In 2008, I hope Microsoft wakes up. With Google and Apple going gangbusters, Microsoft has threats coming at it from every direction. As we discussed earlier, Microsoft earned revenues of $13.76 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, a 27% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and
Acquisition Strategy Microsoft acquired Medstory and aQuantive this year. Actually both were very good acquisitions. Online Health is a large segment with 31% of the total U.S. Internet users or 55.3 million U.S. Internet audience visiting health information sites each month during the first quarter of 2007. Buying aQuantive was a shrewd move. With the
By Gabe Zichermann, Guest Author Status games are universal, powerful and profoundly engaging. From the shiny new car, to the right education, from your eBay rating to FB TopFriends position, people are preoccupied with status in a way that transcends all other forms of competition. By taking a step back from the traditional definition of
Introduction MSN is the all in one Internet portal of Microsoft. The Company has divided its core business into three divisions – Platform products and services division, Business division and Entertainment and Devices Division. The online services group comes under the first division. Microsoft, through MSN, has significant presence in the online business and owns
By Gadi Shamia, Guest Author I actually didn’t plan to write about Facebook any more. In my recent post I claimed that Facebook is not solving any real problem. My readers were kind enough to prove me wrong … Jason thought we were just too old, and Jose thought that the problem Facebook is solving
Acquisition Strategy Yahoo! has made several acquisitions this year, primarily in display advertising. The key acquisitions were MyBlogLog, Right Media, BuzzTracker, Rivals.com, Zimbra and BlueLithium. Of these, RightMedia and Blue Lithium are good moves to consolidate its Ad Networks position, but Zimbra, in my opinion, is not a good acquisition. I feel Yahoo! can improve
The blogosphere is excited about Facebook’s $15 Billion valuation. I still don’t buy that valuation, but if I were Zuckerberg, I would take the opportunity presented by the Microsoft deal (and possibly some Hedge Fund investments) and go acquire some real money-makers. At least for a while, the Facebook currency is legitimate, and whomever Facebook
Vertical Strategy Viacom’s Internet properties are targeted to the youth and the young at heart. Entertainment for the youth market is the underlying tone in all its digital properties. The Company’s sites cater to Pre-teens, Teens and College Kids through its portfolio of Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and VH1 sites. It has created a niche