Silicon Valley is once again starting to drink its own Kool-aid. Barely two years ago, before the VC firms moved in, when YouTube was getting its wings and the biggest success story was Yahoo's acquisition of Flickr, it was a friendly place. No one had marketing departments or PR firms, and everyone was there because they loved what they did. But all that has changed. The private money started flowing in, and the PR firms and that weighty corporate ambience are here. Companies have to actively dodge venture capitalists to avoid raising a big round of financing. The press …

MySpace handed over information about sex offenders on its site to authorities after Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sent the company a subpoena. A week ago, eight state attorneys general sent a letter to the company demanding that it turn over the user information of convicted felons, but the News Corp. site resisted, saying it couldn't legally provide personal information like names and addresses without "the proper legal process." In some states, that requires a subpoena; MySpace had said it would be happy to comply if issued one. It was. Said Blumenthal said in a statement: "Our subpoena …

It's long overdue, but Google is finally dealing with the rampant problem of so-called AdSense arbitrageurs on its search engine. These sites, also called "Made for AdSense," have no content other than AdWords ads. Google last week sent several MFAs a letter explaining they would be kicked out of the program as of June 1 for having an "unsuitable business model." Some of these sites, by the way, pull in significant amounts of money. Of course, many also pump a lot of that cash back into AdWords in order to drive traffic to their site. AdSense critics …

Microsoft's purchase of aQuantive last week could easily be perceived as an act of desperation. With a $6 billion price tag, it would appear that Microsoft overpaid, shelling out close to an 80 percent premium on the company's expected 2007 earnings in the all-cash deal. Why pay so muc?s. Well, the Redmond, Wash. giant, worth $293 billion, certainly has the cash, but to understand the valuation, it's important to look at the value of its three core businesses: Avenue A/Razorfish, Drive PM and Atlas. The first two are services-based businesses, which launch Microsoft into new territory. You pay a …

In a research note last Friday, Goldman Sachs analyst Anthony Noto said Microsoft's $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive raises the likelihood that the software giant will buy rival Yahoo as Microsoft ramps up its battle for Web supremacy with Google, Inc. Yahoo would plug a "strategic hole" for Microsoft that won't be filled by the purchase of aQuantive. Microsoft would still require another 500,000 advertisers to effectively compete against Google. Yahoo, which does not do business with new Google acquisition DoubleClick, would bring advertisers to the table, in addition to a huge user base, a wide variety of …

As Microsoft was announcing its acquisition of aQuantive on Friday, Google Chief Eric Schmidt discussed the effect of Internet technology on world politics. To be sure, it's a game changer. For example, "George Bush never could've been elected president if he'd been at Yale now, and there'd been cell-phone cameras around," said his interviewer, New York Times Thomas Friedman, referring to W.'s college partying days. To be fair, Bill Clinton most likely wouldn't have been president, either. Tomorrow's politicians will have to be extra-careful, as the past can now come back to haunt them like never before. …

Google is exploring the possibility of teaming up with Salesforce.com to better compete with Microsoft in corporate communication and customer-relationship management services, one of its core business sectors. The report is short on details, but it speculates that a deal would be about integrating Google's Web-based services, like email, instant messaging and Google Apps, with Salesforce.com's CRM tools, also Web-based. Microsoft's productivity tools, of course, are software-based. Microsoft and Google have been competing in search and email for several years, but the corporate market has long been the province of Microsoft. Search giant Google only entered the field …

It's almost baffling how bad the mobile Web experience is. The explanation is a long one, but suffice it to say that the mobile carriers' dictatorial position over the mobile Web doesn't help. But despite its being a challenge for users, Web companies and thus, advertisers see big potential in the mobile market. For advertisers, navigating the complicated landscape requires middlemen like Third Screen Media, purchased last week by Time Warner's AOL, and ScreenTonic, acquired a few weeks ago by Microsoft. These companies have spent years building publisher and carrier relationships, and the addition of AOL and MSN just …

By now, just about everyone should be seeing and using Google's new Universal Search, characterized by a new navigational interface. The integration of Google's various search tools will be ongoing, but major changes are already discernable. To be sure, it's a game changer for search marketers-particularly search engine optimizers. But those who specialize in vertical search will see new opportunities. Why? Because Google Universal is going to make vertical content more visible by integrating the company's various, under-utilized vertical search services. These include: Book Search, Blog Search, Catalogs, Code Search, Finance, Images, Local/Maps, News, Patent Search, Product Search and …

The big news of the day is that Microsoft Corp. is acquiring the Internet ad services firm aQuantive Inc. for the hefty price of $6 billion--it's biggest-ever acquisition. AQuantive owns two giants of the Internet advertising world: the marketing advertising services firm Avenue A/Razorfish and ad-management technology provider Atlas. The offer is 85% higher than aQuantive's closing price yesterday and more than 80 times its anticipated earnings this year. The move comes in direct response to Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick last month. Atlas is an advertising management company similar to DoubleClick, meaning it provides management tools and …