Reports through the Wall Street Journal and wires services say the Yahoo board believes the Microsoft offer greatly undervalues the internet pioneer.

The reports say that Microsoft’s US$31 per share bid for the company does not take into account the risks that face Yahoo if it pursues a deal that may ultimately be shot down by regulators.

It is thought the board also believes Microsoft is simply trying to take advantage of Yahoo soft share price – the number two search company has struggled in recent months – to pick up a bargain.

Yahoo management is thought to be seeking closer to $40 per share – an offer than would cost Microsoft a further US$15 billion.

A rejection by Yahoo would set the scene for a potentially ugly takeover battle that may ultimately sink any hope for a quick deal. Critics of the tie-up already point to the vastly different corporate cultures in Yahoo and Microsoft and say integrating the businesses would be extremely difficult.

Yahoo chief executive officer Jerry Yang last week wrote to staff indicating the company’s board was investigating “strategic alternatives” to the Microsoft takeover – the first indication that the company was did not altogether welcome the bid.

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Industry giants join OpenID board

THE move towards making portable web identities has taken a giant step forward as five of the industry’s most power companies – Google, IBM, Microsoft, Verisign and Yahoo – joined the OpenID Foundation board.

The companies were appointed as the Foundation’s first corporate members of the board. In its community blog, OpenID said the announcement marked a milestone in the maturity and impact of the organization.

It was quick to add, however, that the corporate membership of the board did not mean the companies could dictate technical terms.

“While the OpenID Foundation serves a stewardship role around the community’s intellectual property, the Foundation’s board itself does not make any decisions about the specifications the community is collaboratively building,” the OpenID blog said.

Last year, OpenID grew substantially, both as a technology and as a community. At the beginning of 2006, there were fewer than 20-million OpenID enabled URLs and less than 500 websites where they could be used. Today there are more than 250 million OpenIDs and well more than 10,000 websites to accept them.

The OpenID Foundation was formed in June 2007 to support and promote the technology developed by the OpenID community. Members include individuals, students, nonprofits, startups and industry giants that have come together to develop and promote open identity management on the Web.

OpenID is free technology that simplifies the online user experience by eliminating the need for multiple user names across Internet sites, enabling individuals to take more control and ownership of their digital identities.

This user-centric digital identity technology helps users reduce the pain of managing dozens, even hundreds, of user names and passwords, and gives users more control over what personal information they share with Web sites when they sign in using an OpenID.

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Industry giants join OpenID board

THE move towards making portable web identities has taken a giant step forward as five of the industry’s most power companies – Google, IBM, Microsoft, Verisign and Yahoo – joined the OpenID Foundation board.

The companies were appointed as the Foundation’s first corporate members of the board. In its community blog, OpenID said the announcement marked a milestone in the maturity and impact of the organization.

It was quick to add, however, that the corporate membership of the board did not mean the companies could dictate technical terms.

“While the OpenID Foundation serves a stewardship role around the community’s intellectual property, the Foundation’s board itself does not make any decisions about the specifications the community is collaboratively building,” the OpenID blog said.

Last year, OpenID grew substantially, both as a technology and as a community. At the beginning of 2006, there were fewer than 20-million OpenID enabled URLs and less than 500 websites where they could be used. Today there are more than 250 million OpenIDs and well more than 10,000 websites to accept them.

The OpenID Foundation was formed in June 2007 to support and promote the technology developed by the OpenID community. Members include individuals, students, nonprofits, startups and industry giants that have come together to develop and promote open identity management on the Web.

OpenID is free technology that simplifies the online user experience by eliminating the need for multiple user names across Internet sites, enabling individuals to take more control and ownership of their digital identities.

This user-centric digital identity technology helps users reduce the pain of managing dozens, even hundreds, of user names and passwords, and gives users more control over what personal information they share with Web sites when they sign in using an OpenID.

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Yahoo’s Yang stays mum on Microsoft

YAHOO chief executive Jerry Yang says the company is still evaluating how Microsoft’s US$47 billion acquisition offer changes the industry’s strategic landscape, and urged employees not to get distracted by the bid.

“No decisions have been made about Microsoft’s proposal,” Mr Yang said. “Our board is thoughtfully evaluating a wide range of potential strategic alternatives in what is a complex and evolving landscape. And we’ve hired top advisors to assist through the process,” he said.

Mr Yang, who was a co-founder of Yahoo in the earliest days of the internet in 1994, said the process was “going to take the time it needs to do it right.”

