2020systems Blog

Have you ever wanted to mark up Google search results? Maybe you’re an avid hiker and the trail map site you always go to is in the 4th or 5th position and you want to move it to the top. Or perhaps it’s not there at all and you’d like to add it. Or maybe you’d like to add some notes about what you found on that site and why you thought it was useful. Starting today you can do all this and tailor Google search results to best meet your needs.

Today Google is launching SearchWiki, a way for you to customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results. With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site. You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don’t feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users. We store your changes in your Google Account. If you are wondering if you are signed in, you can always check by noting if your username appears in the upper right-hand side of the page.

The changes you make only affect your own searches. But SearchWiki also is a great way to share your insights with other searchers. You can see how the community has collectively edited the search results by clicking on the “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link.

Here is a demo video:

Jerry Yang will be stepping down as CEO of the company, a job that he took on an interim basis in June 2007.

Yang will return to his former role as Chief Yahoo, and will remain on the board of directors. The company has hired executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find the new CEO.

This was an unavoidable event, and in our opinion Yang took too long to step down. In May it was clear that Yang’s heart was no longer in it, and he reconfirmed that last month at the Web 2.0 Summit. Under his watch the company has lost tens of billions of dollars in market cap and thousands of former Yahoo employees (and hundreds of execs) are now gone.

How much of the downfall was his fault? It’s impossible to say, except that he takes full responsibility for mishandling the Microsoft acquisition offer last February. One thing you have to love is Yang’s tenacity in keeping Yahoo an independent company at any cost. But what shareholders and employees need is a leader with an actual plan.

The press release:

Yahoo! Conducting Search for New CEO
Co-Founder Jerry Yang to Step Down Following Appointment of New CEO
and Return to Former Role as Chief Yahoo! and Board Member

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Nov 17, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a search for a new Chief Executive Officer. Jerry Yang, co-Founder of Yahoo!, has decided to return to his former role as Chief Yahoo! upon the appointment of his successor as CEO, and he will also continue to serve on the Board. Yang, 40, assumed the CEO role at the Board’s request in June 2007, and he has led Yahoo! through a strategic repositioning and transformation of its platform.

Chairman Roy Bostock, working with the independent directors and in consultation with Jerry Yang, is leading the process of assessing potential candidates and determining finalists for consideration. The search will encompass both internal and external candidates, and the Board has retained Heidrick & Struggles, a leading international executive search firm, to assist in the process.

“Over the past year and a half, despite extraordinary challenges and distractions, Jerry Yang has led the repositioning of Yahoo! on an open platform model as well as the improved alignment of costs and revenues,” said Roy Bostock. “Jerry and the Board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level. We are deeply grateful to Jerry for his many contributions as CEO over the past 18 months, and we are pleased that he plans to stay actively involved at Yahoo! as a key executive and member of the Board.”

“From founding this company to guiding its growth into a trusted global brand that is indispensible to millions of people, I have always sought to do what is best for our franchise,” said Jerry Yang. “When the Board asked me to become CEO and lead the transformation of the Company, I did so because it was important to re-envision the business for a different era to drive more effective growth. Having set Yahoo! on a new, more open path, the time is right for me to transition the CEO role and our global talent to a new leader. I will continue to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo! realize its full potential and enhance its leading culture of technology and product excellence and innovation.”

For all our healthcare related customers who subscribe to the 2020 CALL service, your pay-per-call ad will be distributed to Healthcare.com, the leader in local healthcare provider search.

Starting today, 2020 Healthcare solutions customers will have the opportunity to connect with millions of consumers who use HealthCare.com Care Provider Search™ to find a local provider, including physicians, dentists, hospitals, and other providers of healthcare-related services.  HealthCare.com users will be able to connect with you (the advertiser) in a personal way via a real-time phone call.

The HealthCare.com Care Provider Search™, is a local directory tool that allows users to find health providers.  The Care Provider Search™ features over 1.3 million providers grouped in main categories such as, Mental Care, Pain Management, Eye Care, Dental Care, Cosmetic/Elective, Women & Fertility, Respiratory Care, Senior Care, Diabetes Care, Child Care, amongst others.  HealthCare.com users have the ability to search for a provider by category and specialty, name or with an interactive body/symptom animated tool.  Additionally, searches can be narrowed by insurance affiliation and geography.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach all these users, subscribe to 2020 CALL service.

For all our customers who subscribe to 2020 IYP service, your ad/company info will be display to all T-Mobile G1 users starting Oct 22, 2008 when the device launches.  The device is expected to sell between 250k to 450k units by end of 2008.

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In 2007, T-Mobile became a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, an initiative that is committed to greater openness in the mobile industry. T-Mobile supports increased openness because it will foster rapid innovation to best meet consumer demands.

