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Yahoo Tries to Recover From "It's Y!ou" Ad Disaster by Attacking Google's One Box (This Is Going to End in Tears)

Kara Swisher in News on May 5, 2010 at 11:28 pm PT

Say it ain’t you, Yahoo. And yet, here’s one of the major new conceptual directions of the troubled Internet giant’s next pricey marketing campaign, aimed at recovering from its first advertising foray, which is widely considered a failure: A full frontal attack on search leader Google. In fact, it’s an odd attempt to mock the simple and elegant white box that allowed Google to steal Yahoo’s thunder many years back. “There’s nothing to look at but a box and a button,” says the voice-over to the Yahoo commercial about an unnamed, but obvious, Web site. “When you look at this homepage nothing looks back at you.”

Bill Gates Joins the Oversharing Generation: He Tweets, He Pokes and Now, He Blogs!

Kara Swisher in News on January 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm PT

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates–who has been devoting most of this time to philanthropic work via the Gates Foundation–has just launched an ambitious blog and information site. He is calling it “The Gates Notes: An Inside Look at Global Matters,” but BoomTown has officially nicknamed the site–which you can see on a screen grab after the jump–All Things B(ill) or perhaps All Things G(ates) today.

The One-Year Report Card of Yahoo’s Carol Bartz–Product Innovation: D From Readers, A From Sheila and C- From BoomTown

Kara Swisher in News on January 20, 2010 at 1:05 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown asked a question on Twitter about what grade people thought I should give Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz for product innovation, because I was torn about what the grade should be. One main reason: Bartz inherited a company that has been suffering from a serious and chronic case of product constipation, after many years of leading the Web in new and innovative offerings. With every other Web competitor innovating wildly in 2009, the lack of spark from Yahoo has become worrisome.

Liveblogging Yahoo's Third-Quarter Conference Call: Bartz "Came Down With Something," and CFO Carries On (and On and On and On)

Kara Swisher in News on October 20, 2009 at 2:15 pm PT

Uh-oh, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was expected to appear on the Internet giant’s third-quarter earnings call, but she apparently “came down with something,” according to CFO Tim Morse. BoomTown is sending over chicken soup right now, but let’s hope she gets her vaccinations tout de suite! Thus, no sassy quotes or cursing, but a very earnest Morse, who sounded like he was once a Boy Scout.

Gandhi's Head Starring as the "G" in Google Today

Kara Swisher in News on October 2, 2009 at 1:14 am PT

For the last month or so, the Google homepage has played with the famous colored-letter logo by morphing it into a sci-fi in-joke and later adding another “l” to indicate the company’s 11th birthday. Now, a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi–the Indian leader whose 140th birthday anniversary is today–has become the “G” in the logo. Yes, indeed, the head of the man known as “The Father of a Nation” is a letter.

The New Twitter Homepage Is, as Reported, Search-alicious!

Kara Swisher in News on July 28, 2009 at 8:22 pm PT

BoomTown reported last week that Twitter was planning on debuting a new homepage this week. And presto–it’s up! The new page is heavy on search, as well as topic trends. I am not sure this makes the site a “Google-killer,” as some have predicted, with Twitter dominating real-time search over Google. But the blue is a very pretty shade, although I still want the microblogging service to 86 that annoying Twitter bird (alert PETA stat!).

The Yahoo-Microsoft Deal: Tick, Tick, Tick…Boom?

Kara Swisher in News on July 28, 2009 at 4:49 am PT

Things are as tight as a tick over at Yahoo and Microsoft about the deal the pair have been discussing over the last months–as execs shuttle back and forth and forth and back and their boards deliberate on what will surely be one of the most important decisions for either company for the near-term future in the digital space. As various reports debate the terms of the deal, it is critically important to remember that, done badly or with too much haste, this massive and extremely complex deal is one with even greater potential to tank. “It could be game-changing or it could be one the biggest bombs ever,” said one exec close to the situation. “So, obviously, everyone is treating this very delicately.”

Liveblogging the Yahoo Second Quarter 2009 Earnings Call: We Are the Kingmaker!

Kara Swisher in News on July 21, 2009 at 2:21 pm PT

If there’s an earnings call at Yahoo, you know BoomTown is going to liveblog it! Will Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz say something naughty? (Nope!) What is new CFO Tim Morse like? (Nice!) Will they say anything about the talks with Microsoft about a search and online advertising partnership? (No!) Oh, it might be a corker! The earnings results for the second quarter certainly were not. Here’s the conference call, updated as it happened.