Google Acquires ImageAmerica

Google acquired ImageAmerica, a company, as they say, building “high resolution cameras for the collection of aerial imagery.” Google hint that they expect this data to be rolled out in Google Earth/ Maps in the future. Already, ImageAmerica provided hi-res New Orleans imagery to Google following Hurricane Katrina. Image-America.com now shows the usual semi-blank “acquired” page, but Archive.org stored an older version.

After Panoramio, PeakStream, Zenter, Feedburner, GrandCentral and Postini, this is the seventh Google acquisition just this and last month. I suppose by now, a typical Google lobby small talk starts with, “So, when were you acquired?”

Source: BlogoScoped

AOL Offers Free Security Tools

AOL has introduced Internet Security Central, offering a free safety and security tools. Included in the offering is the new McAfee VirusScan Plus - special edition from AOL, offering essential protection against viruses, spyware and intruders for free through AOL.com.

McAfee VirusScan Plus – Special edition from AOL offers essential tools designed to safeguard the online experience and personal computer. It provides virus protection to guard the whole PC; spyware protection to block potentially unwanted programs; and a two-way firewall that helps block hackers. It also features behavior-based threat protection which warns about specific behaviors that may signal virus, spyware, or hacker activity; protection against stealth threats, and PC performance tools.

The service is available for free to all users with a free AOL or AIM screen name.

Source: Tech2

Interview with CEO of TripWiser.com

In a crowded market TripWiser is helping families to plan their holidays. We spoke to CEO David Reichman to gain some insight into their unique startup.

Where did your idea come from?

In the last few years, when I was preparing trips with my family (2 weeks in Costa Rica or long weekend in San Diego), I had to jump from site to site, from review to review, and ended up collecting bits of pieces of information in an attempt to assemble a trip, and then putting all of that on a map to see the route, and after that visit individual hotel's website to see what kind of accommodations available. This was too much work. So with TripWiser we set about to create something different. We decided that a site that provides ready-to-go trip itineraries that have been created by people (peers and experts), with associated activities and things to do, with descriptions and rating, with map integration and calendar integration would be something everyone can appreciate and enjoy. Travel should be fun, not project management.

What is your elevator pitch?

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, TripWiser is a state-of-the-art social trip planning and itinerary building site for family travel to or within the United States and Canada. The site leverages the collective wisdom of users and provides a complete trip planning service that takes project management out of travel and brings a whole new meaning to family travel in America. Through a pleasantly stylish and strikingly modern interface TripWiser allows users to select from thousands of ready-to-go itineraries created by real travelers and travel experts, each containing popular destinations, accommodations, activities, attractions, and other interesting things to do. Users can clone someone else's trips and modify them on the fly via convenient drag-and-drop functionalities.

How is your proposition different from competitors?

It actually works. The travel market is very crowded with many good players but we believe that we are doing something different and filling a real void in this market specifically for family travelers. The way we plan to succeed is by focusing on quality, by providing the highest quality of service possible across all aspects of our business: content, design, functionalities and capabilities. We have partnered with market leaders like Wcities, Viator IHS and and Kayak to provide the best user experience in Social Trip Planning and the best validation for our direction is the very positive feedback that we are getting from the community. e.g. http://www.geekismyname.com/?p=34

Why will you succeed?

Since this is our passion, we are not just motivated by hype we have identified a very tough problem that we are trying to solve. We've been around the block long enough to understand that this is a marathon in a sprint pace. We have a very strong team with many years of experience in operation, technology and travel that is extremely focused on making TripWiser the best Social Trip Planning out there.

What are your biggest successes so far?

Users are embracing TripWiser and recommending us to their friends, this is how we grow by a "word of mouth". Online Travelers are gaining real value and providing us with great feedback. We have already received a series of thumbs-up reviews from top experts in the technology crowd. Sites like Mashable.com, Killerstartups.com, Blogger.com, LifeHacker.com have all judged TripWiser to be among the leading trip planning sites in the Online Travel industry.

How will/do you make money?

We are already making money from both ads and referrals, but our goal is to make money without compromising the user experience. It is very easy to optimize the site for revenue but we aren't confused we have founded this company to provide a great service first while building a viable business.

Have you received funding? If so, how much and from whom?

We are funded by few very powerful angel investors. They provide us with wise advice and great contacts, I couldn't wish for more. We will probably start our first institutional round soon.

Source: FrostFire

MakeMyTrip ahead of Cleartrip, Yatra and IRCTC

As per the June 2007 figures circulated by Comscore, a leading US-based Internet research company, MakeMyTrip.com has been rated as the tenth most-visited web-site by internet users in India. In June 2007, MakeMyTrip.com witnessed 3.5 million unique visitors, and demonstrated a reach of 15.2% among total internet audience in India. MakeMyTrip.com was also the most-visited travel site in India, ahead of Cleartrip.com, Yatra.com, Air Deccan and IRCTC.co.in among others.

As per the Comscore data tracked every month, the Internet audience has increased to 23.3 million unique visitors and the travel audience for the same period is at 8 million unique visitors.

These figures are based on unique visitors per month, aged over 15 years, and exclude traffic from public computers and access from mobile phones and PDAs. So while this universe comprises about 23.3 million people, of which MakeMyTrip.com receives 346,000 average daily visitors, Comscore estimates that 33.7 million visitors accessed the Internet in India in June 2007.

Source: MoneyControl

Facebook acquires Net start-up Parakay

Facebook, the fast growing Silicon Valley social-networking site, said on Thursday it has acquired Internet start-up, Parakey, run by two of the co-creators of Firefox.

Parakey, founded by Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt, is described in a statement as a company seeking to bridge the gap between the immediacy of information stored on local desktop computers and the collaborative power of data stored on Web sites.

Source: CNet

Virtual prayers at Kashi-Vishwanath temple

The Internet bug has caught one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in India - the Kashi-Vishwanath temple in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Devotees can now offer prayers at the temple from their homes through a website created by the temple committee.

"You need not undertake a long tedious journey to Varanasi to seek the blessings of Lord Vishwanath. It would now be possible for devotees sitting even thousands of miles away to offer prayers before the deity with just a click of the mouse," Varanasi Divisional Commissioner Nitin Gokaran told IANS.

Gokaran formally inaugurated the website with the prayer facility Wednesday.

Source: ZDNet

OnGaia.com Introduces Path Breaking Online Concepts For The Indian Real Estate Industry

The real estate market in India is going through an unprecedented phase of growth and insatiable demand. As this demand for property grows, buyers and sellers are looking for new ways to meet and strike deals. OnGaia.com presents the perfect interface for buying, selling, renting, leasing, developing and any related real estate activity.

OnGaia.com provides every individual with the ideal platform to search for and find the property of his dreams. The easy-to-use interface allows even lay users of the internet to quickly find their way through all the postings of property for sale and property required to locate a prospective buyer or seller. And the wide reach of the internet allows people from the far corners of the world to buy and sell property from the comfort of their homes. Through OnGaia one has the freedom to choose from a large pool of prospective buyers or sellers to strike the perfect deal.

Source: TheOpenPress

Ask.com to launch: AskEraser

Ask.com(R), a leading search engine and wholly-owned business of IAC , today announced it will soon be implementing a new product called AskEraser that will offer its searchers unmatched control over their privacy when searching for information on the Web.

