Comscore: Bing almost even with Yahoo in search rankings

Microsoft launched its Bing search engine back in mid-2009 with a goal of taking on Google in the lucrative Internet search market—or, at least, the lucrative search advertising market. Although Google has yet to see much of a threat from Bing, Microsoft’s search engine is on the verge of marking a major milestone: according to Comscore, Bing is just about even with Yahoo in terms of its share of the U.S. search market. During November 2011, Comscore has Yahoo down 0.1 percent to a 15.1 percent share of U.S. searches, while Bing is up 0.2 percent to 15 percent. That essentially puts the two companies neck-and-neck.

So, while Bing may soon be able to sing “we’re number two!”—at least in the United States—it’s still far behind Google, which Comscore says accounted for 65.4 percent of the U.S. search market during the same period. However, it’s important to remember that for the last year and a half, Microsoft’s Bing has been performing the backend duties behind Yahoo search in the United States—so that means Microsoft is capturing and analyzing about 30 percent of U.S. search traffic, and using that information to profile and track users and deliver advertising.

Comscore’s figures cover some 17.8 billion “explicit core searches” during November 2011, which omits things like local directories, maps, and user-generated video sites like YouTube, as well as contextually-driven searches that don’t reflect “specific user intent” to use the search results.

On a side note, rival media metrics firms Comscore and Nielsen have announced a settlement of patent litigation between them: under the deal, Comscore will wind up owning four families of Nielsen patents asserted in the case, and grants Nielsen a worldwide license to four Comscore patents. Nielsen also walks away with about $19 million in restricted Comscore common stock—meaning the companies are a bit joined at the hip for a at least a year—and the companies agree not to sue each other over patents for three years.

Nielsen got its start providing ratings and audience measurement for television, and added online media ratings in recent years. The company sued Comscore, claiming it was violating five Nielsen patents related to measuring online content; Comscore countersued, claiming Nielsen violated some of its patents for measuring online content. The cross-licensing deal puts both companies in the clear, but while Nielsen walks away with cash (assuming Comscore stock holds value over the next year), Comscore seems to be walking away with most of the intellectual property—which, given the state of the U.S. patent system, may be more valuable to the company down the road.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Reports: Yahoo exploring sale of Asian holdings

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo appears to be getting closer to giving its frustrated shareholders something they've long wanted: a sale of the Internet company's holdings in China and Japan.

The prospect of Yahoo Inc. finally consummating a deal with China's Alibaba Group and Softbank Corp., the controlling owner of Yahoo Japan, emerged in online reports published Wednesday by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, both newspapers reported Yahoo is exploring a proposal valued at about $17 billion, or $14 per share. The price reflects Wall Street's belief that Yahoo's investments in Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan have become the company's most valuable pieces. Yahoo's U.S. business has lost its luster as the company's website loses traffic and advertising revenue to Internet search leader Google Inc. and Facebook's social network.

Yahoo ended Wednesday with a market value of about $20 billion, based on its stock closing price of $15.99. The shares gained 88 cents, with most of the surge occurring after the reports of Yahoo's talks with its Asian partners.

If the deal comes together, Alibaba and Softbank would contribute cash and certain assets to newly formed entities. Yahoo would then surrender its 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan and most of its holdings in Alibaba to gain control of new entities, according to the Times.

Yahoo would retain a 15 percent stake in privately held Alibaba, down from 42 percent as of Sept. 30, according to the company's most recent quarterly report.

The transaction would be designed to avoid a big tax bill — a stumbling block in Yahoo's previous discussions to sell its Asian holdings.

Yahoo declined to comment Wednesday. Alibaba didn't respond to requests for comments.

The renewed talks among Yahoo, Alibaba and Softbank are the latest bit of boardroom intrigue that that has been unfolding since Yahoo abruptly fired Carol Bartz as CEO in early September after losing patience with her attempts to turn around the company during her 2? years on the job.

Since then, Yahoo's board has been mulling a variety of options that have included selling the Asian holdings, selling a 20 percent stake to buyout firms or even auctioning off the whole company.

The nine-director board has been leaning in different directions as it ruminates. Just a few weeks ago, it appeared the board was leaning toward selling a large stake to a group led by Silver Lake Partners for $16.60 per share or TPG Capital for $17.60 per share.

That idea didn't go over well with some of Yahoo's major shareholders, including hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, who has been threatening to overthrow the company's board.

Yahoo's board is scheduled to discuss the proposed divestiture of the company's Asian holdings in a Thursday meeting, according to the Times. The newspaper said the directors intend to decide whether to intensify negotiations that could last for a few more weeks.

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