The past few days have seen a blizzard of leaks about surveillance activity by the government’s ultra-secret NSA arm, including data collection from phone companies and internet giants. Here is what you need to know about this developing story. Read more at GigaOM »
Here’s one reason why Yahoo and Hulu would be a good match: They’re practically roommates already! But the deal would also make sense from a business perspective. Read more »
Fans of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer say she shouldn’t be blamed for the company’s history of failed acquisitions — but there are plenty of other reasons to be skeptical about Yahoo’s $1.1-billion Tumblr deal. Read more at GigaOM »
More news from Yahoo on Monday: The company is revamping photo-sharing service Flickr and is also opening a New York City office. Tumblr’s employees, however, will remain at their current office. Read more at GigaOM »
In an investor call Monday morning, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said Yahoo and Tumblr’s audiences really don’t overlap. She said that’s fine: Yahoo users will be exposed to more Tumblr content, and Tumblr gets a new ad strategy and possible Flickr integration while remaining a separate site. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo has officially acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion, the companies announced Monday morning. Tumblr will be operated as a separate business, with David Karp remaining CEO. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo’s board has agreed to pay $1.1 billion for Tumblr, according to reports. Read more at GigaOM »
Fans of the social-blogging network might not like the idea much, but a $1-billion acquisition of Tumblr would arguably solve a number of problems for Yahoo — and do the same for Tumblr CEO David Karp. Read more at GigaOM »
Tumblr might become part of Yahoo as early as Sunday night, according to a report that suggests Yahoo’s board of directors is set to consider a $1.1 billion offer for the startup. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer addressed video, working from home and the company’s future goal during a chat in New York with Stephen Levy of Wired. Read more at GigaOM »
This week, famous faces, new shows and pleas for advertising dollars brought many web video companies to web video’s version of TV’s upfronts. Here are just a few of the biggest stories to emerge. Read more »
Although some might expect a 17-year-old startup founder to take his windfall from a Yahoo acquisition and run, Summly CEO Nick D’Aloisio says he wants to stick around and help Yahoo figure out how mobile content works. Read more at GigaOM »
In buying Summly, a mobile news-consumption app created by teenaged entrepreneur Nick D’Aloisio, Yahoo gets to inject some much-needed fresh thinking about mobile content, and also shows it is serious about change. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo has acquired news-reading iOS app Summly, which was created by London teenager Nick D’Aloisio. Summly will no longer exist as a standalone app and will be removed from the iTunes Store today. Read more »
New CEO Marissa Mayer launched a redesigned version of the Yahoo homepage on Wednesday, but the site’s new features seem like a lukewarm rehash of the company’s old portal strategy and imitations of what Facebook offers. Read more at GigaOM »
The arrival of Marissa Mayer at Yahoo is fueling the desire for a comeback story. Despite press reports suggesting the turnaround has come, Yahoo’s modest earnings improvement this week are not that story. Read more »
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer told attendees at the World Economic Forum that the key to the company’s future success is partnering with other players like Apple, Google and Facebook. But is that a future worth betting on? Read more at GigaOM »
It’s been common for web series to never make it past a first season. But this year, there are four notable examples of shows continuing their runs, from independent teen dramedies to Jerry Seinfeld chatting with comics. Read more »
Yahoo has added Max Levchin, a Silicon Valley star, to its board of directors giving it a much-needed entrepreneurial and engineering-savvy board member. The web portal will also see two of its existing directors leave, shrinking the board to 11 members. Read more at GigaOM »
The Commission on Presidential Debates is partnering with three online media companies to stream debates and educate voters. The platforms will also give the companies a way to showcase their other content. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo fired its former Washington bureau chief on Wednesday for a joking comment he made during a video broadcast from the Republican convention. Isn’t it about time we admitted that journalists have emotions and opinions, rather than expecting them to be impartial robots? Read more at GigaOM »
