OMG

AOL’s HuffPost Enters Crowded Online Arena With HuffPost Celebrity Site

Kara Swisher in Media on July 11, 2011 at 4:26 am PT

The Huffington Post Media Group, AOL’s fast-moving content unit, is launching a celebrity site called HuffPost Celebrity today, as well as another called HuffPost Culture. HuffPost Celebrity, which ate AOL’s former celeb-focused site Popeater, is in a very crowded arena online, with competitors such as Yahoo’s omg!, Time Warner’s People magazine Web site, as well as AOL-owned TMZ.com.

Where in the World Is Yahoo’s Carol Bartz? (Here’s the Internal Memo GPS!)

Kara Swisher in News on June 19, 2011 at 12:03 pm PT

With its annual meeting this coming Thursday, you’d think Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz would be taking a rest. Not so! She has been a regular Carmen Sandiego, in fact, jetting to Yahoo hotspots around the globe from Dubai to Milan to New York and then back to Yahoo’s Sunnyvale HQ.

Yahoo Focuses on Tentpole Events With New Head

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2011 at 7:11 am PT

At least one thing in yesterday’s lackluster first-quarter earnings report for Yahoo that got its Microsoft-search-bashing CEO Carol Bartz excited was the Silicon Valley Internet giant’s traffic gusher for big tentpole events such as the Super Bowl and the Oscars. There will be more of that, it seems, with the elevation of Yahoo exec Sam Silverstein as head of its special events coverage. Sources said it will be a major area of emphasis, given obvious advertiser interest.

Yahoo's Got a Digital Newsstand

John Paczkowski in News on February 10, 2011 at 9:23 am PT

Chief Product Officer Blake Irving defines Yahoo as “the premier digital media company in content and context.” That’s a far shorter answer to the “what is Yahoo” question than the one he provided last year. A bit more cogent too. And it sets the stage for the company’s latest push into mobile content, Livestand, which it announced moments ago.

Yahoo Finds More Real Estate to Sell: Ads Come to the Login Page

Peter Kafka in Media on June 14, 2010 at 8:32 am PT

If Google can decorate its famously pristine homepage, then everything else is fair game too: Yahoo has started renting out its third most popular page to marketers.

OMG + HP + SATC = Yahoo’s Big New Ad

Peter Kafka in Media on April 30, 2010 at 2:04 pm PT

Yahoo invents a new way to sell a page of advertising, and gets Hewlett-Packard to try it out, with an assist from Sarah Jessica Parker and friends.

Liveblogging Yahoo's First-Quarter Earnings Call: Yahoo Paints by the Numbers!

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2010 at 1:59 pm PT

BoomTown liveblogged Yahoo’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts today, which started at 2 pm PT. Earlier today, Yahoo said its net income spiked to $310 million, or 22 cents a share, in the period. On the call, CEO Carol Bartz talked about Yahoo as art and about borderline obsessives, like Van Gogh (and BoomTown).

Yahoo Renovates Its Home Page

Katherine Boehret in The Mossberg Solution on July 28, 2009 at 4:52 pm PT

Katherine Boehret reviews Yahoo’s made-over home page, which features less clutter and new “apps.”

Newly (Re-)Minted Microsoft–and Ex-Yahoo–Exec Scott Moore Speaks!

Kara Swisher in News on February 10, 2009 at 2:00 am PT

Just after he got the job 10 days ago, BoomTown got the chance to chitty-chat a bit with Scott Moore, the former Yahoo media chief, who is returning to Microsoft, where he will lead its online content efforts for the U.S for its MSN online service. Apparently, you can go home again! It’s a touché tale because it feels like Moore was pretty much rehired by MSN exec Greg Nelson (also in on the conversation with Moore) to give Yahoo a wallop where it really will hurt–its powerful content business, one of Yahoo’s only bright spots.

Is Wonderwall Gonna Be the One That Saves MSN?

Kara Swisher in News on February 5, 2009 at 12:28 am PT

In an interesting and innovative move compared to what has typically been less-than-hip online programming over the years, Microsoft’s MSN service is debuting a slick new celebrity site called Wonderwall today–created, designed and produced by a Hollywood company run by former Yahoo media chief and well-known television exec Lloyd Braun. Using an unusual horizontal design with a scrolling “wall,” a plethora of pictures and a deeply visual sensibility, it’s definitely a laudable risk for Microsoft, as the company seeks to continue to push itself into the online content business, despite a lackluster record. But will this time be wonderful?