All internet loves must thanks comScore Networks on releasing the survey result which claims that the India has emerged as the fastest growing country of Internet users, surpassing the growth rates in the US, China, Japan. However, India is not there in the top 10 countries in terms of average monthly hours online per unique visitor.
comScore Networks also reports that India ranked eighth in terms of number of internet users as of January 2007. The US has the largest internet population of 153 million followed by China ( 86.8 million), Japan (53.6 million), Germany (32 million) and the UK (30 million) in the top five. The growth in the internet penetration can also be attributed to the fact that India grew at 33 per cent, while the world average was 10 per cent. I believe that the Indian Internet market is still at nascent stage and we hardly have any Internet success story. Indian Internet space needs a few Indian internet brands. I believe that its not enough to have just rediff, Indiatimes, and naukri. In current business scenario the Indian Internet market one needs a path breaking indigenous idea, two a local idea with global standard execution, three experimentation with local content. In current market scenario I can only see that the market is mushroomed with too many me-too ventures. I believe that Indian market is yet not explored well and needs experimentation.
No wonder VC firms from Silicon Valley now focusing on India and several Indian companies as part of their portfolio. The global VC films like Sequoia India, Helion, Matrix Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, NEA IndoUS Venture Fund , and KPCB in last few years have funded various Indian internet ventures. The internet companies which got vc funding are Guruji, Travelguru, MingleBox, ApnaLoan, Shaadi, Komli, MakeMyTrip, seventymm, Yatra, Sulekha, bharatmatrimony, cleartrip, naukri to name a few. A close look on these internet venture tells yet another story. These internet ventures can be classified into lifestyle, travel, or existing, prominent portals. All these internet ventures with low internet population are managing the revenue is a commendable task. A close look on these entire ventures also indicates that they are playing in the field which is closely linked to corporate world. Naukri is a job board; Travelguru, MakeMyTrip, Yatra are travel portals with focus on corporate or office goers.
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Reliance Big Entertainment Acquires Majority Stake in Willow
The company in news is Willow.TV. It is the world’s leading portal for live Internet streaming of all Cricket events worldwide, and has been providing live streaming video of every major cricket series since 2003. It is a paid site with a subscriber base of over a million registered users, primarily in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe. It provides subscribers with an unparalleled viewing experience with enhancements such as live interactive scorecards and high bandwidth video streams as well as mobile and IM offerings
Willow.TV, last year, streamed all major cricket events live, including the iconic Indian Premier League, as well as all Australian, South African and English international matches. The Willow.TV gain maximum visibility in India when it telecasted the Indian Premier League.
Reliance Big Entertainment, a ADAG company, which is on buying spree, has acquired a majority stake in the US-based cricket webcasting portal - Willow TV. According to the report The Anil Ambani company will invest Rs 300 crore in the portal over the next two years. The amount also includes the acquisition price of the portal.
Reliance Big Entertainment has been aggressively strengthening its position in the entertainment and media space and has been building value across the value chain. The acquisition will strengthen the presence of Reliance Big Entertainment in new media.
Willow.TV, last year, streamed all major cricket events live, including the iconic Indian Premier League, as well as all Australian, South African and English international matches. The Willow.TV gain maximum visibility in India when it telecasted the Indian Premier League.
Reliance Big Entertainment, a ADAG company, which is on buying spree, has acquired a majority stake in the US-based cricket webcasting portal - Willow TV. According to the report The Anil Ambani company will invest Rs 300 crore in the portal over the next two years. The amount also includes the acquisition price of the portal.
Reliance Big Entertainment has been aggressively strengthening its position in the entertainment and media space and has been building value across the value chain. The acquisition will strengthen the presence of Reliance Big Entertainment in new media.
Google – search engine
Google was the largest and the most versatile search engine on the Internet. The search engine had a robust workload and query-processing abilities. Realizing the importance of a fast, scalable search engine, Google employed linked PCs to quickly find the results of a query. This resulted in faster response times, greater scalability and lower costs. Google used PageRank10 and Hypertext-Matching Analysis11 technologies to provide fast and accurate results. Besides, it employed special software robots called Spiders that built a list of important key words found in the millions of websites on the Internet. This process of automated listing was called web crawling.
About 95% of Google’s revenue came from advertisements, primarily through its two popular offerings, AdWord and AdSense.
About 95% of Google’s revenue came from advertisements, primarily through its two popular offerings, AdWord and AdSense.
Yahoo– search engine
Yahoo pioneered the online commercial directory concept when it first launched the service in 1994 but did not pay much attention to search services during its initial days, preferring to source it from other parties like Open Text, Alta Vista, Inktomi and eventually, Google. Yahoo realized the importance of search engines in the late 90s when they
gained prominence and started affecting e-commerce to a level that almost a third of online ad revenues were generated through them.
Yahoo started focusing on search engine business starting October 2002, by outsourcing the service to Google. The purchase of Inktomi for $235 million in late 2002 and subsequently Overture in October 2003 (for $ 1.6 billion) made Yahoo the owner of two of the largest and the oldest of the commercial paid search services. This also gave Yahoo 100 billion new users and the capability to promote its own internal search engine through innovative advertising solutions that competed with Google’s AdWords and AdSense programs.
In February 2004, Yahoo scrapped its relations with Google and began using its own search engine instead. The Cable News Network (CNN), the leading media giant, replaced Google for Yahoo in May 2004 to provide algorithmic and paid results to its users.
gained prominence and started affecting e-commerce to a level that almost a third of online ad revenues were generated through them.
Yahoo started focusing on search engine business starting October 2002, by outsourcing the service to Google. The purchase of Inktomi for $235 million in late 2002 and subsequently Overture in October 2003 (for $ 1.6 billion) made Yahoo the owner of two of the largest and the oldest of the commercial paid search services. This also gave Yahoo 100 billion new users and the capability to promote its own internal search engine through innovative advertising solutions that competed with Google’s AdWords and AdSense programs.
In February 2004, Yahoo scrapped its relations with Google and began using its own search engine instead. The Cable News Network (CNN), the leading media giant, replaced Google for Yahoo in May 2004 to provide algorithmic and paid results to its users.
Cuil – search engine
Cuil is a brand new search engine created by former Google and IBM veterans. Cuil, an old Irish word for knowledge, was co-founded by Tom Costello, CEO; his wife, Anna Patterson, president and Russell Power, vice president of engineering.
Cuil may succeed where others have failed and give powerhouse Google a run for its money. Cuil has developed new architecture and algorithms and that its search engine has indexed 120 billion Web pages. Cuil's robot Web crawler, Twicler, supports the robots.txt Crawl-delay directive robots.txt to help small sites that are bandwidth-limited. Moreover, unlike other search engines Cuil's privacy policy states that it does not store records of users’ search activity or IP addresses.
Cuil may succeed where others have failed and give powerhouse Google a run for its money. Cuil has developed new architecture and algorithms and that its search engine has indexed 120 billion Web pages. Cuil's robot Web crawler, Twicler, supports the robots.txt Crawl-delay directive robots.txt to help small sites that are bandwidth-limited. Moreover, unlike other search engines Cuil's privacy policy states that it does not store records of users’ search activity or IP addresses.
Ask Jeeves – search engine
Ask.com formerly known as Ask Jeeves is a search engine was founded in 1996 by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California. Three venture capital firms, Highland Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, and The RODA Group were early investors.
The original Ask Jeeves software was implemented by Gary Chevsky from his own design. The technology provided smart search features that lent access to weather forecasts, stock quotes, news headlines, etc. The search site offered various specialized search options apart from effective categorization facilities. It also offered the options to edit, to categorize and to annotate both saved searches and search history.
Ask Jeeves had its own search engine Teoma, which is now defunct. Ask Jeeves again on February 27, 2006 disassociated the character Jeeves and renamed the firm Ask.com and later in 2007 Ask.
The original Ask Jeeves software was implemented by Gary Chevsky from his own design. The technology provided smart search features that lent access to weather forecasts, stock quotes, news headlines, etc. The search site offered various specialized search options apart from effective categorization facilities. It also offered the options to edit, to categorize and to annotate both saved searches and search history.
Ask Jeeves had its own search engine Teoma, which is now defunct. Ask Jeeves again on February 27, 2006 disassociated the character Jeeves and renamed the firm Ask.com and later in 2007 Ask.
Vivisimo – search engine
Vivísimo was founded in 2000 by a trio of computer science researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. The name was taken from the Latin root viva for "life," with the Romance suffix – issimo indicating a superlative.
Vivísimo is a privately held enterprise search software company in Pittsburgh that develops and sells software products to improve search on the web and in enterprises. The technology that Vivísimo uses could classify search results based on clustering and metasearch technology. The company made active use of business intelligence and data mining techniques to explore its database and to bring out the veiled and hidden relationships therein.
Vivísimo technology is available to enterprise in the form of a cohesive search suite, Vivísimo Velocity, which includes the Velocity Search Engine, Velocity Clustering Engine and Velocity Content Integrator. The technology is also freely available to the public in the form of Clusty. Vivisimo , despite a negligible share in the search engine market, was able to achieve high quality results on any type of textual content with little or no customization.
Vivísimo is a privately held enterprise search software company in Pittsburgh that develops and sells software products to improve search on the web and in enterprises. The technology that Vivísimo uses could classify search results based on clustering and metasearch technology. The company made active use of business intelligence and data mining techniques to explore its database and to bring out the veiled and hidden relationships therein.
Vivísimo technology is available to enterprise in the form of a cohesive search suite, Vivísimo Velocity, which includes the Velocity Search Engine, Velocity Clustering Engine and Velocity Content Integrator. The technology is also freely available to the public in the form of Clusty. Vivisimo , despite a negligible share in the search engine market, was able to achieve high quality results on any type of textual content with little or no customization.
Eurekster – search engine
Eurekster is a company based in Christchurch, New Zealand, with an office located in San Francisco, California, that builds social search engines for use on websites, the search engines are called swickis.
The co-founder and chief scientist of Eurkester is Dr Grant Ryan, who is also the co-founder and chairman of Christchurch-based company, SLI Systems, who specialize in search engines that learns from the users.
Eurekster a startup launched in January 2004, specialized in providing highly personalized search results to users through its proprietary SearchParty technology. Its search engine was capable of analyzing the search behavior of its users and supplied results based on their preferences and interests.
The co-founder and chief scientist of Eurkester is Dr Grant Ryan, who is also the co-founder and chairman of Christchurch-based company, SLI Systems, who specialize in search engines that learns from the users.
Eurekster a startup launched in January 2004, specialized in providing highly personalized search results to users through its proprietary SearchParty technology. Its search engine was capable of analyzing the search behavior of its users and supplied results based on their preferences and interests.
Factiva – search engine
Factiva – search engine
Factiva, a Dow Jones and Reuters company provided global content, including newswires from Dow Jones & Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. Factiva has unrivaled collection of more than 14,000 authoritative sources includes the exclusive combination of The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times™, Dow Jones and Reuters newswires and the Associated Press, as well as Reuters Fundamentals, and D&B company profiles. It offered a personalized single content solution with multiple language interfaces from archives of 9000 news sources. Thus, an engineering team got highly technical results while a marketing outfit got consumer friendly documents.
Factiva boosts of an innovative, XML-based and Web services-enabled technology platform provides access to this rich content collection via role-specific products or through customized enterprise, group or personal solutions
Factiva, a Dow Jones and Reuters company provided global content, including newswires from Dow Jones & Reuters and The Wall Street Journal. Factiva has unrivaled collection of more than 14,000 authoritative sources includes the exclusive combination of The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times™, Dow Jones and Reuters newswires and the Associated Press, as well as Reuters Fundamentals, and D&B company profiles. It offered a personalized single content solution with multiple language interfaces from archives of 9000 news sources. Thus, an engineering team got highly technical results while a marketing outfit got consumer friendly documents.
