Ukrainian presidents

Today is President's Day in the United States of America. Banks, the post office and some businesses are closed today to celebrate. And Bing and Yahoo have special logos or themes on their home page to honor the past Presidents. Google, however, does not, which is honestly nothing new but makes me scratch my head every year.But Google has typically not shown a President's Day logo for years and years and years - 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008.Bing's home page for President's Day:Yahoo's President's Day logo:Happy President's Day to those who are celebrating! Forum discussion at Twitter. … [Read more...] about No Google Logo On President’s Day However Bing & Yahoo Do Celebrate

AllThingsD reported late yesterday that PayPal president Scott Thompson would likely be named CEO of Yahoo. It’s now official; Yahoo just put out its formal press release announcing Thompson’s appointment. In appointing Thompson, Yahoo is choosing a leader with a deeper technology and product background than prior CEO Carol Bartz who was abruptly terminated last September. In the interim Yahoo CFO Tim Morse has been serving as CEO. Not going to sell itself now There had been an expectation that Yahoo was going to sell itself or a significant minority stake to a private equity buyer or another company (perhaps even Microsoft). However the appointment of Thompson would seem to contradict that scenario. (Update: Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said in the Thompson press release that the company was still considering a sale of assets.) Thompson was PayPal’s CTO prior to being named president. Before that he worked for a technology subsidiary of Visa. And before Visa he was CIO … [Read more...] about PayPal President Scott Thompson The New Yahoo CEO

The first five minutes of my local TV newscast last night was spent showing how much local interest there was in President Barack Obama’s inauguration. People watched on TV in schools, sports bars, department stores, dentists’ offices, nursing homes, and just about anywhere else a TV could be turned on. Google says that interest was also reflected online. In a late-night blog post, Google shares some interesting facts and figures about inauguration-related search activity: popular queries during the inauguration ceremony included “live inauguration coverage,” “inauguration day 2009 streaming,” and “listen to inauguration live” search activity spiked as people looked for information on other participants, such as Dr. Rick Warren, Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, and performers Aretha Franklin, Yo-Yo Ma, and others 12% of inauguration-related queries came from outside the US To me, the most interesting sign of online interest in the inauguration is … [Read more...] about Google Says President Changed Search Activity

President Barack Obama took office officially today plus launched a new White House web site as part of his transition. But the major search engines have yet to catch up with the power change. Google still lists President George W. Bush as being in power, sort of: Ah, but it’s only been a few hours — surely Google will catch up with the changed page soon. Look closer. Google already knows the page has been updated. While the title may say “President George W. Bush,” the description says “WhiteHouse.gov is the official web site for the White House and President Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States.” What’s going on? In this case, Google is using the title for the White House web site that is provided from the Open Directory Project here. Because the searches above use the word “president” in them, Google in its mistaken wisdom has decided that a third party title for the web site is more accurate than the … [Read more...] about Despite Inauguration, Google & Others Still Think It’s President Bush, Not President Obama

According to news out today from the Wall Street Journal, Carol Bartz, the former CEO (and current executive chairman) of software company Autodesk, will be named the new Yahoo CEO. Bartz has been praised for her management and deal brokering skills but has never run an internet company, nor does she have an advertising background. General reaction seems to be mixed. Bartz’s background has led some to speculate that she will simply be a transitional figure to restart talks with Microsoft, which said it was interested in new discussions with Yahoo once a new CEO was in place. However, Microsoft has also indicated it’s not interested in an outright acquisition anymore. Rather the company wants to buy the search/paid search business from Yahoo with revenue guarantees. But bisecting search and display could be a strategic mistake for Yahoo. That’s what the company previously itself indicated in declining Microsoft’s later offer to buy the search business after the … [Read more...] about Autodesk’s Carol Bartz Named New Yahoo CEO; Sue Decker To Leave As President