The Real Deal on the Yahoo/Google Agreement

Facts and Fictions

This agreement gives Google control of over nearly 90% of the search advertising market.
FICTION

THE FACTS
► This agreement will not extend Google’s share of any market – Google simply agreed to make its
search advertising available to Yahoo!, entirely at Yahoo!’s discretion. Yahoo! will have the option to
show Google ads in addition to or in place of its own sponsored search ads, or, for example, when it
lacks its own ads to match to an uncommon search term.
► This option will strengthen, not weaken, Yahoo!’s position and enable us to improve our ability to
monetize search results for terms where our own marketplace has no coverage, less coverage or less
relevant coverage.
► Google will not have access to or control over Yahoo!’s customer relationships, ads or pricing.
► This is a non‐exclusive agreement between Yahoo! as a publisher and Google as a supplier of ads.
Yahoo! will continue to run all of its sponsored search auctions and provide advertisers opportunities
across the entire spectrum of online advertising, including search.


The auction process can be manipulated by Google, is not controlled by advertisers and is not
independent.

FICTION


THE FACTS:
► Google and Yahoo! auctions are, and will remain, totally independent from one another. Yahoo!'s
auctions will continue to be driven by the prices advertisers are willing to pay, not the companies
themselves.
► These auctions have a proven track record for ensuring fair pricing that reflects advertiser demand and
ad effectiveness, creating a highly democratic, liquid marketplace in which even small businesses with
limited budgets can achieve marquee placement if they write high‐quality ads.


The agreement will drive up the cost of search advertising. Google and Yahoo! will display
only ads most profitable for themselves. FICTION

THE FACTS:
► Search‐advertising pricing has always been performance‐driven and set by advertisers at auction, not
by Google or Yahoo! The agreement does not change this dynamic. Neither company can arbitrarily
set prices – any more than EBay or the New York Stock Exchange can mandate the cost of an item or a
share in a company – because they’re driven by the forces of demand and supply in the marketplace.
► Ad price is only one part of the story. A more important measure for advertisers large and small is the
return on investment of their advertising dollar. The Google‐Yahoo! agreement will help advertisers
convert more clicks into customers by showing more relevant ads on Yahoo!, giving advertisers a better
return for every dollar they invest. Thus any increase in costs is expected to be offset by a
corresponding increase in ROI.
► Advertisers ultimately are in control of how much they spend because they only pay what an ad is
worth to them. The bottom line is that consumers should see more relevant ads and advertisers should
attract more customers.

Quality scores inherently drive up the cost of advertisements.

FICTION

THE FACTS:
► All the major search engines, including Yahoo! and Microsoft, assign quality scores. A quality score
helps ensure that users see the most relevant ads, not just the most expensive ones, by introducing
feedback into the auction process regarding what ads consumers prefer based on how they respond to
the ads.
► By including quality scores into such systems, we permit smaller companies to more effectively
compete with larger businesses by creating highly relevant ads and websites.


Minimum pricing by Yahoo! and Google amounts to price fixing, as it sets a unified floor for
ad prices that will dominate the entire market.


FICTION

THE FACTS
► Google and Yahoo! will continue to set minimum bids in their auctions independently. Search ad
companies like Google and Yahoo! use minimum bids to give advertisers a realistic starting point for
how much it will cost to productively show their ads, based on our overall visibility into the separate
marketplaces. Minimum bids also help deter low‐quality spam ads.
► Neither Google nor Yahoo! has ever based minimums on what competitors are doing and this
agreement is not going to change that.


There will no longer be a need to purchase ads on Yahoo!, diminishing industry competition,
and this agreement will reinforce Google’s dominance in search, not just search advertising.


FICTION


THE FACTS:
► Testing shows that Yahoo!, in part due to its independent search capabilities, competes aggressively
with Google on the most valuable search terms and across some of the most widely trafficked industry
sectors like autos and finance.
► There is no guarantee that a Google ad will appear on Yahoo!, since selecting ads from Google is at
Yahoo!’s discretion. We remain a leader in integrating display and search advertising solutions as well
as in providing independent search results. So, advertisers have ample reason to continue to look to
Yahoo! to help achieve their marketing goals.
► If anything, the agreement will better help Yahoo! to strengthen its competitiveness by improving
monetization of its least profitable search results, increasing funds available to drive product
development and innovation.

► This agreement only applies to the U.S. and Canada, and excludes the fast‐growing mobile segment of
the business.
► Finally, recall that Yahoo! is incentivized over time to not depend on a slice of revenue from Google ads,
but rather to improve its products so that it can capture 100% of the revenue from its own inventory.

How to Select Attorney Online

Most clients consider online resources essential
in the gathering of information on legal service
providers. In fact, a Yahoo! study conducted in
April 2008 confrms that 62% of clients use the
Internet prior to selecting a lawyer or attorney.
Clients spend an average of 8 hours performing
online research to get details about their legal
situation and options, and 80% choose their
attorney within one week, often out of the
need for immediacy.

