Yahoo related Press Releases

comScore Releases the "2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus" Report

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:10:06 -0500

Report Offers Insights on Key Trends from 2011 and What They Mean for the Coming Year

RESTON, Va., Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report. This annual report examines how the prevailing trends in social media, search, online video, digital advertising, mobile and e-commerce are defining the current marketplace and what these trends mean for the year ahead.

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"2012 promises to be an exciting year for the digital media industry as the explosion of available content and proliferation of web-enabled devices drive the evolution of the digital consumer, creating new opportunities and challenges for the entire digital ecosystem," said Linda Abraham, comScore CMO and EVP of Global Product Development. "In order to be successful in this new paradigm, digital marketers must understand the key trends shaping the current marketplace and what that means for the future of their businesses."

To download a complimentary copy of 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/2012USDigitalFutureinFocus

Key insights from the 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus include:

Facebook-Led Social Media Market is Redefining Communication in the Digital and Physical Worlds

Social Networking accounted for 16.6 percent of all online minutes at the end of 2011 and is on track to surpass Portals as the most engaging online activity in 2012. Facebook continues to lead as the driving force behind this shift in consumer behavior, accounting for the largest share of online minutes across the entire web in 2011.

Bing Gains Ground in Search

Although Google maintains a strong lead in the U.S. search market, one of the most notable stories in search in 2011 was Bing's positive growth trajectory. Bing closed out the year by surpassing Yahoo! for the #2 position among core search engines for the first time in its history, bolstered in part by its social search partnership with Facebook implemented in early 2011.

Online Video Boom Signals Sea Change in Video Ecosystem

Online video viewing witnessed impressive gains across a variety of measures in 2011, signaling a behavioral shift in how Americans are consuming video content. More than 100 million Americans watched online video content on an average day to close out 2011, representing a 43-percent increase versus year ago.

Digital Advertising Enters Era of Increased Accountability as Brand Dollars Continue to Shift Online

A staggering 4.8 trillion display ad impressions were delivered across the U.S. web in 2011 as brand advertisers continued to shift dollars to the digital medium. This shift in ad dollars has magnified the need for greater transparency and accountability in ad delivery across the digital advertising ecosystem.

Smartphone and Tablets Fuel the Rise of the Digital Omnivore

The rise of smartphones and tablets has drastically altered consumers' digital media consumption. In 2011, the majority of all mobile phone owners consumed mobile media on their device, marking an important milestone in the evolution of mobile from primarily a communication device to also a content consumption tool. At the end of the year, more than 8 percent of all digital traffic was consumed beyond the 'classic web' via devices such as smartphones and tablets.

E-Commerce is Back and Better Than Ever

Despite the backdrop of continued economic uncertainty, 2011 was a strong year for retail e-commerce. Throughout the year, growth rates versus the prior year remained in double-digits to significantly outpace growth at brick-and-mortar retail. Total U.S. retail and travel-related e-commerce reached $256 billion in 2011, up 12 percent from 2010.

Webinar - 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus: Trends Every Marketer Needs to Know
Join Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix, and Eli Goodman, comScore Media Evangelist, on Wednesday February 22nd at 2 PM EST, as they share key insights from the 2012 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report and discuss what these trends mean for today's marketers.For more information and to register, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/2012_Future_in_Focus_Webinar

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

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SOURCE comScore, Inc.

Jumptap Appoints Bob Hammond Chief Technology Officer

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:10:20 -0500

Veteran Ad Network Leader Adds Technical Depth

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Jumptap, the leader in targeted mobile advertising, today announced that Bob Hammond has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer. Hammond will oversee engineering and technology efforts for the company, with a focus on scaling all aspects of Jumptap’s platform and extending the company’s lead in mobile audience targeting.

Hammond is a well-known digital media technology leader and brings more than 24 years of experience in the advertising, technology and media industries. He comes to Jumptap from Vibrant Media, a NY-based online ad network. There, Hammond served as SVP of Technology and oversaw more than 50 engineers and led all aspects of technology for the more than $100M ad network.

