Matthew Hicks

SAN FRANCISCO—As online advertising executives gathered here this week for the AD:TECH conference, one company kept being mentioned—Google. Google Inc. had gained attention because of its announcement earlier in the week that it was moving into impression-based online ads and letting advertisers target those ads to individual sites in the Google AdSense network. Googles latest […]

Yahoo launched a beta release of its personal search service on Tuesday with a focus on letting users save and share their favorite Web pages. Called My Web, the new service is an update to Yahoos earlier effort in personalized search. Last year, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company began testing a service named My Yahoo Search, […]

A day after diving into impression-based advertising, Google is expanding its online ad network again by placing contextual ads in XML-based syndication feeds. Google Inc. confirmed Tuesday that it has begun testing the use of its ads in RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, a move that signals the growing interest in earning revenue from news […]

Google is stepping beyond clicks in its quest to gain a greater share of advertising on the Internet. The company on Monday is announcing a new ad program where advertisers can target ads to specific sites in Googles ad network and pay based on the number of times the ads are shown, rather than on […]

DoubleClick announced Monday that it is being acquired by a San Francisco-based private equity firm for $1.1 billion. The leading online advertising provider expects the deal with Hellman & Friedman LLC to be closed in the third quarter. New York-based DoubleClick Inc. confirmed the buyout following reports last week that it was in talks to […]

The software and services used to read XML-based news feeds are continuing to branch out as the syndication method gains popularity on the Web. The enterprise is becoming a target for NewsGator Technologies Inc. as it preps a server-based version of its RSS aggregation service. Meanwhile, upstarts Rojo Networks Inc. and Onfolio Inc. this week […]

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Local search is going social as a pair of startups launch services based on relationship-aware referrals and reviews rather than standard business listings. During the Kelsey Groups Drilling Down on Local conference here this week, Insider Pages and LinkedIn Corp. separately announced services that help consumers hunt for everything from attorneys or financial […]

Google Inc.s local-search results and online maps could become more of a Web fixture as the company begins syndicating the services to other sites. A beta test of syndicated Google Local results went live Wednesday on the Web site of AccuWeather Inc., Google officials said. Visitors to the weather services site can search for local […]

Google wants to be more than a way of searching for Web pages, the search company says: It wants to become an extension of a users online memory. To achieve that goal, Google on Wednesday launched a personalized Web search service that stores users search histories, builds individualized search data into Web results and suggests […]

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—A9.com has taken another step in its quest to provide virtual tours of U.S. neighborhoods and business, adding images from five more cities to its online Yellow Pages. A9.com CEO Udi Manber announced the additions Tuesday during a keynote address at the Kelsey Group Inc.s Drilling Down on Local conference here. Amazon.com Inc.s […]