WebProNews

French Google, Yahoo Alike (& Loving Wikipedia)

It is (I think) becoming public knowledge that Google has crushed all of its opponents in France - the company has a search market share of around ninety percent.  A new study is surprising, then, in that it reveals large similarities between the French versions of Google and Yahoo.

Branding And The 'Conversational Media'

It wasn't too long ago I was told marketers (especially for small- and medium-sized businesses) weren't interested in online branding, as a concept. The online marketer relies a lot on search, and therefore, clicks that bring results. Branding? Who needs it?

FM 'Spokesbloggers' Called Out

I've said it before: Sell out first. That way they expect it from you. Another blogstorm erupted last weekend over Federated Media's involvement with Microsoft's new "conversational marketing" idea.

Google Mentioned As Dow Jones Suitor

News Corp's hostile $5 billion offer for publisher Dow Jones may spur a bidding war, and Google's name has been invoked alongside other potential bidders.

EconSM - Social Media Meets Marketing

(I'm at EconSM today.)

Did Doubleclick Turn Down Microsoft Money?

John Battelle reports that Microsoft was actually offering more money than Google was for Doubleclick and that Doubleclick went with Google anyway.

DoubleClick Turned Down Microsoft's Higher Bid

The irony of Microsoft crying antitrust in the Google/DoubleClick buy is starting to make more sense: it may be sour grapes, and a regulatory approach may free up DoubleClick for themselves, or at least stop Google from cornering the market.

Full Text vs. Partial Text Feeds

Ahh, the arguing over whether to do full text or partial text feeds continues. This time with Feedburner saying they aren’t seeing a click-through difference. Personally I hate partial text feeds. I’ve subscribed to a few of them, particularly ZDNet’s bloggers, but I notice I read a lot fewer of their items than I read items from, say, TechCrunch or Mashable, who offer full text feeds. And I link to them a LOT less.

Web 2.0 and Web2Open

People felt left out of Web 2.0 in past events because of the cost of attending such a high-powered professionally produced program.  Similar to how some people felt left out from FooCamp by not being invited, but channeled their energies positively to create Barcamp with an open door principle.

Microsoft Exec Thinks DoubleClick Buy Is Risky

That Microsoft is thinking of acquiring online advertising company DoubleClick has been the gently vibrating buzz all week. A Microsoft executive, though, says a deal is unlikely. The buzz seems likely generated by the PR machine, for as soon as I heard about it from a surprising tipster, everybody else seemed to have heard about it as well, bloggers and reporters alike. Let the speculation begin: nothing like a little buzz to justify a $2 billion asking price.