WebProNews

Report Indicates Google Bought Gizmo5

Not long ago, Eric Schmidt estimated that Google would start making monthly acquisitions.  Today, it's almost looking like the dial got bumped up to hourly, since following this morning's confirmed acquisition of AdMob, a report has indicated that Google's bought Gizmo5, too.

Google Buys Mobile Ad Firm For $750 Million In Stock

Google said today it has signed an agreement to acquire mobile display advertising firm AdMob for $750 million in stock. Google says its acquisition will improve its existing expertise and technology in mobile advertising, while also giving advertisers and publishers more choice in the growing new area. Highlights of Google's purchase of AdMob include:

EA Acquires Playfish For (Maybe) $400 Million

Social network games - and by extension, social networks themselves - received a strong endorsement this morning as a major acquisition was announced.  Electronic Arts has bought Playfish, a maker of said games, for at least $300 million. Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Interactive, explained in a statement, "Social gaming, with its emphasis on friends and community, is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space."

Microsoft, Yahoo May Extend Partnership Outside The U.S.

Microsoft's CEO isn't getting ahead of himself; for the time being, Steve Ballmer's taking a "first things first" approach.  However, he indicated today that if the proposed U.S.-only Microsoft-Yahoo search partnership goes through, an international agreement may follow.

Facebook/Twitter Use May Now Mean More for Google/Bing Rankings

Disclaimer: This article was originally written before Google made its announcement, and has been updated to reflect that. Google and Microsoft have both inked deals with Twitter and Microsoft has also inked one with Facebook to integrate Twitter and Facebook updates into Bing search results. Google will be adding tweets to search results.

Skype Founders Reportedly Close to Settlement with eBay

Update 3: Skype and eBay may be close to resolving their issues. Om Malik reports:

Amazon Completes Acquisition of Zappos

Update: Amazon announced the completion of its acquisition of Zappos.com today. The Zappos management team will remain intact, and Zappos will operate independently with its headquarters in Las Vegas. Original Article: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh sent an email to Zappos employees today informing them that Amazon is becoming the only shareholder of Zappos stock. The following video from Jeff Bezos was also posted on the Zappos Blog:

Microsoft Tipped As Most Likely Ask.com Buyer

Since IAC/InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller indicated on Tuesday that he's willing to sell Ask.com, the question on many people's minds has been, "Who might buy it?"  And at this point, the most likely answer seems to be "Microsoft."

Microsoft, Yahoo Miss Agreement Deadline

The proposed Microsoft-Yahoo deal seems to have hit a small and oddly unspecified bump.  The companies missed an October 27th deadline by which they hoped to have some details ironed out.

Yahoo May Pursue Real-Time Search With OneRiot

Bing and Google may have gotten a head start, but Yahoo isn't ignoring the whole real-time search arena, according to a new report.  In fact (or at least in rumor, if you will), Yahoo may be working on a product with OneRiot right now.