Microsoft will next week launch a new search engine to take on Google.Codenamed Kumo, the new search engine will be launched to rebrand and replace Microsoft’s current search engine, Live Search, available at live.com, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.At the moment, Kumo is only available on Microsoft’s internal search network, with the… Continue reading Microsoft to launch new search engine

Daily Mail & General Trust has reported a 47% fall in adjusted pre-tax profits to £77 million for the six months to 29 March. The owner of the Daily Mail also suffered an 85% drop in operating profit at its regional division and a 59% fall across its national newspaper business. It said that the… Continue reading DMGT pre-tax profits fall 47%

Developed Asian markets such as Japan and Korea have stormed ahead of Europe and North America in mass uptake of mobile multimedia, according to a new report from TNS. The number of consumers using mobile TV features in Japan and Korea has more than doubled in the last year, rising from 14% to 32%, said… Continue reading Developed Asian mobile multimedia markets storm ahead of Europe

Americans conducted 14.8 billion core searches last month, up 3% on March, according to April 2009 data from comScore. Google Sites led the US core search market for the month with 9.5 billion (64.2%) searches conducted. It was followed by Yahoo! Sites with 3 billion searches (20.4%), and Microsoft Sites with 1.2 billion searches (8.2%).… Continue reading Americans conducted 14.8bn online searches in April

Specialist magazine publisher Future has revealed an 11% fall in revenue for the six months to the end of March. Future’s revenue was £76.6 million for the period, a 2% year-on-year fall or 11% when the effects of currency exchange are removed. Overall circulation revenues, accounting for 59% of total revenues, were down 10% year… Continue reading Future reports 11% fall in revenue

Pan-European newspaper group Mecom has reported a 14% fall in group revenue for the first four months of 2009. Run by former Mirror Group boss David Montgomery, the company also revealed a 22% drop in ad revenue for the period. In a statement it said: “There are now indications that rates of decline have generally… Continue reading Mecom reveals 14% fall in revenue

New research has found that online advertisers believe there is room for improvement in terms of audience measurement. Over 800 executives from advertising agencies, media publishers, ad networks and advertisers across the globe completed the MIA Project Audience and Traffic Measurement survey, a joint initiative between the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) and the Interactive… Continue reading Online audience measurement has “room for improvement”

A new US report from Hitwise indicates that the share of search traffic coming from paid listings is decreasing at the expense of organic traffic. In the four weeks to 9 May 2009, 7.25% of search engine traffic to all categories of websites was from paid clicks, said Hitwise. This compares to 9.84% in the… Continue reading US paid search traffic share down 26%

Havas saw total revenue drop 6% year on year to €325 million in the first quarter of 2009, with organic growth declining by 8.4%. Its UK division showed “good resistance” however, with organic growth down just 1.6% year on year. Net new business was €507 million in Q1 2009, down from €510 million in the… Continue reading Havas sees total revenue fall 6% year on year

Independent News & Media has agreed a financial standstill deal with its principal banks and bondholders, giving it until late June to negotiate the refinancing of its €200 million (£178 million) bond. The standstill period starts today and runs until 26 June. INM said that to aid the negotiations a committee of bondholders has appointed… Continue reading INM agrees financial standstill agreement