Factiva boosts of an innovative, XML-based and Web services-enabled technology platform provides access to this rich content collection via role-specific products or through customized enterprise, group or personal solutions
Top ten search engine
A search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. Information may consist of web pages, images and other types of files. In 1993, Matthew Gray at MIT developed the first Web search engine Wandex. There were over 1000 search engines providing varying search results to online users. Popular among them are Ask.com (formerly Ask Jeeves), Baidu (Chinese), Cuil, Exalead (French), Gigablast, Google, Live Search (formerly MSN Search), gou (Chinese), Sohu (Chinese), Wikia Search, Yahoo! Search. Top ten search engine based on the Nielsen//NetRatings, 2007 are
Provider Share of Total Searches
Google 55.2 Percent
Yahoo 21.9 Percent
MSN/Windows Live 9 Percent
AOL 5.4 Percent
Ask.com 1.8 Percent
My Web Search 1 Percent
Comcast 0.5 Percent
EarthLink 0.4 Percent
Dogpile.com 0.4 Percent
My Way 0.4 Percent
Other 3.9 Percent
All search 100 Percent
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, 2007
Most of the search engine derived their revenues through advertisements and paid listings, a good many served as secondary service offerings. The industry saw many other players who also offered compatible services on competitive pricings. The smaller players targeted niche segments offering differentiated service or distinctive search technology. Since 1993 industry has seen various launches (see list) few of them survived and few had a premature death.
The best search engines launches:
Year Event Search Engine
1993 Launch Aliweb
1994 Launch WebCrawler
1994 Launch Infoseek
1994 Launch Lycos
1995 Launch (part of DEC) AltaVista
1995 Launch Excite
1996 Founded HotBot
1996 Founded Ask Jeeves
1998 Launch Google
1999 Founded Teoma
2000 Founded Baidu
2003 Launch Info.com
2004 Final launch Yahoo! Search
2004 Launch A9.com
2006 Founded Quaero
2006 Launch Live Search
2006 Beta Launch ChaCha
2006 Beta Launch Guruji.com
2007 Launched Wikiseek
2008 Launched Cuil
Provider Share of Total Searches
Google 55.2 Percent
Yahoo 21.9 Percent
MSN/Windows Live 9 Percent
AOL 5.4 Percent
Ask.com 1.8 Percent
My Web Search 1 Percent
Comcast 0.5 Percent
EarthLink 0.4 Percent
Dogpile.com 0.4 Percent
My Way 0.4 Percent
Other 3.9 Percent
All search 100 Percent
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, 2007
Most of the search engine derived their revenues through advertisements and paid listings, a good many served as secondary service offerings. The industry saw many other players who also offered compatible services on competitive pricings. The smaller players targeted niche segments offering differentiated service or distinctive search technology. Since 1993 industry has seen various launches (see list) few of them survived and few had a premature death.
The best search engines launches:
Year Event Search Engine
1993 Launch Aliweb
1994 Launch WebCrawler
1994 Launch Infoseek
1994 Launch Lycos
1995 Launch (part of DEC) AltaVista
1995 Launch Excite
1996 Founded HotBot
1996 Founded Ask Jeeves
1998 Launch Google
1999 Founded Teoma
2000 Founded Baidu
2003 Launch Info.com
2004 Final launch Yahoo! Search
2004 Launch A9.com
2006 Founded Quaero
2006 Launch Live Search
2006 Beta Launch ChaCha
2006 Beta Launch Guruji.com
2007 Launched Wikiseek
2008 Launched Cuil
Consumer Generated Media
Consumer Generated Media describes a variety of new and emerging sources of online information that are created, initiated, circulated and used by consumers intent on educating each other on products, services, brands, personalities and issues.
-- Neilson Buzz matrices.
Pete Blackshaw, CMO for Nielsen Buzzmetrics, coined the term "consumer generated media" (CGM) to describe the evolving consumer-created space on the internet. CGM refers to posts made by consumers within online venues such as internet forums, blogs, wikis, and discussion lists, on products that they have purchased, questions they have or problems they are trying to solve. CGM is constantly evolving in terms of form and content. A few prominent websites used for CGM include: Brickfish, Dailymotion, Digg, eBay, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Picasa, Revver, Second Life, TripAdvisor, TypePad, Wikipedia, WordPress, YouTube, bigadda
The most common consumer hangouts in the CGM spaces are: Discussion boards, Blogs, Wikis, Social networking sites, News Sites, Trip planners, Mobile Photos sharing sites, Videos sharing sites, Customer review sites, Experience or photo sharing sites. The CGM supporting sites can be divided into five different categories for better understanding. They are,
Blogs: A Blog is the collection of web log where publisher shares his stories, fantasies or experiences. The wordpress, blogger, bigadda are the famus platforms which offer blogging experience.
Message Boards or Discussion Forums: Interest-focused message forums and discussion boards like citehr, are the most prominent content sharing tool. This concept was evolved from the Tech World where techies discuss their problems and experts offer advice to the fellow techies. Now this concept has become common across verticals.
Review Sites: This is a popular place where an excited customer spread positive word and an irate customer vents his frustration. Mouthshut is one of the famous review site.
Groups: These are highly focused and specialized groups or communities where the members exchange ideas in the virtual world. These clubs are an offshoot of the Mail groups where one can connect with their friends through group mails like Yahoo, Google offers platform to create groups.
Communities: Communities like Orkut, facebook, you tube, Flicker, linkedin offer networking and socializing opportunities to the Internet savvy individuals. Started as a socializing tool, these communities grew as an influential media for marketers.
The idea of CGM has evolved from its early roots of consumer feedback via online letters and email to encompass new media such as video, pictures and social networking sites. The phenomenon, CGM is a nightmare as well as an opportunity for marketers. It is a nightmare since the marketer has no control over the media or the message, an opportunity because if used wisely, it can turn out to be a new medium and an invaluable source of customer information.
-- Neilson Buzz matrices.
Pete Blackshaw, CMO for Nielsen Buzzmetrics, coined the term "consumer generated media" (CGM) to describe the evolving consumer-created space on the internet. CGM refers to posts made by consumers within online venues such as internet forums, blogs, wikis, and discussion lists, on products that they have purchased, questions they have or problems they are trying to solve. CGM is constantly evolving in terms of form and content. A few prominent websites used for CGM include: Brickfish, Dailymotion, Digg, eBay, Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Picasa, Revver, Second Life, TripAdvisor, TypePad, Wikipedia, WordPress, YouTube, bigadda
The most common consumer hangouts in the CGM spaces are: Discussion boards, Blogs, Wikis, Social networking sites, News Sites, Trip planners, Mobile Photos sharing sites, Videos sharing sites, Customer review sites, Experience or photo sharing sites. The CGM supporting sites can be divided into five different categories for better understanding. They are,
Blogs: A Blog is the collection of web log where publisher shares his stories, fantasies or experiences. The wordpress, blogger, bigadda are the famus platforms which offer blogging experience.
Message Boards or Discussion Forums: Interest-focused message forums and discussion boards like citehr, are the most prominent content sharing tool. This concept was evolved from the Tech World where techies discuss their problems and experts offer advice to the fellow techies. Now this concept has become common across verticals.
Review Sites: This is a popular place where an excited customer spread positive word and an irate customer vents his frustration. Mouthshut is one of the famous review site.
Groups: These are highly focused and specialized groups or communities where the members exchange ideas in the virtual world. These clubs are an offshoot of the Mail groups where one can connect with their friends through group mails like Yahoo, Google offers platform to create groups.
Communities: Communities like Orkut, facebook, you tube, Flicker, linkedin offer networking and socializing opportunities to the Internet savvy individuals. Started as a socializing tool, these communities grew as an influential media for marketers.
The idea of CGM has evolved from its early roots of consumer feedback via online letters and email to encompass new media such as video, pictures and social networking sites. The phenomenon, CGM is a nightmare as well as an opportunity for marketers. It is a nightmare since the marketer has no control over the media or the message, an opportunity because if used wisely, it can turn out to be a new medium and an invaluable source of customer information.
Yahoo! built on Acquisitions
Yahoo! was founded by Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo in January of 1994 and incorporated on March 1, 1995.
Yahoo provides a range of products and services including a web portal, a search engine, Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail. It has grown through continuous innovation and acquisitions. Here is the list of acquisitions which helped Yahoo! grow.
1997
Net Controls, Web search engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
Four11, Web-based email which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mail
1998
Classic Games, Online game, which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Games
Sportasy , Fantasy sport, which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
Viaweb ,Web application which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Store
Webcal , Calendaring software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo Calendar
Yoyodyne,Direct marketing which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Hyperparallel, Data analysis which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
1999
Log-Me-On, Digital identity which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
Broadcast.com, Internet radio which helped Yahoo develop LAUNCHcast
Encompass, Internet service provider which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
GeoCities , Web hosting service which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! GeoCities
Online Anywhere , Content delivery network which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! TV
2000
Arthas.com, E-commerce payment systems which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Store
MyQuest , Internet service provider which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
eGroups , Electronic mailing list which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Groups
Kimo, Web portal which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
2001
Sold.com, Online auction tools which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Shopping
LAUNCH Media , Online music store which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Music
2002
Hotjobs.com , Job search engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! HotJobs
Inktomi Corporation , Internet service provider which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
2003
Overture Services, Inc., Search engine marketing which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
2004
3721 Internet Assistant , Browser Helper Object which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Assistant
Kelkoo, Price comparison service which helped Yahoo develop Kelkoo
Oddpost , Web-based email which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mail
Musicmatch Jukebox , Audio player which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Music
The All-Seeing Eye, Game server browser which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Games
Stata Labs, Web-based email which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mail
WUF Networks, Mobile media which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mobile
2005
Verdisoft, Computer software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mobile
Stadeon , Online game which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Games
Ludicorp, Image hosting service which helped Yahoo develop Flickr
TeRespondo , Advertising network which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Dialpad, Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Voice
blo.gs, Weblog software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! 360°
Konfabulator , Widget engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Widgets
Upcoming.org, Calendaring software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Local
Whereonearth, Web mapping which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Maps
del.icio.us, Social bookmarking which helped Yahoo develop del.icio.us
2006
Webjay, Online music store which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Music
SearchFox, Web search engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
Meedio, Digital video recorder which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Go
Jumpcut.com, Online video editing which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Video
AdInterax, Online advertising which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Bix.com , Social media which helped Yahoo develop Bix
Kenet Works, Mobile software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mobile
Wretch, Virtual community which helped Yahoo develop Wretch
2007
MyBlogLog, Social network service which helped Yahoo develop MyBlogLog
Right Media, Online advertising which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Rivals.com, College football which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Sports
BlueLithium, Advertising network which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
BuzzTracker, News site which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! News
Zimbra, Collaborative software which helped Yahoo develop Zimbra
2008
FoxyTunes, Browser extension which helped Yahoo develop FoxyTunes
Maven Networks , Video on demand which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Video
Inquisitor, Browser extension which helped Yahoo develop Inquisitor
The growth of the Yahoo is function of acquisition or innovation or innovation backed by acquisition is matter of debate.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
Yahoo provides a range of products and services including a web portal, a search engine, Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail. It has grown through continuous innovation and acquisitions. Here is the list of acquisitions which helped Yahoo! grow.