With AskEraser, people can ensure that their search history will not be retained by Ask.com. Searchers will have easy access to AskEraser and can change their privacy preference at any time. Once selected, searchers' privacy settings will be clearly indicated on search results pages so they always know the privacy status of their searches.

With the announcement of AskEraser, Ask.com becomes the only major search engine to commit to giving consumers the control to prevent retention of their search history at the time of their search. AskEraser is expected to be deployed on Ask.com in the U.S. and U.K. by the end of the year, and globally early next year.

Source: CNNMoney

Oracle Adds Google Maps To Field Service Software

Oracle is integrating Google Maps into its Field Service dispatch management application in an effort to let business users manage service calls more efficiently through the use of precise geographical information. Oracle disclosed the move Wednesday as it introduced Field Service Release 12, the latest version of the software.

Under the plan, Oracle Field Service will include application programming interfaces that allow users to easily add geographic data pulled from Google Maps for Enterprise mapping software. That should allow field service dispatchers to more quickly identify problem locations and create the most efficient routes for service personnel to follow, Oracle said.

The capability will also allow field technicians to view their upcoming jobs using the satellite or map views within Google Maps.

Source: InformationWeek

Search Giant Misses Profit Views

Google shares fell more than 7% in late trading Thursday after it missed second-quarter earnings estimates, a rare stumble for the Web giant.

Excluding one-time costs, the Mountain View, Calif., company earned $3.56 per share for the quarter that ended June 30, 43% over last year but 3 cents shy of the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Sales grew 63% to $2.72 billion after subtracting traffic acquisition costs, the fees its pays other Web sites that carry its ads.

Overall costs rose 68% to $2.76 billion, much of that due to the company's frantic hiring and bigger-than-expected bonuses.

Source: CNNMoney

Insurance just a click away

Want an insurance cover for your family, but don't have the time to run after the agents of various companies to decide on a product? Internet's the way to go for you. With policies and products available online, the cheapest deal could be just a click away.

Quick Facts
* www.insurancemall.in is India's only insurance shopping website as of now
* www.getmeinsure.com also deals with online insurance but is restricted to making comparisons among various plans
* Only general insurance policies available online till now
* Even among health plans, only those are available that don't require medical tests
* Pension plans without life cover can also be accessed

The new insurance shopping websites act as online brokers and help you access and compare deals offered by various companies, and then pick the one best suited to you. Normal brokers, too, serve the same purpose, but their operations are largely restricted to high volumes and, hence, their main clients are corporate houses and big organizations.

Source: Rediff

Big spends on online ads: Martin Sorrell

Q: This month, senior WPP executives have been doing an Asia Strategy. I believe you are meeting the Finance Minister before leaving India...has this got anything to do with wanting to consolidate WPP's businesses in India?

A: No

Q: What is stopping WPP from going the whole hog?

A: Historcally, over time, WPP has increased its interests in JWT and that has been the process over a period of time. Now, we've stopped short of 100% and I intuitively feel that it's important to keep atleast part of the equity, in the businesses here in India in the hands of the people here. Over the last 22 years, the growth has been stellar.

Q: While you say it's about different horses for different courses, suely you would like to increase stake in Rediffusion?

A: Yes we'd like to but I don't think 27% or 40% is the right level.

Q: If you can't increase your stake in Rediffusion Y&R, what's keeping you from getting out of it and launch Y&R as a separate brand?

A: No, I wouldn't do that. That's the route we've gone with Dentsu and we have a joint company with Dentsu. What happens in the long run with Dentsu and its approach to global expansion is very interesting.

Q: So, you are saying that we shouldn't be expecting any change with WPP's equation with the Rediffusion banner?

A: No, you should never say never to anything.

Q: What about my meetings with the Finance Minister?

A: I don't comment on my schedule. But any meetings I might have here and whatever they might be about are with clients, with the media and with the government in the context of our expansion.

Q: Recently, there has been a trend - that all of television network buying was bought keeping in mind a new metric - commercial rating point. Do you see that as pressure on agency creative as well as media buying and planning?

A: What you are referring to is another iteration of accountability and measureability. I see that as being an opportunity because with this comes greater ability for us to answer the holy grail issues, like 'how much our clients spend and where should they spend them?'.

Q: We've been seeing a lot of big advertisers going out of their way to do digital work. Are you seeing monies being reallocated within budgets or are budgets being expanded to include the digital apace?

A: I would say it's a bit of both. The internet, interactive and search is about 8% to 9% of worldwide advertising budgets. People spend about 20% of their time online and there is a disconnect that needs to be resolved over time.

What clients are doing is, exploring this aggressively, so, that they can up the budget to 20%. The big companies are not doing this, they are spending 5% to 10% of their budgets, if at all, in this area. They will eventually become stronger spenders.

Q: To get ahead in the digital space by acquiring companies, is WPP paying too much?

A: Our business in India is about $250 million and in China, it's about $600 million this year. We will grow in China, our organic growth, more than our next biggest competitor. India will grow at 20% while China will grow at 28%. So, it's mostly organic growth.

Q: Is Omnicom's long term view of wanting to be in India and setting up agencies here, worrying you?

A: I think it's a lot of noise and a lot of talking but not much doing. The growth in our business is now 2.4 times as much and we've got a lot of chatter from Omnicom. Their interest and focus happens to be in Tokyo and New York rather than in Mumbai, Delhi or Shanghai.

Source: MoneyControl

Oh My God - from Yahoo

Yahoo! (YHOO) is trying to play catch-up in the celebrity gossip game. The beleaguered Internet company launched a new site called omg! — presumably to stand for Oh My God or, for those who prefer to not blaspheme, Oh My Gosh — last month and is now heavily promoting it on the Yahoo home page.

Can Yahoo gain ground on the established celebrity gossip sites? The company does have a partnership with the GE (GE)-owned NBC Universal TV show “Access Hollywood,” for content. And Yahoo appears set to make money from omg! It has signed on Unilever (UL) and Pepsi (PEP), which have a Pepsi-Lipton tea joint venture, to be exclusive sponsors on omg!

In many respects, the launch of omg! seems to be Yahoo’s latest attempt to prove to Wall Street that it has all the necessary pieces to make it a preeminent online resource for information of all types.

Source: MediaBiz

Microsoft: "India can be IT research powerhouse"

In an exclusive e-mail interview with Senior Associate Editor Indrani Roy Mitra, Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan shares his vision. Read on. . .

We feel the general population is overawed by IT majors like Microsoft, Infosys, Wipro, etc. Could you please explain what Microsoft stands for / does in India?

Ever since we set up India operations in 1990, a strong India focus and commitment for strengthening India's presence in the digital economy has topped our agenda. We are committed to delivering local strategies that are in sync with India's unique environment. Today we have offices in 10 cities, including Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

India is significant to Microsoft from, both, a market perspective as well as from a talent perspective. Accordingly we engage with India on a multitude of areas and our long-term commitment is evident from the fact that India is one of the few countries apart from the US where we have an end-to-end presence through our six business units, namely Microsoft Corporation India (Pvt) Ltd (the marketing division), Microsoft Research India, Microsoft India Development Center, Microsoft Global Technical Support Centre, Microsoft IT and Microsoft Global Services India.

Today, we have strength of over 5,000 employees across these six business units.

Our chairman Bill Gates, on his last India visit in 2005, committed $1.7 billion India investment which is a testimony to the increasing confidence of the company in India. Today, India is among the fastest growing subsidiaries for Microsoft in Asia and is poised to be among the top 3 over the next 5 years.

