Yahoo! Private?; The Algo Is The Difference; Aol Launches Le HuffPo

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Yahoo! Private?

Yahoo! company founder Jerry Yang may be ready to team with some private equity firms to take Yahoo! out of the public markets. If that doesn’t happen, according to Reuters, companies and investment firms such as Microsoft, Silver Lake Partners and Providence Equity Partners are lining up to take a look for themselves. Read about it. It doesn’t seem possible that Microsoft would take sole ownership of Yahoo! considering past integration challenges, let alone its memorable re-buff by the Yahoo! board. But, Microsoft could partner with someone else and take a minority stake as it looks to maintain its important search foothold and leverage Yahoo!’s display leadership for its own sell-side, display ad strategy.

Mad Algo

Rocket Fuel CEO George John says the days of Mad Men are over in a think piece on Forbes, but he still sees a connection with advertising days of yore. John writs, “Media buyers today still mostly measure success via simple exposure. Spend $1 million to reach 10 million consumers – good. Spend $1 million and reach 20 million consumers – better!” Use an algo? – mucho mas better says John! Read more.

Taking The CEO Mantle

Former OMG Accuen exec Matt Spiegel has moved to in-game advertising company TapMe and become its CEO as an agency exec moves (back) to the startup world. Company founder Joshua Hernandez said in a release, “Matt’s digital media and advertising background, combined with his previous experience as an entrepreneur made him the right choice to lead our business going forward.” Read more.

Display +1

The Google +1 button has made it into the diplay ad. Inside Adwords blogger Dan Friedman writes the roll-out is happening over the next two weeks, “So while you might not see them immediately, we’re working hard to roll them out to all advertisers as quickly as possible.” You can opt-out if you want. Read more. It would seem that good creative and/or strong brands will benefit from the new social feature as friends tell friends what ads are cool, what ads aren’t.

Media Agency’s Digital Disruption

There’s churn at the media agency as digital is disrupting the agency’s executive ranks. Ad Age’s Alexandra Bruell writes, “Most agency leaders under pressure to bring in data innovation, digital teams, new talent and client relationships with marketers agree that the role mandates a new kind of multifaceted skill set.” It ain’t easy especially if you’re fighting a traditional culture. Read more.

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Le HuffPo

Aol is moving into France with Le HuffPo according to PaidContent’s David Kaplan who adds that French publishers Le Monde Group and Les Nouvelles Editions Indépendante will also have stakes in the new property. Le Monde will handle ad sales, too, as Kaplan observes, “Perhaps the reason AOL doesn’t figure too largely in Le HuffPo is because the main company is in the process of rebuilding its European executive leadership.” Read more. Meanwhile, from her column on The HuffPo , Ariana Huffington writes, “We hope Le Huffington Post can help bring a little egalite to the world of French digital journalism, as well as make the site a destination for real and meaningful conversation.” Read more.

Crowdsourcing For Sellers

Digiday’s Brian Morrissey looks at a budding startup called SellerCrowd (visit here) which aims to help digital sellers anonymously share their Rolodex… No, I’m not kidding! One seller tells Morrissey, “In my opinion, any seller who thinks they have a leg up by knowing a name and email address is delusional. That is not a relationship. Name and contact are a commodity and busy work.” Read more. Namely founder and former Pictela exec Matt Straz is wary of the new model Rolodex writing on The Makegood, “Unless I know who’s asking for the info I’m uncomfortable sharing my contacts and spending my time there.” Read more.

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