Other Yahoo! Topics Archives

Recent news in Yahoo has a number of innovators -- primarily young, talented, and influential Yahoo employees (in addition to some bigger execs) -- leaving the company. Among those have been Joshua Schachter of delicious, the Flickr founders, and big blogger Jeremy Zawodny. With the blogosphere abuzz of these recent developments, Yahoo must have decided it had to act. CNET reports that Yahoo upper management has been restructured to improve operations within the company.

Will this be the final reorganization? Probably not, as forum members suggest. With Yahoo and Microsoft not teaming up in the near future, CNN Money writes that Google, who may step in, is feeling the heat from Microsoft on claims of antitrust (which I find rather ironic, but moving on.). At the end, though, these two components together may improve all things for Yahoo. Yahoo has told its shareholders that a partnership with Google is better (and well, they may be right considering Google's search share). The reorganization may also help boost Yahoo's image in the eyes of shareholders.

Not everyone agrees with this sentiment, as there is still a concern about Google's control of 90% of the market. Many would rather see a Yahoo-Microsoft partnership than a Yahoo-Google partnership. But that's not happening right now. And forum members say that Microsoft should focus on creating sites with better user experience than to whine about antitrust.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld (Yahoo reorganization), WebmasterWorld (Microsoft vs. Google), and WebmasterWorld (Yahoo's message to stockholders).

Last night I was looking up a phone number for my wife and I noticed that Yahoo People Search has been totally redesigned and repurposed. The new design is extremely clean, compared to the old interface. In addition, when you conduct the search, it takes you directly into the Yahoo Search interface, as opposed to just showing you phone numbers.

Here is the before screen shot that I took back in May 2004:

Here is the new home page for Yahoo People Search:

Here is the search results page for a search conducted in Yahoo People Search:

By the way, Yahoo was able to find the phone number I was looking for, while Google failed in that search.

I really like the new interface and manner in which Yahoo People Search functions. So good job on this Yahoo. I have no idea when this was launched, it may have been months ago, but I have not read or seen any reports on this new launch.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

Yesterday's news was all about Microsoft's new deal with Yahoo, which won't require an acquisition, which was dropped earlier this month, according to CNN, CNET, and other sources. Instead, the goal will be to keep the value of Yahoo high and make the shareholders happy. A number of people, including Loren Baker, assume that Microsoft may end up going for Yahoo's search technology. We'll see how this plays out.

There's mixed reviews for this new partnership (which forum members are hoping for rather than an acquisition). One goal is to take down the "Google monopoly" as one forum member puts it. But others believe that it may end up negatively impacting Microsoft since any investment would be a waste of money. Of course, others disagree with that entirely since Yahoo is one of the most popular sites on the Internet today.

What will we expect to see in 20 years if this goes through? (Heck, 20 years is a really long time. Look what has happened in 15 years!)

I guess it's hard to tell whether this is going to be a good investment or not, as there's a variety of opinions on the subject matter. Still, if it's a bad investment, it may be a risk people are willing to take, and if it's a good one, it may be "the deal of a lifetime" as one forum member suggests. Time will only tell.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Bill Slawski has written up another interesting piece about how search engines substitute other search terms for yours depending on past user behavior. Of course, this is related to a patent he discovered that was filed by Yahoo.

Bill explains how this works:

Let’s say that a large number of people who search for the term intellectual property then go on to search for the term patent attorney with their very next search, or within the same search session.

The search engine log files would uncover that such an association exists, and the search engine might explore how common it is for searchers to search for that second phrase. If it happens frequently enough, the search engine may start suggesting patent attorney as a suggested search to searchers along with a display of search results for the term intellectual property.

Therefore, it's important to take these other substitutions into consideration when optimizing your page, according to a Cre8asite Forums post. It is helpful to look at the various suggestions and optimize accordingly.

Forum discussion continues at Cre8asite Forums.

Are you a developer? You may be interested in SearchMonkey, Yahoo's new open developer platform, which was released to all developers yesterday.