Our focus is on becoming a key IT partner to Indian businesses, the Indian government and the IT industry. We will support and fuel the growth of the local IT industry with a thrust on driving Innovations for, from and with India and under our commitment of 'Unlimited Potential,' create a more inclusive growth for the billion Indians by relevant and affordable access to computing.

A lot is being said these days about corporate social responsibility. What responsibility, according to you, should corporates have to improve the state of living?

All of us -- individuals, families, and organisations -- have a responsibility to contribute to the society in whichever way we are able to. Corporates, of course, have the means to effect change on a larger scale, and it is an opportunity they should take seriously. Having said that, I would just like to add that being responsible is not just about, say, spending money on a cause. It means being conscious of the impact -- both good and bad -- your business could have on the world you inhabit.

As part of the IT sector, for instance, we at Microsoft are constantly looking for ways in which technology can benefit the less fortunate majority of humans. Our global effort, Unlimited Potential, expands and accelerates Microsoft's commitment to facilitate sustained social and economic opportunity for the more than five billion people living in every country around the world who do not today benefit from technology. And this is not about charity but more about responsible growth.

Thousands of children are educated, orphans are cared for, destitute are looked after and the poor are fed under your social project -- Indian Giving Campaign. Could you please tell us its modus operandi? How will you rate it against its parental charity initiative Giving Campaign?

This is an extension of Microsoft's efforts at creating social and economic opportunities that change people's lives and transform communities. Through its matching contributions programme, Microsoft allows its employees to direct corporate contributions to nonprofit organisations working to improve lives in the country. Donations that India based employees make to eligible nonprofits are matched Rupee for Rupee by the company, up to Rs 50,000 per employee per year.

We do believe it is not enough to just give money but giving your time and effort is as important. Under our employee volunteer programme, we set aside three working days per employee per year to enable them to volunteer their time and and donate other resources such as their knowledge and expertise towards the betterment of communities.

A recent report stated that Microsoft is to hawk PCs to school kids. What is your plan for education?

It is the investment made by India in human capital that has led to its success. If India has to maintain and rise further in the emerging global knowledge economy, it has to ensure that it is able to create an enabling environment for education and jobs and opportunities. It has to innovate to be able to do this.

Keeping this in mind, transforming education is one of the three key initiatives Microsoft Unlimited Potential has committed itself to. Over the past several years Microsoft has been using a combination of quality content, partnerships, training, and broad access to transform education In India.

Under its programme, Project Shiksha (the global partners in learning programme) Microsoft has worked with state governments, and other key stakeholders to offer a spectrum of education resources including tools, programmes, and practices. Going forward, Microsoft will both scale up the existing initiatives and broaden the opportunity beyond institutions to enable access for individuals under a 'Connected Learning framework' called IQ. IQ is essentially a combination of an online and offline content tied into all aspects of a student's learning process and growth.

The IQ PC includes Windows, Office/Works, Encarta, Student 2007 and specialised education solutions from a host of key partners. The content focuses on the key concerns of families, be it the learning of English as a language, tutorials for competitive examinations, or ensuring a seamless transition from class work to homework.

Where do you see Microsoft in five years, vis-a-vis its competitors?

If you see Microsoft over the last few years, we have grown considerably and now have a multi core strategy of growth. And over the years we have been able to consistently create a leadership position in every business area we operate in be it gaming, software or mobile computing.

We see ourselves doing equally well over the next five years. A lot of businesses that we are now getting into are areas that are emerging and developing themselves, so more than competing with other players, the challenge in these areas will be the evolving customer needs and business models themselves. For instance, with customers moving increasingly online the delivery of software over the net as a service is starting to gain popularity.

However, most players are trying to attune themselves to how to make this efficient, user friendly and scalable and are grappling with the question of whether customers will adapt this consumption model permanently. Microsoft believes it will be a combination of online and offline usage that will spur adoption. We call it the software plus service approach, and our focus will be on getting this model right and enabling customer adoption.

There are other new areas that we have successfully forayed into recently, such as search-based advertising, gaming and entertainment devices and so on. While we face intense competition in these against a set of very capable competitors, the market growth itself in these areas will be so high in the coming years that we will be able to gain considerable ground.

In October, you launched live.com mainly, it is said, to counter Google's search engine. Please tell us more about it.

Windows Live is a new set of Internet services and software designed to put the individual in control by offering complete choice and customization.. The goal with live services is to create a seamless experience between offline and online technology experiences, and help customers push into the next phase of computing by giving them access to what they want -- how and when they want it, regardless of connectivity or device.

Overall, this is part of Microsoft's software+services strategy. Geared towards enabling customers to optimize full capabilities of the networked environment, and to seamlessly bring together the information, relationships and interests they care about. We believe that no other company has the assets, audience and aspirations to deliver experiences and solutions that span our work styles and lifestyles in this age of Internet services.

Early beta versions of some of the Windows Live components can be found on www.ideas.live.com

Could you please share with us your vision of Microsoft India?

Globally, with Unlimited Potential, we are determined to reach IT to the next billion people by 2015. India is one of the most exciting and important markets for Microsoft right now�both the challenges and opportunities are huge. In addition to being a growth sector of the Indian economy, information technology is also a key enabler of social development. In India especially, the progress on many fronts is already well underway and will continue to mature.

The task that we have today is to make technology pervasive and useful in the everyday lives of more and more people. The growth of IT penetration in India, currently, might be rapid, but it is not rapid enough. And while affordability is critical, it is imperative for technology to be relevant and accessible too. Only when we meet these criteria will the adoption of technology grow exponentially. At Microsoft India, this is what we seek to deliver through Unlimited Potential.

Please throw some light on the research initiatives undertaken by Microsoft India. What impact are they going to have on India's IT growth?

In India, Microsoft conducts research primarily through Microsoft Research India which, like its other sibling labs, conducts basic and applied research in computer science and allied areas.

MSR India currently focuses on six areas of research: Cryptography, Security and Algorithms, Digital Geographics, Mobility, Networks, and Systems, Multilingual Systems, Rigorous Software Engineering, and Technologies for Emerging Markets.

An important objective for MSR, in addition to contributing to Microsoft's products and businesses, is to advance the state-of-the-art in computer science. In fact, a majority of the results of our research are published in leading conferences and journals, and are therefore available for researchers and technologists across the world, including India, to use to advance their technologies.

We firmly believe that research leads to innovation, which is critical to technological leadership. MSR India is committed to enhancing India's research pipeline and have a number of initiatives to help achieve this. MSR India's External Programs and Research Group conducts a number of programmes, including collaborating with Indian academia, granting PhD Fellowships, research grants, research funding and travel grants for researchers.

In addition, some of the MSR researchers also hold adjunct faculty positions in leading technological institutions. MSR India holds an annual research symposium- TechVista- which brings together some of the world's leading researchers and technologists who talk about the cutting edge of research in different domains. TechVista aims to inspire the young, potential Indian research talent to take up advanced studies and adopt research as a career.

We think India has the potential to become a research powerhouse that can drive technology across the world as well as in India, and are confident that our efforts will contribute towards fulfilling this potential.

Source: Rediff

VSNL Launches Tata Indicom Web Protect

VSNL is offering Tata Indicom's 'Web Protect', to help users manage the Internet access of their children and employees.