Search engines play an important role in the
attorney-selection process.
Search engines are particularly valuable for this
sort of research, as they enable people to fnd
information quickly. Clients are equally as likely
to use a search engine in the research process
(36%) as they are to use the phone book—
representing a shift in the way clients had
previously accessed information on attorneys.
People using a search engine are highly likely
to enter the type of attorney they are seeking,
which presents a major opportunity for attorneys
of a particular specialty to market their services
to potential clients.

Websites can improve clients’ perceptions and
drive business connections.
Business-focused websites present a unique
opportunity to educate clients on service offerings—
and infuence their opinions. Attorneys who have
websites improve their clients’ perceptions and
trust in their services.

Impact a Website Had on Clients:

Improved my perception of the attorney 40%
Increased my trust in the attorney 23%
Answered all of my questions, fully informative 20%
Sealed my decision—I chose the attorney after seeing their site 20%
Was an unappealing site, so I decided against the attorney 10%
Didn’t have a site, so I decided against the attorney 10%

Attorney-related searches cover a variety
of specialties.
The majority of clients searching for attorneys are
interested in someone who specializes in estate
and probate, marital related issues, and accidents.
For most searchers, it’s their frst time looking
for a legal professional, and they have a limited
knowledge of the legal landscape.

Top 10 Specialties Searched For
Estate and Probate 25%
Child Support/Custody 13%
Auto-Related Accidents 12%
Marriage and Divorce 12%
Real Estate 11%
Bankruptcy 8%
Personal Injury 8%
Business Law 7%
Criminal Law 7%
Traffc Violations 6%
Copyright © 2008 Yahoo! Inc.

How to Prevent Identity Theft

Identity theft nowdays is one of the most popular crimes in the world.
It refers to using any individuals identity with aim to steal money or get other benefits. The criminal poses as a person whose identity he has stolen to hoodwink the concerned authorities. Financial identity theft is the most common type of identity theft as a lot of money can be stolen that way. However there are other types of identity thefts also like criminal identity theft where someone passes off as another person when apprehended for a crime. Then there is identity cloning where a person passes off as another person in everyday life and also business identity where information is used falsely to obtain credit.

The best example of identity theft today is getting fraudulent emails on your computer. You may find an email saying that all the records of the credit card company are being updated and so it is necessary to provide all your personal details as well as your credit card number. Once you provide the number and all personal details your credit card will be misused by making online purchases in your name.

There are other ways also of using your identity for fraudulent activities. A person may make use of information that he finds on documents that you have dumped in the garbage. Some people also steal your identity cards or use your identity cards when you have misplaced them somewhere and start shopping in your name. By the time you realize the fraud it might be too late. A person may also eavesdrop and hear and misuse crucial information that he has heard from you.

Nowadays stealing information from the computer occurs on a large scale. Trojans on the internet are able to track down your surfing habits as well as get access to the personal and confidential information that you have stored on the computer. Identity theft has become common in organizations as well where the person will search the databases on computer system containing confidential information.

Identity theft can be brought under control y following important steps that we discuss. In terms of internet identity theft you should never reply to any email asking for your personal information. Always go to the official site of the bank or credit card company to provide or change any information. When using credit card at stores see to it the card is swiped through the correct device for payment. Always store information of all credit cards at one location which is secure. Try to use credit cards instead of debit cards for shopping. Never give out your password, pin number etc over the phone unless you know you are talking with an authorized person from the company.

Always dispose your credit card by cutting it into pieces. Always check your monthly credit card statements so that you can note down any unauthorized purchases that have been made. You can also make use of credit monitoring facilities where you are notified instantly if any purchase is made from your credit card. In case of creating passwords see to it that they are not commonly used words like your name. Use a mixture of numbers and characters. Try to memorize all your passwords instead of writing them down on paper and putting it in your wallet. Always tear paper containing information in pieces if you don’t need anymore. In organizations you can make use of a shredder. Keep the antivirus program in your computer updated so as to detect and destroy all trojans and viruses.

How to Recycle Your Smart Phone

If your smart phone got broken you do not have to throw it because there is important data saved. Someone can extract your data and steal your identity.

There are some environmentally friendly ways to recycle your cell phone. If it still can receive calls you can donate it to a charity

Always make sure that your broken smartphone does not damage the environment.

Here are some important reasons you have to recycle or donate to a charity your CellPhone:

* Cellphones are made of some toxic metals - lead, nickel, cadmium inside.

In many countries it is illegal to throw your smart phone in trash!

* If you recycle your cell phone, it can be used by charies and they may further give it to people in need.

* If your smartphone is imposible to repair - the professional recyclers can get out many useful material: platinium, silver, plastic, copper and then safely dump the unused portion.

This method is extremely environmentally friendly, so everyone has to recycle their cellphone instead of throwing them in trash.

Most recycling companies will delete all data from cell phone before they repair, recycle or donate it.

Before giving your phone to them, you should take all measures to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft.

The smartfhones /iPhone, Blueberry, etc./ usually contain gigabytes of personal data like photos, accounts, documents, emails