SearchEngineUpdate with Vanessa Zamora - 07-21-2008 Part I
Abstract: 1. Yahoo Settles Proxy Fight With Carl Icahn, 2. Microsoft Live Search Cashback Product So Far A Success, 3. Facebook Files Lawsuit Against StudiVZ
Vanessa Zamora
Video Content Producer, SearchEngineWorld
5:30 pm on July 21, 2008 (utc 0)
Transcript
Monday July 21, 2008
Yahoo Settles Proxy Fight With Carl Icahn
Yahoo today reached a settlement in regards to its proxy battle with activist investor Carl Icahn, who along with two of his nominees will join Yahoo’s board and withdraw his other board member nominees for consideration at the annual Yahoo shareholder meeting set to take place August 1st. Icahn had originally sought to replace the entire Yahoo board with his own nominees and oust Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang. The Yahoo board, which will expand to 11, will have eight members of its current board stand for re-election, including Chief Executive Jerry Yang. The two remaining seats will be chosen by the Yahoo board from a list of nine candidates running as part of Mr. Icahn's slate. The announcement ends a month long proxy battle, restoring some stability to the Internet giant.
Microsoft Live Search Cashback Product So Far A Success
Following the first full month after Microsoft launched its Live Cashback search product, Microsoft’s search volume share increased 15 percent in June compared to a month earlier, according to comScore. Although still early, the increase in search volume share for Microsoft suggests the Live Search Cashback product, which gives users a direct rebate for purchases made after searching on Microsoft Live, may be working as planned.
Facebook has filed an intellectual property lawsuit against German social networking website StudiVZ, accusing the Berlin based company of copying the look, feel, features, and services of the Facebook website. Facebook, which recently launched a German language version of the website has reportedly faced challenges gaining traction among German users, while StudiVZ calls itself “the most successful social network in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.” Facebook recently settled its own intellectual property dispute with ConnectU, a rival website launched at around the same time as Facebook, whose owners claimed Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg stole its idea for a site that allowed Harvard students to connect to each other online.
5:30 pm on July 21, 2008 (utc 0)