Internet Search Engines

Sergey Brin lecture at UC Berkeley available on Google Video

2006-09-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

The University of California, Berkeley recently added lectures from university courses and conferences on Google Video. One of the featured lectures is one by Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google. Here is a description of the lecture from Google Video:

Search Engines: Technology, Society, and Business. The World Wide Web brings much of the world's knowledge into the reach of nearly everyone with a computer and an internet connection. The availability of huge quantities of information at our fingertips is transforming government, business, and many other aspects of society. Topics include search advertising and auctions, search and privacy, search ranking, internationalization, anti-spam efforts, local search, peer-to-peer search, and search of blogs and online communities. The Instructor, Dr. Marti Hearst, is an associate professor in the School of Information at UC Berkeley, with an affiliate appointment in the Computer Science Division.

Terry Semel interview on Charlie Rose

2006-09-22T09:04:00.000-05:00


Terry Semel,CEO of Yahoo!, was interviewed on yesterday's Charlie Rose show. He was on the second segment running about 19 minutes from 25:09 to 43:56. It was a nice interview where he talked about Yahoo!'s recent earnings warning, Yahoo!'s general business strategy, and the internet in general.

More info on Google's Acquisition Strategy

2006-09-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

Today's Washington Post has a nice article about Google's acquisition strategy. It talks about how Google tries to quietly acquire small companies in the start-up phase rather than making large acquisitions like eBay and Yahoo! have done in the past.

It has a more complete list than an earlier post of mine.

Google's Acquisitions Since Going Public

Date Company Technology

2004
Oct. 27 Keyhole Mapping software
Oct. 30 Zipdash Traffic information to mobile phones
Dec. 15 Where2 Mapping software

2005
March 25 Urchin Software Advertising performance
May 12 Dodgeball.com Mobile social networking
July 20 Akwan Info. Technologies Search engine
Aug. 7 Android Mobile software
Sept. 15 Transformic Search engine

2006
Jan. 5 Reqwireless Mobile Web browsing
Jan. 17 dMarc Advertising
Feb. 14 Measure Map Blog statistics
March 10 Upstartle Web-based word processing
March 14 @Last Software 3D software for architects
April 10 Orion Search
Aug. 15 Neven Vision Facial recognition software

Gannett acquires Planet Discover

2006-05-15T09:16:00.000-05:00

Gannett announced today that it has acquired Planet Discover, a provider of local, integrated search and advertising technology. Planet Discover provides the search engine technology that powers several newspaper and tourism sites. They also provide a Cost per Click (CPC) advertising platform for websites. Rather than showing AdSense ads from Google, the website owner sells his own ads and has a direct relationship with the advertising client.

Rather than partner with Google, Yahoo!, Ask, or Microsoft, it's interesting how Gannett has chosen buy a search company and keep it in-house. While there is some benefit to owning your own search techonology and advertising base, it would seem that someone like Google would be able to provide much better quality search engine and more advertising revenue. By using a major ad platform like Google's AdWords, the Gannett websites would benefit from the auction based system where Google's very large advertising base bids up the advertising revenue. By using thier own advertising system, Gannett has to recruit all its own advertisers and hope they will sufficiently bid up the prices to reach Gannett's user base.

Terry Semel Speaks...

2006-05-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

The Yahoo! CEO was recently interviewed by The New Yorker writer Ken Auletta, and they have posted the video on their website. It is an excellent wide-ranging interview about Yahoo!, the internet, and search. The video lasts one hour.

A few highlights:

Early on, Terry Semel had dinner with Larry Page and Sergey Page and made a informal offer to buy Google.

Semel gave "impartial" advice to Microsoft that they should not start a search engine.

Semel talks about the controversy in China where Yahoo! gave user information to the Chinese government.

Google's Buying Spree Continues

2006-05-11T13:48:00.000-05:00

Google filed their first quarter 2006 10-Q yesterday. In Note 4 of the financial statements, they confirm that they closed on the dMarc Broadcasting acquisition. In addition they disclosed that they acquired four additional companies in the first quarter. They don't give any names though. This is in addition to the 15 companies they acquired in 2005. Any ideas?
During the three months ended March 31, 2006, we also acquired all of the voting interests of four other companies. One of these transactions was accounted for as a business combination. Because the remaining three transactions were with companies considered to be development stage enterprises, they were accounted for as asset purchases in accordance with EITF Issue No. 98-3,... The total purchase price of this business combination and these asset purchases was $79.2 million, which primarily consisted of cash payments of $75.7 million. In addition, we are obligated to make additional cash payments of up to $17.9 million if certain performance targets are met through March 2010.

