Niche Search Engines Could Become M&A Target In 2010 by Laurie Sullivan

While the economy drove down advertising rates, it made valuations affordable, allowing industries to consolidate, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Mike Kelley. That glut of cash will push companies into merger and acquisition (M&A) mode in 2010 -- activity that could include smaller niche search engines. ...Read the whole story

  • Libre Livres: Google Ordered To Stop Displaying French Book Excerpts by Wendy Davis

    A court in France has ruled that Google infringed the copyright of the publisher La Martiniere group by digitizing books and making them searchable online. The court ordered Google to pay around $430,000 and to stop displaying excerpts from the books in its search results. Google says it will appeal the ruling. ...Read the whole story

  • Why Google Acquiring Yelp Returns Dollars by Laurie Sullivan

    Google already bought up several companies this quarter, but reportedly is in negotiations to acquire one more. The speculative price for San Francisco-based Yelp: $500 million. Industry ad and marketing executives could not seem more pleased. ...Read the whole story

Advertising 2010: Release The Hounds by Chris Copeland

As I revisit this year and think ahead to 2010, I find myself fixated on the advertising catchphases of 2009. These phases give me clues on how to avoid slow, small steps in 2010, making it the year to be aggressive, take the reins and deliver on our terms as an industry -- a year to release the hounds and wage war against what went wrong in 2009. ...More

  • A Look at What Might Have Been by Gord Hotchkiss

    I've stated before in this column that "It's a Wonderful Life" is perhaps my favorite holiday movie. Yesterday, as I was having lunch, I had my own George Bailey moment. I had a chance to see what my life might have been like had I not made the decision to go into search 14 years ago. I was thumbing through the local newspaper (yes, I still do that on occasion) and the lead story in the business section caught my eye. The title was: "Ad Agencies adjusting to the new economy." ...More