Search just got a jolt as Microsoft and Yahoo pull together in a 10 year deal to combine search efforts. Yahoo reported that with the Microsoft’s success with Bing, the two of them will work to divert ad revenue from Google.

Yahoo Inc. shares plunged $2.08, or 12 percent, to $15.14 as investors expressed disappointment over the absence of an immediate windfall. Microsoft Corp. shares gained 33 cents to $23.80 while Google Inc. shares shed $3.61 to $436.24.

Read the article on Yahoo’s Tech site

I could have told you it was hot, my thermometer inside the house reads 86 degrees (that is with an air conditioning unit upstairs) but I had no idea that we are having the hottest day on record EVER in the Seattle area. It is currently 102 degrees in Kirkland and Redmond where I live/work.

All the news stations like King5 are covering the “heat wave” like it’s the end of the world.. maybe it is.

Now I just got back from 4 days in Las Vegas where the temperature never reached over 96 degrees the entire time we were there. I feel like I’ve entered the Twilight Zone.. of course there is no global warming.

I’ve become almost blind to my use of Google. Anytime I need to search for something, I use the built-in search tool in either Safari or Firefox that automatically defaults to Google without even thinking about it. Google had certainly succeeded in their search engine being the one and only thing I think about when I need to search.

Trouble is, lately the results in Google have been more of a frustration than anything. Granted the paid ads are sometimes relevant, and the results show mostly targeted sites for what I am searching on, but the breadth of results has narrowed greatly since I first started using Google and I just feel like I’m missing stuff.

Today, I was searching for travel options from Seattle. I have a few trips planned this summer and thinking about adding some more. Of course, the main travel websites all came back with similar offers. I wanted something different. I had a “Bing Moment” where I wondered if Microsoft’s new search engine Bing would give me something different. Continue Reading ->

At least according to Forrester Research.

“The research firm nonetheless revised its forecast for 2009. It now expects the U.S. technology market to shrink by 5 percent this year. In March, Forrester had predicted a smaller 3 percent decline in spending on technology products and services.” According to a recent article on Online Athens.

I personally see that within the industry it feels like things are starting to slowly but surely pick up. I’m seeing more money being spent on marketing and advertising with lots of anticipation that things will be better by Q4 CY.

Many people I talk with are also feeling that there is a slight shift in the attitudes across the industry, it’s no more continual doom and gloom reminiscent of the dot.com bust. I for one am optimistic that when fall gets into swing we will also see an uptick in consumer confidence and high tech will be leading the way.

With a mix of PR software tools available now as SaaS, there are lots of choices available to help make media relations easier. I’ve been evaluating a few of them over the last few months to determine what best fits the needs of the small technology company that I’m working for. Ultimately I ended up deciding to go with Vocus as our PR software solution and I’m pretty happy with our decision. It wasn’t the cheapest solution but it has a good user interface, robust database, has good customer support and the ability to track projects, emails and social media all from within the one software application. What I didn’t expect was the awesome abilities of PRWeb as an integrated component to Vocus for distributing our press releases and media communications. The analytics are great and the SEO features and coverage we’ve received since switching has been ten times better than the prior PR release service we were using.

Here is the shortlist of the evaluations worth mentioning. Continue Reading ->

I’ll be taking a break from technology over the weekend and enjoying some sunshine.

Regardless of the complaints I think I share with many others about politics and laws in our country, we are very fortunate to have it as good as we do considering the plight of many other countries in this current day.