Tata Indicom Web Protect, brought in collaboration with Netsweeper Inc. of Canada, is a web filtering solution that enables users to block access to specific websites, chatrooms or any other unwanted content and can be customized to filter 40 categories of Internet content. It also has the ability to set time-based controls; customized reporting with detailed information like time, date, category, and address of the sites that were accessed and the ability to block protocols like email, file transfer, P2P and web chat.

This service is available to Tata Indicom's dial-up and Broadband subscribers.

Source: Tech2

Digital Clear Internet Phone

American Telecom Services Inc. , a provider of converged communications solutions, today announced that it will start shipping a Digital Clear Internet (Voice-over-Internet-Protocol or VoIP) telephone to the fastest growing electronics retailer based in California and the world's largest retailer's dot com, for promotion in the fall season.

The award-winning X10001P, an Interference-Free, DECT 6.0, Cordless, Multi-Handset telephone, previously announced as a bundle with Lingo service on December 20, 2006, will be sold at both new retailers and promoted to their customers through in-store fixtures, online placement and circular advertisements.

Source: CNNMoney

IdiscoverIndia.com : New Online Travel Guide

Delhi-based Go Blend Travels has launched an online travel guide IdiscoverIndia.com that seeks to provide information and pictures related with the tourist destinations in India. The website also allows users to book hotels that are “carefully selected, independently reviewed and carry original photographs.”

According to Amit Kumar, director, Go Blend Travels, IdiscoverIndia.com aims to serve as a platform for service providers and travel agents to market directly to the consumers and connect with the growing online customer base.

“As we are not a travel agent or aligned with any one particular service provider we maintain our independence and exercise a completely unbiased stand in our assessment,” Amit Kumar has said.

Source: AlooTechie

Google Ads in Video Games

Google Inc. plans to expand into video-game ads, applying some of the same concepts it used to build its Internet empire.

But the company won't be making video games, said Bernie Stolar, Google's games evangelist, seeking to allay any competitive concerns among an audience of casual video-game publishers and developers Wednesday at a conference in Seattle.

The company said publishers will be able to use the Google system to put advertising in their games, and collect revenue. Advertisers, in turn, will be able to work through the Google system to buy ad space within games.

Source: Seattlepi

Walmart.com to let customers review merchandise

Shoppers will be able to review and rate the merchandise sold on Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Web site beginning on Thursday, as the retailer works to expand its online capabilities.

Walmart.com Chief Marketing Officer Cathy Halligan said in an interview the retailer decided to launch the new feature quickly following a three-week testing phase in which it received more than twice the number of reviews it was expecting.

"It is the No. 1 customer-requested feature," she said of reviews and ratings.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has been working to integrate its Web site more closely with its stores.

Source: Reuters

EBay Earnings Rise 50% on Auction Revenue, PayPal Use

EBay Inc., the world's largest online auctioneer, said earnings rose for the fourth straight quarter after higher fees increased auction revenue and its PayPal unit added more corporate customers.

Second-quarter net income climbed 50 percent to $375.8 million, or 27 cents a share, from $250 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier, San Jose, California-based EBay said today in a statement. Sales advanced 30 percent to $1.83 billion.

EBay reduced clutter on the site and boosted average revenue per listing by raising auction fees last year. That discouraged users from posting items that were unlikely to sell. Sales at the PayPal payment-processing unit rose as more people outside the U.S. and more companies used the service.

Source: Bloomberg

Jupiter Media buys Mediabistro.com

Jupitermedia Corp., which provides stock photographs and other digital content, said Wednesday it bought mediabistro.com, a job search and community web site for media professionals.

Jupitermedia said the funding for the deal was secured through a $115 million senior credit facility arranged by KeyBanc Capital Markets.

Mediabistro includes job posting for media fields, educational courses, events, forums and a premium subscription service.

Source: Fobes

Goldstone to launch online movie rental service

Goldstone Technologies is soon planning to roll out an online movie rental service both in India and internationally.

The company has inked a five year deal with Shemaroo Entertainment for sourcing the latter's video content library for the Indian and international markets.

The content will be available on a patented technology for Triple Play services, which delivers quality video at only bandwidths of 600 kbps Internet speed. Goldstone will stream Shemaroo's content along with host of several live Indian television channels across international markets and India.

Other than India, the company also has a presence across Asia Pacific and Europe, where IPTV is catching up rapidly. According to the key findings of the report by iLocus reveal that the worldwide IPTV subscriber base touched almost four million as of March 2007.

Source: BusinessOfCinema

‘www.honeybeeindia.com’ Launched

www.honeybeeindia.com – a bank neutral web portal offering loans and financial consultation services at free of cost to customers is launched. The portal offers the entire spectrum of personal financial products including personal loans, home loans, mortgage and credit cards services. It is India's most focused and dedicated personal finance websites, with comprehensive data that addresses consumers’ requirements of financial products, especially loans and credit cards.

The portals hosts other utilities like online application forms for Indian and Non Indian Residents, check lists, application status, eligibility criteria, loan guides, articles on loans, discussion forums, advisors column and free counseling from product experts.

The main source of revenue for the portal is from the charges paid by lending institutions on each transaction executed, hence nothing is charged from the customers.

Source: BusinessWireIndia

WPP to expand digital ad business in India

WPP, one of the largest global marketing communication groups, is planning to team up with venture capital funds to expand its digital and online advertising business in India. The group has already adopted this model in China.

In India, WPP controls or partly owns close to 40 communication agencies across the advertising, public relations, direct marketing, media services, branding identity and market research verticals. Its agencies include O&M, JWT and IMRB, among others.

WPP also plans to introduce 24/7 Real Media, a digital marketing firm, in India and the rest of Asia.

Source: BusinessStandard

Google expands print advertising service

Google Inc. said it is expanding its print advertising program, Google Print Ads, to include any of its subscribers to its AdWords service.

Google said any advertiser or ad agency with an AdWords account can buy print advertising from its network of 225 newspapers, which include The E.W. Scripps Co., Freedom Communications Inc., Hearst Newspapers, GateHouse Media Inc., Gannett Co., MediaNews Group Inc., The New York Times, The Seattle Times Co., Tribune Publishing Co. and the The Washington Post.

Google Print Ads gives publishers access to new advertisers, the company said.

Google began its Print Ads program in November 2006 with 100 advertisers and 50 newspapers.

Source: ComputerWorld

Internet advertising to grow ten times by 2009

ZenithOptimedia predicts that internet advertising will grow phenomenally from Rs 210 crore in 2006 to Rs 2,250 crore in 2009

Highlights of the report
* Ad spend on internet to double by end of 2007, to Rs 450 crore
* From a contribution of one per cent of the ad pie in 2006, internet will contribute 6.8 per cent by 2009
* Advertising on the internet will overtake radio, cinema and outdoor by 2009
* After the doctom bust in 1999-2000, internet advertising has grown most, by 145 per cent, between 2005 and 2004
* In 2006, of the Rs 210 crore spent on advertising, Rs 117.6 crore was spent on display advertising, Rs 50.4 crore on classified and Rs 42 crore on search
* In 2009, spends on classified advertising will be the highest at Rs 900 crore, followed by search at Rs 742.5 crore and display at Rs 607.5 crore
* 27 Indian dotcoms were funded by venture capitalists in 2006, compared to two in 2005
* The average investment in the first four months of 2007, at $5.25 million, is higher than all the average investment in the same period in 2006, at $4.75 million

Source: ZenithOptimedia

Online classified ads in a Web 2.0 - S Prabhakar & J Thomas

E-commerce in India conjures up images of shopping portals and job sites. However, online classifieds represent another faction of e-commerce that is largely underutilised in the country. Classified ad websites like Kijiji (an eBay subsidiary), Baajaa, Sulekha and Indialist (of the Bharatmatrimony group) do exist in India, but none of them has the position Craiglist does in the West.