“Bob has been a trail blazer in the ad network and technology areas for years, and has witnessed the development of supply/demand management, Real Time Bidding and algorithmic buying in display and video ad networks alike,” said George Bell, CEO, Jumptap. “His experience guiding ad networks at all stages – start-up, hyper-growth, and scaling for stability – will provide great insight for Jumptap. Bob is a born leader with enthusiasm to burn, and we’re delighted to have him join the team.”

Prior to Vibrant Media, Hammond served as VP of Engineering at Yahoo! following the company’s acquisition of Maven, a video ad network where Hammond was SVP of Engineering for three years. In his role at Yahoo!, Hammond managed and oversaw engineering for the company’s Video Platform and Syndication Group, including management of core development teams, product QA, product UI design, and technical documentation for the Maven product line. Before Maven, Hammond spent more than six years at Mirror Image, serving as Chief Technology Officer for the final three.

“It’s clear that mobile is the frontier of advertising innovation,” said Bob Hammond, CTO, Jumptap. “Jumptap is a leader with superior targeting that creates the relevancy needed to make mobile advertising successful. I’m thrilled to be joining such a high growth and technology driven environment.”

Note to press: Bob Hammond’s bio and headshot are available upon request.

About Jumptap

Jumptap is the leader in targeted mobile advertising. Reaching 95 million mobile users in the U.S. and 142 million mobile users worldwide, Jumptap uses its extensive technology portfolio, as well as industry-first partnerships with third- party data providers, to understand mobile audiences better than any other ad network and provide intelligent targeting with scale. Through its large network of premium publishers and apps, and constant campaign optimization, Jumptap delivers the best ROI for advertisers and highest yield for publishers and developers. Jumptap has pioneered mobile advertising privacy standards and is committed to unlocking mobile opportunities for all parties through its ongoing industry research, such as its Understanding Mobile Audience series and monthly MobileSTAT reports. Visit http://www.jumptap.com and http://www.jumptap.com/blog for more information; join our Facebook community, follow us on Twitter at @Jumptap and check out our latest ads at the Jumptap Ad Gallery http://www.jumptap.com/gallery.

CONTACT:

Jumptap
Christina Feeney, 617-301-4181
christina.feeney@jumptap.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Hardware Internet Networks Software Mobile/Wireless Communications Advertising Marketing

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TV Lovers Rejoice: Yahoo!® Connected TV Delivers Broadcast Interactivity Experience, New TV Apps at CES 2012

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:10:09 -0500

Yahoo! innovates through interactive TV advertising offering, mobile apps featuring device communication & premium TV apps

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- International CES — Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), the premier digital media company, today announced the newest line-up of consumer and advertiser offerings from the 2011 Primetime Emmy^® Engineering Plaque Award-winning Yahoo! Connected TV platform. Yahoo!’s unique broadcast interactivity technology, which delivers real-time Internet content to complement the TV show or advertisement being watched, becomes available on Sony BRAVIA^® TVs at the 2012 International CES conference this week.

More than a million people engage with the Yahoo! Connected TV experience each month to access Internet and video content from a collection of more than 180 TV apps. New TV apps from top brands including ABC, AT&T Yellow Pages, Disney, ESPN, iHeart Radio by Clear Channel and The Wall Street Journal will be showcased this week at CES.

“It’s clear that people are relying on apps across all of the screens in their lives, and we expect consumer usage of TV apps to rapidly increase as Internet-connected devices become mainstream in 2012,” said Ron Jacoby, vice president, Yahoo! Connected TV. He continued, “Engagement with TV second-screen companion apps and interactive experiences, like broadcast interactivity, will also be on the rise as we move into a new era of content convergence in the living room. We’re excited to extend the broadcast interactivity experience and mobile app device communication functionality to more TV manufacturers and other leading brands in 2012.”

Immersive Broadcast Experiences for Sports, Shopping, Social TV and More

Engaging TV viewers with relevant and compelling content, Yahoo!’s broadcast interactivity can deliver interactive TV experiences including show trivia, voting, shopping, videos, photos, game show play, and more, alongside the show a person is watching. The feature leverages the patented SoundPrint™ technology developed by IntoNow™ from Yahoo!, which identifies the show being watched – regardless of live, recorded, cable, broadcast, or satellite-based video.

