In conjunction with its rejection of Microsoft's latest demands, Yahoo on Monday released more details about an upgrade to its advertising system. Called "Amp," the upgrade is part of the Web giant's continued efforts to try and convince shareholders that remaining independent is a more valuable option than combining with Microsoft. "Amp," like AOL's Platform A and Microsoft's adCenter before it, is an attempt to become a "one-stop shop" for Web advertising buyers. It won't be available until some time this summer, and even then on a limited basis among Yahoo's more than 600 newspaper partner sites. Yahoo began …

On the same day that MySpace announced a landmark music deal with several major record labels, Fox Interactive Media, the social network's parent, unveiled a "significant" restructuring. FIM will spin off its advertising technology business, and chief revenue officer Michael Barrett will leave the company. The move could be the result of FIM missing fiscal-year revenue projections by more than 10 percent, or approximately $100 million, although a company spokeswoman claimed the News Corp. unit's revenues would be "close to the target" of $1 billion. Most of the company's revenues come from the sale of display advertising …

Now that MySpace has its very own iTunes killer, the next step for the new music venture will be to integrate the catalog of long tail music belonging to the old MySpace Music. Listening to music was already one of the most popular activities on the site, and most of the content came from unlicensed acts. But one wonders how the big music companies will feel about having their musicians compete with unlicensed acts on a site that they own an equity stake in. Indeed, it's crucial that the long tail stays intact. As CNET's Matt Rosoff …

Google--not an economic recession-is to blame for paid click growth slowing to a virtual halt in January and February. For starters, Web users aren't performing fewer searches. Meanwhile, Google rivals Yahoo and MSN showed paid click gains in the first two months of the year, during which time Google actually increased its share of the search market. Did users simply decide to click less on Google ads than they did on Yahoo and MSN? Probably not. Even comScore, which compiled the January and February paid click analysis, conceded in its most recent report that the downturn in …

A major change to Google's AdWords "is resulting in a double-whammy for some advertisers." While Google says its revisions to AdWords are meant to drive more value for advertisers, some claim that the rates they're paying have shot up, while conversions have dropped. As a result, these unhappy advertisers are calling the move the "Google slap." Google claims that serving fewer, more relevant ads for a given search query will not only raise click-through rates, but will also cause advertisers to bid more on ads, thus boosting Google's bottom line. Advertisers, meanwhile, may get fewer but better …