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04.22.04
 By WebProNews
With search engine AskJeeves seeing it's stock rise 8% to $39 a share yesterday due, in part, to Wall Street accolades, the search engine has become an attractive search engine to the big guys.
Wall Street, according to CBSMarketWatch, "spoke of the company's growing attractiveness to paid-search advertising networks." Google sponsors the ads that AskJeeves displays. Previously it was Yahoo-owned Overture provided these ads.
Because of AskJeeves improving reputation, Google and Yahoo may be prepared to battle for future rights to these ads. "Overture is likely to be very keen to win back Ask Jeeves from Google, possibly enough to bid up the price higher than current revenue share," said Safa Rashtchy, an analyst with U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. | Currently, AskJeeves receives about 80% of the ad revenue generated from Google ads that appear on its site.
The recent acquisition of ISH, which owns Excite.com, by AskJeeves more than doubled the search engine's market share. Although AskJeeves is dependent on Google for revenue, the business merger and the revenue the search engine generates makes AskJeeves more attractive to Yahoo.
In order to win AskJeeves back from Google, Yahoo would have to offer a more lucrative revenue sharing deal than the one currently in place with Google and AskJeeves. Yahoo may also have to compete with an expected renegotiation of the current agreement that will only make winning AskJeeves back all the more expensive.
"Ask Jeeves may be able to raise its cut of the revenue sharing with Google to 90 percent under the agreement that it is expected to negotiate later this year," according to analyst Jordan Rohan at Schwab SoundView.
The question is: Is Yahoo willing to pay the revenue sharing price AskJeeves will demand in order to switch over to Overture hosted ads?
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RealNetworks announced today, 04-20-04, that version 10 of the company's downloadable RealPlayer will have Google's Toolbar bundled in with the player.
"By combining RealPlayer 10's popularity with the Google Toolbar, we're helping users worldwide improve and enhance their media playback and search experience on the web," said Carla Stratfold, senior vice president, North America Sales, RealNetworks, Inc.
The combination of the Google Toolbar with RealPlayer means that when you install RealPlayer, the Google Toolbar installs on your web browser, with all the functions included with it. The Google Toolbar is an optional download from Real.
A 1934 Securities and Exchange Act may force Google to reveal their financial records by the end of the month. The rule in question states that companies with over 500 stockholders and $10 million in assets must divulge financial results.
Google's profits are estimated to be at $100 million and they have allowed pre-IPO stock options to more than 1000 employees. If these numbers are accurate, Google may be required to release its financial information by April 30, 2004.
According to SEC regulations, companies that meet these stipulations must divulge the same information that publicly traded companies do. This information includes assets, liabilities, partnerships, and operating expenses.
According to SiliconValley.com, Google has options on how it divulges its financial information. "Google may turn out to be the rare company that willingly files public financial reports but doesn't publicly trade its stock. Levi Strauss is one company that does this. Its stock is privately held -- mostly by descendants of the Strauss family -- but the company files quarterly reports with the SEC."
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As your surfing around do you find some things that just make you go WOW. For some reason this just appeals to me. A watch on the screen. Nicely Done. ... |
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