Power of Thought

As anyone who has had the pleasure of doing web design and development through marketing agencies knows, Flash tends to be wildly popular among clients and wildly unpopular among, well, pretty much everyone else. Part of the reason for this is because Flash is so inherently un-Googleable; anything that goes into a Flash-only site is basically invisible to search engines and therefore, the world. That will no longer be the case, however, as Adobe announced today that it has teamed up with Google and Yahoo to make Flash files indexable by search engines.

This announcement has been a long time coming, as Flash developers have been wishing for ways to make their content searchable for close to a decade. Adobe acknowledges this in its announcement, saying that although search engines are able to index static text and links within Flash SWF files, “[Rich Internet Applications] and dynamic Web content have been generally difficult to fully expose to search engines because of their changing states—a problem also inherent in other RIA technologies.”

This announcement may also result in some major usability changes (for the better) for Flash on the web. In a post to its Webmaster Central Blog, Google wrote that it can now index all kinds of textual content in SWF files, like that included in Flash gadgets, buttons, menus, entirely self-contained Flash web sites, “and everything in between.” Google can now also follow URLs embedded within Flash files to add to the crawling pipeline. This new indexing technology does not, however, include FLV files (video files that are found on sites like YouTube) because those are generated as videos and don’t contain any text elements like an SWF file does.

Google says it’s able to do this by developing an algorithm that “explores Flash files in the same way that a person would,” by clicking buttons and manually going through Flash content. “Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed,” wrote the company. “We can’t tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm’s effectiveness was improved by utilizing Adobe’s new Searchable SWF library.”

Of course, Google (and eventually Yahoo) won’t be able to index everything embedded within a Flash file—at least not yet. Anything that is image-related, including text that is embedded into images, will be invisible to the search engines for the time being. Google also noted that it can’t execute certain JavaScripts that may be embedded into a Flash file, and that while it indexes content that is contained in a separate HTML or XML file, it won’t be counted as part of the content in the Flash file. These are all issues that are being worked on, however, and are likely to change in the future.

Yahoo is also working with Adobe to index SWF files, but doesn’t appear to be as far along as Google just yet. One player that is noticeably missing is Microsoft, though. From Adobe’s announcement and the language used by Google, it appears as if each search engine has to work with Adobe to make this possible—meaning that Microsoft has either been excluded by Adobe for this round or has decided to voluntarily sit this one out. Either way, with searchable SWF files down, usability experts can now focus all of their attention on other Flash-related concerns, like blatant design perversion and excessive animation abuse.

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Microsoft has offered to buy the search engine company Yahoo for $44.6bn (£22.4bn) in cash and shares.

The offer, contained in a letter to Yahoo’s board, is 62% above Yahoo’s closing share price on Thursday.

Yahoo cut its revenue forecasts earlier this week and said it would have to spend an additional $300m this year trying to revive the company.

It has been struggling in recent years to compete with Google, which has also been a competitor to Microsoft.

“We have great respect for Yahoo, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market,” Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said.

Chairman quit
There has not yet been any comment from Yahoo.

Its chief executive, Jerry Yang, announced on Tuesday that he intended to lay off 1,000 staff as part of a restructuring plan.

Terry Semel, who stepped down as chief executive last June, also quit as non-executive chairman on Thursday.

Microsoft said that Yahoo shareholders could choose to receive either cash or shares.

Yahoo shares have fallen 46% since reaching a year-high of $34.08 in October. They rose 54% in pre-market trading.

“Ultimately this corporate marriage was forced by the rise of Google, which has grown into a serious competitor for both Microsoft as a software company and Yahoo as an internet portal,” said Tim Weber, business editor of the BBC News website.

“It is a shotgun marriage, but the person holding the shotgun is Google.”

‘Exorbitant premium’
According to its letter to Yahoo, Microsoft attempted to enter talks about a deal a year ago, but was rebuffed because Yahoo was confident about the “potential upside” presented by the reorganisation and operational activities that were being put in place at the time.

“A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved,” Microsoft’s letter said.

But there has been some concern about the price that Microsoft is offering.

“To me, the premium seems exorbitant, for what is a dwindling business,” said Tim Smalls from the brokerage firm Execution LLC.

“I personally don’t see how the synergies of Microsoft-Yahoo is going to take on Google.”

Other analysts were more enthusiastic about the offer.

“It is a fantastic offer. It is game on,” said Colin Gillis from Canaccord Adams.

“This consolidates the marketplace down to Google versus Microsoft. These two companies will be going head to head.”

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Yahoo! has announced the beta release of its leading IM service Yahoo Messenger 9.0. The new version is powered with intuitive design and functionalities like integrated media player and user-friendly tools which enable people to connect with their friends in an easy manner. The new Yahoo Messenger comes with a localize language support in new markets including Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India (in Hindi), and Vietnam, which takes Yahoo Messenger’s international base to over 25 nations.

The new features have been designed keeping the needs of Yahoo’s existing users in mind. Apparently, Yahoo messenger users spend approx. an hour daily which exceeds the time spent on any other IM service. The power-packed connectivity options include IM, Voice and SMS support.

So what’s new in this Beta version?
For a start, the friends list interface is revamped. Now a user can easily see the online presence indicator, display image and status all in one go. All it takes is a single-click to connect with users via voice, text message or instant messages.

In-line Media Player: The media player enables users to send image,video and map URLs to their friends and family members. File transfer becomes safe and secure than ever with scan support being provide by Symantec Norton AntiVirus.

