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Apr30
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The word out of Silicon Valley today is that workers may benefit, but... Microsoft may spend as much as $1.5 billion to retain Yahoo employees if the Internet search company's board accepts the software giant's $44.6 billion buyout. At least, that's what Yahoo lawyer Edward Welch told a Delaware Court reviewing a suit by some stockholders of Yahoo who have challenged its resistance to the offer by Microsoft. But the deal wouldn't be good for consumers, according to Google (Do no evil) Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt. "If they go ahead and the merger is ultimately successful, it would be possible for Microsoft to integrate some of the properties and essentially eliminate consumer choice," Schmidt said. Yeah, well what else is he going to say? .
Eric... Relax... At the end of the day, you'll still be a billionaire!
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Apr30
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The battle of the rebate checks is about to begin... News today that Wal-Mart announced it will cash the government's stimulus checks for free, with no purchase required. And it will also waive the purchase fee on its Wal-Mart MoneyCard,...
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Apr29
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In the category of "You can't make this stuff up!" Speaking on Fox's "Unfair & Unbalanced," O'Reilly Factor last night, the faux newsman said Billy Ray had been "canny" about keeping his teen daughter out of scandal. He says: "They...
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News today that talk show host Jerry Springer has accepted an invitation to give the commencement address at Northwestern University School of Law, despite student-generated petitions and blogs claiming he is an unsuitable choice. Best known for his television show,...
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Apr28
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As a follow up to my last post about the Vanity Fair, naked Miley Cyrus picture hoo-ha... It was interesting to read in today's New York Times that the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana machine, generates retail sales for the franchise of about...
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Why does the news today that Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old popular star of Hannah Montana, is pissed because of the pictures that resulted form a recent photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine with the famous photographer Annie Leibovitz, not surprise me? Because...
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Apr27
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I must say, I find it a tad disturbing to read in the current issue of Ad Age that Hillary Clinton "Earns Points for Pennsylvania Tactics." According to one of the pundits, Mr. Obama's biggest problem was not adequately countering...
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Apr26
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More news that all is not well at Starbuck's with the announcement on Thursday that they have taken a major step back from their music and book business by handing over day-to-day management of its year-old music label to Concord...
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Apr25
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With all the hype about the promise of "mobile"... You know, the constant barrage of how from now on everyone will be watching Star Wars on their cell phone, with ad breaks every ten minutes, or until the battery runs...
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Apr24
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It's official, Google has retained its spot as the world's most valuable brand in a league table that reveals the ever-growing power of IT companies and new media business models. It would seem that the Google brand is worth more...
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Apr23
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Because I know you are desperately interested, here is a very small collection of the domain names Google currently owns...gewgol.com glougle.com goolgel.com glugli.com geggle.com georgle.com glogoo.com gmale.com 30dayfitness.com bayareaburritos.com donationcard.com essentialmommy.com greengardengifts.com mariolovespasta.com thesecretofburritos.com 1p0g0og1e.com az-on-url-je.com goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.com google4kids.com googlebackups.com googleauction.com...
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I am convinced the stock market is a giant casino, where no one, particularly people in the so-called financial industry, has a clue about what the hell is going on... Apple on Wednesday reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of $1.05...
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Apr22
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I posted a while ago about the debacle that Katie Couric's news anchor career was turning into and that she was in negotiations with CBC to leave her $15 million Evening news spot in the near future. At the time...
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Today's Wall Street Journal has a story about how Mattel is struggling to breathe life back into Barbie--more than a year after problems surfaced. A great illustration of the tough job the toy industry faces in attracting the fickle attention of...
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Apr21
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I don't pretend to be an economist, but I am always mystified when I read about the big conglomerates (WPP, Omnicom, IPG, Publicis) buying up hundreds of new media companies for millions of dollars, after which the founders of these companies...
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Apr20
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Not that long ago online tracking company comScore sent a shiver through the stock market when it released figures showing signs of the economic slowdown weighing on Google, as evidenced by a continuing deceleration of ad click-through rates. Even though...