“The Microsoft interest highlights the tremendous strength of the Yahoo brand and assets – our half-billion users around the world, our leading products and services, our open ad network, our technology, and most of all, our amazingly talented people,” Mr Yang said.

Regardless, as the number two search provider Yahoo has struggled in recent years against fierce competition from market leader Google.

The company has already announced a restructure and round of lay-offs that will proceed regardless of its position on the Microsoft offer. The company plans to trim about 1,000 employees from its global payroll of about 14,300 staff.

“As we look to build on the progress we’ve been making, I want to make sure you all realise how essential you are to Yahoo’s success,” Mr Yang said in an internal communications with employees.

“As this process moves forward, we’re going to keep you informed. Your hard work and strong commitment are more important now than ever before,” he said.

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Microsoft demos new online ad platform

JUST days after announcing its US$47 billion (A$53 billion) hostile bid for online giant Yahoo, Microsoft has demonstrated a next-generation set of online advertising tools – including contextual ads for video.

The company showed off the new products, which come out of Microsoft adCenter Labs, at its fourth annual Demo Fest event.

The technologies highlighted at this event included the latest advances and algorithms in content analysis and computer vision for video and images, speech recognition for contextual video ads, and advanced marketing intelligence that enable enhanced audience insight and better targeting capabilities for advertisers.

“We believe the technical advances and intelligence we are creating at adCenter Labs can change the game of online advertising,” Microsoft technical fellow Tarek Najm said.

“We are developing advertising algorithms that can anticipate and understand consumer behavior faster than the speed of thought, so that we can help advertisers create more efficient and relevant user experiences,” he said.

The new Contextual Ads for Video technology uses speech recognition to enable ads to be dynamically served based on the content discussed in the video. If the topic of the video was gardening, ads related to gardening or lawn improvement could be served in an adjacent text-based ad as the video played.

Another system, called Intelligent Bug Ads, lets contextual advertising be placed within a video, using a computer vision algorithm that calculates the least intrusive spot within the video to place the ad – so as to balance the needs of the viewer and advertiser by not entirely spoiling the viewer experience.

The company believes keyword search advertising will ultimately make up only a small portion of a vast market for digital advertising.

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Google-Microsoft war of words begins

THE ink is barely dry on Microsoft’s US$45 billion (A$50 billion) bid for search company Yahoo! and rival Google has already cranked up its awesome public relations machinery to try and stop the deal.

In a direct communication with customers and users, Google, which dominates the search market with a global share of more than 70 per cent, questions whether Microsoft can be trusted not to use the deal to crush competition and innovation.

“Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions,” said Google’s senior vice-president for corporate development and chief legal officer David Drummond in a post on the company’s official blog.

“This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation,” Mr Drummond said.

Microsoft on late Friday made a hostile takeover bid for Yahoo! offering US$44.6 billion for the number two search company.

Google’s response has been immediate, pushing for regulators to closely scrutising any take-over.

“Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies – and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets,” Google’s Mr Drummond wrote on the official blog.

“Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft – despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses – to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet?”

Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith issued a statement yesterday countering the Google suggestions, saying the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo would create a more competitive market by establishing a more credible number two search company.

“Today, Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web. Google has amassed about 75 percent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow,” Mr Smith said. “According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 percent search query share in the U.S. and more than 85 percent in Europe.”

“Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals,” he said.

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Yahoo to cut hundreds of jobs

JUST months after returning to run the company he co-founded Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang is getting ready to fire hundreds of employees as the internet pioneer seeks to find a way out of a deep financial malaise.

Reports in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and major wire services all point to the lay-offs being announced next week. It is expected to be the biggest round of redundancies at Yahoo since 2001 following the dotcom bust.

The Associated Press quotes analysts in the US saying the company will slice about 5 per cent of staff from its 14,000-strong workforce – or 700 employees.

The analysts say Mr Yang is under intense pressure to cut costs at Yahoo in order to boost profits and improve the company’s flagging share price. He is also expected to restructure the firm, improving the competitiveness of its online advertising services, and to improve traffic flows to its main portal.

While Yahoo has not been losing money during its current struggles, it has not performed to the satisfaction of Wall Street with its share price being punished as a result.

Investors have been especially unhappy with the its performance relative to Google, the now dominant online search and advertising company.

The Yahoo layoffs are expected to be announced next Tuesday.