The concept behind SearchMonkey is to empower developers to build applications that increase relevancy of search results. Developers can build Enhanced Results or Infobars under the Search Monkey API which can pull data from CitySearch, StumbleUpon, eBay, Epicurious, and more. According to the announcement, "Enhanced Results replace the current standard results with a richer display. All the links in the Enhanced Results must point to the site to which the result refers. Infobars are appended below search results and can include metadata about the result, related links or content, or links for user actions (such as adding a movie to a Netflix queue)."

Yahoo is also holding a contest that enables developers to create their own tools using the new API. Winners can receive up to $10,000.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and the search engines and search industry blogs/forums had special themes and logos up for the day. Here is a compilation of the logos I found:

Google:

Yahoo (Flash):

Dogpile:

Ask.com

Cre8asite Forums

Search Engine Roundtable

Plus today, Google has a special logo on Google.co.uk for Florence Nightingale:

To view last years Mother's Day logos from the search engine industry, click here. Also, Gary Price has his quick Mother's Day facts.

Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums, Search Engine Roundtable Forums, and DigitalPoint Forums.

Yahoo has announced on its blog that since security is so important, together with McAfee, Yahoo has launched SearchScan to protect web surfers from sites that contain malicious software such as viruses or software and spam.

If you do a search for a phrase like "screensaver," you'll see the tool in action:

While the solution is great for security, forum members wonder why the questionable results have to be indexed at all. There are a few possible answers to this scenario, including the possibility that the site can be mistakingly flagged as dangerous if there are enough reports about it. This solution instead lets the web owner see it before it's taken off the results completely and gives some information into what could be causing the warning.

Malware reviews aren't new. Google has had the feature since the beginning of 2007. It's very good for Yahoo surfers that they get the added security as well.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Last week Yahoo added a nifty feature to Yahoo Local Search. For example, let's say you are looking for the nearest ATM machine. You can type in ATM, and then your zip code. But you won't be shown the nearest ATM within an X mile radius always.

Yahoo let's you plot the diameter of the circle and drop the center of that circle anywhere you want. Yahoo will then refine the local results based on the radius you selected and the center of the circle. Here is a quick video demo:

It doesn't seem like this tool is without bugs. A WebmasterWorld thread reports a blackhole issue.

I went looking for pizza places in Manhattan and noticed certain places disappeared even if you move the circle a hundred yards or so. You'd suddenly find black holes in the middle of Manhattan where there were, according to yahoo, no pizza places. Budge the circle over an eighth of an inch and the same pizza-free streets would suddenly fill with pizza joints, so there's still some work for them to do.

In any event, a unique and interactive solution to searching locally.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Bigreds, an internet retailer has decided to sue Yahoo for $1 million over click fraud starting back in 2002. Yahoo offered Bigreds $17,000 back, but Bigreds wants more and they are suing for over $1 million in damages and penalties.

I wanted to pull out some of the best comments on this lawsuit, which you can read more about at InformationWeek, from a WebmasterWorld thread:

Look if you are going to build your billion dollar business around PAYPERCLICK then you should probably have systems, people, backups for the most obvious exploit.

It's the modern day equivalent of a bank without a safe.

Um, i'm looking at this site, and I really don't see how any traffic would convert, regardless of whether it's fradulent or not. Sorry Red, but I'm thinking that maybe the lawyers are the only ones that are going to come out ahead here.

I don't really see the problem with advertisers bringing suits against garbitrage because the advertiser foots the bill for the middle man market they create.

Decide for yourself...

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Update: It seems like Google Reader is showing embedded Flickr Videos, for me at least. I inserted a picture below showing the Flickr Video in this post, rendering in my Google Reader (on Apple Safari).

A Google Groups thread has word from a Google representative, Roger from the Google Reader team, that Flickr Video will soon be supported in Google Reader.

For example, if you are using an RSS reader, you might not be able to see the embedded Flickr video below this line:

But soon, if you are using Google Reader, you will be able to see embedded Flickr Videos - like you can see embedded YouTube or Google Video videos.

Roger of Google said:

Thanks for reporting this. We're currently working with Flickr to get Flickr videos to embed properly when viewed in Reader. We should be able to straighten it out shortly. Thanks for your patience!

Flickr first launched 90-second video clips on the night of April 9th.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Here is that picture:

I covered this years ago, with Yahoo!'s Logo Surprise (Yahoo! Easter Egg). Basically, if you go to Yahoo.com and click on the exclamation point in the logo at the top, it will Yodel for you. The Yahoooooo yodel.

