RealSelf.com, an independent site for consumers to discuss anti-aging treatments, has accused plastic surgery corporation, Lifestyle Lift, of breach of contract and computer [...]]]> We’ve got some interesting and humorous links from the past week for this installment of Komodo Links. So sit back and enjoy while you wait for the weekend to begin.

RealSelf.com, an independent site for consumers to discuss anti-aging treatments, has accused plastic surgery corporation, Lifestyle Lift, of breach of contract and computer fraud. Basically RealSelf.com claims that Lifestyle Lift agents posed as patients and posted positive reviews about Lifestyle Lift procedures. These charges were filed as a counterclaim to a Lifestyle Lift lawsuit filed against RealSelf.com for trademark infringement. MediaPost has more on this plastic surgery soap opera.

Here’s a funny post (and comments) about FriendFeedFeed. FriendFeedFeed, currently in “pre-beta,” aggregates all your social networking aggregator feeds into one aggregated feed of aggregator activity feeds. Definitely a quality piece of Web 2.0 satire.

On a more serious note, Danny Sullivan writes an open letter to Google. In the letter, Danny asks Google to divest itself of Performics, DoubleClick’s SEO firm. “Google’s in the SEO business now, …conflict of interest? You bet.”

And in an unexpected move, AOL buys social network Bebo for $850 million. In response, AOL users ask their grandchildren, “what’s a Bebo?”

The European Commission announced today that Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick can proceed without conditions. Google proposed the deal back in April to increase its sales of online display ads. Microsoft had vigorously opposed the deal saying it would hinder competition in the global online ad market. In the end Microsoft [...]]]>

The European Commission announced today that Google’s $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick can proceed without conditions. Google proposed the deal back in April to increase its sales of online display ads. Microsoft had vigorously opposed the deal saying it would hinder competition in the global online ad market. In the end Microsoft could only stall the deal, not kill it. You can read the rest over at Bloomberg.

The Google Blog posted Why Data Matters a couple days ago. A great read including “a brief history of search.”

In the next few weeks Google’s AdWords will begin to factor landing page [...]]]> It’s Friday and its time for some Komodo Links. Google, Yahoo Maps, and an interview with Mark Zuckerberg are on the list.

The Google Blog posted Why Data Matters a couple days ago. A great read including “a brief history of search.”

In the next few weeks Google’s AdWords will begin to factor landing page load time into your quality score. The primary goal is to improve the user experience.

Yahoo Maps has been updated with new data and functionality.
Improvements include:

• 300 cities with new neighborhood data added throughout North America
• 12,000 new neighborhoods added
• Expanded worldwide coverage
• New Points-of-Interest (POI) information

And to finish up, BusinessWeek has a short interview with Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. In the interview Zuckerberg discusses Sheryl Sandberg’s role at Facebook, their expansion plans, and his perspective on a possible initial public offering of stock.

The Industry Champions list is worth looking at as well. Anheuser-Busch is not only the King of Beers but the King of [...]]]> Apple took the top spot in Fortune Magazine’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” ranking for 2008. Google came in at number four and Microsoft made it into the Top 20 at number sixteen.

The Industry Champions list is worth looking at as well. Anheuser-Busch is not only the King of Beers but the King of Beverages. Altria Group is the champion of the tobacco industry. I guess thats a good thing… Two companies with a large presence in Florida made the Industry Champions list. Publix Super Markets took the top spot in the “food and drug stores” category, and FPL Group (Florida Power and Light) took the honors in the “electric and gas utilities” category.

Komodo Links is back and we’ve got some quality links for you this week. First up Stephan Spencer, founder and president of Netconcepts, wrote a guest blog post over at Search Engine Land titled How to Write a Killer RFP (Request for Proposal) for Hiring an SEO Firm. It was a very good read [...]]]>

Komodo Links is back and we’ve got some quality links for you this week.

• First up Stephan Spencer, founder and president of Netconcepts, wrote a guest blog post over at Search Engine Land titled How to Write a Killer RFP (Request for Proposal) for Hiring an SEO Firm. It was a very good read and Stephan gives some great advice.
• Michael Arrington at Tech Crunch put together a nice post with the details of what a possible News Corp/Yahoo deal would look like.
• Another one from Tech Crunch: a review of the streaming news video site, NewsClipper, and its creator, Onar Vikingstad.
• And lastly, a very interesting post from the Hitwise blog, MSN Search and Ask Audience Profiles. Also check out the post from last week: Yahoo! search draws younger audience; Google users big spenders.

Enjoy.

The New York Times posted an article reviewing the current situation with some great commentary from Wall Street analysts. The [...]]]> Yahoo! is feeling cornered after Microsoft made its takeover bid last week. The Yahoo! board said it would take its time to review the Microsoft bid. They haven’t acted on the bid yet.

The New York Times posted an article reviewing the current situation with some great commentary from Wall Street analysts. The article also explores some other options open to Yahoo! if they decide to decline the Microsoft bid, including an advertising partnership with Google, courting other buyers, or forcing a leveraged buyout to take the company private.

Some highlights from the article:

But if Yahoo spurns Microsoft, analysts believe it probably will have to swallow its pride and forge an advertising partnership with Google if the alliance could win antitrust clearance.

Under this scenario, Yahoo would rely on Google to run its search engine while joining thousands of other Web sites that depend on the Internet search leader for a steady stream of ad revenue generated from text-based links that produce commissions with every click.

But getting Google’s advertising help probably wouldn’t be enough to trump Microsoft’s offer by itself. To placate shareholders, Yahoo probably would have to line up enough money to pay a special dividend or perhaps even take the company private in a leveraged buyout.

The list of so-called ”white knights” willing to come to Yahoo’s rescue appears to be dwindling. Several of the most logical candidates, including News Corp., AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp., reportedly have no interest in trying to top Microsoft’s bid.

Yahoo’s board conceivably could even turn down Microsoft on the grounds that the current offer grossly undervalues the company, given its stock traded as high as high as $34.08 in late October.

If Yahoo assumes that stance, it might provoke a showdown at its annual meeting in a few months. Microsoft has until March 13 to nominate its own slate of directors if it tries to seize control of Yahoo’s board.

What do you think Yahoo should do? Should they take the Microsoft offer, partner with Google, or something else? Let us know.

I personally like the suggestion made by the Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post, who “believes Yahoo should dangle the prospect of a Google partnership to persuade Microsoft to raise its bid and then accept the higher offer.” Microsoft could call their bluff believing that either Yahoo won’t approach Google or that regulators would deny the partnership on anti-trust grounds. I don’t believe they would call the bluff though. I think Microsoft is just too eager to get this deal done.