Yahoo! Weekly News December 30, 2005

YAHOO! CORPORATE

Web 2.0 Report Card
(Extracted from Globe and Mail, December 27, 2005) As far as the Internet is concerned, 2005 was -- for better or worse -- the year of “Web 2.0.” Google may be the company that most expect to “get” the whole idea of Web 2.0, but when it comes to acquisitions that show the company is open to new ideas, Yahoo! takes top marks. It may be easy enough to write a check for something like Flickr -- a very Web 2.0 photo-sharing service that was founded in Vancouver -- or a “social bookmarking” site such as del.icio.us, but at least these two deals show that Yahoo! is looking for new opportunities in the interactive Web arena. Yahoo! has also incorporated blogs into its search and news functions, and built support for RSS feeds into its new Ajax-powered e-mail.

Yahoo! Kicks Off Cyber Giving Week
(Extracted from InternetNews.Com, December 29, 2005) Cyber Giving Week aims to let charities harness the power of the Internet to pull in year-end, tax-deductible donations. On December 25, Yahoo! launched the week-long campaign by opening a microsite where givers can find receivers. The site, operated in partnership with Network for Good, offers links to a variety of charities, as well as resources and tools for making decisions about contributions and maximizing annual tax breaks. "This was the brainchild of someone in our marketing dept, thinking about Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and how cool it would be to come up with a time of the year designated as giving back time," said Meg Garlinghouse, director of Yahoo! for Good, the company's community service organization.

YAHOO! MEDIA GROUP

CBS And Yahoo! Link To Offer Sitcoms Via the Web
(Extracted from Associated Press Newswires, December 27, 2005) Joining the trend of TV shows migrating to the Internet, a pair of episodes from the CBS comedies "Two and a Half Men" and "How I Met Your Mother" are being offered for free video streaming this week from the Yahoo! Web site. The half-hour shows, which aired earlier this season, will be available in their entirety and without commercials, CBS and Yahoo! announced. It is the first time that Yahoo! is streaming episodes of a CBS television series in their entirety. The special Webcasts are part of a growing movement of TV shows being made available to viewers through streaming video on their computers or via downloads to other devices.

YAHOO! MAPS

Online Maps go Beyond Just Roads
(Extracted from Associated Press Newswires, December 30, 2005) Digital maps produce so much more than driving directions these days. And as features get added, mapping companies are having to build better technologies and find better sources of data -- including their own users. Yahoo! employs consumer focus groups to help it figure out the proper balance. It also dispatches motorist guinea pigs onto the road with driving directions, while employees tag along and watch how they fare. Yahoo! provides information on subway stations and is testing multiple-point directions, in case someone wants to stop off to buy a gift on the way to a friend's. Yahoo!, along with Microsoft, also provides real-time traffic information for some cities.