official

Several of the big Internet companies - Google, Yahoo, and eBay - have lost important employees in the last week or so.  And if it seemed like Microsoft was going to skate through, it's not - Vista blogger Nick White is leaving.

Google has announced it has officially completed its acquisition of DoubleClick after receiving approval from European Union regulators.

As the news about Microsoft's offer to purchase Yahoo! went around, the search engine industry was inundated with the buzz and speculations.

Yahoo hasn't said much regarding Microsoft's purchase offer but here are a few of the official statements that are public so far...From Yahoo Press Release:Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today said that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Microsoft to acquire the Company. The Company said that its Board of Directors will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo!'s strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders.

 Google has officially said that buying and selling links that pass PageRank is a violation of the company's Webmaster Guidelines, and can result in a drop in search rankings.

Forget waiting for some federal shield law to be passed: the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has determined in two separate rulings yesterday, that blogs are, in fact, media, as reported by TechCrunch.

The pageview is officially on its way out the door as a web site performance metric - Nielsen is dropping page view measurement in its Web traffic reporting. Instead, they will report the time visitors spend at sites.

The Oslo-based software company clarified its position on tomfoolery, gimcrackery, shenanigans, mischief, mayhem, but not hijinks. Opera Software ASA, makers of the best browser in this, or indeed any, universe, today revealed the results of a five month process to determine this year's April Fool's joke. After considerable competitive analysis, structural synthesis, skilled observation, educated prognostication and blind luck, the management along with Opera's Corporate Relations and Prevarication department determined there will be no April Fool's joke for FY07.