Yahoo Google deal...MediaDailyNews 08-10-04
MediaDailyNews 08-10-04: "'We are pleased to have resolved these issues and with the terms of the agreement,' stated Steve Langdon, a Google spokesperson. A similar statement was also issued by Yahoo!The $2.7 million will go to Yahoo! subsidiary Overture as payment for licensing its proprietary search technology. Commercial search provider Overture holds property rights to pay-per-click and placement ranking technologies that Google also deploys across its vast ad network.
The agreement ends a two-year court battle with Yahoo! that could have otherwise affected the company's advertising revenue. Google expects the settlement to result in a charge of between $260 million and $290 million, leading to a net loss for the quarter ending Sept. 30.
According to GartnerG2 Analyst Denise Garcia, this could mean '[Google] felt it couldn't win the case and 2.7 million shares is a small price to pay'--or it could mean the lawsuit was more about the processes by which Google generates paid search listings than the actual technology, and Google decided to avoid a lengthy court battle that could elevate risk for its pending offering. She said that a lot of technology companies try to patent their technology, and many times end up trying to patent their processes, which cannot be patented. Garcia noted that Google grew its own technology in-house.
The settlement also ended a dispute between the search giants over Yahoo!'s right to buy shares in Google. Following the agreement, Yahoo! dropped its suit against Google, issuing a 'fully paid, perpetual license' to the company, covering each of the 67 claims of Overture's patent. Under an agreement struck in 2000, Yahoo already owned 5.5 million shares of Class B stock.
Investors may be wondering how they should feel, as the settlement with Yahoo! has forced Google to up the "
posted by Jen @ 3:50 PM
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