News Corp. Charging Ahead

News Corp. has certainly been the most bold and dramatic dealmaker of 2007. Murdoch gets it. WSJ print revenues were up 7% in October and online revenues were up 30%. I have already discussed, why the WSJ acquisition is a good one, and suggested that the WSJ should go free. This week, Bear Sterns Analyst

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Deal Radar 2008: Trulia Can Consolidate Real Estate

It is raining cats and dogs. Electricity was out this morning and we just got it back. I am very behind in everything, including my writing. But here we go … Yesterday, we discussed the Kayak-Sidestep roll-up deal, and its implications on Google. Trulia is a real estate vertical search engine that could be a

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Is Google Invincible?

Google is powerful. Of course. But is it invincible? According to Hitwise, Google accounted for 64.49% of all U.S. Searches in the four weeks ending October 27, 2007. According to RimmKaufman, Google controls 79% of the pay-per-click ad market. Google derives 99% of its revenue from advertising.

Deal Radar 2008: Kayak Consolidates Travel

As we have discussed, Online Travel is a large category, and active in entrepreneurship. Web 1.0 produced giant companies (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline), and in Web 2.0 we have a couple of vertical search engines that are pulling ahead. Kayak, the world’s largest travel search engine, receives more than 6 million unique visitors per month.

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Microsoft, The Sleeping Giant

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

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Deal Radar 2008: MyStrands is MyChoice

Given how much you heard me talk about personalization being an open opportunity, I would like to start my Deal Radar 2008 series with MyStrands, a company that has taken the personalization opportunity seriously. Founded in 2003, by Dr. Francisco J. Martin, MyStrands has developed a social recommender engine designed to provide personalized recommendations of

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Trend Radar 2008: The Convergence Device Movement

I have tried to consistently synthesize trends that I see in the technology industry for my readers. In this new series, I will take a look at where these trends are going in 2008. The Convergence Device movement is in full swing, and as you have heard me say time and again, this is one

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Music, Online and Off

You have read our coverage of Web 3.0 and Online Music. Here is a good article from the Economist, The slow death of digital rights, on the online music industry and the repercussions of removing DRM. Meanwhile, I still am an old fashioned enthusiast for live music, and on Wednesday, we went to Yoshi’s to

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