Portals and Search Engines

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc called a media report it was planning to cut one-fifth of its workforce "misleading and inaccurate," but the Web portal stopped short of ruling out any layoffs. Full Story »

Google (NMS:GOOG) was started with an outperform rating at Macquarie Equities, which said its search ad business will grow above industry rates, with emerging mobile services beginning to show potential. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES - News Corp.'s Fox has joined broadcasters ABC, CBS and NBC in blocking access to full episodes of shows when searched from Google TV's Web browser, according to a person at Fox familiar with the matter. Full Story »

I'm starting to get the feeling that Google's Websites are over-engineered--so much so that I'm feeling nostalgia for the days of simple search when you just typed what you're looking for and got a page of results. Alas, somebody at Google headquarters believes those days are long gone. Full Story »

BEIJING (AFP) - US software firm Microsoft's online services arm said Thursday that it has inked an agreement to tie up with leading Chinese portal Sina in its latest move to expand in the world's largest web market. Full Story »

MONACO (Reuters) - Internet search leader Google Inc is not building a social network to compete with Facebook, a company executive reiterated on Thursday, despite an intensifying rivalry between the two leading Internet groups. Full Story »

Microsoft is poised to expand its reach into China's social networking market through a new agreement with leading Chinese portal operator Sina that could shake up the Internet landscape in the country. Full Story »

SEATTLE - Google Inc.'s venture capital arm, Google Ventures, invested $3.2 million in a genetics startup run by Google CEO Sergey Brin's wife in November, bringing the Web search leader's total investments in 23andMe Inc. to $10.2 million. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Internet search engine Ask.com is laying off 130 staffers in the United States and China and refocusing its search efforts on a service that uses real human beings to help answer questions. Full Story »

Google is getting even more instant. Having already launched Google Instant, which shows results immediately as you type, it's now rolling out Instant Preview. Full Story »

Google imagine search and page preview mode are omens to the beginning of the end, trust me. Full Story »

The Chinese Internet portal was downgraded by UBS on valuation, though it said its majority-owned Changyou (NMS:CYOU) online game company could still see strong growth. Still, UBS raised its target on Sohu (NMS:SOHU) to $78 from $61. Sohu slumped 5.8% to 75.69. Chinese gamer NetEase (NMS:NTES) fell 4.6% to 41.12, and Chinese portal Sina (NMS:SINA) slid 2% to 61.34 after the UBS report. Full Story »

Finding yourself short on time and/or patience? Good news: Google's got a little something new to make your next Web search even speedier. Full Story »

What happened to Ask.com's search engine? It was put out to pasture Tuesday by the company that says it's giving up on trying to compete with Google. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Ask.com is laying off about 130 engineers as it abandons its own technology for indexing and recommending websites. Full Story »

BOSTON (Reuters) - Internet mogul Barry Diller has ended his IAC/InterActiveCorp's quest to develop Internet search technology to rival that of Google Inc and Microsoft Corp. Full Story »

GOOGLE'S NEW FEATURE: People searching on Google Inc. will soon be able to see previews of websites before clicking on them. Full Story »

Ask.com announced Tuesday that it will cut 130 jobs at its Edison, NJ and Hangzhou, China locations and move away from investment in algorithmic Web search development. Full Story »