Microsoft May Rename Live Search ‘Bing’: Massive Ad Campaign Planned
May 28, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Search Engines, Top Stories
Microsoft’s new search engine is reportedly dumping its codename, Kumo, in favor of the brand name Bing. To get the word out, Microsoft is planning a massive advertising campaign to launch its new search brand. Bing’s debut will feature a $80 to $100 million online, TV, print, and radio advertising campaign, according to AdvertisingAge. To put that number in perspective, Google’s entire advertising budget for all of 2008 was $25 million, AdAge says. Microsoft is hoping a major ad push will take a chunk out of Google — the number one online search brand — in favor of Bing, the same way Microsoft’s laptop hunter ads helped in its fight against Apple.
Yahoo to lay off 675 after profit slides 78%
April 22, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Search Engines, Top Stories
Yahoo Inc. confirmed Tuesday that it will cut 675 jobs, 5 percent of its workforce, as its online advertising business continued to erode in the first quarter amid economic gloom.
The Sunnyvale Web portal said it would carry out the layoffs, the third round in just over a year, in the next two weeks in hopes of saving money and freeing resources to hire elsewhere in the company. Executives said the cuts will be focused on Yahoo’s product managers and engineers.
Sourcetool says Google violated U.S. antitrust laws
February 18, 2009 by NetCrunch
Filed under Search Engines
TradeComet.com, which owns the search engine SourceTool.com, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google Inc on Tuesday, accusing it of engaging in illegal predatory conduct to drive them out of business.
“TradeComet was forced to file the lawsuit when Google refused to stop engaging in predatory conduct to block search traffic by imposing massive, unjustified price increases,” the company said in a statement.