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Yahoo saddles up OpenID 2.0

INTERNET giant Yahoo! has announced its support for the OpenID 2.0 digital identity framework for all of its 248 million active registered users worldwide.

The OpenID service means that a Yahoo can use their Yahoo ID to register with any other site using OpenID 2.0, eliminating the need to create many separate IDs and log-ins for different web sites.

The initial OpenID service will be available for public beta on January 30. Web sites that accept OpenID 2.0 will be able to add a simple “Sign-in with Your Yahoo! ID” button to their login pages that will make it even easier for their users.

“A Yahoo ID is one of the most recognisable and useful accounts to have on the internet and with our support of OpenID, it will become even more powerful,” said Yahoo executive vice-president for platforms and infrastructure Ash Patel.

“Supporting OpenID gives our users the freedom to leverage their Yahoo! ID both on and off the Yahoo! network, reducing the number of usernames and passwords they need to remember and offering a single, trusted partner for managing their online identity,” Mr Patel said.

OpenID is an open, decentralised, free framework for user-centric digital identity, which eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites. OpenID is still in the adoption phase, but is becoming more popular as large organisations like AOL, Microsoft, Sun, Novell and others begin to accept and provide OpenIDs.

Today it is estimated that there are over 120 million OpenID-enabled URLs with nine thousand sites supporting OpenID logins.

“Today’s announcement by Yahoo supporting OpenID is the realisation of three years of hard work from this extremely passionate community of developers,” said Scott Kveton, chairman of the OpenID board of directors. “I have never met a more committed set of people focused on doing “the right thing” all the time.”

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Yahoo unveils new mobile interface

YAHOO! founder Jerry Yang used a keynote address at the giant Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas to describe a corporate vision that puts mobile technology at the heart of Yahoo’s plans.

Mr Yang unveiled Yahoo! Go 3.0, an early beta of the company’s flagship, all-in-one mobile platform. The Go 3.0 interface promises open access to vast array mobile “Widgets” from all over the web.

To reinvigorate the company in its on-going battle with Google, Mr Yang said the company planned to focus on being the preferred “starting point for anything and everything users need online.”

That meant pouring resources into opening “the Yahoo experience” to any device, anywhere and any time.

“To be the best starting point, it's clear that we need to open the Yahoo! experience to any device or user. Mobile is a perfect example since more consumers are soon expected to come and go from the Net via their phones rather than desktops,” Mr Yang said.

“We're committed to creating the best and richest mobile experience for all consumers - making it extremely personalized to their individual style and needs while opening up the Yahoo! mobile platform to allow anyone to participate.”

Yahoo! Connected Life executive vice-president Marco Boerries called Yahoo Go 3.0 a game-changing mobile development.

“This new open environment provides consumers with a highly-compelling user experience and robust, personalised starting point to the mobile internet,” Mr Boerries said.

“We are providing users with increased control over their experiences as well as increased choice in getting the content and services they want while on the go.”

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Eye-Fi wins Last Gadget Standing

A low-power memory card that automatically downloads photos wirelessly from a camera to a PC has won the prestigious Last Gadget Standing competition at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The Eye-Fi card beat nine other finalists in the Yahoo-sponsored competition at the world’s largest consumer technology show.

The Eye-Fi card, which cost just US$100 (A$113), has 2GB of memory and uses WiFi technology to send pictures to computers – letting the user avoid the hassle of plugging in cables and playing with upload software.

Other finalists in the Yahoo! Last Gadget Standing competition included the innovative A$499 Asus Eee PC, the tiny laptop running Linux and a suite a open applications and web tools, and Dash Express, an internet-connected GPS mapping system that delivers real-time traffic information.

But the consumer innovation that seemed closest to taking the crown from Eye-Fi was a gutter-cleaning robot known as Looj from home robotics firm iRobot Corporation.

The annual Last Gadget Standing competition is a live event where ten gadgets slug it out for consumers' affection. At the standing-room-only competition, each of the finalists is given a four minute window to demonstrate their products to the live audience, who then vote for the gadget they felt would make a difference in their lives.

“The experts always have a platform to give their opinions, but Last Gadget Standing gives the consumers a voice on what's going to emerge as our next gadget idol,” said Robin Raskin, Yahoo Tech writer and competition spokesman said.

“Last Gadget Standing winners represent the products that people believe will be relevant to their lives for years to come, and not simply disappear once CES is over.”