In an age where blogs and social networking are taking interactivity to a new level, one wonders what the fate of these classified and listing websites will be. Are they up to the challenge?

The interactivity factor

Sulekha.com, with 1.5 million unique visitors from India per month, recently added a phone-based free ‘click to call’ service in their Yellow Pages section, enabling users to click on a listing and make a call directly to the advertiser. Sulekha.com has diversified the classified and yellow pages business by adding features like movie reviews, travelogues and even blogs, says Satya Prabhakhar, CEO of Sulekha.com. “Sulekha is trying to replicate offline activities online. We want users to stay on our website even after their classified ad need is fulfilled, so we decided to add user-generated content,” he adds.

However, Jiby Thomas, head of Kijiji.in, a classified ad site with 65,000 live ads, believes in a plain vanilla classified model. “Kijiji already has an element of interactivity, as consumers can discuss and contact each other online as well as offline, so we don’t see the need for blogs and forums on the site,” he says. The website receives 400,000 unique visitors per month.

Means of monetisation

Monetisation is a big question mark for all web players in Indian web space, and it’s the same on the online classifieds front. Kijiji.in, which was launched in November 2005, is using Google AdSense for revenue generation and is planning to add display advertising in the next six to nine months. The website allows users to post up to 50 different ads per day free – the site doesn’t have paid ads.

At Sulekha.com, users who pay $40 per month can post any number of ads in the premium category, and others can post three ads per month free. Apart from this, Sulekha.com earns through display ads. Sulekha’s Prabhakar is optimistic. He claims that the horizontal classified sites industry is worth Rs 100 crore, and growing at 50-100 per cent every year. He adds that only 20 per cent of transactions happen online (among the big city audience), but there is potential to convert the remaining 80 per cent.

Language of business

Online classified ad sites are already moving towards localisation with city-specific content, but local languages are a long way off. Harish Bahl, founder and CEO, Smile Interactive Technologies, says, “Transaction sites can survive with English and do not need local languages, as they are not hardcore content sites.” He also points out that there are a lot of compatibility issues in local languages – the hardware and web browser not supporting local languages, for instance.

Thomas agrees: “English is the language of business and we will stick to it.” Sulekha.com has no plans to foray into local languages at the moment, but may do so two years down the line, according to Prabhakar.

However, Kijiji does have Hindi and Tamil content, as eBay is running a pilot project on it, called Rural Marketplace. The project has been created to help people living in the villages of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to improve their economic livelihood through the Kijii platform. Thomas clarifies that the project is entirely an eBay undertaking. Interestingly, even in Rural Marketplace, most of the users communicate in English.

Where’s the future?

Currently, and as expected, it is the metros and big towns that are driving traffic to online classified ad sites.

According to Thomas, “Growth for sites like Kijiji will be driven by big metros as they have a large number of Internet users. The real estate category is doing well and it is simply a reflection of consumer needs – highly paid IT professional look for PGs and houses to stay in.” He adds that smaller cities like Mysore will drive the growth later on, although the consumer need already exists there as well.

There is a possibility that with the rising number of mobile users, the next level of transactions may happen through mobile. Sulekha has already tapped this opportunity with their mobile WAP site (wap.sulekha.com), integrated its classified and yellow pages business with mobile, and is ready to launch a short code in the near future.

While the future of classified sites is deemed to be bright (one recent study gave it top ranking in the Internet advertising pie four years down the line), it all depends on how the segment staves off the challenge from social networking sites.

Source : AgencyFAQs

Jajah launches calls @ Rs 3 to and from India

California-based Jajah, a company that deals with voice over internet protocol (VoIP), today introduced a cheap long-distance calling facility for calls from and to India. Although currently priced at Rs 3 (per minute), calls to the US and Europe will soon be made free of cost for users, claims the company.

It connects users phone-to-phone, landline or mobile, local or anywhere else in the world. An internet connection is only necessary to initiate the call. For the service to work, you needed to register at the website and then type in the number you wanted to call from as well as the number you wanted to reach.

The company is also planing to add Jajah as a communication tool at the social engineering sites like Facebook, SecondLife and MySpace soon. Jajah should not to be mistaken for yet another Skype service “because Jajah allows people to make calls from their landlines or mobile phones for free or at very low rates,” Scharf said.

Jajah is funded by Sequoia Capital, the same venture capitalists that invested in YouTube and Apple.

Source: BusinessStandard

Firefox + Alexa = Sparky !

Alexa’s non-compatibility with Firefox has been quite well known and finally on the 10th Anniversary of the famous (infamous?) Alexa Toolbar – they’ve released something called as Sparky! Their first FireFox compatible toolbar.

Here's what it has:
* Sparkline - A very small condensed traffic history graph. Gives you a quick view to show whether the site is moving up or down.
* Rank - Shows the traffic rank of the site.
* Reach Indicator - Provides a qualitative view of whether a site's rank is good or bad.
* Related Links - Provides up to 10 Related links in the browser's File | Edit | View menu.
* Shortcuts - Clicking on Sparky brings up a menu of other handy shortcuts, including Alexa Detail pages, Cached Pages, Search Pages and more.

Source: Alexa

Taobao.com beats eBay

Chinese e-commerce site Taobao.com has nearly tripled transaction volume in the first half to 15.7 billion yuan (US$2 billion), as people get more used to shopping online with improved payment systems, it said yesterday.

The site, which has beaten eBay Inc in the market over the past four years, also expanded its market share to 72.2 percent in the first quarter from last year's 65 percent, gaining a bigger lead over rivals, according to figures released yesterday by Shanghai-based IT consultancy iResearch.

Source: Xinhuanet

Yahoo Profit Falls 2.3% as Google, Facebook Win Sales

Yahoo! Inc., owner of the most- visited U.S. Web site, said second-quarter profit fell 2.3 percent as Google Inc. extended its lead in Internet search queries and new rivals took sales in display advertising.

The shares declined after Yahoo said net income dropped to $160.6 million, or 11 cents a share, from $164.3 million, or 11 cents, a year earlier. Sales, excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, rose 11 percent to $1.24 billion, the Sunnyvale, California-based company said today in a statement.

Yahoo forecast revenue for the rest of the year that trailed most analysts' estimates. The company's diminishing share of the search market has contributed to six straight quarters of declining profit and the slowest sales growth since 2001.

Source: Bloomberg

India to miss 2010 broadband penetration target: Assocham

Faced with poor PC penetration and infrastructure bottlenecks, India is likely to achieve only half of the targeted 20 million broadband connections by 2010, industry chamber Assocham said today.

A joint study conducted by Assocham and research firm Frost & Sullivan points out that broadband penetration in the country is unlikely to improve until cost of computers come down to Rs 10,000 per unit to become affordable to rural and semi-urban population.

In last seven years, India has provided broadband connectivity to less than 2.5 million subscribers as against the target of nine million during this year, Assocham said in a statement.

The government needs to spearhead the movement to drive broadband penetration by adopting innovative internet applications such as e-governance, e-education, agricultural services and healthcare services among others, it said.

