Yahoo! Inc. is setting out to prove its recently acquired Overture Services division can deliver innovation as well as advertisements.
Inspired by Overture's past work, Yahoo has formed a research lab that will focus on ways to improve online search, e-mail, instant messaging and other features offered by the Web portal. The lab represents new territory for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo as it approaches its 10-year anniversary in April. The move also served as a reminder that Overture -- acquired by Yahoo in October for $1.8 billion -- offers other assets besides a highly profitable index that distributes text-based advertisements tied to the requests entered into online search engines.
News source: CNN
Inspired by Overture's past work, Yahoo has formed a research lab that will focus on ways to improve online search, e-mail, instant messaging and other features offered by the Web portal. The lab represents new territory for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo as it approaches its 10-year anniversary in April. The move also served as a reminder that Overture -- acquired by Yahoo in October for $1.8 billion -- offers other assets besides a highly profitable index that distributes text-based advertisements tied to the requests entered into online search engines.
News source: CNN
Cue said one hurdle Apple has run into is the age-old practice of staggered release cycles. Marketing and distribution timetables often prevent music labels from a pan-European launch of an artist. A German music lover may have to wait weeks to buy what his friends in the UK are already enjoying, yet shortly after a track hits the radio airwaves a listener has already downloaded it and is swapping it on a file-sharing network.
"One of the things we are working with the European labels on is to get them to understand how the business works in the online space, and having them change some of their business practices," Cue said.
While the industry has made big strides in the past year to make music available for paid downloads, the red tape is still a major gripe of the online vendors. In Europe, the issue is more complicated than the United States as scores of national rights bodies, publishers and collection agencies have yet to agree on standard licensing fees. The morass, both labels and online vendors agree, will make it tough for new Internet music stores to stay in business and the industry expects dozens of new entrants into the market this year -- from Amazon to German ISP T-Online.
"Until somebody gets to 50 million, 100 million, 150 million downloads per month, which by the way is not impossible, we are all going to lose money," said John Rose, executive vice president of EMI Music Group in the U.S.
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