online search

Can Googling delay the onset of dementia?

A new UCLA study, part of the growing research into the effects of technology on the brain, shows that searching the Internet may keep older brains agile -- it's like taking your brain for a walk.

It's too early to conclude that technology will help vanquish Alzheimer's disease, but "our study shows that when your brain is on Google, your neural circuitry changes extensively," said psychiatrist Gary Small, director of UCLA's Memory & Aging Research Center.

A report in the Sunday Times [of London] that Microsoft Corp. is in talks with Yahoo Inc. to buy the U.S Internet company's online search business for $20 billion is "total fiction," according to a key executive cited by an influential U.S. blog.

The Sunday Times, which did not cite its sources, said the proposal under discussion involves a complex transaction that would see the U.S. software giant support a new management team to take control of Yahoo.

On the third day of its Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft cranked up the "wow" factor by showing off some projects under development in the company's research wing. Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Microsoft research, delivered the day's keynote address and used the opportunity to talk about Microsoft's ideas for dealing with a variety of technological and social challenges.

There's no shortage of U.S. Internet companies that have failed to replicate their successes at home in Chinese cyberspace. Despite throwing considerable resources at its Chinese-language operation, for instance, Google (GOOG) is a distant No. 2 in online search [BusinessWeek.com, 8/30/07] behind local champion Baidu.com (BIDU). In online auctions, eBay (EBAY) threw in the towel [BusinessWeek.com, 12/19/06] in December 2006 after failing to dislodge the market leader, Hangzhou-based Taobao, and joined forces with Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's TOM Online.

Google Inc.'s chief executive said Wednesday the Internet search leader won't delay its proposed advertising partnership with rival Yahoo Inc. even if government regulators need more time to assess whether the alliance will diminish competition.

After voluntarily delaying the start of the Yahoo deal three months ago to give antitrust regulators time to review the potential impact, CEO Eric Schmidt said he isn't willing to wait very much beyond an Oct. 11 deadline spelled out in the companies' contract.

High drama is expected on Aug. 1 as Yahoo shareholders gather at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters for the annual meeting.

When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dropped his bid to buy Yahoo, he took pains to point out that Yahoo's search-sharing arrangements with Google were likely to bring intense antitrust scrutiny for any company acquiring Yahoo. Given Microsoft's lengthy history with antitrust enforcement, Ballmer found that particularly unappealing.

As Yahoo perseveres in resisting Microsoft's unwelcome takeover advances, the debate over whether, and by how much, the software giant will need to increase its $31-per-share bid is reaching fever pitch. But few Wall Street analysts doubt the software company will ultimately prevail.

Assuming those prognostications prove correct, the discussion will swiftly turn to what a blended Microsoft-Yahoo would look like, and what Microsoft will need to do to justify a likely $40 billion-plus sale price.

Post-Acquisition Musts