Apart from this, service providers should also be encouraged to develop local content on the internet through the USO fund.

Source: ZeeNews

Yahoo! Enters Pay-Per-Click Advertising Market in India with Tyroo

While little is known about the launch of Yahoo! Panama in India, Yahoo! today joined hands with Tyroo Ads - an internet advertising company focused on Indian websites.

Yahoo! India has picked up a 35% stake in Tyroo and this could mean some good news for thousands of bloggers and site owners in India who are looking for alternatives to Google Adsense - Yahoo! could leverage it’s existing sales and marketing resources to bring more publishers and advertisers into the Tyroo program.

Tyroo, based in Gurgaon, offers a pay-per-click advertising program targeted toward Indian publishers but unlike Google Adsense, Tyroo is non-contextual.

Tyroo is currently used by around 1200 web publishers but that number is likely to grow up soon now that Yahoo! is associated with the company. Tyroo expects to set up sales offices across the country and triple the team size by the end of this year.

Tyroo’s prominent publishers include Indiatimes, Naukri, Oneindia, Santabanta and Shaadi.com. Microsoft, Google, Tata AIG, HSBC, SimplyMarry are some of the bigger advertisers using the Tyroo advertising network currently.

Source: IndiaInc

Sony launches web video talent competition

Sony has launched an online video site to harness the talent emerging across the web on sites such as YouTube that show user-generated content.

The company has turned the video-sharing site Grouper, which it bought last year for $65m (£32m), into a site where users compete for distribution and development deals. The renamed Crackle.com hopes to show higher-quality content than the amusing pet antics that populate YouTube.

It has invited users to submit content, which will be judged by the audience and a team of editors.

Winners of the site's quarterly competitions will be flown to Los Angeles to pitch for the theatrical release of their film, or discuss their ideas for films or TV programmes with Sony executives. Sony will also offer up-front cash payments to some producers ranging from a few thousand dollars to over $10,000.

Crackle already hosts 1,000 professionally produced videos and Sony has created a unit called Crackle Studios to produce its own segments for the site.

Source: Telegraph

Firefox gains at IE's expense in Europe

Since its launch, Firefox has been steadily gaining market share from the dominant browser, Microsoft's Internet Explorer. In the first week of July 2006, Firefox had 21.1 percent of the market. In the first week of July 2007, Firefox held 27.8 percent of the European market, according to XiTi Monitor's report.

Although Microsoft still has 66.5 percent of the browser market across Europe, in certain countries Firefox has now become very popular--especially in Eastern Europe. In Slovenia, Firefox has 47.9 percent of the market, while the browser now has more than 39 percent market share in Poland, Hungary and Croatia.

IE has been and continues to be plagued by security problems. People found multiple bugs in the latest version of the browser, IE 7, in February this year. Security advisory company Secunia notes that there have been 10 advisories issued about IE 7 up to July 2007, one of which was "critical."

Source: ZDNet

Harry Potter spawns parallel Internet world

The Harry Potter books have spawned a parallel universe on the Internet, where sites attract millions of fans every day and play a major part in the success of the novels and their Hollywood adaptations.

So popular are J.K. Rowling's stories, and the Web pages built around them, that a handful of online fans have become stars in their own right.

Arguably the biggest is Emerson Spartz, who was just 12 when he set up www.mugglenet.com. Today the site is visited up to 40 million times a month, making it one of the biggest Potter sites in the world and a viable commercial venture.

Rowling has long recognised the power of the Internet. Her own Web site, www.jkrowling.com, boasts up to seven million hits every day and Spartz and Anelli were invited in 2005 to hold a rare interview with her.

Source: Reuters

Baidu Joins Netsun to Launch "Business Advertisement s Union"

Netsun, which operates the largest specialty industrial network, chemnet as well as texnet, and pharmnet in China, joined with Baidu to launch the "business advertisements Union".

The combination between one of the largest e-commerce network in China and the largest Chinese search engine is well received by industrial analysts in China.

It is also a cooperation between the largest domestic listed internet company and the biggest Nasdaq listed Chinese internet company.

Source: ChinaTechStories

Ad spend on internet poised for a big leap

The internet will bring in big dollars to advertisement this year, as compared to last year, according to the ad expenditure forecast by media agency ZenithOptimedia.

The firm has predicted that by the end of 2007, ad spend on the internet will be more than double than what it was in 2006 at Rs 450 crore. The spend on the internet in 2006 was Rs 210 crore.

The growth of ad spend on the internet is also expected to take a quantum leap in the next two years, with the figure reaching Rs 2,250 crore by 2009, which will be almost 10 times the size it is now.

According to the research findings, the ad spends on print and television in the next two years are also set to rise to Rs 14,330 crore, and Rs 13,450 crore, respectively. In comparison to 2006, there will be a growth of 46.7% and 49%, respectively.

Print and television together still contribute to 85% of the total advertising spend of Rs 32,845 crore. The contribution of the internet in the overall advertising revenue pie will be close to 6.8%. Currently, its share stands at just 1%.

By 2009, the estimated figure suggests that ad spends on the internet will surpass those on radio, cinema and outdoor, individually.

In 2006, the ad spend on radio was Rs 370 crore, while on cinema and outdoor, it was Rs 290 crore and Rs 1,050 crore.
In comparison, ad expenditure on the internet was lower, at Rs 210 crore.

By 2009, the research has estimated, the ad spend on the internet will be Rs 2,250 crore, compared to Rs 585 crore on radio, Rs 558 crore on cinema, and Rs 1,673 on outdoor media. The forecast also maintained by 2009, advertising expenditure in the country will be 0.57% of the GDP as compared to the current 0.51%.

Incidentally, an earlier report by Initiative Futures Worldwide, the flagship arm of the Lintas media group, had cited a similar upsurge, covering seven years of data for six media in 56 countries including India, painting a truly global picture of worldwide advertising expenditure.

That report maintained that 2004 was the best year in advertising since 2000, with spends up year-on-year by 7.9% at the global level.

Source: TimesOfIndia

WatchIndia Announces Launch of Internet Television Portal

WatchIndia, an ethnic internet TV company, is set to storm the 3.5 million members of the Indian community living in the U.S. and Canada. The Web site announced the launch of its suite of live Indian channels and video-on-demand content featuring the best of Indian TV and entertainment -- breaking news, hit Indian TV serials, Bollywood movies, music, entertainment and the latest sports and cricket events.

WatchIndia offers Indians a way to not only get the latest news, but also stay up to date with culture, entertainment, music and sports -- keeping them involved with life back home in a way a phone call or an ethnic newspaper subscription never could.

WatchIndia's content includes a breadth of live and video-on-demand entertainment and a collection of the top Indian media outlets, spanning news, sports, music, movies, religion and pop culture. Content includes programs such as Hindi movies, Punjabi series, Indian pop culture, gurus and more.

Source: EarthTimes

"Social networking will supplement, not replace, job sites"

Q. Mr. Bikhchandani, Naukri had the first mover's advantage. How important, and sustainable, is this for you?

A. Being the first mover really helps, provided you make good use of it. So, for us, it really helped. We understood early on what it takes to create value for customers, what it takes to get revenue on the internet, what it takes to make a profit. In that understanding and knowledge, we were years ahead of the competition. So, it gets a lot easier to remain a leader. The fact is that we launched based on a deep customer insight. Others who came in took a few years to understand what it takes to build customer value -- and we were three years ahead. So that's the big reason why we succeeded.