Google Inc. By The Numbers

2006-04-01T21:24:00.000-06:00

The close of the first quarter provides a convenient time to look at some interesting financial numbers regarding Google Inc.

As of March 31, 2006:

Closing stock price: $390.00
Market capitalization: $119.1 Billion
Cash raised in latest stock offering: $2.06 Billion (before SEC fees and investment banking expenses)

Sergey Brin stock holdings: $12.315 Billion
Larry Page stock holdings: $12.511 Billion
Eric Schmidt stock holdings: $4.857 Billion

Not bad!

Google to be added to the S&P 500

2006-03-23T18:59:00.000-06:00

Standard & Poors just announced that Google (Ticker: GOOG) will be added to the S&P 500 after the market close Fri. March 31st. Google is already up 9% after the close today. Let the fireworks begin...

Google Acquires 15 Companies in 2005

2006-03-16T22:09:00.000-06:00

Google disclosed in today's 10-K filing that they acquired 15 companies in 2005. They "acquired all of the voting interests of nine companies and substantially all of the assets of six other companies."

I can only come up with a few of these companies:

1. Urchin Software - now Google Analytics
2. Dodgeball
3. Akwan Information Technologies
4. Reqwireless
5. Android.com

Anyone know the rest?

Google Inadvertently Releases Financial Projections

2006-03-07T18:42:00.000-06:00

Google filed an interesting 8-K today. After Google's Analyst Day on March 2, Google meant to post the slides for that day's presentations on the investor relations section of its website. Unfortunately for Google, they also posted some comments prepared in early fourth quarter 2005 which were not meant for public consumption. They quickly removed the information from the website, but now in the interest of fairness (and not wanting to be sued), they're releasing the information via a SEC 8-K filing. Here's the scoop:

“Our ads business for the moment is healthy and growing and we’re on a strong trajectory

• projected to grow from $6bn this year to $9.5bn next year based purely on trends in traffic and monetization growth.

But strong competitors are attempting to aggregate traffic

• AdSense margins will be squeezed in 2006 and beyond”;

“To really get down to brass tacks, we’re going to: Execute well on our core ads projects to help us exceed the $9.5bn target (and backfill any AdSense partner loss) and drive advertiser satisfaction”; and
“In terms of estimating [stock-based compensation] charges for 2006, there are two things to consider:

• The amount of the charge related to awards issued prior to 2006 AND the new awards that are issued throughout 2006

• The first part, the amount related to grants prior to 2006, is $342 mm”

The statements regarding $9.5 billion in 2006 ad revenue and AdSense margins were not speaker notes prepared for the Analyst Day presentation, and were inadvertently included in the Analyst Day slides. These statements were instead speaker notes prepared early in the fourth quarter of 2005 for an internal product strategy presentation. These notes were not created for financial planning purposes, and should not be regarded as financial guidance. Consistent with past practice, Google is not providing revenue guidance. In addition, the statement with respect to AdSense margins does not reflect Google’s current expectations.

The statements regarding stock-based compensation were also inadvertently included in the Analyst Day slides. However, the statement regarding the stock-based compensation charge of $342 million, which relates to stock awards granted to employees and directors prior to 2006, is a materially accurate reflection of Google’s current expectations.

Google lures the CEO of A9

2006-02-07T21:53:00.000-06:00

Google has scored another coup. Udi Manber, the former head of A9, Amazon.com's search engine subsidiary, has jumped ship to join Google. Amazon.com has put a lot of effort into improving its search capabilities for use within its own retail sites and as an external search engine. We'll see if this is just a bump in the road or a major stumble.

Microsoft and Google Continue Search Battle on PC Desktops

2006-02-07T08:13:00.000-06:00

The front page of today's Wall Street Journal has a nice article about how Google and Microsoft are battling for space on PC desktops. The article starts by talking about Google trying to get its products preinstalled on PCs, but buried in the article is behind the scenes wrangling about setting the default search engine on a user's PC.

Quoting the WSJ,

After months of back and forth, Microsoft backed down on some, but not all of the debates. Mr. Hachamovitch recently demonstrated the latest test version of Explorer. The built-in search box features options such as "Get Search Providers" and "Change Search Defaults" that enable users to select search engines from AOL, Ask Jeeves, Google, MSN and Yahoo. "Our overriding principle from the get-go is 'respect user choice,'" he says. "There's no desire to do anything other than that."

