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My 2 featured articles for the week ending May 27, 2005:

Archived blogs for the week of May 23, 2005

876 - May 27, 2005 - 8.09 AM EST

Judge denies motion for summary judgment vs G.

A district court in Northern California has ruled that a lawsuit accusing Google of misappropriating trade secrets from Digital Envoy can proceed.

Last Friday, the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., denied Mountain View, Calif.-based Google's motion for summary judgment on claims that the search giant breached its contract with Digital Envoy, based in Georgia.

However, the court dismissed several of Digital Envoy's charges, including claims of unfair competition, on the grounds that the two parties were not direct rivals, according to the court document.

The two companies had a licensing agreement as far back as 2000 that relied on Digital's IP technology to pinpoint the physical location of Web visitors for Google so that it could better serve sponsored search results. (The parties no longer work together.)

Posted on Businessblog™

875 - May 26, 2005 - 10.08 PM EST

Will Ask Jeeves be renamed soon?

InterActive Corp. CEO Barry Diller appreciates his latest online acquisition, but he's just not fond of its name.

Two days ago, Diller told an audience of media and executives that the more he learns about the search capabilities of Ask Jeeves, which IAC is buying for $1.85 billion in stock, the more convinced he is that the search company can gain market share against rivals Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN.

But while Ask Jeeves will get a needed infusion of cash for marketing and development, its brand name is unlikely to survive in its current form.

"We're thinking about renaming it," Diller said during a question and answer session at the D3 -- All Things Digital conference. "It probably won't be called Ask Jeeves."

Posted on Businessblog™

874 - May 25, 2005 - 1.36 PM EST

Eric Schmidt defends Google's privacy policies

Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive at Google added that after a long debate, the engineer's assessment prevailed over the business executive's idea. "They concluded it was (evil), and this poor person was thrown out the room."

Google has faced growing privacy complaints as the company's power has increased. Consumer advocates and legislators criticized the search giant last year for its Gmail Web-based e-mail service and its practice of scanning e-mail documents to deliver related ads. The furor eventually died, but concerns remained.

More recently, Google's Web Accelerator has been the target of complaints. The company's map-linked satellite imagery also shines a spotlight on individual houses.

But the image detail is deliberately limited, Schmidt said. "We cannot see your swing set, and we're not trying to," he said. And Google has complied with some government agency requests to blank out areas of its satellite maps. But in general the benefits of more information outweigh the problems, he said.

Posted on Businessblog™

873 - May 24, 2005 - 3.36 PM EST

MSN seeking to challenge Google Maps

MSN is seeking to challenge Google Maps with a suite of mapping tools that will try to combine the best of satellite mapping technology.

Virtual Earth, to be built on Microsoft’s already strong mapping pedigree (including in mobile), will reportedly launch on MSN later this quarter. The aerial photography is apparently to be collected by a small fleet of planes, a la A9’s vans, and will be added later in the year.

Virtual Earth will fundamentally be a local search tool and allow local businesses to be found on a map and located in proximity to one another—the way Yahoo! Maps permits users to find restaurants or ATMs near movie theaters, etc. It will also apparently allow users to see shots of those businesses, not simply from above.

Posted on Businessblog™

872 - May 24, 2005 - 10.25 AM EST

Google to be included in S&P 500 index?

Google's stock increased more than 5 percent yesterday to $255.45, a new 52-week high since the company went public last year at $85.

Shares traded as high as $258.10 earlier in the session, before retreating a bit. The new peak comes a couple of days before its chief executive, Eric Schmidt, addresses a group of institutional investors at the Goldman Sachs annual Internet conference, which kicks off this Wednesday in Las Vegas.

If Google's short history on Wall Street is any guide, the search firm will likely leave fund managers with little reason not to own the stock, especially as more investors believe Google will be added to the S&P 500 Index.

Posted on Businessblog™

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