For example:

Viewers of live sporting events, such as Showtime^® Boxing, can vote for the boxer they think will win the match, and view related information such as photos or videos.
Consumers can use their TV remotes to purchase an item being highlighted on HSN, access real-time inventory data on products, and take advantage of specials of the day.
In the first quarter of 2012, viewers will also be able to interact with TV programming by tagging their favorite shows for social, content and rewards-based experiences using IntoNow from Yahoo on their TV.

Second-Screen Experiences for Better TV Communication

At CES, Yahoo! will showcase device interactivity between Yahoo! Connected TV and iPad, iPhone and Android devices. The new Yahoo! Connected TV mobile apps will let people use their smartphones and tablets to more easily interact with TV apps. Features will include the ability to launch and interact with TV apps from the phone or tablet, TV video playback, and text-entry capabilities for posting updates and comments or making purchases.

Pioneering New Forms of Connected TV Advertising

Advertisers now have the ability to connect with their audience through custom display ads viewable inside Yahoo! Connected TV apps. Toyota, for example, kicked off an integrated, multi-screen campaign centered around Fantasy Football across Yahoo!, and became the first advertiser to have a display ad featured within a Yahoo! Connected TV app.

Yahoo!’s new broadcast interactivity feature also provides advertisers with an interactive TV ad experience, helping consumers take action on TV commercials by purchasing products, ordering samples, reading reviews, or viewing product information. Initial broadcast interactivity launch advertisers include Fidelity Investments, Ford and Sony. More information about Yahoo! Connected TV advertising opportunities is available at http://advertising.yahoo.com/connected-tv/.

About Yahoo! Connected TV

Yahoo! Connected TV centers around a collection of more than 180 easy-to-use TV apps, providing deep content designed to complement TV viewing. TV apps run the gamut from news, entertainment, finance, sports, games, social networking, music, photo sharing, shopping, and more. For more information on Yahoo! Connected TV, visit http://connectedtv.yahoo.com.

Yahoo! Connected TV is the leading platform for Internet-connected TV and the winner of the 2011 Primetime Emmy^® Engineering Plaque Award. Yahoo Connected TV is available across leading TV brands worldwide including Sony^®, Samsung^®, VIZIO^®, Toshiba^®, and Haier and HiSense^®. More than 8 million consumers have purchased TVs with the Yahoo! Connected TV platform across 135 countries.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is the premier digital media company, creating deeply personal digital experiences that keep more than half a billion people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the globe. And Yahoo!'s unique combination of Science + Art + Scale connects advertisers to the consumers who build their businesses. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit the pressroom (pressroom.yahoo.com) or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.

All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT:

Yahoo! Corporate Communications
Karen Mahon, 1-408-349-4152
Karenm@yahoo-inc.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America California Nevada

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Entertainment TV and Radio Technology Consumer Electronics Internet Networks Software Audio/Video Mobile/Wireless Online

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Google Honors Ai’s Collaboration with Top U.S. Telecom Player, Doubled Sales 2 Years Consecutively

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:10:13 -0500

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ai Media Group was invited, along with its leading Telecommunications client, for a unique symposium at Google’s Corporate Headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The event highlighted new insights into user search habits, general user trends and industry-specific news. Topics included the effective use of display, YouTube and following consumer behavior to deliver the most valuable message. Discussion also focused on being ahead of the curve in the mobile revolution while complimenting desktop advertising.

“We were honored to be selected by Google to share information with our client that will undoubtedly improve ROI on our already successful advertising campaigns," said Sergio Alvarez, COO of Ai Media Group. He added, “We look forward to doing more of these events with all of our clients."

About Ai Media Group:

The exemplary skills of Ai Media Group professionals have been at the forefront of search marketing, from digital advertising to Yahoo Yellow Pages, to bridging the gap into algorithmic search. Ai Media Group professionals have a proven record of providing measurable results to thousands of advertisers. The company’s mission is to educate the marketplace on the newest offerings and act as consultants to enhance business decisions with strategic business intelligence. Ai Media Group’s entire staff is well-versed on all aspects of search and is comprised of the industry’s most knowledgeable and experienced specialists. For more information, visit http://aimediagroup.com/.