I am pretty sure Yahoo took this down for a while and probably recently added it when they launched the new logo placement a couple weeks ago. Here is a video of it in action:

In light of all the Yahoo news, this bit fun is always welcoming.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Flickr has announced that it is supporting video in addition to the standard digital photograph or image. Videos are limited to 90 seconds in length and 150MB in size and will still inherit other Flickr features, including geotagging, comments, captions, and privacy restrictions.

Want to see it in action? Here's a video that Barry took:

The biggest gripe for many people is the 90 second restriction. Personally, since I'm not too keen on video, the 90 second limit is a breath of fresh air. Maybe this will actually get me to be more interested in video content knowing that I won't be confined to my chair for all the much longer. Some other video services have unpredictable lengths, and it's nice to know that I won't have to sit through video that long on Flickr. Additionally, some people don't have the attention span for it. I'm not saying I don't, but I'm always busy reading and video requires my undivided attention. ;)

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Yesterday, we learned that Yahoo will be acquiring analytics package IndexTools.

Forum members overall think it's an interesting move. While some gripe about past customer service issues with the analytics company, others have had better experience. They hope that the acquisition will improve things for everyone.

Why now? Yahoo is going to continue to improve their offerings. You can't really blame them. Maybe IndexTools will be available for free in the future. ;)

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Werty discovered at WebmasterWorld that Yahoo's search engine was throwing a nice finger at you when you searched for the finger in Yahoo. It all came from their announcement on their blog, Yodel Anecdotal.

But it's not really the fact that they are showing you the finger that should be interesting. The results integrate the new Yahoo Video Search Ads. (On that note, Google Video Ads are already live.)

Here's what you'd see if you searched now:

I assume it'll be gone soon.

That was one cute and clever April Fool's Prank.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Last week, Yahoo launched Yahoo Buzz, which can be compared to a social news site like Digg. Here's the lowdown:

Currently in beta, Yahoo! Buzz measures consumer votes and search patterns to identify interesting and timely stories and videos from large news sources as well as niche blogs around the Web. Top stories are then given primary editorial consideration for feature placement on Yahoo.com.

People, like Muhammad Saleem, consider this a great step for Yahoo for a variety of reasons. It's social search at its finest but only considers contributions from sites that are part of the Yahoo Publisher Network.

Will this be the next social news site? Many people think that Digg is the forerunner (but personally, I'm open to new social sites).

Digg is entrenched it would be very difficult for a new entrant to enter the market without showing that it is more capable and had more features than the incumbent.

Therefore, Yahoo Buzz should have some serious potential, and the timing is good.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums and DigitalPoint Forums.

Whether or not Yahoo accepts Microsoft's bid, Microsoft seems heavily invested in search and will continue to look to compete with Google, according to Reuters. In an interview, Bill Gates is quoted as saying that Yahoo would help make the process easier, but even if they don't, Microsoft will focus on competing with Google:

"We can afford to make big investments in the engineering and marketing that needs to get done. We will do that with or without Yahoo," said Gates in an interview with Reuters.

"But we also see that we'd get there faster if the great engineering work that Yahoo has done and the great engineers there were part of the common effort," said Gates, who is Microsoft's biggest shareholder.

A lot of forum members believe that Microsoft is quite far from competing with Google in the world of search. After all, Bill Gates once considered the Internet a passing fad.

But others feel that there's more to it. Perhaps this is a wake up call for Yahoo to join Team Microsoft (to form Team MicroHoo, of course) because it is probably Yahoo's goal to defeat Google as well.

Even so, people don't believe that Microsoft and Yahoo can really merge and become one unit. One member says, " I think they would be better served by developing their own tech." Perhaps that's true.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

It's with a lot of sadness that I report about the ongoing Yahoo layoffs that have begun occurring yesterday. Danny has aggregated the news stories and headlines, and we're even seeing a Facebook group called "I worked at Yahoo until today" that has some familiar faces.

At Search Engine Roundtable, we're really sad to see this happen. All of the Yahooers have been played an important role in the search space, but many of you have also been very wonderful to us whether at conferences or with proactive approaches in the forums and blogs, and we're really sorry to see you go. We wish you the best in the future.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

Tamar reported a couple weeks ago that Microsoft put a bid in for Yahoo. We learned over the weekend that Yahoo would reject the offer and they would possibly partner with AOL to prevent a hostile take over by Microsoft.