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Apr19
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In the "This will be interesting to see how it plays out" category, a Texas woman has sued Blockbuster over its activities relating to Facebook's Beacon tool. The movie rental service has been reporting user activity to Facebook since Beacon launched...
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Apr17
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Element 79 in Chicago, which was set up primarily to handle Pepsi business is losing a big slug of that account with the news yesterday that PepsiCo's Quaker is shifting creative duties on its Gatorade and Tropicana brands to TBWA\Chiat\Day...
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Apr15
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As a reminder... Just in case you've forgotten, I am leaving this morning for London to speak at the "Under The Influence" Conference on Thursday. In between moments of inebriation, I shall be blogging. It may not make too much...
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Apr14
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Very funny to read that while Yahoo's board has instructed management to keep meeting with Microsoft and with Time Warner, to work out a possible deal, Frank Quattrone reportedly has been enlisted as an advisor to Google CEO Eric Schmidt....
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Apr13
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When it comes to new product introductions, nothing quite matches London's Peter Jones department store, which is offering discerning customers the chance to stump £50 a pop to taste Caffé Raro - an exotic blend of Jamaican Blue Mountain and...
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Apr12
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Why am I less that pissing in my pants at the news that JWT has come up with the ultimate "Killer Campaign" for the Ford Motor Company account, which will now be known through the uber-chiller-wet-your-panties campaign title... "Drive One." Oh, hell...
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As loyal readers of AdHurl will know by now, I am flying to London next Tuesday to speak at the amazing "Under The Influence" Ad conference on Thursday, April 18th. Which in inimitable British style, will last all day, take...
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Apr11
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In a stark demonstration that the economy is really starting to tank, retailers' March results are incredibly gloomy, with sharp declines that took many chains by surprise. Wal-Mart, which has been beefing up its "value" marketing message, was the only...
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Apr10
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The battle for Yahoo is really starting to heat up now with the news that "The Wizened of Oz" - Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, is in talks with Microsoft about joining in its contested bid for Yahoo, a move that...
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Apr 9
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Interesting news out of Brazil: Google will show images of the Amazon's deforestation in an effort that may pressure Brazilian authorities to halt the devastation, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said. The images will appear on Google Earth, the Web...
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Apr 8
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As things get increasingly stickier here in the US. Just in case it hasn't penetrated your thick scull yet... The future is China... Forget what Bush and all the other political wankers tell you... Need proof? How about today's news that...
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Apr 7
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So the "Wizened of Oz's" News Corp is being sued by the Feds for violating the nation's indecency laws in an episode of the defunct reality program Married by America, in which offending body parts were electronically obscured. The Feds...
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Apr 6
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No doubt you've been hearing rumors that sometime this summer scientists at Cern in Switzerland will be having what they have called their “red button” day - the switching-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the new particle accelerator built to probe...
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Apr 4
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I often wonder about people who spend too much time on communities like "Second Life." I mean when it comes to avatars online, shouldn't we be saying "Webkinz for adults"? It seems that there are either too many adults with too much time...
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Apr 3
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Right now there's a big kerfuffle going on in Britain about the use of the “Brain Gym” in their primary schools. And, there’s certainly a growing perception here in the US that exercising your brain can have immediate and long term...
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Apr 2
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This summer, Sprint and Samsung will offer a touch-screen wireless handheld that dares to compete with the Apple, GodPhone. When Sprint president and CEO Dan Hesse unveiled the new Samsung "Instinct" during his keynote speech at CTIA Wireless this morning...
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Apr 1
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In the "truth is stranger than fiction" category, you have to laugh, 'cos if you think about it, you would weep, when you read that US, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday all handed...
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In the rapidly collapsing traditional publishing world, news just out that Print on Demand publishers are being told to use Amazon's own BookSurge POD printer or else Amazon will disable the 'buy' button for their books. After hemming and hawing,...
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