online advertisers

If an ancient writer was alive today, he might post something like this to his Twitter account: "Hell hath no fury like a software giant scorned."

For much of the year, it looked like a proposed advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo would bring vitally needed liquidity of about $800 million to Yahoo. The economic downturn hit Yahoo particularly hard, with online advertisers moving away from banner ads to Google's more cost-effective text-based ads.

If an ancient writer was alive today, he might post something like this to his Twitter account: "Hell hath no fury like a software giant scorned."

For much of the year, it looked like a proposed advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo would bring vitally needed liquidity of about $800 million to Yahoo. The economic downturn hit Yahoo particularly hard, with online advertisers moving away from banner ads to Google's more cost-effective text-based ads.

Yahoo is laying off at least 1,500 workers in the wake of sluggish corporate profits. The layoffs equate to 10 percent of the Internet company's workforce.

Yahoo stumbled in its third-quarter earnings report. Revenues were $1.79 billion for the quarter, a one percent increase compared to the year-ago period. But operating income was $70 million, a 53 percent decrease from $150 million in the same period of 2007.

You've been browsing the Internet lately for information about carbon emissions to help your daughter with her climate change project at school.

You've also done a little shopping in advance of the holidays, buying that more-than-you-really-wanted-to-pay-for digital camera for your spouse.

Now, instead of that usual Staples banner ad on the online site of your local newspaper, you are getting ads about hybrid cars and high-definition TVs.

Google is seeking to draw clear distinctions between the methods it uses to target ad placements based on search queries and a controversial data-mining practice known as deep-packet inspection. The deep-packet technique gathers and stores information on an individual's Web-site visits and Internet usage without first obtaining the user's consent.

Yahoo Inc. is setting up a new chain of command amid the turmoil triggered by the embattled Internet icon's snub of Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5 billion takeover bid.

Under the new pecking order announced Thursday, Yahoo executive vice presidents Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel are being given expanded responsibilities over the Sunnyvale-based company's products and sales teams.

Google's biggest threat may not be Microsoft or Yahoo.

No, one of the most formidable challenges facing Google is likely sitting in your pocket or purse. It's your cell phone, and it will put added pressure on Google and other Internet companies to revamp the way they handle online marketing.

Google's biggest threat may not be Microsoft or Yahoo.

No, one of the most formidable challenges facing Google is likely sitting in your pocket or purse. It's your cell phone, and it will put added pressure on Google and other Internet companies to revamp the way they handle online marketing.

The Federal Trade Commission is getting an earful about Internet privacy. The opinions on the FTC's proposed self-regulatory principles to govern online advertising vary widely, with Microsoft taking bold steps to suggest an approach it deems "comprehensive."