The call forwarding option (similar to VOIP giant Skype’s) allows users to stay connected while they’re are away from their desktops. Moreover, all voice mails are sent as email attachments in MP3 format. Extensive personalization empowers users to add their personal touch to the way Yahoo Messenger appears. So they can play around with skins customize their designs and do more. In line with web2.0 the new beta comes with Flickr integration so users can share their Flickr photos with IM buddies.

On the occasion of news announcement, Sabrina Ellis, Yahoo’s Vice President said, “We’ve punched up Yahoo! Messenger to make keeping in touch with friends and family even more fun, with features like the in-line media player that helps people easily share their favorite videos, images and photos right in the IM window”.

Yahoo Messenger is the default communication tool which connects over 94 million users across the globe. Don’t waste your time go and grab the beta of the new Yahoo! Messenger can at http://beta.messenger.yahoo.com.

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For the third time in about a month, Google has been sued for patent infringement.

Last week, Performance Pricing filed a lawsuit against AOL, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, charging the four companies with infringing upon its patent, “Systems and methods for transacting business over a global communications network such as the Internet.”

The suit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, where a large number of patent cases have been filed in recent years due to the district’s perceived friendliness to ostensibly wronged inventors.

According to the Coalition for Patent Fairness, a group that counts Google and Microsoft as members, there were 218 infringement lawsuits filed in Marshall, Texas, from January 2004 through April 2006.

At the end of August, AOL, Amazon, Borders, Google, IAC, and Yahoo were sued in the same district by Texas-based Polaris IP for violating a patented method of automated e-mail routing.

Illinois Computer Research sued Google in Illinois’ Northern District Court in mid-September for violating a patented method of navigating through online books.

Performance Pricing alleges that Google AdWords, AOL Search Marketplace, Microsoft adCenter, and Yahoo Search Marketing all violate its patent, which was filed in 1999 and granted in 2005.

The patent describes a system for competitive bidding.

“The present invention comprises a business model used to determine the price of goods and/or services to be provided from a seller or sellers to a buyer or buyers,” the patent explains. “Various forms of electronic competition and/or entertainment are used as intermediary activities between said buyers and sellers to ultimately determine a contract price.”

The patent claims to cover a wide variety of activities: video games, electronic board games, crossword puzzles or other word games, sports betting, card games, or any other activity or combination of activities.

Presumably, the plaintiff believes the patent covers Internet ad auctions, too.

In a September 4th blog post, Google policy counsel and legislative strategist Johanna Shelton and Michelle Lee, head of patents and patent strategy, urged Congress to pass patent reform legislation.

“Google and other technology companies increasingly face mounting legal costs to defend against frivolous patent claims from parties gaming the system to forestall competition or reap windfall profits,” Shelton and Lee said.

Three days later, on Friday, September 7th, the House of Representatives passed the Patent Reform Act of 2007. The Senate is expected to vote on a version of the bill shortly.

If the Patent Reform Act passes the Senate and is signed by the President in its current form, monetary damage awards for patent infringement are likely to decline and venue shopping will be curtailed.

“Certain district courts have become notorious for rarely invalidating a patent, and have tilted the balance too often in favor of plaintiffs,” said Shelton and Lee. “We support judicial venue provisions to ensure that patent lawsuits are brought only in district courts with a reasonable connection to the case.”

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Yahoo Inc is making Web search faster by introducing new ways of predicting what users are looking for, while seeking to keep pace with rivals by including video, audio and picture results as answers to text searches.

The company said the new features it announced on Monday were aimed at better understanding the intention of users conducting particular types of searches and to get them to the information they desire within a single search.

Yahoo said it was trying to combat what it calls “Web search fatigue.” Research conducted by Harris Interactive for Yahoo found that roughly 15 per cent of online adults find what want on their first search while most need three to four searches.

Yahoo is seeking to stem the steady gains Google, the dominant supplier of Web search, has made in market share for most of the past two years. Market research firm ComScore said Google’s share grew to 56.5 percent of the U.S. Web search market in August, up 1.3 percent from July.

Yahoo Search Assist suggests related concepts to instantly refine a search, drawing on the wealth of information Yahoo has about what users across its sites are saying when they comment upon Web links, photos, video or the like.

Search Assist is designed to be especially helpful when a person is searching for information on an unfamiliar topic. The feature senses when a searcher needs help with a search and it appears as a drop-down menu under the main search results box.

For example, a user seeking information on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown might see suggestions about Gordon Brown and Scotland, Gordon Brown and budget or Gordon Brown and Iraq.

In addition to the new Search Assist feature, Yahoo Search has also combined searching for links to video, audio and photos with traditional text links it has long offered.

Google Inc, IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Ask.com and Microsoft Corp introduced similar features earlier this year on their rival search services.

Yahoo is tapping the millions of tags users contribute on its properties such as photo-sharing site Flickr to improve the relevance of its general search service.

The company is looking to take advantage of sites it has acquired in recent years including Flickr, bookmark categorization site Del.icio.us and the internally created Yahoo Answers to enhance Yahoo’s general search.

“We hope the data in those Web sites will help make Web search better,” Vish Makhijani, general manager and senior vice president of Yahoo! Search, said in an interview.

A third feature Yahoo is introducing is Search Shortcuts which are designed to help consumers save time when searching for popular categories such as events, music, movies, travel, sports, health, shopping, businesses and restaurants.

Yahoo Search Shortcuts weave in ratings and reviews, photos, official Web sites and other potentially useful information to augment a consumer’s search on these topics.

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