Microsoft was a stickler on one matter that irked Google. Anyone who upgrades to Microsoft's new browser out this year will automatically inherit their old browser's default search options. In the old browser, that barely mattered, because it didn't include an easy-to-find, built-in box linking to a search engine. The new version does, and that is a problem for Google, which is set as the default for only a tiny fraction of computer users. By contrast, Google handled 46% of U.S. search queries in November, according to research firm Nielsen/NetRatings.
Google wanted Microsoft to ask consumers directly which search service they wanted as a default when upgrading from older versions of Explorer -- a change Microsoft felt was intrusive. Google also wanted to know if users had already selected it as the default search provider in Explorer. "We looked at that as a major privacy violation," Mr. Hachamovitch says.
In December, for these and other reasons, Google refused to sign an agreement with Microsoft relating to the new browser's search capabilities. Microsoft left Google off the list of alternative
search services. A month later, Microsoft notified Google it would be included
on the list with or without a signed agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. Microsoft says after a review of its legal position, it realized it could include Google without a formal pact.

Google Fourth Quarter 2005 Earnings Call Transcript Posted

2006-02-02T09:13:00.000-06:00

Seeking Alpha has a full transcript of Tuesday's analyst conference call discussing Google's 4th Quarter 2005 earnings.

PubSub and Rollyo profiled in the Wall Street Journal

2006-02-02T08:50:00.000-06:00

Walt Mossberg reviews PubSub and Rollyo in the Personal Technology column of today's Wall Street Journal. These two smaller search engines got a favorable review in the column. It is available online here (subscription required).

From their respective websites:

PubSub is a matching service that instantly notifies you when new content is created that matches your subscription. Using a proprietary Matching Engine, PubSub is able to read millions of data sources on your behalf and notify you instantly whenever a match is made.
With Rollyo, you can easily create your own custom search engines, and explore and save those created by others. Rollyo puts the power of Yahoo! Search in your hands, by giving you the tools to create your own personal search engines - with no programming required. All you have to do is pick the sites you want to search, and we'll create a custom search engine for you.

Google Financial Data

2006-01-31T16:14:00.000-06:00

Google has a nice table with financial data updated through 2005 in the Investor Relations section of its website.

Google Reports Fourth Quarter 2005 Earnings

2006-01-31T15:25:00.000-06:00

Google just reported fourth quarter 2005 earnings. You can read the earnings release here. There is also a PDF version available

Gross revenues slightly beat consensus at $1.919 billion compared to a Reuters consensus of $1.917 billion. Revenues ex Traffic Acquisition Costs (TAC) matched consensus at $1.29 billion versus a First Call consensus of $1.29 billion.

GAAP net income was $372 million or $1.22 per share on a diluted basis.

VoIP Inc. (VOII) signs an agreement with Google

2006-01-30T13:50:00.000-06:00

Not really search related, but Google news nevertheless. VoIP Inc. (Ticker:VOII) filed an 8-K with the SEC disclosing that it has signed an agreement to provide Voice over IP (VoIP) services to Google.

From the 8-K,

On September 1, 2005, [VoIP Inc.]'s VoiceOne Communications subsidiary entered into a Master Service Agreement with Google Inc. to supply Voice-over-Internet Protocol ("VOIP") services. The agreement contemplated a period of trial usage to determine compatibility. During October 2005 a series of purchase orders were issued for the interconnection of production of VOIP traffic, and Registrant has now effectuated a direct peering relationship with Google for the transport of such services at multiple locations. Registrant anticipates that material sales of its services will commence during 2006. No material revenues were realized by Registrant under the Agreement during the year ended December 31, 2005.

Microsoft reports lower search revenue in the latest quarter

2006-01-27T11:43:00.000-06:00

Buried in the 10-Q that Microsoft filed yesterday is some information on how their search business is doing. Bottom line: Not well.

Microsoft doesn't disclose exactly how money they got from search, but it's clear that search revenue declined year over year. While search volume went up, revenue per search went down dramatically. They attribute the decline to the ramp up of MSN adCenter and lower revenue from text ads from Yahoo! Search Marketing. The transition from Yahoo! to MSN adCenter is going to cause some short term pain.

From Microsoft's 10-Q for the period ending 12/31/05:

Advertising revenue increased $40 million or 12% in the second quarter and $100 million or 16% in the first half of fiscal year 2006 due primarily to growth in display advertising on our portals, channels, email, and messaging services. Display revenue showed over 20% growth in both the three and six months ended December 31, 2005. Search revenue was impacted by an estimated 20% and 17% reduction in Revenue per Search (RPS) during the three and six months ended December 31, 2005. This reduction in RPS resulted from the ramp-up of MSN adCenter and lower than expected performance from partner driven search advertising prices, which was partially offset by low to mid-double digit growth in search volume in the second quarter and the first half of fiscal year 2006.
MSN expects increased growth in our display advertising revenue as the portals, channels, and communications services continue to expand globally and the overall Internet advertising industry continues to expand. However, we expect our overall advertising growth to continue to be tempered by the launch and ramp-up of MSN adCenter and the related pressure on our search advertising prices.