1997
Net Controls, Web search engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
Four11, Web-based email which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mail
1998
Classic Games, Online game, which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Games
Sportasy , Fantasy sport, which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Fantasy Sports
Viaweb ,Web application which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Store
Webcal , Calendaring software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo Calendar
Yoyodyne,Direct marketing which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Hyperparallel, Data analysis which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
1999
Log-Me-On, Digital identity which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
Broadcast.com, Internet radio which helped Yahoo develop LAUNCHcast
Encompass, Internet service provider which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
GeoCities , Web hosting service which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! GeoCities
Online Anywhere , Content delivery network which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! TV
2000
Arthas.com, E-commerce payment systems which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Store
MyQuest , Internet service provider which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
eGroups , Electronic mailing list which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Groups
Kimo, Web portal which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo!
2001
Sold.com, Online auction tools which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Shopping
LAUNCH Media , Online music store which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Music
2002
Hotjobs.com , Job search engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! HotJobs
Inktomi Corporation , Internet service provider which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
2003
Overture Services, Inc., Search engine marketing which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
2004
3721 Internet Assistant , Browser Helper Object which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Assistant
Kelkoo, Price comparison service which helped Yahoo develop Kelkoo
Oddpost , Web-based email which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mail
Musicmatch Jukebox , Audio player which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Music
The All-Seeing Eye, Game server browser which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Games
Stata Labs, Web-based email which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mail
WUF Networks, Mobile media which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mobile
2005
Verdisoft, Computer software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mobile
Stadeon , Online game which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Games
Ludicorp, Image hosting service which helped Yahoo develop Flickr
TeRespondo , Advertising network which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Dialpad, Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Voice
blo.gs, Weblog software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! 360°
Konfabulator , Widget engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Widgets
Upcoming.org, Calendaring software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Local
Whereonearth, Web mapping which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Maps
del.icio.us, Social bookmarking which helped Yahoo develop del.icio.us
2006
Webjay, Online music store which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Music
SearchFox, Web search engine which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search
Meedio, Digital video recorder which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Go
Jumpcut.com, Online video editing which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Video
AdInterax, Online advertising which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Bix.com , Social media which helped Yahoo develop Bix
Kenet Works, Mobile software which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Mobile
Wretch, Virtual community which helped Yahoo develop Wretch
2007
MyBlogLog, Social network service which helped Yahoo develop MyBlogLog
Right Media, Online advertising which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
Rivals.com, College football which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Sports
BlueLithium, Advertising network which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Search Marketing
BuzzTracker, News site which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! News
Zimbra, Collaborative software which helped Yahoo develop Zimbra
2008
FoxyTunes, Browser extension which helped Yahoo develop FoxyTunes
Maven Networks , Video on demand which helped Yahoo develop Yahoo! Video
Inquisitor, Browser extension which helped Yahoo develop Inquisitor
The growth of the Yahoo is function of acquisition or innovation or innovation backed by acquisition is matter of debate.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
Microsoft built on Acquisition
Microsoft is yet another company which is built on series of acquisitions. Microsoft not only bought companies but also bought their technology to enhance the product portfolio. Historically, Microsoft has focused on smaller deals to acquire technology. Microsoft's largest acquisition is the purchase of aQuantive, a digital marketing company for $6 billion. Microsoft before acquisition of aQuantive never focused on established businesses. Microsoft is, of course, eying a multibillion dollar Yahoo.
1986
Dynamical Systems Research , Operating system which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Windows
1987
Forethought , Graphics software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft PowerPoint
1991
Consumers Software , Computer networking which helped Microsoft develop E-mail service provider
1992
Fox Software , Database which helped Microsoft develop Visual FoxPro
1994
Softimage , 3D computer graphics software which helped Microsoft develop DirectX
One Tree Software , Revision control which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Visual SourceSafe
1995
NextBase , Route planning software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Streets & Trips
RenderMorphics , Reality Lab which helped Microsoft develop Direct3D
Blue Ribbon Soundworks , Digital audio editor which helped Microsoft develop DirectSound
Bruce Artwick Organization , Personal computer game which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Space Simulator
1996
Vermeer Technologies Incorporated , HTML editor which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft FrontPage
Colusa Software , Object-oriented programming which helped Microsoft develop ActiveX
EXOS , Video game which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
eShop , Electronic commerce which helped Microsoft develop MSN Shopping
ResNova Software , Web server which helped Microsoft develop MSN
NetCarta , Content management system which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft FrontPage
1997
Intersé , Web analytics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft BackOffice Server
WebTV Networks , Internet television which helped Microsoft develop MSN TV
Dimension X , Multimedia which helped Microsoft develop DirectX
Cooper & Peters , Software framework which helped Microsoft develop Application Foundation Classes
LinkAge Software , E-mail which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Exchange Server
Vxtreme , Streaming media which helped Microsoft develop Windows Media Player
Hotmail , Web-based email which helped Microsoft develop Hotmail
1998
Flash Communications , Instant messaging client which helped Microsoft develop MSN Messenger
Firefly Network , Recommender system which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live ID
MESA Group , Instant messaging client which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Exchange Server
Valence Research , Computer cluster which helped Microsoft develop Windows NT
LinkExchange , Advertising network which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
1999
FASA Interactive , Video game which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
CompareNet , Price comparison service which helped Microsoft develop MSN Shopping
Numinous Technology , Computer graphics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Indie Built , Game development which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Jump Networks , Calendaring software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Outlook
ShadowFactor Software , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
OmniBrowse , Mobile software which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
Sendit , Mobile Web which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
ZOOMIT , Identity management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Identity Integration Server
STNC Enterprises , Mobile Web which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
Visio Corporation , Diagramming software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Visio
Softway Systems , Customer relationship management which helped Microsoft develop Interix
Entropic Research Laboratory , Speech recognition which helped Microsoft develop Windows Speech Recognition
2000
Peach Network , Interactive television which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft TV
Driveoff.Com , Online Car Shopping which helped Microsoft develop MSN
Bungie , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
NetGames USA , Online game which helped Microsoft develop MSN Games
MongoMusic , Media player which helped Microsoft develop MSN Music
Pacific Microsonics , Media player which helped Microsoft develop Windows Media Player
Digital Anvil , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Great Plains Software , Accounting software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics GP
2001
Maximal Innovative Intelligence , Information management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Outlook
NCompass Labs , Content management system which helped Microsoft develop .NET Framework
iCommunicate , Customer relationship management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Ensemble Studios , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
2002
Navision Software A/S , Enterprise resource planning which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Sales Management Systems , Point of sale which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics GP
Rare , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Vicinity , Internet marketing which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft MapPoint
2003
Connectix , Virtualization which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Virtual PC
PlaceWare , Web conferencing which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office Live Meeting
RAV Antivirus , Antivirus software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Anti-Virus
Creature House , Graphics software which helped Microsoft develop Creature House Expression
2004
ActiveViews , Analytical software which helped Microsoft develop SQL Server Reporting Services
Encore Business Solutions , Accounting software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics
Lookout Software , Desktop search which helped Microsoft develop Windows Search
GIANT Company Software , Anti-spyware which helped Microsoft develop Windows Defender
2005
Sybari Software , Antivirus software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Anti-Virus
En'tegrate Software , Enterprise resource planning which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics AX
Groove Networks , Collaborative software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Groove
ContentGuard , Digital rights management which helped Microsoft develop PlayReady
MessageCast , Instant messaging client which helped Microsoft develop MSN Messenger
FrontBridge , E-mail service provider which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services
Teleo , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop MSN Messenger
Alacris , Identity and Access Management which helped Microsoft develop Active Directory
Unveil Technologies , Speech recognition which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Speech Server
media-streams.com , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office
FolderShare , File sharing which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live FolderShare
GeoTango , Web mapping which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft MapPoint
2006
UMT , Project management software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server
MotionBridge , Search engine technology which helped Microsoft develop Live Search Mobile
String Bean Software , iSCSI which helped Microsoft develop Windows Server 2003
Onfolio , Information management which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live Toolbar
Apptimum , Software migration which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Windows
ProClarity Corporation , Business intelligence software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft SQL Server
Lionhead Studios , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
AssetMetrix , Business intelligence software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Systems Management Server
Vexcel , Satellite imagery which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft MapPoint
Massive Incorporated , In-game advertising which helped Microsoft develop Xbox Live
DeepMetrix , Web analytics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Whale Communications , Virtual private network which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Intelligent Application Gateway
iView Media , Digital asset management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Expression Media
Softricity , Application Virtualization which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Application Virtualization
Winternals , Utility software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Windows
Azyxxi , Medical software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Amalga
Gteko , Utility software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Research
DesktopStandard , Group Policy which helped Microsoft develop Group Policy
Colloquis , Instant messaging which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live Agents
2007
Secured Dimensions , Computer security which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live OneCare
Medstory , Medical software which helped Microsoft develop Live Search Health
Tellme Networks , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop Windows Mobile
devBiz , Web application which helped Microsoft develop Visual Studio Team System
ScreenTonic , Mobile advertising which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
SoftArtisans , Reporting software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office
aQuantive , Digital marketing which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Engyro , Interoperability which helped Microsoft develop System Center Operations Manager
Dundas Data Visualization , Database which helped Microsoft develop SQL Server Reporting Services
Stratature , Database management system which helped Microsoft develop Bulldog
AdECN , Online advertising which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Parlano , Instant messaging which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office Communications Server
Jellyfish.com , Reverse auction which helped Microsoft develop Live Search
Global Care Solutions , Medical software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Amalga
Multimap.com , Location-based service which helped Microsoft develop Live Search Maps
2008
Fast Search & Transfer , Enterprise search which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft SharePoint
Calista Technologies , Virtual device which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Application Virtualization
Caligari , 3D computer graphics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Virtual Earth
Danger , Mobile software which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
YaData , Online advertising which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Kidaro , Desktop Virtualization (VDI) which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Virtual PC
Komoku , Computer security which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live OneCare
Farecast , Computer reservations system which helped Microsoft develop —
Powerset Search engine which helped Microsoft develop Live Search
The majority of the companies acquired by Microsoft are based in the United States. Microsoft till date have acquired close to 120 companies.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
1986
Dynamical Systems Research , Operating system which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Windows
1987
Forethought , Graphics software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft PowerPoint
1991
Consumers Software , Computer networking which helped Microsoft develop E-mail service provider
1992
Fox Software , Database which helped Microsoft develop Visual FoxPro
1994
Softimage , 3D computer graphics software which helped Microsoft develop DirectX
One Tree Software , Revision control which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Visual SourceSafe
1995
NextBase , Route planning software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Streets & Trips
RenderMorphics , Reality Lab which helped Microsoft develop Direct3D
Blue Ribbon Soundworks , Digital audio editor which helped Microsoft develop DirectSound
Bruce Artwick Organization , Personal computer game which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Space Simulator
1996
Vermeer Technologies Incorporated , HTML editor which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft FrontPage
Colusa Software , Object-oriented programming which helped Microsoft develop ActiveX
EXOS , Video game which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
eShop , Electronic commerce which helped Microsoft develop MSN Shopping
ResNova Software , Web server which helped Microsoft develop MSN
NetCarta , Content management system which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft FrontPage
1997
Intersé , Web analytics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft BackOffice Server
