Google Analytics Blog: YouTube now offers more analytics

Google Analytics Blog: YouTube now offers more analytics

Rumour! Google is buying Feedburner?

It has just been heard from a VERY trusted source that Google is buying Feedburner in order to get into the rapidly evolving RSS Ad market. The delay in announcing the deal, I am told is solely due to the delay in closing out the DoubleClick deal.
If true this deal makes a lot of sense for both parties. Today many of us predominately read blogs via our RSS readers and thus never actually visit the original blog source and/or see the sites supporting adverts.
So RSS has effectively eliminated the potential value of AdSense and DoubleClick because the majority of people never view them. This is already hurting publishers who rely heavily on the income generated by people watching or clicking on adverts.
Personally I think it would be a smart move by Google to acquire FeedBurner, simply because Google could then start to serve their own ads (Adsense or DoubleClick) into the RSS stream.
Remember when people first started talking about advertising appearing within RSS feeds and the enormous backlash! Slowly over time we have begun to notice more and more RSS feeds appearing in the readers with supporting adverts.

Note: of caution to this post that although the source is VERY good, it has not been officially confirmed by Google.

Rumors Reappear! Microsoft Buying Yahoo?

A year ago, the two companies were reportedly in talks about a merger, but those conversations were dismissed as rumors and speculation. Well, here's Microsoft and Yahoo 2.0. A pairing in the spirit of a superhero team up could happen if the latest chatter about Yahoo and Microsoft proves true. Once again,a potential merger is being considered, as neither company has made gains against Google's search and advertising dominance.The Wall Street Journal said last year's talks have become this year's discussions. Both Yahoo and Microsoft have been rejiggering their online advertising products, but have not been able to eat into Google's lead."Short of a wholesale merger, Microsoft could spin its online group into a separately-run Yahoo, in return for a Yahoo stake,"the WSJ said. "Though a person familiar with the matter says Microsoft would likely want to acquire Yahoo."

Microsoft would have to take on some debt to do that, despite its massive pile of cash and equivalents. Yahoo is up to a market cap of over $38 billion, thanks to rumors of the Microsoft talks that began in the New York Post.The Post carried a story earlier in the week that claimed Microsoft was ready to purchase 24/7 Real Media, in order to offset Google's Double Click deal as well as Yahoo's Right Media purchase. A Microsoft spokesperson would not comment on the story to Web Pro News, citing the article as rumors and speculation. If Microsoft were to make a deal with Yahoo, the WSJ thinks there could be some massive upheaval in Yahoo's executive ranks.Considering Yahoo's performance for shareholders over the past couple of years, it's hard to think of that as a negative here.