What does this all mean for search marketers? Right now, I wouldn't even speculate. There are just way too many variables right now. To start making guesses as to which way Yahoo might go? If Microsoft does buy Yahoo, if Yahoo partners with AOL, if Yahoo sticks at it alone??? Even if one of the above transactions happens tomorrow and it won't happen in a day, we as search marketers still have a tremendous amount of time to prepare for it.

Let's say Yahoo merges with AOL. The consolidation of technologies, if and when it happens, would be so far down the road that it would be pointless to speculate the consequences of such an event before we know what might happen.

If you are a stock holder, then it is a different story. But search marketers can sit back and watch.

In any event, this is major search news and the forums are buzzing up and down on the topics. Here are some threads from over the weekend on the news:

• Yahoo in Merger Talks with AOL, WebmasterWorld
• Yahoo May Merge with AOL, Search Engine Watch Forums
• Yahoo Rejects Microsoft!!! Breaking News!, DigitalPoint Forums
• Yahoo to Reject Microsoft Bid, WebmasterWorld
• The Impact on Google Adsense of Microsoft Buying Yahoo, WebmasterWorld
• Yahoo Has Formally Rejected Microsoft Bid, WebmasterWorld

If the Microsoft bid for Yahoo goes through, Reuters says that they might have to borrow money to make it happen.

"It's likely we're actually going to borrow for the first time," said [Microsoft CFO Chris] Liddell in an annual strategy meeting with analysts. "It's going to be a mixture of the cash we have on hand plus debt."

Is that the end for Microsoft? Some people think that borrowing the money is a really bad idea.

Does anyone else think that they are underestimating the cost of integrating Yahoos services into their portfolio? If they are borrowing money for the purchase, how are they going to finance rewriting all the software?

Others, however, are more optimistic:

They have 19B in cash reserves, and just a year ago they had over 40B in cash reserves. They make about $17 billion in profit a year, so I don't see any major issues here. In the worst case, they can issue bonds or choose other alternatives.

Brett Tabke feels that this might just be too high of an asking price.

Personally, I have strongly mixed emotions on the deal. I hate to see competition decreased in the search space, but I agree that the Microsoft offer is a natural and evolutionary thing for them to do. They need to do it.

However, the offer price seems insanely high to me. Especially if daddy warbucks has to go with hands out to banks to make the deal work. Lets be honest, Yahoo's market share in search is going to continue to erode. They have thrown up little in the last year that will stop or even slow down the Google steam roller. How can Microsoft make $44b possibly work? That seems soo high - too high for a falling giant.

Many agree on that point.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. It will be more interesting to see its impact on others in the search space.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

After Google learned of the bid for Microsoft to buy Yahoo, the Google blog responded harshly to the possibilities of an acquisition. David Drummond, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer of Google, writes:

So Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

It also seems that Google is trying their hardest to thwart the deal. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google's Eric Schmidt has called Yahoo's Jerry Yang to broker some sort of other deal.

The Google blog post also says:

Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?

Many WebmasterWorld forum members have found flaws with this sentiment. One member calls it hypocritical to even make such a statement:

Ah, the hypocrisy! Google already has this very inappropriate influence on the internet. Quite an offensive statement from Google IMHO.

What about Google's claim on "openness?" Perhaps that's the case in America, but not elsewhere, like China.

Talk about calling the kettle black.

Perhaps Google can explain that 'openness' to the people of China. Google caved to the communist government and censored search results for the sake of profits.

On DigitalPoint Forums, members liken the blog post to Google "crying and complaining" about the proposed acquisition.

And finally, the blog post is scrutinized on Digg, where the highest-voted comment talks about Google's current search share:

I find it interesting that Google would accuse Microsoft of trying to build a monopoly over Internet-related businesses, considering that Google has over 60% of the search market. While a 60% share is hardly a monopoly, Yahoo and Microsoft combined will have just 32%, leaving Google as the dominant player.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, and Digg.

In an unexpected move this morning, Microsoft has made a $44.6 billion move to acquire Yahoo. Needless to say, it has come as a shock to everyone.