CONTACT:

Ai Media Group
Karen Rodriguez, 212-660-2400, ext. 1011
krodriguez@aimediagroup.com
or
For Ai Media Group
DeAnne Merey, 646-785-9594
dmerey@dm-pr.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America California New York

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Telecommunications Mobile/Wireless Search Engine Marketing Search Engine Optimization Communications Advertising Marketing

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comScore Releases October 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:10:04 -0500

RESTON, Va., Nov. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in October with 65.6 percent of search queries conducted.

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U.S. Explicit Core Search

Google Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in October with 65.6 percent market share (up 0.3 percentage points), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 15.2 percent and Microsoft Sites with 14.8 percent (up 0.1 percentage point). Ask Network accounted for 2.9 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.5 percent.


comScore Explicit Core Search Share Report* October 2011 vs. September 2011 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore qSearch
Core Search Entity	Explicit Core Search Share (%)
Core Search Entity	Sep-11	Oct-11	Point Change
Total Explicit Core Search	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Google Sites	65.3%	65.6%	0.3
Yahoo! Sites	15.5%	15.2%	-0.3
Microsoft Sites	14.7%	14.8%	0.1
Ask Network	3.0%	2.9%	-0.1
AOL, Inc.	1.5%	1.5%	0.0

*"Explicit Core Search" excludes contextually driven searches that do not
reflect specific user intent to interact with the search results.

More than 18.0 billion explicit core searches were conducted in October, marking a 6-percent increase versus September. Google Sites ranked first with 11.9 billion (up 6 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.7 billion (up 4 percent) and Microsoft Sites with 2.7 billion (up 6 percent). Ask Network delivered 518 million searches (up 2 percent), while AOL, Inc. rounded out the top five with 277 million (up 5 percent).


comScore Explicit Core Search Query Report October 2011 vs. September 2011 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore qSearch
Core Search Entity	Explicit Core Search Queries (MM)
Core Search Entity	Sep-11	Oct-11	Percent Change
Total Explicit Core Search	17,103	18,077	6%
Google Sites	11,171	11,863	6%
Yahoo! Sites	2,644	2,741	4%
Microsoft Sites	2,516	2,678	6%
Ask Network	507	518	2%
AOL, Inc.	265	277	5%

U.S. Total Core Search

Google Sites accounted for 66.2 percent of total core search queries conducted (up 0.8 percentage points), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 16.3 percent and Microsoft Sites with 13.6 percent (up 0.2 percentage points). Ask Network comprised 2.6 percent of total search queries, followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.4 percent.


comScore Total Core Search Share Report* October 2011 vs. September 2011 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore qSearch
Core Search Entity	Total Core Search Share (%)
Core Search Entity	Sep-11	Oct-11	Point Change
Total Core Search	100.0%	100.0%	N/A
Google Sites	65.4%	66.2%	0.8
Yahoo! Sites	17.2%	16.3%	-0.9
Microsoft Sites	13.4%	13.6%	0.2
Ask Network	2.6%	2.6%	0.0
AOL, Inc.	1.4%	1.4%	0.0

* "Total Core Search" is based on the five major search engines, including
partner searches, cross-channel searches and contextual searches. Searches
for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the
core domain of the five search engines are not included in these numbers.

Americans conducted 20.3 billion total core search queries in October, up 5 percent versus September. Google Sites ranked first with 13.4 billion searches (up 6 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 3.3 billion and Microsoft Sites with 2.8 billion (up 7 percent).


comScore Total Core Search Query Report October 2011 vs. September 2011 Total U.S. – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore qSearch
Core Search Entity	Total Core Search Queries (MM)
Core Search Entity	Sep-11	Oct-11	Percent Change
Total Core Search	19,345	20,295	5%
Google Sites	12,659	13,431	6%
Yahoo! Sites	3,326	3,306	-1%
Microsoft Sites	2,588	2,762	7%
Ask Network	507	518	2%
AOL, Inc.	265	277	5%

"Powered By" Reporting

As a part of comScore's commitment to accurately represent the continued evolution of the search landscape, comScore is providing insight into the share of organic Core Explicit searches that are powered by Google and Bing.

