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Every month we publish interesting news articles relating to website design, search engine trends and other exciting changes happening online.
Current issue: July 2008
Contents
Ebay and Paypal team up with Gmail to fight phishing
Google - Yahoo deal subject of antitrust probe
Microsoft seeks allies for new Yahoo move
Ebay and Paypal team up with Gmail to fight phishing
09 July 2008
Define phishing
eBay and PayPal are to link-up with Google’s webmail service Gmail to combat fraudulent e-mails and phishing attacks.
The deal is designed to help eBay and PayPal customers with Gmail accounts by stopping fake e-mails getting through claiming to be sent by eBay and PayPal.
Through the use of DomainKeys and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) e-mail authentication technology, Google is able to prevent the delivery of fraudulent eBay and PayPal messages into Gmail users’ inboxes.
The initiative protects Gmail, eBay and PayPal customers worldwide.
Garreth Griffith, Head of Risk Management at PayPal UK said: "The Gmail team’s decision to work with eBay and PayPal on this issue is a significant step forward in our fight to keep consumers safe from phishing and cybercrime. Today’s announcement will enhance online safety for millions of eBay and PayPal customers who use Gmail."
DomainKeys technology adds another layer to spam and phishing protections by allowing Internet service providers to determine if messages are real and decide if they should be delivered to a customer’s inbox. The collaboration between eBay, PayPal and Gmail will lower consumers’ risk of being victims of phishing attacks through the reduction of fraudulent e-mail consumers receive.
Brad Taylor, senior staff software engineer in charge of Gmail’s anti-spam efforts continued, "We’re always looking for ways to eliminate unwanted e-mail from our users’ inboxes. Phishing is an especially nasty form of spam, so we appreciate having another weapon in our arsenal against it. We’re glad to be working with eBay and PayPal to protect our users."
"Industry cooperation represents a pivotal part of stamping out phishing and other e-mail scams," said Richard Ambrose, Head of Trust and Safety for eBay in the UK. "Google’s commitment to this battle will undoubtedly encourage others to join in the fight to keep consumers safe online."
Source: www.netimperative.com
Google - Yahoo deal subject of antitrust probe
03 July 2008
The US Justice Department has opened a formal antitrust investigation into a deal between Google and Yahoo to share some advertising revenue.
Investigators are planning to demand documents not only from Google and Yahoo, but also from other large companies in the internet and media industries, the Washington Post reported, citing sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Archrivals Google, with more than 60 per cent of the web search market, and Yahoo, with 16.6 per cent, agreed last month on an advertising partnership under which Yahoo will let Google put search ads on its site in a deal Yahoo called an US$800 million (NZ$1.05) annual revenue opportunity.
Google and Yahoo are ranked No 1 and two in search respectively.
When the advertising pact was announced on June 12, the companies said they would give antitrust authorities 100 days to look at the deal before beginning it.
But a formal investigation signals that the Justice Department may have found some cause for concern, The Washington Post said.
Yahoo expressed confidence that the deal would be good for competition, the article said.
"There is nothing unexpected in the review of this arrangement as structured by the parties and Department of Justice officials," Yahoo said in a statement, the Post reported.
Google and Yahoo spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.
Lawyers familiar with similar investigations said that the kind of legal requests being issued by the Justice Department in this case – "civil investigative demands" – are not used for routine matters, the Post said.
The Google - Yahoo collaboration does not need up-front approval from US antitrust authorities since the two companies are not merging. However, the government could challenge the arrangement in court if it concluded that it would restrain competition between them.
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
Microsoft seeks allies for new Yahoo move
03 July 2008
Microsoft is preparing a new bid for Yahoo's search business and has approached other media companies about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo's breakup, the Wall Street Journal said.
Microsoft has already held talks with Time Warner and News Corp, among others, the newspaper quoted people familiar with the discussions as saying.
The talks are preliminary and unlikely to result in a deal with Yahoo, the paper said.
The Journal said that two weeks ago, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer called Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock to suggest they meet to discuss a new idea involving other partners. The meeting was subsequently canceled by Microsoft, which Yahoo took as a sign that Ballmer's efforts to find a partner have so far failed, the paper said.
Neither Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner nor News Corp were immediately available for comment.
Yahoo rejected a US$47.5 billion takeover offer by Microsoft, and earlier this week questioned whether the software maker was ever serious about a full-scale merger. However, Yahoo remains open to discussing any proposal from Microsoft, the paper said.
In the meantime, Yahoo investor Carl Icahn is running a slate of directors to replace Yahoo's board and has called for the removal of Chief Executive Jerry Yang ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting to be held in Silicon Valley on August 1.
The activist shareholder has said the company should still offer to sell itself, though Microsoft has said it is no longer interested in a full buyout.
However, representatives for Microsoft have in recent days, met with Icahn to encourage him to press his proxy contest as a way to keep pressure on Yahoo to enter into a deal that would lift its share price, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Source: www.stuff.co.nz