Q. Now, the online job industry is pretty competitive. Times Jobs started a whole campaign claiming to be No. 1, to which you did respond, but they have continued with it...

A. We are actually quite delighted, because our resumes are up by a 20-25 per cent and they remain up. Currently, our resume acquisition rate is higher than ever before. What has happened is that Monster is actually No. 2, so our sales guys are happy. Because, that's like saying Monster is not No. 2. Look, we are in a market where results are measurable. If you do a job search on Naukri, you will know how many results you find, and if you do a job search on TimesJobs, you know the results. You will be able to evaluate which is the No. 1 site. Similarly, in the recruiter's side, you will know how many resumes you got from where. So, in a market where results are measurable, both the job seeker and the recruiter find it easy to evaluate competitive offerings. And when that happens, no amount of big ads can sell a lie. So, that's okay and we are pretty comfortable there.

We are actually quite delighted, because our resumes are up by a 20-25 per cent and they remain up

Q. Do you think there is a lack of standardisation in terms of the definition of 'active resumes' or the numbers? Because people are quoting from different sources...

A. See, if you look at our IPO document and all our official communication, we rely more on comScore than Alexa. Having said that, we use all available data. No data source is perfect, so we use a combination of multiple data sources to arrive at conclusions. We use these data to look at trends to see if we are growing, if competition is growing faster and if the gap narrowing and the like. So it’s more of that kind of stuff rather than saying 'this is absolutely 100 per cent reliable'.

Q. Naukri is your flagship product -- how are you going to incrementally grow this business? There are numbers, of course, which can be added on, but what features or elements can you add to that product?

A. We have a very strong product and user-experience agenda. We have done a lot of work in the last 12-15 months on the product. A lot of the stuff that we do is not visible on the site, because it's in the nature of relevance ranking, algorithms and things like that. A lot of that stuff is working very hard for the clients. So, we are making serious investments there. What we realised is that if you do any feature, the competition can copy it very easily because it's visible on the site. But if you fix something which they can’t figure out, we believe that is defendable intellectual property.

Q. For the recruiters on your site, are you just concentrating on the display elements or are you offering them something more innovative in terms of exposure?

A. No, we are doing both . We have got resume database and listings products and display. Clients know what is working for them because we get 70 per cent of our business from repeat buyers.

One of the big problems in recruitment advertising online is applicant spam. So, if I put up a job and I get 500 applications, there's a large percentage of applicant spam -- junk people who are not suited for the job. Now, going through those 500 applications is a pain. Over the last two three years, we are working hard on how to minimise applicant spam. I believe we have made substantial progress through our job search algorithms.

What we realised is that if you do any feature, the competition can copy it very easily because it's visible on the site

Q. So, your focus is more on algorithms rather than cosmetic changes, like maybe video?

A. No, we will do whatever makes business sense. We don't believe video will take over all this and become mainstream in a hurry. We have been discussing video for the last couple of years and it's a question of prioritisation. If it looks like video resumes are taking off, we will definitely do it.

Q. Any other features you are considering -- maybe a networking tool – for the site?

A. I would not be able to discuss that, but we have a very strong product innovation agenda and you will see some of the stuff coming out pretty soon.

Q. Would that be a web 2.0-based innovation?

A. Yes. Everything we do, even the algorithms, are Web 2.0. We are not confident of social networking just yet. We don't believe there's a revenue model there. Having said that, if we do find a revenue model, we will definitely look into it. But we would like to get into businesses where there is at least some clarity of what the potential revenue model could be. As a company, it is not in our DNA to put up a site and say, `If it gets traffic, we will somehow make money’. We need to get the business idea before we launch a site.

Q. A lot of action is happening on social networking these days, and people are getting in touch with each other through these sites. So don't you think this is a challenge for you because people can now get job referrals through these social networks and companies can get in touch with people through them?

A. You have a point there, and if we see a revenue model, we will definitely do something. But we have to see a revenue model first.

We have a very strong product innovation agenda and you will see some of the stuff coming out pretty soon

Q. But do you see that as a challenge?

A. The challenge is that on social networking, nobody is making money. People may have valuations, people may have traffic -- but nobody is making money. Now, a lot of people are justifying this by saying that if you get traffic, you get to make money. That works for Google. It may or may not work for other sites. So, really, somebody has to show the way out for social networking. And we are not sure whether we are those people. The jury is out, and it will have to be worked out. Right now, there's some doubt.

Q. Some people we've spoken to in the industry say that classifieds will eventually die out. Do you believe that?

A. No. And I'll tell you why. Look at the history of any medium. When TV came, people said radio would die. That said, it's at least prospering. When TV came, people said print advertising would go away. But it hasn't. When internet came, people said the intermediary would go away. That's not happened. So, people generally tend to exaggerate or hype these things. Will social networking be used for finding people, whether for dating or marriage or jobs? It possibly will be. But will social networking replace them? I don't think so.

When you put your profile on a matrimonial site, you are announcing your intent that you want to get married. When you put it on a social networking site, you are not announcing that intent. So, the likelihood of a handshake happening is a lot higher (on a matrimonial site). When you put your resume on a job site to a client on it who has access to the database, you are announcing your intent that you are looking for a job. And therefore a serious conversation can be held. When you are on a social networking site, you are just saying who you are. Whether you are looking for a job or to get married...nobody knows. So the productivity of a recruiter is a lot higher on job sites. Now, can networking sites be used to find people who are not on job sites? As a support tool, yes. However, will it replace job sites or matrimonial sites? No, it will supplement. Dating...quite possible.

Q. Do you think localisation is the key to move ahead?

A. Yes. If you look at TV, when cable TV first came in, it was only English programming like CNN and Star. It remained a 'big city, upper-income' phenomenon. When did it really penetrate? When all the Hindi channels were launched on cable, starting with Zee. And suddenly, people figured that local language is the way forward. Now the vast majority of content on internet, globally, is in English. All the Indian content is also in English. So you don't have great applications if you don't have great content in local language and therefore it’s not going to drive a lot of people online unless they are English-speaking first. So, you'll have to do more than that.

The challenge is that on social networking, nobody is making money. Right now, there's some doubt

Q. You also have an offline business -- Quadrangle -- a pretty old business of yours...

A. Well, actually that business is more recent than Naukri. We got into it in 2000.

Q. Fine. So that company is doing offline what Naukri is doing online, as I understand...

A. No. Naukri is a medium and a platform. A lot of recruiters use Naukri, including headhunters, and including Quadrangle. So, at Naukri we just we just enable handshakes. At Quadrangle, it starts from the first handshake and takes it to completion.

Q. So you felt it was important to have an offline business?

A. Yes. Quadrangle is a good business, it's growing well and it's cash positive.

Q. Would it continue to have a separate brand or do you want to take it into the Naukri brand?

A. As of now, there are no plans to change the brand name.

You don't have great applications if you don't have great content in local language and therefore it’s not going to drive a lot of people online

Q. And even Jeevansaathi and 99acres have potential for offline businesses. Would you consider that?

A. As of now, no. We believe that when you are not charging any high prices, there isn't enough money to be made by both the franchisee and you. We want to study the ability of a model to make money. Because if it doesn't make money, it is not viable. We can get into it only if we are convinced that the franchisee will make money, and this is the best move forward.