Bear Stearns' speculation on Google Tunes

2006-01-27T11:35:00.000-06:00

John Battelle has posted a PDF version of a short Bear Stearns analyst report dated Jan 26, 2006 on his blog. In the report, Bear Stearns Analyst Robert Peck speculates that Google is in the midst of building a music store to compete with Apple's iTunes.

Yahoo! Giving Up?

2006-01-23T11:15:00.000-06:00

Some quotes from a Bloomberg article today...

``We don't think it's reasonable to assume we're going to gain a lot of share from Google,'' Chief Financial Officer Susan Decker said in an interview. ``It's not our goal to be No. 1 in Internet search. We would be very happy to maintain our marketshare.''
``It kind of makes you wonder about how serious they are about search,'' said Danny Sullivan, editor of London-based SearchEngineWatch.com, which tracks the search industry. ``It really ought to be their goal'' to be No. 1, he said. ``Whether it's realistic or not.''
``We have held our own and we should gain revenue share in the industry as we roll out these new initiatives,'' Decker said in the telephone interview after the company reported earnings last week. ``Our goal has been to hold our share and to be a leading, if not the leading, total marketing platform, which would include both brand and search.''

Competition for Google in South Korea

2006-01-20T08:14:00.000-06:00

This week's BusinessWeek has an article about a South Korean search engine company called NHN. NHN accounted for nearly 40% of online ad revenue in 2005 compared to Google's 2% share of search-related ad revenue. NHN's stock price had a bigger percentage gain in 2005 than Google's.

If you know Korean, try out the search engine at http://www.naver.com.

Yahoo! 4Q2005 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

2006-01-18T12:57:00.000-06:00

Seeking Alpha has a full transcript of last night's analyst conference call discussing Yahoo!'s 4th Quarter 2005 earnings.

MSN Search Adds 1 Million Facts

2006-01-18T08:20:00.000-06:00

MSN Search's Weblog announced yesterday that their search engine has added about one million facts to their database. MSN Search will now give you direct answers to topics such as baseball stats, football stats, weather facts, names of world government officials, and holiday information.

Thomas Weisel Partner's Internet Monthly

2006-01-17T21:21:00.000-06:00

John Battelle has posted a PDF version of Tomas Weisel Partner's Internet Monthly on his blog. This is a 65 page report covering internet trends.

Google to Acquire dMarc Broadcasting

2006-01-17T08:16:00.000-06:00

From the press release:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2006--Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - News) today announced it has agreed to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif.-based digital solutions provider for the radio broadcast industry.
dMarc connects advertisers directly to radio stations through its automated advertising platform. The platform simplifies the sales process, scheduling, delivery and reporting of radio advertising, enabling advertisers to more efficiently purchase and track their campaigns. For broadcasters, dMarc's technology automatically schedules and places advertising, helping to increase revenue and decrease the costs associated with processing advertisements.
In the future, Google plans to integrate dMarc technology into the Google AdWords platform, creating a new radio ad distribution channel for Google advertisers.
"Google is committed to exploring new ways to extend targeted, measurable advertising to other forms of media," said Tim Armstrong, vice president of Advertising Sales, Google. "We anticipate that this acquisition will bring new ad dollars and accountability to radio by combining Google's expansive network of advertisers with dMarc's talented team and innovative radio advertising technology. We look forward to working together to continue to grow and improve the ecosystem of the radio industry."
"We are excited to be joining one of the most innovative companies in the world," said Chad Steelberg, CEO of dMarc Broadcasting, Inc. "We are bringing together complementary visions of
simplicity, efficiency, and accountability to the radio advertising process."
dMarc customers will not experience any interruption in service. For more information on dMarc Broadcasting, please visit www.dmarc.net.
Transaction and Financial Information
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Google will acquire all of the outstanding equity interests in dMarc, a privately held company, for total up-front consideration of $102 million in cash. In addition, Google will be obligated to make additional contingent cash payments from time to time if certain product integration, net revenue and advertising inventory targets are met over the next three years. The maximum amount of potential contingent payments is $1.136 billion over the next three years. Since these contingent payments are based on the achievement of performance targets, actual payments may be substantially lower. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Google anticipates that the acquisition will close in the first quarter 2006. Substantially all of the payments will be accounted for as part of the purchase price for the transaction.