WebTV Networks , Internet television which helped Microsoft develop MSN TV
Dimension X , Multimedia which helped Microsoft develop DirectX
Cooper & Peters , Software framework which helped Microsoft develop Application Foundation Classes
LinkAge Software , E-mail which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Exchange Server
Vxtreme , Streaming media which helped Microsoft develop Windows Media Player
Hotmail , Web-based email which helped Microsoft develop Hotmail
1998
Flash Communications , Instant messaging client which helped Microsoft develop MSN Messenger
Firefly Network , Recommender system which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live ID
MESA Group , Instant messaging client which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Exchange Server
Valence Research , Computer cluster which helped Microsoft develop Windows NT
LinkExchange , Advertising network which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
1999
FASA Interactive , Video game which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
CompareNet , Price comparison service which helped Microsoft develop MSN Shopping
Numinous Technology , Computer graphics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Indie Built , Game development which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Jump Networks , Calendaring software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Outlook
ShadowFactor Software , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
OmniBrowse , Mobile software which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
Sendit , Mobile Web which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
ZOOMIT , Identity management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Identity Integration Server
STNC Enterprises , Mobile Web which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
Visio Corporation , Diagramming software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Visio
Softway Systems , Customer relationship management which helped Microsoft develop Interix
Entropic Research Laboratory , Speech recognition which helped Microsoft develop Windows Speech Recognition
2000
Peach Network , Interactive television which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft TV
Driveoff.Com , Online Car Shopping which helped Microsoft develop MSN
Bungie , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
NetGames USA , Online game which helped Microsoft develop MSN Games
MongoMusic , Media player which helped Microsoft develop MSN Music
Pacific Microsonics , Media player which helped Microsoft develop Windows Media Player
Digital Anvil , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Great Plains Software , Accounting software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics GP
2001
Maximal Innovative Intelligence , Information management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Outlook
NCompass Labs , Content management system which helped Microsoft develop .NET Framework
iCommunicate , Customer relationship management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Ensemble Studios , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
2002
Navision Software A/S , Enterprise resource planning which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Sales Management Systems , Point of sale which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics GP
Rare , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
Vicinity , Internet marketing which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft MapPoint
2003
Connectix , Virtualization which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Virtual PC
PlaceWare , Web conferencing which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office Live Meeting
RAV Antivirus , Antivirus software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Anti-Virus
Creature House , Graphics software which helped Microsoft develop Creature House Expression
2004
ActiveViews , Analytical software which helped Microsoft develop SQL Server Reporting Services
Encore Business Solutions , Accounting software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics
Lookout Software , Desktop search which helped Microsoft develop Windows Search
GIANT Company Software , Anti-spyware which helped Microsoft develop Windows Defender
2005
Sybari Software , Antivirus software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Anti-Virus
En'tegrate Software , Enterprise resource planning which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Dynamics AX
Groove Networks , Collaborative software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Groove
ContentGuard , Digital rights management which helped Microsoft develop PlayReady
MessageCast , Instant messaging client which helped Microsoft develop MSN Messenger
FrontBridge , E-mail service provider which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services
Teleo , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop MSN Messenger
Alacris , Identity and Access Management which helped Microsoft develop Active Directory
Unveil Technologies , Speech recognition which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Speech Server
media-streams.com , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office
FolderShare , File sharing which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live FolderShare
GeoTango , Web mapping which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft MapPoint
2006
UMT , Project management software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server
MotionBridge , Search engine technology which helped Microsoft develop Live Search Mobile
String Bean Software , iSCSI which helped Microsoft develop Windows Server 2003
Onfolio , Information management which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live Toolbar
Apptimum , Software migration which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Windows
ProClarity Corporation , Business intelligence software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft SQL Server
Lionhead Studios , Video game developer which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Game Studios
AssetMetrix , Business intelligence software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Systems Management Server
Vexcel , Satellite imagery which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft MapPoint
Massive Incorporated , In-game advertising which helped Microsoft develop Xbox Live
DeepMetrix , Web analytics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Whale Communications , Virtual private network which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Intelligent Application Gateway
iView Media , Digital asset management which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Expression Media
Softricity , Application Virtualization which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Application Virtualization
Winternals , Utility software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Windows
Azyxxi , Medical software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Amalga
Gteko , Utility software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Research
DesktopStandard , Group Policy which helped Microsoft develop Group Policy
Colloquis , Instant messaging which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live Agents
2007
Secured Dimensions , Computer security which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live OneCare
Medstory , Medical software which helped Microsoft develop Live Search Health
Tellme Networks , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Microsoft develop Windows Mobile
devBiz , Web application which helped Microsoft develop Visual Studio Team System
ScreenTonic , Mobile advertising which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
SoftArtisans , Reporting software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office
aQuantive , Digital marketing which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Engyro , Interoperability which helped Microsoft develop System Center Operations Manager
Dundas Data Visualization , Database which helped Microsoft develop SQL Server Reporting Services
Stratature , Database management system which helped Microsoft develop Bulldog
AdECN , Online advertising which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Parlano , Instant messaging which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Office Communications Server
Jellyfish.com , Reverse auction which helped Microsoft develop Live Search
Global Care Solutions , Medical software which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Amalga
Multimap.com , Location-based service which helped Microsoft develop Live Search Maps
2008
Fast Search & Transfer , Enterprise search which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft SharePoint
Calista Technologies , Virtual device which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Application Virtualization
Caligari , 3D computer graphics which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Virtual Earth
Danger , Mobile software which helped Microsoft develop MSN Mobile
YaData , Online advertising which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft adCenter
Kidaro , Desktop Virtualization (VDI) which helped Microsoft develop Microsoft Virtual PC
Komoku , Computer security which helped Microsoft develop Windows Live OneCare
Farecast , Computer reservations system which helped Microsoft develop —
Powerset Search engine which helped Microsoft develop Live Search
The majority of the companies acquired by Microsoft are based in the United States. Microsoft till date have acquired close to 120 companies.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
Google built on Acquisition
It is a popular believes that Google is born and built on innovations, which is true. The making of Google is not only based on innovation but acquisitions also play a critical role. Google bought companies and worked on their properties to develop better product. The end goal of acquiring a company may be aligned with Google’s overall mission. Google bought companies to grab global database, make that data useful and accessible, attract users attention and loyalty towards the database, and most importantly to increase profit from ads displayed with the data.
2001
Deja , Usenet which helped Google develop Google Groups
Outride , Web search engine which helped Google develop Google Personalized Search
2003
Pyra Labs , Weblog software which helped Google develop Blogger
Neotonic Software , Customer relationship management which helped Google develop Google Groups, Gmail
Applied Semantics , Online advertising which helped Google develop AdSense, AdWords
Kaltix , Web search engine which helped Google develop iGoogle
Sprinks(a division of Primedia) , Online advertising which helped Google develop AdSense, AdWords
Genius Labs , Blogging which helped Google develop Blogger
2004
Ignite Logic , HTML editor which helped Google develop Google Page Creator
BaiduA , Chinese language search engine which helped Google develop
Picasa , Image organizer which helped Google develop Picasa, Blogger
ZipDash , Traffic analysis which helped Google develop Google Ride Finder
Where2 , Map analysis which helped Google develop Google Maps
Keyhole, Inc , Map analysis which helped Google develop Google Maps, Google Earth
2005
Urchin Software Corporation , Web analytics which helped Google develop Google Analytics
Dodgeball , Social networking service which helped Google develop Google Mobile, Google SMS
Reqwireless , Mobile browser which helped Google develop Google Mobile
Current Communications Group , Broadband internet access which helped Google develop Internet backbone
Android , Mobile software which helped Google develop Android
Skia , Graphics software which helped Google develop Android
Akwan Information Technologies , Search Engines which helped Google develop Internet backbone
AOLB , Broadband internet access which helped Google develop
Phatbits , Widget engine which helped Google develop Google Desktop
allPAY GmbH , Mobile software which helped Google develop Google Mobile
bruNET GmbH , Mobile software which helped Google develop Google Mobile
2006
dMarc Broadcasting , Advertising which helped Google develop AdSense
Measure Map , Weblog software which helped Google develop Google Analytics
Upstartle , Word processor which helped Google develop Google Documents
@Last Software , 3D modeling software which helped Google develop Google Sketchup
Orion , Web search engine which helped Google develop Google Search
2Web Technologies , Online spreadsheets which helped Google develop Google Spreadsheet
Neven Vision , Computer vision which helped Google develop Google Maps
YouTube , Video sharing which helped Google develop YouTube
JotSpot , Web application which helped Google develop Google Sites
Endoxon , Mapping which helped Google develop Google Maps
2007
XunleiC , File sharing which helped Google develop
Adscape , In-game advertising which helped Google develop AdSense
Trendalyzer , Statistical software which helped Google develop Google Analytics
Tonic Systems , Presentation program which helped Google develop Google Documents
Marratech , Videoconferencing which helped Google develop Google Talk
DoubleClick , Online advertising which helped Google develop AdSense
GreenBorder , Computer security which helped Google develop Internal use
Panoramio , Photo sharing which helped Google develop Blogger, Maps
FeedBurner , Web feed which helped Google develop Google Reader
PeakStream , Parallel processing which helped Google develop Server (computing)
Zenter , Presentation program which helped Google develop Google Documents
GrandCentral , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Google develop Google Mobile
Image America , Aerial photography which helped Google develop Google Maps
Postini , Communications security which helped Google develop Gmail
Zingku , Social network service which helped Google develop Google Mobile
Jaiku , Micro-blogging which helped Google develop Google Mobile
2008
DoubleClick , an online advertising
Historically, the focus of Google while acquisition is on technology and data acquisitions, which helped it emerge as the Power brand.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
2001
Deja , Usenet which helped Google develop Google Groups
Outride , Web search engine which helped Google develop Google Personalized Search
2003
Pyra Labs , Weblog software which helped Google develop Blogger
Neotonic Software , Customer relationship management which helped Google develop Google Groups, Gmail
Applied Semantics , Online advertising which helped Google develop AdSense, AdWords
Kaltix , Web search engine which helped Google develop iGoogle
Sprinks(a division of Primedia) , Online advertising which helped Google develop AdSense, AdWords
Genius Labs , Blogging which helped Google develop Blogger
2004
Ignite Logic , HTML editor which helped Google develop Google Page Creator
BaiduA , Chinese language search engine which helped Google develop
Picasa , Image organizer which helped Google develop Picasa, Blogger
ZipDash , Traffic analysis which helped Google develop Google Ride Finder
Where2 , Map analysis which helped Google develop Google Maps
Keyhole, Inc , Map analysis which helped Google develop Google Maps, Google Earth
2005
Urchin Software Corporation , Web analytics which helped Google develop Google Analytics
Dodgeball , Social networking service which helped Google develop Google Mobile, Google SMS
Reqwireless , Mobile browser which helped Google develop Google Mobile
Current Communications Group , Broadband internet access which helped Google develop Internet backbone
Android , Mobile software which helped Google develop Android
Skia , Graphics software which helped Google develop Android
Akwan Information Technologies , Search Engines which helped Google develop Internet backbone
AOLB , Broadband internet access which helped Google develop
Phatbits , Widget engine which helped Google develop Google Desktop
allPAY GmbH , Mobile software which helped Google develop Google Mobile
bruNET GmbH , Mobile software which helped Google develop Google Mobile
2006
dMarc Broadcasting , Advertising which helped Google develop AdSense
Measure Map , Weblog software which helped Google develop Google Analytics
Upstartle , Word processor which helped Google develop Google Documents
@Last Software , 3D modeling software which helped Google develop Google Sketchup
Orion , Web search engine which helped Google develop Google Search
2Web Technologies , Online spreadsheets which helped Google develop Google Spreadsheet
Neven Vision , Computer vision which helped Google develop Google Maps
YouTube , Video sharing which helped Google develop YouTube
JotSpot , Web application which helped Google develop Google Sites
Endoxon , Mapping which helped Google develop Google Maps
2007
XunleiC , File sharing which helped Google develop
Adscape , In-game advertising which helped Google develop AdSense
Trendalyzer , Statistical software which helped Google develop Google Analytics
Tonic Systems , Presentation program which helped Google develop Google Documents
Marratech , Videoconferencing which helped Google develop Google Talk
DoubleClick , Online advertising which helped Google develop AdSense
GreenBorder , Computer security which helped Google develop Internal use
Panoramio , Photo sharing which helped Google develop Blogger, Maps
FeedBurner , Web feed which helped Google develop Google Reader
PeakStream , Parallel processing which helped Google develop Server (computing)
Zenter , Presentation program which helped Google develop Google Documents
GrandCentral , Voice over Internet Protocol which helped Google develop Google Mobile
Image America , Aerial photography which helped Google develop Google Maps
Postini , Communications security which helped Google develop Gmail
Zingku , Social network service which helped Google develop Google Mobile
Jaiku , Micro-blogging which helped Google develop Google Mobile
2008
DoubleClick , an online advertising
Historically, the focus of Google while acquisition is on technology and data acquisitions, which helped it emerge as the Power brand.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org
The Google Economy
Google has come a long way; from one of the Internet search engine to the worlds most popular search engine. It is preferred over search engines which are one among the pioneers of the search engine such as AltaVista, Infoseek, Netscape and Lycos.