In October, 67.7 percent of searches carried organic search results from Google (vs. 67.4 percent in September) while 26.1 percent of searches were powered by Bing (vs. 26.7 percent in September).

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

SOURCE comScore, Inc.

Abine acquires T.A.C.O., a leading privacy add-on

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:05:06 -0400

Abine, the Online Privacy Company, acquires proven technology for controlling targeted advertising; updated version of TACO stops more trackers, displays cookies and supports IE

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Abine, Inc., a provider of online privacy solutions, announced today that it has acquired the popular TACO Firefox Add-On from its author and will continue its development. TACO, short for “Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-out”, is a free browser add-on that allows any Internet user to opt-out from personally targeted advertising.

“Enabling everyone to control and protect their online privacy is Abine’s mission, and TACO fits perfectly with this vision and our product,” - said Andrew Sudbury, co-founder of Abine. “ Users concerned about online privacy now simply click one button and instantly opt-out of over 100 intrusive behavioral ad-networks.”

TACO has been updated and integrated into the Abine Privacy Suite (http://www.getabine.com/preview/taco.php), allowing Abine users to seamlessly opt-out of intrusive advertising based monitoring of their Internet use. Users will have the option of using the new TACO version stand-alone, or enhancing it with additional features necessary for comprehensive online privacy.

The new version, TACO 3.0, has been upgraded both to permit opting-out of even more ad-networks and to block hundreds of other Web tracking technologies used by companies (including Google, AOL, Yahoo!, Facebook, and Microsoft), to collect, store and sell extremely personal information about individuals' Internet activity. The enhanced version includes an optional cookie display pop-up to provide visibility and control over online tracking. TACO 3.0 also adds support for Internet Explorer, making these protections available to Microsoft browser users for the first time.

"Internet privacy is an endless arms race against those who wish to track and monitor users' online activities. We need services truly dedicated to keeping users one step ahead of those who want to track them online.” said Christopher Soghoian, privacy evangelist and creator of TACO.

Corporations are forecast to spend $3.8 billion on targeted ads in 2011, resulting in unprecedented levels of technically sophisticated logging and intrusive tracking of individuals over months and years. Abine estimates that every day, 97% of Web users have their website visits and activities stored in an average of 25 different databases, usually without their knowledge or consent. Abine's innovative privacy solutions seek to make this user tracking more visible, to prevent excesses, and to give users new ways to quickly and easily control how much of their personal information is captured and stored online.

“With the viral success of TACO for firefox users, Chris Soghoian showed that web surfers were interested in exercising control over their interactions with ad networks. By integrating TACO into the Abine privacy suite and providing a version of IE users, Abine is providing consumers with key tools to ensure their online privacy,” said Jules Polonetsky, Director of the Future of Privacy Forum, and former Chief Privacy Officer of AOL.

Abine will continue to execute its strategy to create or acquire easy-to-use privacy technologies, making them available to the millions of Internet users demanding their right to privacy.

About Abine, Inc.

Abine, Inc., the online privacy company, is the leading provider of online privacy solutions for consumers. Abine's products and services allow regular people to regain control over their personal information while continuing to browse, interact and shop online. One of the company's first offerings, the Privacy Suite, is a browser Add-On that flushes intrusive cookies, shields contact information and separates online identities.

CONTACT:

Abine, Inc.
Rob Shavell, 617-492-0024
rob@getabine.com
http://www.abine.com

KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Data Management Internet Networks Software Telecommunications Other Technology Security Mobile/Wireless

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Yahoo! Pioneers New Era in Mobile Search; Launches Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search and Yahoo! Search iPhone Apps

Jason Ankeny — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:20:44 -0400

Today at CTIA Wireless 2010, Yahoo! Inc. launched two new innovative applications for Apple iPhone(R) and iPod touch(R) -- Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search and Yahoo! Search -- providing consumers with fun, entertaining, and engaging search experiences that deliver powerful information in a fast, locally aware, and elegant manner. Both apps are available beginning today from the iTunes(R) Store at http://itunes.com/apps/yahoosearch and http://itunes.com/apps/yahoosketchasearch.