What's in store? We're not sure, but we hope it's good.

I thought this was coming... especially after Bill Gates kind of hinted for something big to happen on CNBC the other day.

I just hope they keep Yahoo's properties under the Yahoo name but put in Live search.

And others are seeing the promise of fewer major search engines to worry about in SEO:

So in the future only two search engines to optimize for..... :)

Some people already saw it coming.

Yes, I predicted this sometime ago when the rumour mills were working overtime. This is only natural and the only way to counter Google. Combining the resources of MSFT and YHOO, they may be able to create a stronger search brand. Yahoo will almost certainly need to accept.

All I have to say is wow. It'll be interesting to see if any other companies step up to bid for Yahoo in the interim. This is the news to watch this month.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, HighRankings Forum, and Sphinn (hi Danny!).

Yesterday, CNet introduced that Yahoo is going to be supporting the OpenID standard for a "universal Internet log-in." The article claims that the biggest victor is not Yahoo but OpenID.

However, on WebmasterWorld, the concept of OpenID is irksome to many.

Oh, I can see it now, people don't use hard passwords...then the hackers can get it ALL in one fell swoop. That could be a disaster for many.

Not all feel this way, though. It's good to get a centralized system for password storage:

I dont think there is much of a safety issue here, most of the mainstream public use the same userId/password across different websites now anyway!...So why not legitimize (the practice) with a central userid provider (hopefully with a strict password requirement)

In any event, it's still great that Yahoo has taken this approach. You can access the OpenID program on Yahoo at http://openid.yahoo.com/.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Yesterday, we heard again that Yahoo is laying off 1000 workers. Sadly, Yahoo's stock is also faltering.

Here's a 3 month snapshot:

Why is Yahoo having such a hard time? According to Roger Montti, it's because they are unable to attract teens and young adults. They also are taking in more money but are turning less profit.

Is Yahoo going to go down for good? No, forum members don't think so.

I think Yahoo has lots going for it with regards to content. It has the best email -- way better than Gmail or MSN Hotmail. The New version of the Yahoo mail (I pay for mine yearly and get the premium).

I was watching MSNBC the other night and they were talking about Y Answers and you keep hearing about their OMG site. I think its a great time to invest in Yahoo while their stock is down.

Y! is not going anywhere.

Google is Yahoo's biggest competition. And Yahoo needs to up their game, according to others:

The problem with Yahoo isn't that they soley need something new or some updates, its that they need to do something to actively shore up their % of users, right now google is pickpocketing them. Then they need to start actively competing with google, taking their users.

Additional coverage is at Techmeme and the Yahoo earnings report is on Search Engine Land.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

The New York Times reports that Yahoo is cutting hundreds of jobs this year.

Yahoo is planning to lay off hundreds of employees in an effort to increase its profitability, prop up its deflated stock price and narrow the focus of its sprawling Internet portal to a smaller number of crucial areas, people close to the company said Monday.

The announcement is supposed to be made official within the next few days, and according to reports, it's still unknown at this time who will get the axe and who will remain at the company.

One thing, however, is that it looks like this is just the beginning of a trend at many Internet companies, according to a forum member.

I suspect such layoff notices may become a common occurance for many Internet companies over the next few months.

Is the bubble about to burst? I don't know ... look at Google's stock and tell me:

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Yahoo has begun shipping out their Christmas gifts. One Yahoo Search Marketing advertiser received his gift. CPA Affiliates posted a picture of the gift he received, a nice looking laptop case.

You can see a picture of the inside at CPA Affiliates.

Google gave out 2GB Memory Cards and some advertisers also got a $100 DonorsChoose card to give to their favorite school. But some special advertisers received a Flip Ultra Video Camera.

Love schwag, so does Tamar, she devoted a blog just to schwag at SchwagAddict.com.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

There's a lot of news coverage on the imprisonment of pro-Democracy journalist Shi Tao and discussion in the forums. Search Engine Land writes that Jerry Yang has apologized to the family of Tao and says that they will support them while he is in jail.

Forum members are a bit disgusted that Yahoo gave information to China about this reporter which helped him be imprisoned -- but then refused to acknowledge any part in it. Eventually, Yahoo succumbed to the pressure, but forum members are unimpressed. As one forum member says, "hypocrisy knows no bounds."

