You might recall how Answers.com tried to buy Dictionary.com etc. (all part of Lexico).
Well, that deal went nowhere, but Ask.com did buy Lexico for $100M. continue reading...
I was talking to an executive at IAC and told him that to differentiate Ask.com and one of their other properties, IAC should better merge content with search.
Looks like MSFT beat them to it: continue reading...
IAC’s Ask.com already uses Google’s text ads, but hitherto, it’s still used its own search algorithm, which it acquired when it bought Teoma. Teoma and Wisenut were once considered to be potential Google killers, Ask Jeeves bought Teoma; Looksmart bought WiseNut.
Anyway, Ask.com already uses Google’s text ads and when Google filed to go public, it was disclosed that Google was giving Ask a 110% revenue share. That’s right, Google was essentially paying off Ask.com for market share. However, IAC always maintained that one day, it might launch its own ad platform, too. This always seemed to be a hollow threat, because Google has created the world’s most effective and valuable advertising marketplace… it did not make sense for Ask.com to do that, frankly. continue reading...
Yesterday at 6pm EST, I was speaking with a successful entrepreneur who mentioned that the sale of his company ranked in the Top Internet deals of all time. I didn’t say anything, but had the gentlemen known that I was obsessed with deals and dealmaking, I had written a couple of posts on the matter, like the Top 10 Web M&A deals of all time, or a comprehensive post on 2007’s deals in new media and tech. Anyway, when we hung up, I asked, what are the top m&a deals of all time. So as I began to wander the Web I began to compile a list - far from complete mind you - of big mergers and acquisitions in technology, media, health, finance, energy, etc. Here it is.
But that is not the point of this post. Let’s back up some more in time. continue reading...
The following is a perpetual-work-in-progress. Once you start to compile a list of mergers and acquisitions, you realize why it’s nearly impossible to have a complete list. We are quite confident that the following is a very good, comprehensive list of the largest, more notable deals… but it is not - and no list will be - fully complete because there are too many countries around the world and too many industries to report (it is highly possible that the Wall Street Journal or Financial Post, for example, has such a list… but it would be thick and unwieldy).
We have included: continue reading...
Last year Barry Diller decided to get serious about search and plunked down $100M in an ill-fated advertising campaign for Ask.com. Today, Ask.com’s market share is lower than it was last year.
Let’s hope the company’s Chinese ambitions will fare better. Today the company said that it would spend a whopping $100M on its Chinese strategy. I’m not sure if my use of the term whopping is cynical. continue reading...
Editor’s note: I knew we were speaking too soon. One more deal to add to the list: Time Warner to buy Quigo. Added to the bottom of the list, under ad networks.
According to The Jordan Edmiston Group Inc.’s October 2007 Client Briefing report, the number of deals through the first three quarters of 2007 exceeded full year 2006 figures: 637 transactions with $95B in value thus far. Do the math and that is $150M per deal, quite rich. continue reading...
When DCLK got bought by Google, and then aQuantive got bought out by Microsoft, I said independent of what you or I say about the prices paid ($3.1B and $6B respectively), aQuantive was definitely worth twice as much as Doubleclick.
Of course, like it or not, this might have everything to do with IAC’s Ask.com being a competitor of Google, now parent of Doubleclick. I had actually warned Google that it risked a publisher exodus… and now shockingly my prophecy there turns true. Hmm. For an overall rundown of the GOOG/DCLK deal click here. continue reading...
Yesterday Joost co-founder Niklas Zennstrom made the announcement that Joost had 1M users. A lot of writers jumped on it to discern whether he meant 1M downloads, 1M users in all since launch or 1M concurrent users.
I have no clue which one he meant. Also, I wish Joost a lot of success, sure, WatchMojo.com is a content provider and all to them, but I wish them well because anything that gets more consumers viewing online video online is a good thing, independent of whether WatchMojo.com’s content happens to be on deck. continue reading...
On the one hand I give credit to IAC’s Ask.com search engine for offering users AskEraser. On the other hand, I wonder, why bother?
Apart from the vocal minority consisting of tech writers and bloggers, who cares how much or how little search engines know and track your searches. I mean, unless you’re Al Qaeda, do you really care? In fact, if you are a normal person, chances are you want a search engine to track what you searched, no? continue reading...