Media head Ross Levinsohn is leaving Yahoo after being passed over for CEO in favor of Marissa Mayer. The Google vet’s hiring despite Levinsohn’s solid performance as interim CEO signaled a choice of tech over media. Where will he go and who stays from his team? Read more »
Remember when Friendster was the hot social network, publishers doubted that ebooks would ever sell, and Netflix thought DVDs in red envelopes was the future? We do — that was that state of digital media when paidContent launched in 2002. Read more »
Marissa Mayer’s base pay as Yahoo CEO is $1 million a year. But that’s just a small part of a package potentially worth more than $60 million in cash, restricted stock units and stock options if she outlasts her predecessors. Read more »
Yahoo signs more than a dozen sponsors to back what might be its most ambitious event coverage ever. Over two weeks, Yahoo hopes to reach 700 million viewers across more than 200 countries. Read more »
Former Google executive Marissa Mayer looks to some like the savior Yahoo and its shareholders have been waiting for. But her focus in the past has been on technology and product development, and that may not be what a media company like Yahoo really needs. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo’s drawn-out search for a CEO has taken an unexpected turn with the company stealing away Marissa Mayer, Google’s first female engineer and the head of its location and local services, as its new chief Yahoo. Mayer takes over as president and CEO Tuesday. Read more »
In a widely expected move, Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to put aside a ruinous lawsuit that would have locked the two Silicon Valley giants into a lengthy patent throwdown. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo’s latest deal with an entrenched traditional media brand will bring digital radio station portal iHeartRadio into its fold. Yahoo and Clear Channel will also cross-promote each other’s content, as well as partner on live events. Read more »
Yes, the business of promoting other people’s content has become a major audience driver, as the trailer for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 generates more than a quarter of Yahoo Movies’ monthly traffic in a single day. Read more »
Sanford Bernstein senior analyst Todd Juenger doesn’t believe digital media companies like YouTube, Yahoo and AOL can entice advertisers into committing huge portions of dollars all in one buying session, a la TV’s traditional upfront market. Read more »
Aggressive investments into professional-grade (and semi-professional-grade) video content have dramatically increased the average amount of time viewers on YouTube and Yahoo spend watching shows each month. The competition, meanwhile, has seen its usage decline in a big way. We crunch the comScore video numbers. Read more »
Two weeks after the digital media giants stormed Madison Avenue with their Newfront blitz, television’s indigenous programmers showed up in Manhattan to defend their turf. For now, their share of ad dollars appears to be safe. Read more »
The appointment of Ross Levinsohn as CEO is a sign Yahoo wants to focus on media as the core of its rebirth, but does the company have what it takes to succeed as a new-media entity? There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical. Read more at GigaOM »
Yahoo chief executive officer Scott Thompson who has been caught in a resume gate is leaving the company, reports AllThingsD. He is going to be replaced by Ross Levinsohn. A settlement with activist investor Dan Loeb of ThirdPoint Capital is also in the works. Read more at GigaOM »
With digital companies like YouTube and Yahoo making aggressive pitches for cable ad dollars, one of cable TV’s stalwart programmers, Discovery Communications, rendered a bold response Thursday, purchasing top digital program provider Revision3 for $30 million. Read more »
The 650 patents that Facebook acquired from Microsoft are “web-related” said a source with knowledge of the deal and listed some specific examples. The source said the portfolio includes patents related to: instant-messaging, e-commerce, LTE, mobile, handsets, search and advertising. Read more »
The news that’s been telegraphed for weeks is done: Yahoo is laying off 2,000 staffers, 14.1 percent of its workforce, as new CEO Scott Thompson remakes the business around the buzzwords smaller, nimbler, core, best in class. Thompson isn’t close to finished. Read more »
Silicon Valley leads the world in technology but it’s losing a debate over how that technology should be used. A new surge in patent lawsuit… Read more »
As companies like Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) make big investments into video content channels with name-brand film and television talent, they might… Read more »