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

WebmasterWorld members have reported that there are problems with the Yahoo Site Explorer API. The problem seems to be either that the service is unavailable or that Yahoo only provides the first 50 results and nothing further.

There's no word from Yahoo about this issue, but the problem is confirmed by at least two individuals in the WebmasterWorld thread, where the discussion continues.

Yahoo has released Yahoo! Mash in what appears to be the closest thing to a Facebook-MySpace clone that I've seen coming from Yahoo. Initial impressions seem to indicate that it's not much different than Facebook at all and many individuals are happier using the older social network.

On WebmasterWorld, moderator martinibuster points out from a NY Times blog that the differentiating feature of Yahoo! Mash is that profiles can be edited by multiple users.

The site, which began an invitation only preview Friday, is quite an homage to Facebook, but it adds one significant new wrinkle: users can edit each other’s profiles, redecorating, changing information, and adding features. Think the Wikipedia version of a social network.

Of course, not all users are enthusiastic about this feature. Would you want to find your profile altered in a bad way by friends (or enemies?) I wouldn't think so. I do have a Mash Pet on my profile though, and I see that my friends are taking good care of him. (Please continue to do so.)

But others think that this is a plus, because you'll only be adding true friends, not people who would blatantly edit your profile. Also, some elements of other users' profiles cannot be altered (I tried. No luck).

For those who don't have access yet, here's a preview of my profile.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, and Cre8asite forums.

Justin Goldberg, a Search Engine Watch regular, has announced on the Search Engine Watch Forums that he has created a feed that combines four Search Engine Watch forums feeds. Using Yahoo! Pipes, he has created a single feed that integrates the Search Engine Watch homepage feed, the blog feed, the forums feed, and the experts feed.

If you're interested in subscribing to that for more forum goodness, you can do so by clicking here.

If you'd like to preview the data, you can do so here.

That's pretty cool stuff.

Forum discussion continues at Search Engine Watch Forums.

Last week we reported on a Yahoo update and a new method of crawling. The new crawl behavior is supposed to help the Yahoo bot, Slurp, be more efficient on your site.

It seems that many SEOs and Webmasters are not happy with this change.

A WebmasterWorld thread has several negative comments:

OK, this is completely bogus and helps nobody. The number of IPs that Slurp uses? WHO CARES...

The fact that Yahoo has multiple crawlers for every division that crawl independently and don't share the common cache, now THAT's a problem that needs to be fixed.

We get 50% of our pages crawled every day.

Well Yahoo is a waste of bandwidth on one of my sites (a large directory). It hammers it almost every day and has only sent about 975 referrers this month. That is so low that I wonder if people even use Yahoo in Ireland for anything other than e-mail. I am strongly considering blocking it.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

While Yahoo may not own the largest piece of the search market, it's still the preferred brand over Google, according to a recent report.

Data from the University of Michigan American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) showed Yahoo had seen its customer satisfaction score rise 3.9 percent from a year ago to 79 out of 100 points, while Google's rating fell about 3.7 percent to 78 points.

While Google remains the dominant Web search engine, Yahoo's Internet presence is gaining user approval for its network of Web sites, e-mail, social networks and other features, according to the survey.

I'm a huge fan of Flickr and del.icio.us, so I can see that their social networks play a big role in this approval system.

However, many webmasters on WebmasterWorld believe that the poll doesn't amount to much. They believe that Yahoo's search technology needs improvement. Even so, that doesn't discount the fact that their social sites totally rock.

Another WebmasterWorld thread points out that Yahoo "topped Google as a portal, but not as a search engine." The same is echoed in a DigitalPoint Forums thread. That would explain the doubt in the first WebmasterWorld thread.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld (1), WebmasterWorld (2), and DigitalPoint Forums.

Yahoo has bought a stake in Tyroo, an online advertising agency in India, according to InfoWorld. The article says that approximately 35 to 50 percent of the company was acquired for an undisclosed amount of money. With this move, Yahoo hopes to capture more of Indian's fast-growing advertising market.

A WebmasterWorld member is not happy with this move. He says he has already been approached by Yahoo to replace his ads with Tyroo's.