Yahoo! revolutionized mobile search in 2007 with the launch of Yahoo! oneSearch, which delivered answers, not just Web links. This consumer experience signified a tipping point in the industry as Yahoo! fundamentally changed the way consumers used search on their mobile phones. The industry took note -- Yahoo! has partnered with more than 80 leading carriers and original equipment manufacturers around the world to deliver an industry-leading mobile search experience to millions of users, and competitors subsequently modified their products to remain competitive. Yahoo! continues to innovate and invest in mobile and search by redefining how consumers access the information that's important to them.

"Yahoo! is defining the next era of the Internet, search, and mobile, by demonstrating what's possible when you leverage innovative design and technical prowess to engage people with personally relevant experiences," said David Ko, senior vice president of Yahoo!'s Audience, Mobile, and Local businesses. "We're growing our mobile audience globally by providing people with search experiences that have simple input and discovery methods, and advertisers with a highly engaged mobile audience."

Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search iPhone App

Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search makes search even easier, without typing keywords or thinking about search terms. You simply draw a boundary on your phone's map to discover local businesses within that location. Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search delivers robust local content without people needing to know the neighborhood. Initially available for restaurant searches in the U.S., Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search will launch additional local categories on an ongoing basis and extend to international markets in the near future.

Key features include:

-- Sketch and Discover: Use a finger to draw a circle, line, or any shape to get a bird's eye view of what's nearby in a specific area or on a specific street.

-- Location Awareness: Defaults to a person's current location, remembers previous locations, and allows people to search for a specific city or an area of interest.

-- Robust Local Content: Filter restaurant results by cuisine, ambiance, and star rating. Click on restaurants to read reviews, browse photos, get directions, or make a phone call -- all directly within the app.

-- Shake to Clear: Shake the device or click on the Sketch icon to start a new Sketch-a-Search.

Yahoo! Search iPhone App

Maximized for speed, the Yahoo! Search iPhone app revolves around an innovative interface that delivers contextually relevant results quickly and efficiently. A bevy of features -- tightly embedded maps, localized query suggestions that display as you type, intelligent search history, voice search, and rich content and information from Yahoo! and other sources that appear directly in the results -- creates an optimal experience for finding exactly what you need. The Yahoo! Search iPhone app is available in 22 markets across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and will continue to roll out to additional locations.

Key features include:

-- Fast Results: Get results, detailed summaries at a glance, and instant, local suggestions that display as you type with Yahoo! Search Assist.

-- Local Shortcuts: Refine results based on your location with embedded maps and location-aware technology. Then call a business or get directions with a single click, all without leaving the results. (Currently available only in the U.S.)

-- Rich Local Content: View photos, ratings, phone numbers, and more from Yahoo! Local, Yelp, and Citysearch.

-- Rich Results: Get the answers you're looking for -- not a list of meaningless links -- with search results that are infused with specific, helpful information from Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Movies, and other providers.

-- Integrated Voice Search: Don't type -- just speak your query, making input easy and fast.

-- Intelligent Search History: Get quick access to recent searches and local businesses.

-- Shake to Clear: Shake the device to start a new query.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit http://pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (http://yodel.yahoo.com).

Yahoo!, Yahoo! Mobile, Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search, Yahoo! Search Assist, and Yodel Anecdotal are the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Cautionary Note:

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!'s strategic and operational plans for Sketch-a-Search and other mobile services as well as Yahoo!'s expectations regarding its mobile audience and role in the industry (including without limitation the statements contained in the quotations from management). Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibilities that the expected or planned service expansions might be delayed, might not ultimately be implemented, or if implemented might not be successful; that users or advertisers might not utilize the new and expanded service offerings or might prefer rival products or services; and that the anticipated benefits to Yahoo! and its mobile collaborators and advertisers might not be realized. More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo!'s business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, which is on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Yahoo! Named as the Exclusive Search Service on Telefonica's Mobile Portal in Spain

Jason Ankeny — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:48:16 -0400

Yahoo! and Telefonica Espana, Spain's largest operator network, announced that Yahoo! is powering the mobile Internet search experience and sponsored search advertising on Telefonica's emocion portal. This announcement builds on the mobile search partnership with O2 Germany launched in November 2009, as well as the larger agreement announced in October 2007 to provide consumers with Yahoo! as the primary search service on Telefonica's mobile portals in 15 European and Latin American countries.