Google piggyback on its innovative strategy to generate revenue by placing advertisements on sites which contain information related to those ads has indeed made Google highly profitable. The revenue model, almost since beginning, has been successful in giving its competitors a run for their money. In a short span of time, Google has become the best search engine by eating into the market share of Yahoo AltaVista, Infoseek, Netscape and Lycos.
Google always focused on product development which is user friendly and offers great customer experience. No wonder, Google, since inception came up with innovative ideas like Blogs, AdWords, video search and many other features on its search engine, which offered great user experience. It also helped, Google developed an emotional character that transcends cultural, geographical and language barriers. This inherent strength of Google in initial days helped survive in industry which was dominated by industry power house like Yahoo and Microsoft and later on helped it emerge as the winner. Google has focused on its strength by constantly projecting solutions to problems first rather than making money.
Google has
The Birth
The beginning of the story, Google started when Sergey Brin and Larry Page were doing their Ph.D. at Stanford University in computer science, as a part of research group called MIDAS (Mining Data at Stanford). Sergey Brin, with his Professor Rajiv Motwani started experimenting on finding ways to extract information from large chunks of data. Larry Page, at the same time spent time with the search engines (Altavista, Yahoo etc.) on Digital Libraries Project to find how they analyzed data.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, after teaming up started downloading the web onto his desktop and even devised a method he called PageRank that would assign priority to websites with quality links. The PageRank, going forward would be backbone of the search engine Google.
In 1997, Page developed a primitive search engine called BackRub which was later renamed Google. The duo left Stanford University in the fall of 1998 moving their search engine to a nearby garage. On September 07, 1998, they established the Google Inc. The duo started experimenting on the Google’s web design to make it look more polished with high speed.
The Early Days
The search engine became quite popular through word-of-mouth, e-mails and instant messages. In 1998, PC Magazine had chosen Google as the top 100 web sites. By 2001, Google was on its way to become a lexicon in the dictionary continuing to offer 100 million searches per day making it one of the top notch quality services to people across the world.
Google started with difference and positioned it as no-nonsense search engine. Google, unlike traditional search engines which place search ads mixing them with search results to make money, started delivering accurate results to the keywords placed in search. They found the idea of placing ads in the site more commercialized and will ultimately dilute the main purpose of the search engines.
In Search of Revenue Model
The duo realized that only great product will not generate revenue they have to work on the revenue model. But at the cost of revenue generation they were not in favor of compromising on the search results quality. The duo after much brainstorming with Google team finds out a source to earn revenues. Google develop its business around two revenue streams – online advertising and search services. Google has been generating enough revenue from its AdWords, AdSense and Gmail service. The revenue model was well received by the viewers and the users.
The difference between Google and Yahoo is the revenue factor. Yahoo gets its revenue from Yahoo mail, ads, and some other features where as Google gets almost 85% of its revenue from ads. Google’s success has incited Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo to develope their own commercial search offerings
Google – More than a Search Engine
In early days of search engine growth when most of the online search engine companies spent a lot of money on marketing to build their brands, Google, focused solely on building a ‘better’ search engine. Everything Google did from the development of advanced technology to the design of user interface was focused on delivering the best search results. The effort to develop a better search engine help Google develop a brand.
When Google entered the online search market, Yahoo was the market leader. Their persistent efforts towards that objective proved fruitful as, in a span of five years, Google placed itself ahead of Yahoo in the search engine market. In 2002, Google pioneered the concept of AdWords and AdSense, and thus created a sensation in the field of online advertising.
Now, Google is much more than a search engine, it offers various other features for its users. List of the services which Google offers to its users apart from the search engine are:
Google Desktop : Search and personalize your computer
Google Earth : Explore the world from your computer
Google Finance : Business info, news, and interactive charts
iGoogle : Add news, games and more to the Google homepage
Images : Search for images on the web
Google Maps : View maps and directions
Google News - now with archive search; Search thousands of news stories
Google Scholar : Search scholarly papers
Google Video : Search for videos on Google Video and YouTube
Gmail : Fast, searchable email with less spam
Groups : Create mailing lists and discussion groups
Orkut : Meet new people and stay in touch with friends
Picasa : Find, edit and share your photos
Reader : Get all your blogs and news feeds fast
Sites : Create websites and secure group wikis
Google Talk : IM and call your friends through your computer
Google Translate : View web pages in other languages
Google YouTube : Watch, upload and share videos
Google is increasing its revenues with introduction of new features.
Google – growing with Strategic Partnerships and Acquisition
Google has served various strategic partnerships with companies like Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, and Ask Jeeves. The strategic partnership in place, its ad business was showing signs of good growth.
Read: Google built on Acquisition to know more about Google Acquisitions in past.
Google grew to such an extent that it was very tough replicating its network or business for its competitors. The constant innovation at Google is the real motive for its services.
Conclusion
Google will remain the best and popular company both electronically and emotionally. The company employs brilliant mathematicians, engineers and technologists to tackle all the problems. The Google team, have developed a firm that doesn’t need any introduction or promotion. It has replaced Microsoft with its rapid pace of innovation and mantle of leadership. Google has placed itself in a special position in the hearts and minds of many people throughout the world.
Google piggyback on its innovative strategy to generate revenue by placing advertisements on sites which contain information related to those ads has indeed made Google highly profitable. The revenue model, almost since beginning, has been successful in giving its competitors a run for their money. In a short span of time, Google has become the best search engine by eating into the market share of Yahoo AltaVista, Infoseek, Netscape and Lycos.
Google always focused on product development which is user friendly and offers great customer experience. No wonder, Google, since inception came up with innovative ideas like Blogs, AdWords, video search and many other features on its search engine, which offered great user experience. It also helped, Google developed an emotional character that transcends cultural, geographical and language barriers. This inherent strength of Google in initial days helped survive in industry which was dominated by industry power house like Yahoo and Microsoft and later on helped it emerge as the winner. Google has focused on its strength by constantly projecting solutions to problems first rather than making money.
Google has
The Birth
The beginning of the story, Google started when Sergey Brin and Larry Page were doing their Ph.D. at Stanford University in computer science, as a part of research group called MIDAS (Mining Data at Stanford). Sergey Brin, with his Professor Rajiv Motwani started experimenting on finding ways to extract information from large chunks of data. Larry Page, at the same time spent time with the search engines (Altavista, Yahoo etc.) on Digital Libraries Project to find how they analyzed data.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, after teaming up started downloading the web onto his desktop and even devised a method he called PageRank that would assign priority to websites with quality links. The PageRank, going forward would be backbone of the search engine Google.
In 1997, Page developed a primitive search engine called BackRub which was later renamed Google. The duo left Stanford University in the fall of 1998 moving their search engine to a nearby garage. On September 07, 1998, they established the Google Inc. The duo started experimenting on the Google’s web design to make it look more polished with high speed.
The Early Days
The search engine became quite popular through word-of-mouth, e-mails and instant messages. In 1998, PC Magazine had chosen Google as the top 100 web sites. By 2001, Google was on its way to become a lexicon in the dictionary continuing to offer 100 million searches per day making it one of the top notch quality services to people across the world.
Google started with difference and positioned it as no-nonsense search engine. Google, unlike traditional search engines which place search ads mixing them with search results to make money, started delivering accurate results to the keywords placed in search. They found the idea of placing ads in the site more commercialized and will ultimately dilute the main purpose of the search engines.
In Search of Revenue Model
The duo realized that only great product will not generate revenue they have to work on the revenue model. But at the cost of revenue generation they were not in favor of compromising on the search results quality. The duo after much brainstorming with Google team finds out a source to earn revenues. Google develop its business around two revenue streams – online advertising and search services. Google has been generating enough revenue from its AdWords, AdSense and Gmail service. The revenue model was well received by the viewers and the users.
The difference between Google and Yahoo is the revenue factor. Yahoo gets its revenue from Yahoo mail, ads, and some other features where as Google gets almost 85% of its revenue from ads. Google’s success has incited Microsoft, AOL and Yahoo to develope their own commercial search offerings
Google – More than a Search Engine
In early days of search engine growth when most of the online search engine companies spent a lot of money on marketing to build their brands, Google, focused solely on building a ‘better’ search engine. Everything Google did from the development of advanced technology to the design of user interface was focused on delivering the best search results. The effort to develop a better search engine help Google develop a brand.
When Google entered the online search market, Yahoo was the market leader. Their persistent efforts towards that objective proved fruitful as, in a span of five years, Google placed itself ahead of Yahoo in the search engine market. In 2002, Google pioneered the concept of AdWords and AdSense, and thus created a sensation in the field of online advertising.
Now, Google is much more than a search engine, it offers various other features for its users. List of the services which Google offers to its users apart from the search engine are:
Google Desktop : Search and personalize your computer
Google Earth : Explore the world from your computer
Google Finance : Business info, news, and interactive charts
iGoogle : Add news, games and more to the Google homepage
Images : Search for images on the web
Google Maps : View maps and directions
Google News - now with archive search; Search thousands of news stories
Google Scholar : Search scholarly papers
Google Video : Search for videos on Google Video and YouTube
Gmail : Fast, searchable email with less spam
Groups : Create mailing lists and discussion groups
Orkut : Meet new people and stay in touch with friends
Picasa : Find, edit and share your photos
Reader : Get all your blogs and news feeds fast
Sites : Create websites and secure group wikis
Google Talk : IM and call your friends through your computer
Google Translate : View web pages in other languages
Google YouTube : Watch, upload and share videos
Google is increasing its revenues with introduction of new features.
Google – growing with Strategic Partnerships and Acquisition
Google has served various strategic partnerships with companies like Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, and Ask Jeeves. The strategic partnership in place, its ad business was showing signs of good growth.
Read: Google built on Acquisition to know more about Google Acquisitions in past.
Google grew to such an extent that it was very tough replicating its network or business for its competitors. The constant innovation at Google is the real motive for its services.
Conclusion
Google will remain the best and popular company both electronically and emotionally. The company employs brilliant mathematicians, engineers and technologists to tackle all the problems. The Google team, have developed a firm that doesn’t need any introduction or promotion. It has replaced Microsoft with its rapid pace of innovation and mantle of leadership. Google has placed itself in a special position in the hearts and minds of many people throughout the world.
Brand Google
Google, the largest search engine, besides restricting itself as the number one search engine globally has become a one stop shop destination for many other offerings. It offers G-mail, the fast e-mail service; Google Earth replaced, atlas; Google News replaced newspapers and magazines. Google digitize all books available on the planet to offer e-versions of books. With so much to offer, it was no wonder that starting its journey as a humble search engine in late nineties, the company had emerged as one of the most powerful brands by 2006.
Beginning of Journey
Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University. Larry Page and Sergey Brin planned to develop a new way for online search. The idea behind the setting up of the Google was to organize all the globally available information and make it accessible and useful to all people across the world. Google was incorporated as a privately held company on September 7, 1998.
