advertising sales

Nine years after its disastrous 164-billion-dollar merger with Time Warner, Internet pioneer AOL traded as an independent public company for the first time Thursday.

Shares of the once mighty Internet provider were down more than 2 percent in pre-market trading as investors and analysts questioned its ability to thrive in the modern online world as it tries to create content that will attract millions of users and help it sell advertising.

Google Inc. is counting on the crown jewel of its online advertising empire to burnish a diamond in the rough.

Hoping to take an even bigger bite out of ad budgets, Google has melded the technology powering its lucrative search marketing network with a system that it bought 18 months ago to sell online billboards and other more visual commercials, including video.

Sales of the Windows operating system fell 29 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft reported Thursday. The news sent the company's stock down nearly nine percent at noon Eastern time Friday.

Microsoft said Windows sales for the quarter were $3.1 billion, down from $4.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. For the full fiscal year, Windows sales declined 13 percent, to $14.7 billion from $16.9 billion. Some businesses have avoided Windows Vista, and Microsoft will release Windows 7 in October.

Weak Demand Blamed

Carol Bartz has already shown off her cost-cutting skills in her first six months as Yahoo Inc.'s chief executive.

Now, she will try to prove she isn't making a bad bet by spending more money while the Internet company's advertising sales are still sagging.

Google Inc. has been getting more frugal with its employees and other expenses as the recession crimps its growth, but the Internet search leader isn't skimping on political lobbying, according to a recent disclosure form.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company spent $880,000 on lobbying during the first quarter, a 42 percent increase from $620,000 at the same time last year. Google spent a total of $2.8 million on lobbying last year.

While Facebook is grinning about earning the attention of employment recruiters looking for the best and brightest talent, LinkedIn is earning some new revenues from its just-launched social-networking advertising program. Or at least hoping to.

AOL is revamping its popular online radio service Tuesday, adding streams from all 140 CBS Corp.-owned radio stations and upgrading its player to add more functions and expand the service's reach.

Much is at stake for AOL, which is looking for new ways to boost revenues from online music streaming a year after a panel of copyright judges sharply increased the royalties that online radio providers pay to record labels and artists.