Yahoo!'s mobile search service provides Telefonica's consumers in Spain with relevant information on virtually any topic from news, financial information, weather conditions, Flickr(TM) photos, and travel information, to websites, integrated information from Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers, and much more. Yahoo! will also display relevant ringtones, wallpapers, games, and other content from the emocion portal within the search results.

Consumers can get straight to the information they want because Yahoo!'s mobile search service intuitively returns results grouped around the user's intent. For example:

-- When you search for a sports team, Yahoo! shows the latest scores, team profiles, news, images, and a link to the team's website.

-- If you search for a film, Yahoo! returns show times at local cinemas, critic reviews, news articles, and other relevant information on the cast.

Commenting on the partnership, Elisa Caballero, developments of value for residential customers general manager of Telefonica Espana, said, "Our emocion portal brings the Web to consumers' pockets. A great mobile search service is a crucial part of that experience; by integrating Yahoo!'s mobile search experience, we are ensuring our customers have all the information they need at their fingertips."

"This is an important milestone as we extend our relationship with Telefonica and offer consumers across Spain with an engaging mobile search experience that enables them to discover their world and the world around them," said Rich Riley, senior vice president, Yahoo! Europe. "Together, Telefonica and Yahoo! are enhancing the mobile Internet experience for consumers, while creating scale for advertisers, enabling them to reach the rapidly growing audience of mobile consumers."

"The expansion of Yahoo!'s mobile search partnership with Telefonica into Spain continues to demonstrate Yahoo!'s ability to provide highly personalized and localized mobile search experiences and further establishes its position as a leading mobile customer experience provider," said Scott Ellison, IDC's Vice President of Mobile and Wireless. "Building a significant European market presence is essential toward executing a successful mobile strategy."

Telefonica Espana and Yahoo! will include sponsored search listings within the emocion portal. With a focus on creating the monetization engine for the Internet on mobile devices, Yahoo! helps advertisers reach their target audiences at a large scale and with greater impact.

About Telefonica

Telefonica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of market capitalisation. Its activities are centered mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses with broadband as the key tool for the development of both.

The company has a significant presence in 25 countries and a customer base that amounts to 268 million accesses around the world. Telefonica has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.

Telefonica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders. Its share capital currently comprises 4.563.996.485 ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and on those in London, Tokyo, New York, Lima, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit http://pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (http://yodel.yahoo.com).

For more information on Yahoo! Mobile please visit http://mobile.yahoo.com

Yahoo!, Yahoo! Search, Yodel Anecdotal, and the Yahoo! logo are the trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE: Yahoo!

Yahoo! to Acquire Citizen Sports

Jason Ankeny — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:58:09 -0400

As part of its ongoing commitment to be the center of people's online lives, Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO - News) today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Citizen Sports (www.citizensports.com), a company that brings the world of sports to fans' favorite social networking sites and mobile devices through innovative applications. This acquisition will strengthen Yahoo!'s social strategy of enriching, aggregating and distributing social content from across the entire Web, and offering a highly customizable social experience.

"Yahoo! is in a unique position to combine our deep expertise in content and aggregation technology to offer a highly personalized social experience," said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president, Consumer Products Group, Yahoo!. "Sports has been among the earliest online categories to experience rapid social proliferation, and the combination of Citizen Sports leading products with our world-class sports experience on Yahoo! Sports is a win-win for sports fans globally."