Q. Most of your revenue is coming from the recruitment business. How do you want to scale up the other businesses?

A. The recruitment business last year recorded some 88-89 per cent, and this includes Quadrangle and Naukri. We are not disclosing them separately but the bulk of revenue is Naukri but therefore it is less than 88 per cent. Maybe it'll be close to 80 per cent. The other businesses are scaling well, but the percentage will not change in a hurry because Naukri is also growing very, very fast.

Q. What are your plans for mobile? What's your opinion on using mobile as a medium?

A. Mobile is not a huge challenge; it's just small screen. There are two, three aspects of mobile. Nobody anywhere in the world, in my opinion, has cracked a really good model of accessing the web on mobile. Even Google. Why do you believe Google is the best search today? Because in a page of 10 or 15 results, if four are what you are looking for, you say it’s a good search and a good search engine. On the small screen, you will get three results and all three need to be the ones you are looking for. It's a very different standard of accuracy.

However, if you say that the mobile is not a tool to access a website or surf, it is a tool to communicate, then it makes sense. So, the user is already registered with me on the website and I am using mobile as a tool to communicate with him because he is not online all the time. That can work. And we believe that is route forward, at least in the short run. It's not a surfing tool, but it's a big communication tool. So, you can recognise that and say that the mobile is for communication not for surfing. And enabled with accuracy in the information inside it, you will find that mobile is working for you.

For example, we can send in job alerts. The recruiter can access the database and send an SMS. Those kind of things will work. SMS is a big one in India but as GPRS catches on you may want to get more than an SMS.

If you say that the mobile is not a tool to access a website or surf, it is a tool to communicate, then it makes sense

Q. You started off in the online industry when it was tiny in comparison to today, and you’ve been at it for about ten years. As an entrepreneur, how would map the transition?

A. The first big thing is that the penetration of the internet has increased substantially. So, when we launched Naukri in 1997, there were 14,000 internet accounts in the country. It must have been a couple of lakh users and in 2000 there were 4 million net users. Today, people are talking about 50 million or 70 million...those kind of numbers.

What this has done is that this has made a whole lot of internet businesses viable suddenly, which were not viable seven to eight years ago when the meltdown happened. And because of this, you are seeing investments coming in, you are seeing more and more start-ups and entrepreneurs. Therefore, a lot more action is happening, which is a good thing. When an industry grows and develops, you see a lot educational initiatives like training happening. You see companies growing and I think that will help in moving the industry. I think we are now an industry – earlier, we were a bunch a start-ups.

Q. So what's the mood, now that there is a resurgence?

A. The mood is back to being euphoric. However, this happens to all markets, which tend to over-compensate. So, there was a bust in 1999-2000, but today it's again euphoria. But I would say it is not like 1999 because today there is a real user base, real markets, real revenue happening. Therefore, I believe that a lot of businesses being created will be viable. Some will fail as it always happens, but many will be viable.

Source: AgencyFAQs

MSN & Farecast.com Launch Free Airfare Predictions Tools

MSN(R) and Farecast.com, the airfare prediction Web site, announced an agreement today in which MSN will offer its users free airfare predictions and planning tools on the MSN Travel Channel. The addition of Farecast's innovative technology and planning tools on MSN Travel will empower its millions of monthly users to make more informed decisions when planning and shopping for travel.

This agreement marks the first distribution deal for Farecast to bring its unique travel technology and planning tools to a broader consumer audience. Farecast joins the existing list of premier travel content partners on MSN, including Expedia, Frommer's and Travel+Leisure.

In addition to free airfare predictions, MSN Travel users will be able to access Farecast's unique travel planning tools. With Farecast, MSN customers will be able to answer many trip-planning decisions, such as when and where they should travel, where they can afford to travel on their budget, and the best airfare deals from their home airport.

Source: CNNMoney

Google offers site-specific search for businesses

Google Inc., the world's top provider of Web search and online advertising, said on Monday it is offering small business Web sites a service that lets visitors search for information within their sites.

The Mountain View, California-based company said Google Custom Search Business Edition, as the new service is known, is a service hosted on Google computers that starts at $100 per year and does not require businesses to run Google ads.

The new service marks a middle option between Google's existing Custom Search Engine, a free, ad-supported service, and Google Appliance, a hardware device selling for prices starting around $2,000 which customers manages on themselves.

Source: Reuters

Answers Corp. to acquire Dictionary.com

Answers Corporation , creator of Answers.com(TM), announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Lexico Publishing Group, LLC, owner of the popular Web properties Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, for $100 million in cash. The transaction is subject to financing and customary closing conditions and is scheduled to be completed by fall of this year.

Lexico is a leading online provider of reference products and services, which attracted approximately 11.5 million unique monthly users in the U.S. during the month of June 2007, according to comScore Media Metrix.

Strategic addition of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com will propel the company into leadership position as online information publisher.

Source: CNNMoney

Google to cut 'cookies' lifetime

Google Inc., owner of the world's most popular search engine, said it would address privacy concerns by reducing the lifetime of "cookies" installed on the computers of people who visit its website.

The cookies, files planted on personal computers to track Internet use, will automatically expire two years after the last visit to Google's site, Peter Fleischer, the company's chief privacy lawyer, wrote Monday on the company's corporate blog. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google previously designed its cookies to expire in 2038, he said.

The European Union's data-protection agency has criticized Google for holding on to user information for too long. The New York State Consumer Protection Board on May 9 urged U.S. regulators to delay Google's $3.1-billion takeover of online advertising company DoubleClick Inc. until the company better protected consumers' privacy.

Source: latimes

Watch Puri Rath Yatra online

The administration of the Sri Jagannath temple in Puri Monday launched two websites through which the famous Rath Yatra (chariot festival) can be viewed live across the world.

Designed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), www.jagannath.nic.in and www.rathyatra.nic.in, the websites also contain information about the 12th century shrine, lord Jagannath, lord Balabhadra and goddess Subhadra.

"Our motto is to promote the cult of lord Jagannath in a big way in the international arena to spread the lord's message across the globe and serve the followers of the faith better," Suresh Mohapatra, chief administrator of the Jagannath temple, told IANS.

Devotees can use their credit cards to donate money to the temple round the year through www.jagannath.nic.in.

According to R. N. Behera, the chief architect of the websites, the services of many international banking institutions have been roped in for the project.

Source: ZDNet

Steve Jobs tops list of online music

Steve Jobs, the father of the iPod, was on Tuesday crowned the undisputed king of the online music revolution by U.S. music magazine Blender, topping a list of the 25 most influential people in Web music.

The magazine's "Powergeek 25" list was compiled to show the behind-scenes-players reshaping the way people listen to, buy and watch music.

The magazine put Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, co-founders of the the popular social networking site MySpace as second in "The Powergeek 25."

In third place were the creators of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, whose file-sharing site has become "the star-maker MTV used to be".

At No. 4 was 68-year-old Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Doug Morris, whom the industry sees as a main influencer of digital music policy moves, including royalties and licensing.

Ryan Schreiber, who set up the Web magazine Pitchfork, was named fifth with his online music publication having "the power to create instant audiences for tiny bands like Art Brut and the Go! Team before they even release albums".

Following is the rest of the top 10:
6. Ian Rogers: Yahoo! Music (music portal)
7. Martin Stinksel and Felix Miller: Last.FM (music community site)
8. Greg Bildson: LimeWire (file-sharing program)
9. Christian Schmid: RapidShare (file-hosting service)
10. Coran Capshaw: MusicToday (online ticketer and merchandiser)

Source: Reuters