In 2000, Google was answering 18 million queries daily and maintained a repository of one billion URLs (Uniform Resource Locator). Unlike other search engines, which relied on servers to answer the queries, Google linked PCs to answer the query fast and in accurate manner. This technology leads to a faster response time, greater scalability and lesser cost.
Google offers search facility on different subjects, in different languages, and users could search information on Google Toolbar, Google Deskbar, and on mobile through WAP and i-mode phones. Along with search facilities, Google also provided images, pages in different languages, airlines information and phone numbers, spell check and translation of web pages. Google to stay ahead in the competition and to become one of the most innovative companies, Google used PageRank and Hypertext-Matching Analysis technologies to provide reliable, fast and accurate information.
Google – Name
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin established Google, the prime focus was on developing a ‘perfect search engine’ as Larry Page, defined Google as some thing that, ‘understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want’.
The name ‘Google’ was derived from the word ‘googol’ which meant a mathematical term for 1 followed by 100 zeroes (Googol means 10100). The company was named by nine year old Milton Sirotta, nephew of noted American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, “Mathematics and the Imagination” by Edward Kasner and James Newman. The name Google itself portrayed the company’s mission to organize information available on the internet. The name and meaning of the name reflected the company’s mission to organize virtually all the information available on the web and make it easily available free of cost. The word Google portrayed both technological and scientific supremacy and not an improbable, silly word.
Google – USP
The unique selling proposition of the Google brand was its searching specialization. Contrary to other search engines, which was evolved as media portals, Google remained a search engine. The four elements based on which Larry Page and Sergey Brin positioned Google differently from the rest of the companies were speed, accuracy, objectivity and easy usage. The easy usage and benefit transformed Google from a search engine to one of the most successful global brands.
Google – Logo
In 1998 Sergey Brin designed the logo of the company, to portray the essence of a cheerful, innovative and technical brand. Sergey Brin wanted Google to carry the fancy and fun Image which reflects in its name, image and logo of the company. The colorful rounded edges depicted that the company is approachable and friendly but at the same time means business and was serious about its work. Google, backed by a great idea and concept, supported by a service that delivers and portrayed by a fun logo and a relevant name, the company enjoyed high brand loyalty.
Google – Brand Expansion
By 2000, Google piggyback on the four elements – Speed, accuracy, objectivity and ease of use became the largest Internet search engine. With time only one aspect of Google brand changed, which was done in a careful manner. It extended its philosophy from online internet search to easy availability of information, without considering the mode of delivery. Google retained its core online search engine as a separate brand identity and launched a separate brand for its different product category. (I will discuss Google – Brand Expansion in detail soon)
In 2004, Google created new product categories and forayed into unrelated areas viz. social networking, email services, Google earth, Google mini. The Google Search Appliance, the new hardware of Google also signified the brand image of Google.
Google – word-of-mouth way
In 2006, Google became Generic brand with its unique model of service. Google also became synonymous for online search. Google became a household name and attained a power brand status without any advertising expenditure. The company did not spend anything on print or electronic media or online banners. Google, instead of developing the brand through the traditional way of advertising, focused on experience – user experience, customer experience or searcher experience. Google is a classic example of a power brand built on word-of-mouth. Google has strong word-of-mouth because it delivers on its uncomplicated promise. Its reputation spread with word of mouth from millions of satisfied users of Google as a search engine and helped the brand building process.
Google – Marching Ahead
A simple and uncomplicated business model which was supported by a simple brand and logo was the main prerequisite for the company’s success. Google portrayed itself as a company of 21st century and amazed many companies with its meteoric success.
Beginning of Journey
Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University. Larry Page and Sergey Brin planned to develop a new way for online search. The idea behind the setting up of the Google was to organize all the globally available information and make it accessible and useful to all people across the world. Google was incorporated as a privately held company on September 7, 1998.
In 2000, Google was answering 18 million queries daily and maintained a repository of one billion URLs (Uniform Resource Locator). Unlike other search engines, which relied on servers to answer the queries, Google linked PCs to answer the query fast and in accurate manner. This technology leads to a faster response time, greater scalability and lesser cost.
Google offers search facility on different subjects, in different languages, and users could search information on Google Toolbar, Google Deskbar, and on mobile through WAP and i-mode phones. Along with search facilities, Google also provided images, pages in different languages, airlines information and phone numbers, spell check and translation of web pages. Google to stay ahead in the competition and to become one of the most innovative companies, Google used PageRank and Hypertext-Matching Analysis technologies to provide reliable, fast and accurate information.
Google – Name
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin established Google, the prime focus was on developing a ‘perfect search engine’ as Larry Page, defined Google as some thing that, ‘understands exactly what you mean and gives you back exactly what you want’.
The name ‘Google’ was derived from the word ‘googol’ which meant a mathematical term for 1 followed by 100 zeroes (Googol means 10100). The company was named by nine year old Milton Sirotta, nephew of noted American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, “Mathematics and the Imagination” by Edward Kasner and James Newman. The name Google itself portrayed the company’s mission to organize information available on the internet. The name and meaning of the name reflected the company’s mission to organize virtually all the information available on the web and make it easily available free of cost. The word Google portrayed both technological and scientific supremacy and not an improbable, silly word.
Google – USP
The unique selling proposition of the Google brand was its searching specialization. Contrary to other search engines, which was evolved as media portals, Google remained a search engine. The four elements based on which Larry Page and Sergey Brin positioned Google differently from the rest of the companies were speed, accuracy, objectivity and easy usage. The easy usage and benefit transformed Google from a search engine to one of the most successful global brands.
Google – Logo
In 1998 Sergey Brin designed the logo of the company, to portray the essence of a cheerful, innovative and technical brand. Sergey Brin wanted Google to carry the fancy and fun Image which reflects in its name, image and logo of the company. The colorful rounded edges depicted that the company is approachable and friendly but at the same time means business and was serious about its work. Google, backed by a great idea and concept, supported by a service that delivers and portrayed by a fun logo and a relevant name, the company enjoyed high brand loyalty.
Google – Brand Expansion
By 2000, Google piggyback on the four elements – Speed, accuracy, objectivity and ease of use became the largest Internet search engine. With time only one aspect of Google brand changed, which was done in a careful manner. It extended its philosophy from online internet search to easy availability of information, without considering the mode of delivery. Google retained its core online search engine as a separate brand identity and launched a separate brand for its different product category. (I will discuss Google – Brand Expansion in detail soon)
In 2004, Google created new product categories and forayed into unrelated areas viz. social networking, email services, Google earth, Google mini. The Google Search Appliance, the new hardware of Google also signified the brand image of Google.
Google – word-of-mouth way
In 2006, Google became Generic brand with its unique model of service. Google also became synonymous for online search. Google became a household name and attained a power brand status without any advertising expenditure. The company did not spend anything on print or electronic media or online banners. Google, instead of developing the brand through the traditional way of advertising, focused on experience – user experience, customer experience or searcher experience. Google is a classic example of a power brand built on word-of-mouth. Google has strong word-of-mouth because it delivers on its uncomplicated promise. Its reputation spread with word of mouth from millions of satisfied users of Google as a search engine and helped the brand building process.
Google – Marching Ahead
A simple and uncomplicated business model which was supported by a simple brand and logo was the main prerequisite for the company’s success. Google portrayed itself as a company of 21st century and amazed many companies with its meteoric success.
Yahoo! built out of Alliances, Acquisitions (and looking for Merger)
In 1994, Jerry Yang and David Filo, the two young PhD computer science students from the Stanford University, started compiling list of their favorite websites as a hobby. They also listed them on websites. They developed Web-searching software which helped in web search and indexing sites. They categorized and subcategorized their websites for better search result. The website in the early days was categorized under Art, Business, Computers, Economy, and Education and also subcategorized each of the categories soon became too cumbersome, as the number of websites in their list increased. Jerry Yang and David Filo named the search list Yahoo.
By January 1995, Yahoo, had 10,000 websites and was getting one million hits a day. However, the indexing was still done by humans. During the same time, Yahoo had to be moved out of the Stanford University server where it was hosted.
By this time, Yahoo had gained fame and respect and venture capitalists showed interests in investing in Yahoo against a pie of Yahoo. The industry had recognized the potential of Yahoo and AOL wanted to buy Yahoo for $2 million. However, both Yang and Filo declined the offer. The media covered these events in detail which helped Yahoo gain visibility. The feature story in Newsweek during that time coined the expression ‘did a Yahoo.’ This coinage was later modified to become the company’s famous slogan ‘Do You Yahoo!?’
Launch
In March 1995, Yang, Filo and Tim Brady (a friend of Yang) wrote the business plan for Yahoo. The business plan put forth the vision of Yahoo; to become the ‘TV Guide of the Internet.’ The business plan also focused on advertisers to help generate its revenues, without charging any fees from the users.
The plan also stressed the importance of Yahoo’s independence, editorial impartiality, brand equity and free service for the end users. The business plan also listed that the second-biggest source of income should be through licensing deals.
The business plan announced Filo as president and CEO, and Yang as chairman and CFO.
In March 1995, Yahoo was incorporated and in April the company got its first $1 mn venture funding from Sequoia Capital. As soon as venture funding was received, the founders put an interim management in place at Yahoo. Yahoo launched its website in early August 1995.
Yahoo Expansion
In April 1996, Yahoo launched Yahoo Japan as a joint venture with Softbank, with Yahoo and Softbank owning 40% and 60% respectively. However, in all other cases it always held the majority stake. In Europe, Yahoo launched as Yahoo Europe in United Kingdom, Germany and France along with rest of Western Europe with Ziff Davis Yahoo held 70% of the equity stake while Ziff Davis held only 30%.
Yahoo forged strategic alliances with different companies like Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, Pepsi, Microsoft, and Real Networks. To improve its pure search capability, Yahoo licensed AltaVista’s search engine and to broaden its distribution, Yahoo forged deals with Compaq and Gateway which allowed Yahoo to put its button on the desktops of Compaq and Gateway PCs. However, Yahoo and MTV alliance to create, a music search engine failed soon after its creation.
Yahoo initially started as a search engine, but with alliances and joint ventures it slowly developed as a portal. Mostly growth happened through acquisitions. Some of the companies acquired by Yahoo were Flickr, Konfabulator, Upcoming.org, Del.icio.us, and Webjay. The new Yahoo search engine was built on the acquired technology from Inktomi and Overture. The new search engine created the best search technology for consumers and an effective advertising platform for the advertisers. Yahoo also launched Yahoo 360, a social networking service.
In long run, Yahoo has become a victim of success. The company had adopted the model of being a one-stop portal, offering all the services on its web site. Yahoo’s homepage had links to a host of products and services like e-mail, music, mobile, small business services, health, finance, games, movies, personals, etc.
Acquired Companies
2002 Hotjobs, Inktomi
2003 Overture,
2004 3721 Internet Assistant, Kelkoo, Oddpost, The All-Seeing Eye, Music Match, Stata Labs Inc, WUF Networks
2005 Verdisoft, Ludicorp Research, (Flickr), Stadeon, TeRespondo, Dialpad
2005 blo.gs, Konfabulator, Alibaba, Upcoming.org, Whereonearth, del.icio.us
2006 Searchfox, Meedio, Gmarket, Jumpcut.com, Adlnterax, Right Media, Kenet Works, Bix.com, Wretch
Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures
During the same time, Yahoo initiated strategic partnerships. Yang’s objective of strategic partnerships was, to leverage relationships for future financing, rather than raising money. They zeroed on Reuters, and struck a distribution and revenue sharing deal with Reuters. The success of the yahoo – Reuters deal led Yahoo to bring together a pilot program of six advertisers like GM and Visa, each of which paid $20,000 per month.
