Friday, February 19, 2010

Microsoft and Yahoo! Receive Regulatory Clearance

As I opened up my mail on Thursday morning three copies of the Microsoft/Yahoo regulatory clearance email were setting in my inbox eagerly awaiting me. I opened up the email like a kid on Christmas. Here is the email for those that didn't get it yet.


Dear Alan,

Microsoft® and Yahoo! have now received regulatory clearance to form the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance in the United States and European Union. This milestone is an exciting step in our effort to give your business a time-saving and cost-efficient way to connect with a larger combined audience of potential customers.

How the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance benefits you

After the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is implemented, you will:

• Reach more potential customers: Search ad inventory from both the Yahoo! and Microsoft networks will be joined in a new, unified search marketplace powered by Bing™ , with a combined audience of over 150 million searchers in the U.S and nearly 577 million searchers worldwide.

• Save valuable time and effort: You'll use a single platform—Microsoft adCenter—to manage your campaigns easier and faster. With just one buy, your search ads will reach users on Bing, Yahoo!, and other premium partner sites and networks, such as The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, msnbc.com, FoxSports.com, Facebook, and Buy.com.

What's ahead

For now, it's business as usual; there is no change to your account or service. Your ads will continue to serve on Bing search results pages, and you will continue to receive the same great service from Microsoft.

Both companies are committed to making this transition a seamless experience. Our goal is to bring the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance to the U.S. by the end of 2010, prior to the crucial holiday season, with additional countries following on a staggered schedule beginning in 2011.

As our transition dates approach, we will contact you with information about what to do next. In order to ensure you continue to receive important service updates, please verify your contact information is current in Microsoft adCenter. View our help topic: Change contact information.

How to learn more

In the meantime, you can familiarize yourself with the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance by visiting our new resource, searchalliance.com, where you'll find plenty of additional details, including press releases, FAQs, and more!

We appreciate your business and look forward to bringing you the benefits of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance.

Sincerely,

The Microsoft adCenter Team

Need an example of what is to come? Take a look at AOL Search (Enhanced by Google)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Oddcast Widgets: Hours of Entertainment



Oddcast is making the funnest and funniest widgets where you (or your friends) can be apart of the entertainment. Go to Oddcast Widgets and enjoy the hours of fun that ensues.

Best Widgets
My personal favorites are the Biggin Strips commercial, the e*trade baby widget, and the Poppa Cheeto voice modulator.