The T-Mobile G1 with Google is the first commercially available phone to run on the ‘Android’ operating system, which empowers developers with tools to create and offer consumers applications that add values.  It will be the first major smart phone to use open-source technology and steps towards the open movement.

The handset works internationally and offers innovative features such as a scanner that allows consumers read product bar codes and compare prices online.  This would be great for consumers and further boost mobile e-commerce activities.

It features a 320×480 touch screen, a hidden QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, 3G, and an accelerometer. Integrated on the G1’s keyboard is a trackball for thumb-based navigation, and a 3-megapixel camera.

Finally, there is a dedicated Internet and phone search button, built-in Internet applications and access to thousands of applications via the new Android marketplace.

Price: $179 w/2 yr contract

Data plans: $25 per month for limited data, e-mail and text messages. $35 a month for unlimited data and messages.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these T-Mobile G1 users, subscribe to 2020 IYP service.

Google is launching its own browser named Chrome to battle against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer’s 75% market share.

Full review of Chrome V.S. IE 8 beta.

Photo: Google branded rocket

2020systems IYP customers will reach more customers starting September as Google is in a deal to purchase even higher resolution of satellite images to boost traffic to it’s Google Maps and Google Earth products.

Under the deal, Google is the exclusive online mapping site that may use the imagery.  The rocket with the 4,300-pound satellite is set to launch on Sep 4, 2008 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.  GeoEye-1 will orbit 423 miles above Earth, but it will be able to gather imagery with details the size of 41 centimeters.  Google, though, is permitted to use data only with a resolution of 50cm because of the terms of GeoEye’s license with the U.S. government.

“The GeoEye-1 satellite has the highest ground resolution color imagery available in the commercial marketplace and will produce high-quality imagery with a very accurate geolocation,” said Google spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz, adding that most commercial satellite imagery has a resolution of 60cm. “It is our goal to display high-resolution imagery for as much of the world as possible, and GeoEye-1 will help further that goal.”

Google’s current imagery in Google Earth spans a range of resolution, the coarsest being 15 square meters per pixel, which is only good enough to see larger geographic features.

Photo: Google got a sponsor logo on the side of this rocket, set to launch the GeoEye-1 imaging satellite on September 4 2008

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these Google Maps users, subscribe to 2020 IYP service.

  AOL’s MapQuest remains the top brand in online mapping and is still the most visited mapping site, despite recent gains by Google Maps.  However, the “incumbent” MapQuest has been somewhat resistant to experimentation and slower to adopt new features.

But this morning the site is launching a MapQuest beta version of what promises to be the first of many changes in the coming months that will make it more dynamic, more visually interesting and content rich.

For all customers who subscribe to the 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service, your ad will now be seen by millions of visitors starting today.  Your ad will be in the new MySpace Classifieds section.

The newly launched MySpace Classifieds today is to provide additional opportunities for MySpace’s users to locate and purchase goods or services for sale locally.  MySpace has about 73 million unique visitors in the U.S.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these potential customers, subscribe to 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service.

Picture above: The new Apple iPhone 3G

For all our customers who subscribe to 2020 IYP service, your ad/company info will be display to all Apple iPhone 3G users starting July 11th when the device launches.

Apple is expected to sell 10 million iPhones by end of 2008.

When mobile users use their iPhone 3G (or first generation iPhone) to do a local search that relates to your product or services in your geographic area, your ad/company info will show up and they can contact you.

This is in addition to the fact that your ad/company info will show up on the web’s top online maps and Internet yellow pages sites.

View video on how a consumer would search, find, then contact your business.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these Apple users, subscribe to 2020 IYP service.

For all customers who subscribe to the 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service, your ad will now be seen by additional 30.1 million unique visitors starting today. Your ad will be in the Walmart.com Classifieds section.

The newly launched Walmart.com Classifieds beta is to provide additional opportunities for walmart’s customers to save money and live better. The free, community-based resource allows customers to buy and sell items locally, find local jobs and learn about events in their area.

It provides an expanded offering of products and services, the majority of which are not traditionally available from Wal-Mart, such as services, job listings, automobiles, rentals and real estate. It also further connects walmart’s community of 130 million customers who shop the Wal-Mart brand each week.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these potential customers, subscribe to 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service.

We will be attending the ad:tech trade show from 4/15/08 -4/16/08, let’s meet up if you are there.

Here is the letter sent to Yahoo Board of Directors:

April 5, 2008
Board of Directors
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Dear Members of the Board:

It has now been more than two months since we made our proposal to acquire Yahoo! at a 62% premium to its closing price on January 31, 2008, the day prior to our announcement. Our goal in making such a generous offer was to create the basis for a speedy and ultimately friendly transaction. Despite this, the pace of the last two months has been anything but speedy.