As the number of paid advertisers along with the daily visitors in Yahoo’s website increased, few companies showed interests in investing in Yahoo. Reuters, computer-magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Japanese software publisher and distributor giant Softbank invested in Yahoo against a portion of its equity
stake. Reuters invested $1 mn for a 2.5% stake, Ziff Davis and Softbank each invested $2 mn for 5% stakes.
In 1999 when the dotcoms started to collapse in 1999, and the advertising market shrank, Yahoo had to search new ways other than advertising to make money. Yahoo started charging for some of its existing services, like auctions and personals and introduced new paid services, like extra storage space for email and photos, registration of personal domain names and tools for building personal Web pages. In 1999, Yahoo also entered the ecommerce business by introducing Yahoo Shopping where 9000 merchants joined. Yahoo also partnered with Kmart’s retail website, BlueLight.com, to provide free Internet access to the users, with the objective of attracting large number of new Net-savvy customers.
By January 1995, Yahoo, had 10,000 websites and was getting one million hits a day. However, the indexing was still done by humans. During the same time, Yahoo had to be moved out of the Stanford University server where it was hosted.
By this time, Yahoo had gained fame and respect and venture capitalists showed interests in investing in Yahoo against a pie of Yahoo. The industry had recognized the potential of Yahoo and AOL wanted to buy Yahoo for $2 million. However, both Yang and Filo declined the offer. The media covered these events in detail which helped Yahoo gain visibility. The feature story in Newsweek during that time coined the expression ‘did a Yahoo.’ This coinage was later modified to become the company’s famous slogan ‘Do You Yahoo!?’
Launch
In March 1995, Yang, Filo and Tim Brady (a friend of Yang) wrote the business plan for Yahoo. The business plan put forth the vision of Yahoo; to become the ‘TV Guide of the Internet.’ The business plan also focused on advertisers to help generate its revenues, without charging any fees from the users.
The plan also stressed the importance of Yahoo’s independence, editorial impartiality, brand equity and free service for the end users. The business plan also listed that the second-biggest source of income should be through licensing deals.
The business plan announced Filo as president and CEO, and Yang as chairman and CFO.
In March 1995, Yahoo was incorporated and in April the company got its first $1 mn venture funding from Sequoia Capital. As soon as venture funding was received, the founders put an interim management in place at Yahoo. Yahoo launched its website in early August 1995.
Yahoo Expansion
In April 1996, Yahoo launched Yahoo Japan as a joint venture with Softbank, with Yahoo and Softbank owning 40% and 60% respectively. However, in all other cases it always held the majority stake. In Europe, Yahoo launched as Yahoo Europe in United Kingdom, Germany and France along with rest of Western Europe with Ziff Davis Yahoo held 70% of the equity stake while Ziff Davis held only 30%.
Yahoo forged strategic alliances with different companies like Procter & Gamble, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, Pepsi, Microsoft, and Real Networks. To improve its pure search capability, Yahoo licensed AltaVista’s search engine and to broaden its distribution, Yahoo forged deals with Compaq and Gateway which allowed Yahoo to put its button on the desktops of Compaq and Gateway PCs. However, Yahoo and MTV alliance to create, a music search engine failed soon after its creation.
Yahoo initially started as a search engine, but with alliances and joint ventures it slowly developed as a portal. Mostly growth happened through acquisitions. Some of the companies acquired by Yahoo were Flickr, Konfabulator, Upcoming.org, Del.icio.us, and Webjay. The new Yahoo search engine was built on the acquired technology from Inktomi and Overture. The new search engine created the best search technology for consumers and an effective advertising platform for the advertisers. Yahoo also launched Yahoo 360, a social networking service.
In long run, Yahoo has become a victim of success. The company had adopted the model of being a one-stop portal, offering all the services on its web site. Yahoo’s homepage had links to a host of products and services like e-mail, music, mobile, small business services, health, finance, games, movies, personals, etc.
Acquired Companies
2002 Hotjobs, Inktomi
2003 Overture,
2004 3721 Internet Assistant, Kelkoo, Oddpost, The All-Seeing Eye, Music Match, Stata Labs Inc, WUF Networks
2005 Verdisoft, Ludicorp Research, (Flickr), Stadeon, TeRespondo, Dialpad
2005 blo.gs, Konfabulator, Alibaba, Upcoming.org, Whereonearth, del.icio.us
2006 Searchfox, Meedio, Gmarket, Jumpcut.com, Adlnterax, Right Media, Kenet Works, Bix.com, Wretch
Strategic Alliances and Joint Ventures
During the same time, Yahoo initiated strategic partnerships. Yang’s objective of strategic partnerships was, to leverage relationships for future financing, rather than raising money. They zeroed on Reuters, and struck a distribution and revenue sharing deal with Reuters. The success of the yahoo – Reuters deal led Yahoo to bring together a pilot program of six advertisers like GM and Visa, each of which paid $20,000 per month.
As the number of paid advertisers along with the daily visitors in Yahoo’s website increased, few companies showed interests in investing in Yahoo. Reuters, computer-magazine publisher Ziff Davis, Japanese software publisher and distributor giant Softbank invested in Yahoo against a portion of its equity
stake. Reuters invested $1 mn for a 2.5% stake, Ziff Davis and Softbank each invested $2 mn for 5% stakes.
In 1999 when the dotcoms started to collapse in 1999, and the advertising market shrank, Yahoo had to search new ways other than advertising to make money. Yahoo started charging for some of its existing services, like auctions and personals and introduced new paid services, like extra storage space for email and photos, registration of personal domain names and tools for building personal Web pages. In 1999, Yahoo also entered the ecommerce business by introducing Yahoo Shopping where 9000 merchants joined. Yahoo also partnered with Kmart’s retail website, BlueLight.com, to provide free Internet access to the users, with the objective of attracting large number of new Net-savvy customers.
Akbar Birbal remixed: A new beginning
Rajshri Media
Rajshri Media is the digital entertainment arm of the 60-year old Rajshri group, one of India’s oldest, largest and most successful Film and TV Studios. It also has successful operations in TV production and music publishing. The group has produced over 50 films till date many of which have attained significant commercial and critical success.
Rajshri Media is one of the leading Internet and Mobile Studios of India. The company runs India’s leading broadband video streaming and download portal http://www.rajshri.com their Internet and Mobile videos are also available at their Youtube channel – http://www.youtube.com/rajshri.
Akbar Birbal remixed: A new beginning
Gone are the days of TV serials; its age of Internet and mobile serials. Rajshri Media, India’s leading Web and Mobile Studio, has launched Akbar Birbal remixed. The Akbar Birbal remixed is 3 minute a piece 90 episode series. The Akbar Birbal remixed, set in the by-lanes of Bhendi Bazar in Mumbai.
The show revolves around a loud and brazen don – Akbar Anna, and his intelligent , witty and ever-bankable sidekick – Birbal Bhaiya. Each day, to them, begins with it a new nut to crack. Doesn’t it sound like Akbar-Birbal, and Muna Bhai – Circuit combination? The first 10 episodes are live on http://www.rajshri.com and their Youtube channel which is http://www.youtube.com/rajshri. In addition, it will be launched soon on MMS and SMS via Idea Cellular.
Rajshri would reformat the content for audio and text and will be distributing it to Idea for 3 months, thereafter going live across other operators. The content will be released initially on Internet and mobile and subsequently formatted for TV, home video and Radio.
Rajshri Media is the digital entertainment arm of the 60-year old Rajshri group, one of India’s oldest, largest and most successful Film and TV Studios. It also has successful operations in TV production and music publishing. The group has produced over 50 films till date many of which have attained significant commercial and critical success.
Rajshri Media is one of the leading Internet and Mobile Studios of India. The company runs India’s leading broadband video streaming and download portal http://www.rajshri.com their Internet and Mobile videos are also available at their Youtube channel – http://www.youtube.com/rajshri.
Akbar Birbal remixed: A new beginning
Gone are the days of TV serials; its age of Internet and mobile serials. Rajshri Media, India’s leading Web and Mobile Studio, has launched Akbar Birbal remixed. The Akbar Birbal remixed is 3 minute a piece 90 episode series. The Akbar Birbal remixed, set in the by-lanes of Bhendi Bazar in Mumbai.
The show revolves around a loud and brazen don – Akbar Anna, and his intelligent , witty and ever-bankable sidekick – Birbal Bhaiya. Each day, to them, begins with it a new nut to crack. Doesn’t it sound like Akbar-Birbal, and Muna Bhai – Circuit combination? The first 10 episodes are live on http://www.rajshri.com and their Youtube channel which is http://www.youtube.com/rajshri. In addition, it will be launched soon on MMS and SMS via Idea Cellular.
Rajshri would reformat the content for audio and text and will be distributing it to Idea for 3 months, thereafter going live across other operators. The content will be released initially on Internet and mobile and subsequently formatted for TV, home video and Radio.
Making of Big Brand Yahoo!
Yahoo! Has positioned itself as the common man’s home on Internet.
– Phill Carpenter
January 1994, Stanford graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo created a website named “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web. Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web was a directory of other web sites, organized in a hierchary, as opposed to a searchable index of pages. In April 1994, “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web” was renamed “Yahoo!”. By the end of 1994, Yahoo! had already received one million hits. Yang and Filo realized their website had massive business potential, and on 2 March 1995, Yahoo! was incorporated
California base Yahoo! has emerged as the world’s leading Internet portal. Yahoo! has been the first company to setup an online navigation guide on Internet. It offered media content, communication, personalized information and commerce service on the web site www.yahoo.com. Yahoo! generated revenue mainly through advertisements, promotions, sponsorships, direct advertising and merchandising.
Yahoo! has kept close tab on the evolution of the market and the interest of the customers, and has cultivated a reputation of excellence, from its convenient and logical display of information, and excellent customer service. moreover, convenience has been core of Yahoo!’s success. The user-friendly way of structured information has helped Yahoo! gain customer trust viz. feature My Yahoo! allows surfer to customize their view of Yahoo! by tailoring the information to users preferences. The special feature has increased customer comfort and convenience,
Branding
We’ve setout to make Yahoo! the only place anyone needs to go to get connected to anything. There’s nothing in the real world to compare to that.
– Timothy Koogle
Yahoo! had attempted to build a strong brand on the net. As Yahoo! believed in the fact which is also advocated by Reid in Architect of the web “if you are the brand name people know, (your site) is where they are going to go first .” Yahoo! acted early and quickly to get to know the customers specific need and responded very fast to their requirement in form of high quality service at no cost to the end user.
Yahoo! projected an image of a brand which can speak of anybody. It has also avoided characterizing itself as a technology oriented company. Since beginning it portrayed the image of human face, conveying the brand personality that is accessible, helpful, and fun-loving.
An important aspect of Yahoo!’s brand building effort was advertising and public relation. Since inception, firm has invested substantially in public relation. It helped Yahoo! boost awareness at very low cost. Venture capitalist, Mike Mortz, pointed out the value of public relatin to Yahoo!, which is followed religiously. The PR agency Niehaus Ryan Wong (NRW) helped it become a household name. NRW used the cofounder celebrity status to personify Yahoo! as a really youthful, interesting and user-friendly in service. The strategy worked well and it was regularly covered in Smart Money, Rolling Stone, Advertising Week, Advertising Age, brand Week to name a few.
In 1996 the company hired ad agency the Black Rocket to create an ad campaign that would build an awareness created by company’s IPO. The campaign projected Yahoo! as a consumer brand. In comparison with the brick and mortar companies like P&G, which had taken 25 years Yahoo! created equally strong brand in less than five years. Yahoo! was the first to major web player to tune to television. In late 1996, Yahoo!’s “gone finish” ad, aired on television became very popular. I January 1999 Yahoo! tied up with News Corp, to launch a marketing campaign in TV and the Internet. Yahoo! came out with TV ads before the start and end of the popular super Bowl tournament. Yahoo! also sponsored TV shows which were aired immediately after super Bowl.