Millions of people across the globe use Citizen Sports' array of social and mobile products to play fantasy sports, fill out brackets, check live scores and read up-to-the minute news on sports including football, hockey, soccer, baseball, racing, rugby, hockey and cricket. Yahoo! Sports' content will be integrated into these products, creating a seamless experience for sports fans wherever they are. On Yahoo! Sports, users will be able to broadcast their allegiances, create or join a conversation with friends and fans and cheer for their teams through Citizen Sports' applications. This integration will further transform Yahoo! into a more personally relevant experience, drive deeper user engagement and create opportunities for advertisers to interact with audiences in new environments.

As the #1 destination for online Sports with more than 39 million monthly unique users in the U.S.*, Yahoo! Sports provides people with the most timely, relevant and comprehensive sports news, information and programming. Citizen Sports' network of popular applications for Facebook, MySpace, hi5, iPhone and Android span professional, college and high school sports.

"Citizen Sports was founded with the intent to enable fans to access news, scores and fantasy games on the platform of their choice," said Mike Kerns, founder and CEO of Citizen Sports. "We look forward to becoming a part of Yahoo! and bringing our social experiences to their 600 million users around the globe."

Citizen Sports was founded by Mike Kerns and Jeff Ma in 2004. Since then the company has brought together millions of sports fans from around the world to enjoy sports and connect with their friends. Citizen Sports is based in San Francisco.

Yahoo! expects to complete this acquisition in the second quarter of 2010. Financial terms were not disclosed.

* February 2010, comScore, U.S.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).

Cautionary Note:

This press release contains forward-looking statements (including without limitation the quotations from management in this press release) that involve risks and uncertainties concerning the proposed transaction, and Yahoo!'s product plans and strategic and operational expectations regarding user engagement and advertising opportunities. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibility that the transaction will not close or that the closing may be delayed, the integration may experience difficulties, and the anticipated benefits of the transaction to Yahoo! and its users and advertisers might not be realized. More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo!'s business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, which is on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

@yahoo + @twitter Sitting in a Tree...T.W.E.E.T.I.N.G.

Jason Ankeny — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:45:35 -0500

As part of its ongoing commitment to be the center of people's online lives, Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced a global partnership with Twitter to integrate Twitter's real-time social experiences with more than 600 million people in Yahoo!'s global network. The integration is part of Yahoo!'s commitment to provide personally relevant information to people, from sources across the Web.

A little bird told me: @yahoo is the place to tweet and be tweeted
This partnership includes three primary elements:

1) People will be able to access their personal Twitter feeds across Yahoo!'s many products and properties, including the homepage, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Sports, and others, letting them check in more easily on what's happening with the people and things they care about while on Yahoo!.

2) People will be able to update their Twitter status and share content from Yahoo! in their Twitter stream, so they can easily share their Yahoo! experiences with their friends and followers on Twitter.

3) Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! media properties like News, Finance, Entertainment, and Sports will include real-time public Twitter updates across a variety of topics. Yahoo! Search users will immediately see real-time Twitter results today; go to Yahoo! and try it out.

Tweet and shout: @yahoo pumps up the social volume
Today's Twitter partnership, along with Yahoo!'s recently announced Facebook relationship, will transform Yahoo! into a highly customizable social experience that lets people bring together and unify their activity from their many social experiences across the Web. Because of these connections, anyone with a Yahoo! ID can update multiple social networks simultaneously and stay in touch with the people and information that matter most at every moment of the day.

"Let me try to capture the enormity of this integration in 140 characters or less: We're turning the key to the online social universe -- you will find the most personally relevant experiences through Yahoo!," said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president, consumer products group, Yahoo!. "We're also simplifying people's lives by bringing their social worlds -- and the world --- together for easy access."

Add an exclamation point to your tweets
The Twitter integration also provides full access to the complete Twitter public data stream, which Yahoo! will use to improve the relevance and freshness of content across Yahoo! properties. This will drive deeper user engagement, and create new and compelling opportunities for developers, advertisers, and publishers.

"The information in one single tweet can travel light-years farther with this Yahoo! integration," said Twitter cofounder, Biz Stone. "Tweets in more places brings relevance where and when you need it most."

The real-time Search integration is available immediately. Other parts of the integration are expected to launch later this year.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).