While there has been some limited interaction between management of our two companies, there has been no meaningful negotiation to conclude an agreement. We understand that you have been meeting to consider and assess your alternatives, including alternative transactions with others in the industry, but we’ve seen no indication that you have authorized Yahoo! management to negotiate with Microsoft. This is despite the fact that our proposal is the only alternative put forward that offers your shareholders full and fair value for their shares, gives every shareholder a vote on the future of the company, and enhances choice for content creators, advertisers, and consumers.

During these two months of inactivity, the Internet has continued to march on, while the public equity markets and overall economic conditions have weakened considerably, both in general and for other Internet-focused companies in particular. At the same time, public indicators suggest that Yahoo!’s search and page view shares have declined. Finally, you have adopted new plans at the company that have made any change of control more costly.

By any fair measure, the large premium we offered in January is even more significant today. We believe that the majority of your shareholders share this assessment, even after reviewing your public disclosures relating to your future prospects.

Given these developments, we believe now is the time for our respective companies to authorize teams to sit down and negotiate a definitive agreement on a combination of our companies that will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders, creating a more efficient and competitive company that will provide greater value and service to our customers. If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors for the Yahoo! board. The substantial premium reflected in our initial proposal anticipated a friendly transaction with you. If we are forced to take an offer directly to your shareholders, that action will have an undesirable impact on the value of your company from our perspective which will be reflected in the terms of our proposal.

It is unfortunate that by choosing not to enter into substantive negotiations with us, you have failed to give due consideration to a transaction that has tremendous benefits for Yahoo!’s shareholders and employees. We think it is critically important not to let this window of opportunity pass.

Sincerely,

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Office
Microsoft Corp.

For all customers who subscribes to the 2020 CALL service, you ad will now be seen by additional millions of users starting today via AOL’s Local Search service (beta).

AOL Local is powered by Mapquest, the #1 mapping site in terms of traffic and the most recognized mapping brand in the world.

Separately, AOL today announced that it is adding up-to-date traffic conditions to its AOL Local Maps service. The near real-time traffic info updates itself every 5 mins.

Traffic view of Miami, FL

For all customers who subscribe to the 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service, your ad will now be seen by additional 16 million unique visitors starting today. Your ad will be in the Fotolog Classifieds section.

Fotolog is the world’s leading photo-blogging site, one of the world’s largest social networking sites and a global cultural phenomenon. More than 13 million members in over 200 countries use Fotolog as a simple and fun way to express themselves through online photo diaries or photo blogs.

Launched in 2002, Fotolog today generates more than 3.9 billion page views and receives more than 16 million unique visitors each month. Fotolog ranks among the top 20 in the Alexa list of the world’s most trafficked websites and was named a Site of the Week by PC Magazine.

Fotolog, based in New York City, is a subsidiary of Hi-Media (HIM.PA), a leading online media company with headquarters in Paris, France.

To learn how you (and your ad) can reach these potential customers, subscribe to 2020 CLASSIFIEDS service.

Yahoo is discussing a possible Internet partnership with media conglomerate News Corp., its latest effort to repel Microsoft Corp.’s takeover bid or pry a better offer from the unsolicited suitor.

News Corp. is interested in folding its popular online social network, MySpace.com, and other Internet assets into Yahoo — an idea that first came up last year. A News Corp. stake in Yahoo might hinge on whether the two sides can agree on how much MySpace is worth.

According to insiders, the deal structure would spin off Fox Interactive Media (the primary asset is MySpace, but IGN, Scout Media, Photobucket, Fox Sports, AmericanIdol.com, Flektor, Ksolo; plus investments in Hulu, Simply Hired and Snocap are also assets of FIM) into Yahoo, along with a big cash injection from News Corp. and an unnamed private equity fund. The total investment would be valued at around $15 billion. A News Corp. stake in Yahoo might hinge on whether the two sides can agree on how much MySpace is worth.

News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005. But the social network’s value has soared as its audience swelled above 100 million users, creating a potential advertising gold mine.

Facebook, which owns the Internet’s second largest social network behind MySpace, now arguably has a $15 billion market value, based on Microsoft’s purchase late last year of a 1.6 percent stake for $240 million.

If Yahoo is able to work out a deal with News Corp., analysts believe Microsoft will simply raise its offer because it needs the acquisition to counteract Google’s dominance of the online ad market — a battleground that is rapidly reshaping the technology and media industries.

Analysts believe Microsoft is prepared to offer as much as $35 or $36 per share, if necessary, to get the Yahoo deal done.

“Buying Yahoo makes tremendous sense for Microsoft, more sense than any other company in the world,” said Ken Marlin, a New York investment banker specializing in media and technology deals.

Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s offer Monday, insisting that its Internet franchise is worth more money. Microsoft has held firm so far, calling its original “full and fair” while threatening to launch a hostile takeover attempt.