As the first online navigational guide on the web, Yahoo! is a leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! invested in feature such as free e-mail, and Yahoo! messenger who encouraged he user come back to Yahoo! regularly.
Conclusion
Yahoo! is one of the most successful brands on Internet. It was first to market with a detailed search engine, first to go public, first to turnaround annual profit, first to go mainstream advertising. To maintain the lead Yahoo! focused on creation of a high quality end-to-end customer experience. In addition, their innovative promotional and guerrilla marketing techniques, have created a distinct brand identity that differentiate the brand and appeals to the target market.
– Phill Carpenter
January 1994, Stanford graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo created a website named “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web. Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web was a directory of other web sites, organized in a hierchary, as opposed to a searchable index of pages. In April 1994, “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web” was renamed “Yahoo!”. By the end of 1994, Yahoo! had already received one million hits. Yang and Filo realized their website had massive business potential, and on 2 March 1995, Yahoo! was incorporated
California base Yahoo! has emerged as the world’s leading Internet portal. Yahoo! has been the first company to setup an online navigation guide on Internet. It offered media content, communication, personalized information and commerce service on the web site www.yahoo.com. Yahoo! generated revenue mainly through advertisements, promotions, sponsorships, direct advertising and merchandising.
Yahoo! has kept close tab on the evolution of the market and the interest of the customers, and has cultivated a reputation of excellence, from its convenient and logical display of information, and excellent customer service. moreover, convenience has been core of Yahoo!’s success. The user-friendly way of structured information has helped Yahoo! gain customer trust viz. feature My Yahoo! allows surfer to customize their view of Yahoo! by tailoring the information to users preferences. The special feature has increased customer comfort and convenience,
Branding
We’ve setout to make Yahoo! the only place anyone needs to go to get connected to anything. There’s nothing in the real world to compare to that.
– Timothy Koogle
Yahoo! had attempted to build a strong brand on the net. As Yahoo! believed in the fact which is also advocated by Reid in Architect of the web “if you are the brand name people know, (your site) is where they are going to go first .” Yahoo! acted early and quickly to get to know the customers specific need and responded very fast to their requirement in form of high quality service at no cost to the end user.
Yahoo! projected an image of a brand which can speak of anybody. It has also avoided characterizing itself as a technology oriented company. Since beginning it portrayed the image of human face, conveying the brand personality that is accessible, helpful, and fun-loving.
An important aspect of Yahoo!’s brand building effort was advertising and public relation. Since inception, firm has invested substantially in public relation. It helped Yahoo! boost awareness at very low cost. Venture capitalist, Mike Mortz, pointed out the value of public relatin to Yahoo!, which is followed religiously. The PR agency Niehaus Ryan Wong (NRW) helped it become a household name. NRW used the cofounder celebrity status to personify Yahoo! as a really youthful, interesting and user-friendly in service. The strategy worked well and it was regularly covered in Smart Money, Rolling Stone, Advertising Week, Advertising Age, brand Week to name a few.
In 1996 the company hired ad agency the Black Rocket to create an ad campaign that would build an awareness created by company’s IPO. The campaign projected Yahoo! as a consumer brand. In comparison with the brick and mortar companies like P&G, which had taken 25 years Yahoo! created equally strong brand in less than five years. Yahoo! was the first to major web player to tune to television. In late 1996, Yahoo!’s “gone finish” ad, aired on television became very popular. I January 1999 Yahoo! tied up with News Corp, to launch a marketing campaign in TV and the Internet. Yahoo! came out with TV ads before the start and end of the popular super Bowl tournament. Yahoo! also sponsored TV shows which were aired immediately after super Bowl.
As the first online navigational guide on the web, Yahoo! is a leading guide in terms of traffic, advertising, household and business user reach. Yahoo! invested in feature such as free e-mail, and Yahoo! messenger who encouraged he user come back to Yahoo! regularly.
Conclusion
Yahoo! is one of the most successful brands on Internet. It was first to market with a detailed search engine, first to go public, first to turnaround annual profit, first to go mainstream advertising. To maintain the lead Yahoo! focused on creation of a high quality end-to-end customer experience. In addition, their innovative promotional and guerrilla marketing techniques, have created a distinct brand identity that differentiate the brand and appeals to the target market.
CDNOW
Jason Olin Knew there had to be better way to buy music
– phill Carpenter
Leading music store CDNOW was one of the most popular shopping store sites since 1994. It had mammoth selection of music-related products. It boosted of excellent coverage of music reviews, cover art, daily music news, features, guide to music genres, and exclusive interviews. It also involved in digital distribution of music. CDNOW was the first site to offer the sale of music downloads. Armed with successful implementation of innovative ideas, CDNOW aims to make every visit to the site a valuable and rewarding experience.
The CDNOW was very easy to navigate and quick to load. Strong content alliances, music reviews, cover art, daily music news etc. had made the content of the site attractive and useful. It had made the process easier for customers to explore new music and make informed purchase decision. It also offered customer to customize site as well as music CD as per user performance. At CDNOW, customer had option to maintain and Address book online making it easier to send music to friends and family this innovative technique of viral marketing helped strengthen loyalty and deepen customers’ commitment with brand. It developed strong community feeling among the users through Jazz club or classic club. It reaches out to its customers with personalized e-mails from Jason Olim and e-mail newsletters informing customers of news and releases relevant to the preference.
CDNOW was able to maintain its first mover advantage. It constantly added new functionality to the site and was very innovative in its offering. It ensured that its activity reinforces customer commitment and promises offered to customers. it was one of the first website to develop multifaceted, integrated communication strategy. It used online advertising, word-of-mouth communication and public relation to attract customers. Founders of CDNOW strongly believed that word-of-mouth powerfully influence online purchase decision.
The company began its marketing effort focusing on the web admirers in the early days of the business. It did not use any traditional marketing tools in the beginning of the venture but viewed online advertising as the way of both generating sales and building awareness it also appoint i-traffic as its online ad agency. On the one hand it had banner ads on the major internet content and service providers including, CNN interactive, AOL and on the other hand it had banners place on the more specific music-related sites like Billboard. It also stuck exclusive alliance with high traffic companies like AOL Yahoo!, Excite. It helped CDNOW generate both traffic and visibility.
CDNOW since inception had made public relation one of the highest priority tool in the brand building exercise. Mario Zoda, the public relation manager designed most of the public relation programs at CDNOW. They also realized very early that in the high-tech business, word-of-mouth is in particular is very important tool as it influences the purchase decision. Public relation helped generate word-of-mouth communication and influenced sales. They banked on the story how CDNOW was founded in the basement by two twin brothers with little money reflected the ‘American Dream’. The story helped them as Americans started associated themselves with the CDNOW venture which helped increase business.
CDNOW with development of the internet venture and competition realized that to build brand and grab share, it has to invest substantially on the traditional tools of marketing. It first turned to tool such as TV and radio. It also examined with print advertising in publication like Rolling Stone, spin, and variety.
Conclusion
CDNOW exploited its early-mover advantage and keeps ahead of competition. They developed a detailed understanding of its customers’ need that has enabled the company to create better product and effective market campaigns. CDNOW had personalized its product offering which was managed by the capable service team. The team was instrumental in building a reputation of excellence that is core factor of a successful Internet brand. CDNOW was one of the first website which understood the economics of online business. it reflected in its business model and media communication strategy.
——————–
Once a leading music store, CDNOW was one of the most popular shopping stores since 1994. It was founded in February 1994 by twin brothers Jason Olim and Matthew Olim of Ambler, Pennsylvania. In the early days CDNOW was a telnet (text-only) service which was re launched in September 1994. In 2000, CDNOW was bought by Bertelsmann. In late 2002 Amazon.com purchased the rights to CDNOW from Bertelsmann and began operating the CDNOW web site. Although the CDNOW brand is still visible by accessing the web site at www.cdnow.com, it immediately redirects to www.amazon.com.
– phill Carpenter
Leading music store CDNOW was one of the most popular shopping store sites since 1994. It had mammoth selection of music-related products. It boosted of excellent coverage of music reviews, cover art, daily music news, features, guide to music genres, and exclusive interviews. It also involved in digital distribution of music. CDNOW was the first site to offer the sale of music downloads. Armed with successful implementation of innovative ideas, CDNOW aims to make every visit to the site a valuable and rewarding experience.
The CDNOW was very easy to navigate and quick to load. Strong content alliances, music reviews, cover art, daily music news etc. had made the content of the site attractive and useful. It had made the process easier for customers to explore new music and make informed purchase decision. It also offered customer to customize site as well as music CD as per user performance. At CDNOW, customer had option to maintain and Address book online making it easier to send music to friends and family this innovative technique of viral marketing helped strengthen loyalty and deepen customers’ commitment with brand. It developed strong community feeling among the users through Jazz club or classic club. It reaches out to its customers with personalized e-mails from Jason Olim and e-mail newsletters informing customers of news and releases relevant to the preference.
CDNOW was able to maintain its first mover advantage. It constantly added new functionality to the site and was very innovative in its offering. It ensured that its activity reinforces customer commitment and promises offered to customers. it was one of the first website to develop multifaceted, integrated communication strategy. It used online advertising, word-of-mouth communication and public relation to attract customers. Founders of CDNOW strongly believed that word-of-mouth powerfully influence online purchase decision.
The company began its marketing effort focusing on the web admirers in the early days of the business. It did not use any traditional marketing tools in the beginning of the venture but viewed online advertising as the way of both generating sales and building awareness it also appoint i-traffic as its online ad agency. On the one hand it had banner ads on the major internet content and service providers including, CNN interactive, AOL and on the other hand it had banners place on the more specific music-related sites like Billboard. It also stuck exclusive alliance with high traffic companies like AOL Yahoo!, Excite. It helped CDNOW generate both traffic and visibility.
CDNOW since inception had made public relation one of the highest priority tool in the brand building exercise. Mario Zoda, the public relation manager designed most of the public relation programs at CDNOW. They also realized very early that in the high-tech business, word-of-mouth is in particular is very important tool as it influences the purchase decision. Public relation helped generate word-of-mouth communication and influenced sales. They banked on the story how CDNOW was founded in the basement by two twin brothers with little money reflected the ‘American Dream’. The story helped them as Americans started associated themselves with the CDNOW venture which helped increase business.
CDNOW with development of the internet venture and competition realized that to build brand and grab share, it has to invest substantially on the traditional tools of marketing. It first turned to tool such as TV and radio. It also examined with print advertising in publication like Rolling Stone, spin, and variety.
Conclusion
CDNOW exploited its early-mover advantage and keeps ahead of competition. They developed a detailed understanding of its customers’ need that has enabled the company to create better product and effective market campaigns. CDNOW had personalized its product offering which was managed by the capable service team. The team was instrumental in building a reputation of excellence that is core factor of a successful Internet brand. CDNOW was one of the first website which understood the economics of online business. it reflected in its business model and media communication strategy.
——————–
Once a leading music store, CDNOW was one of the most popular shopping stores since 1994. It was founded in February 1994 by twin brothers Jason Olim and Matthew Olim of Ambler, Pennsylvania. In the early days CDNOW was a telnet (text-only) service which was re launched in September 1994. In 2000, CDNOW was bought by Bertelsmann. In late 2002 Amazon.com purchased the rights to CDNOW from Bertelsmann and began operating the CDNOW web site. Although the CDNOW brand is still visible by accessing the web site at www.cdnow.com, it immediately redirects to www.amazon.com.
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