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Adobe, Yahoo launch PDF advertising

ADOBE and Yahoo have launched a service that lets commercial publishers run dynamically generated advertising within PDF documents.

The companies say the service opens up a new frontier for the online advertising market, putting contextual advertising that matches the readers interests in PDFs.

Called ‘Ads for Adobe powered by Yahoo’, the service has been launched initially as a beta program.

“By partnering with Yahoo! on this innovative advertising service we are creating opportunities for publishers to build new businesses around unique content that previously was just given away or not available to a mass online audience,” said Adobe senior vice-president for Corporate Development, Rob Tarkoff.

“As advertisers look to touch new audiences, readers can look forward to some exciting Adobe PDF content coming their way.”

Yahoo! Publisher Network senior vice-president Todd Teresi said the partnership created a previously untapped opportunity for advertisers to connect with qualified audiences, while opening new revenue streams for publishers.

Particpants in the beta program include IDG InfoWorld, Wired, Pearson’s Education, Meredith Corporation and Reed Elsevier.

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IBM, Yahoo update free enterprise search tool

IBM and Yahoo! has unveiled an updated version of its enterprise search software, which lets companies customise and personalise searches of information within their organisations and across the web.

The so-called IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition software was launched a year ago to provide a no-cost, full-featured search product that eliminated financial and technology barriers to information access.

Since its launch, nearly 25,000 users have downloaded the software and global organisations of all sizes are using it to improve enterprise search. In addition, numerous independent software vendors (ISVs) and businesses have developed applications that integrate with or support the free IBM search platform.

“Last year, IBM and Yahoo! came together to change the rules of enterprise search, defining a new market standard for search as a core capability that should be ubiquitous and free,” Yahoo! Search Distribution senior director of product management Joff Redfern said.

“We're committed to helping enterprises – both large and small – get more value out of their information quickly and inexpensively, and providing them with an on-ramp to leveraging the power of all their information.”

The new version of IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition provides the ability to create a number of collections, each indexing a different set of documents. This allows the user to limit the search to only the documents from a specific source, providing more accurate results.

It also provides the ability to define additional custom fields in the index allowing field values to be mapped from HTML meta tags, extracted from the document's own metadata, or pushed in from the push API.

The OmniFind Yahoo Edition software is based on the open source Lucene project. The update includes the latest version of the Lucene core.

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Yahoo settles over China dissident

WEB pioneer Yahoo has settled a lawsuit in the US that had accused the company of helping authorities in China to jail and torture two political dissidents.

The World Organisation for Human Rights USA, which had assisted in legal action agianst Yahoo in California over complicity in “major human rights buses in China”, said in a statement that the company had settled out of court.

The case had generated a growing public backlash, making the company the subject of intense political pressure from the US congress in the past weeks.

Details of the settlement have been kept private, but are thought to include a commitment from Yahoo to provide financial support to the families of the jailed men; to help secure the release of the men; and to reconsider the way it handles certain requests for information from authorities.

“Yahoo had handed over the identifying internet user information of well-known Chinese journalist Shi Tao, and pro-democracy writer Wang Xiaoning, to Chinese authorities, who sought to punish the two men for having done nothing more than expressed their free speech rights – rights that are, ironically, recognised under the Chinese constitution,” Human Rights USA said in the statement.

“As a result of Yahoo's cooperation with Chinese authorities, the two men were subjected to arbitrary arrest, long-term detention, abuse, and torture while imprisoned in China,” the statement read.

“Both men are serving 10-year sentences under the highly dubious charges of ‘subversion of state power’ and ‘sharing state secrets’ – vague charges whose underlying purpose is to detain individuals who make statements unfavourable to the Chinese government.”

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Google, utterly dominant, still growing

SEARCH giant Google not only completely dominates the global search market – commanding nine out of ten searches – but is still growing its market share, according to online metrics specialist XitiMonitor.

According to XitiMonitor' monthly search barometer, Google accounted for 89.53 per cent of all search-generated visits in June 2007, up from 89.33 per cent (up 0.21 per cent) from May.

And Google's market share had grown by 3.7 per cent compared to the year-ago search barometer in June 2006.

The four other principal search engines have all seen their market share decline.
Number Two search engine has been the biggest loser in the past year, losing 1.25 percentage points to 3.21 per cent of the market.

Microsoft search fell year on year, but is the only other Top Five search engines to grow its market share between May and June. Microsoft commands 2.3 per cent of the market.

Other Top Five search engines were Orange and Free.

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