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Yahoo!, Ebay, Google = Strangeness

Am I the only one who is confused by the action to sign an agreement with Google by Ebay less than three months after being acknowledged on stage at the Yahoo! annual shareholders meeting? Is this a result of the recent Yahoo! platform delay? What is really going on here?

To refresh your memory, you will recall that Yahoo! announced a partnership with Ebay in May…

Yahoo!, eBay Enter Partnership To Expand Searches, Advertising
(Extracted from the Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2006) Yahoo! and eBay have announced a strategic partnership for Internet searches, advertising, online payments and a co-branded toolbar. “This partnership with eBay provides us with a great opportunity to further extend our sponsored search and graphical advertising reach to one of the largest and most active communities on the Web,” Yahoo! Chief Executive Terry Semel said in a statement. The two companies said Yahoo! will become the exclusive third-party provider of all graphical advertisements throughout the eBay site as well as so-called sponsored-search ads — a potential blow to Google, which is Yahoo!’s fiercest rival in that category of business. The companies will also develop “click to call” advertising technologies, in which consumers can use a link included inside an advertisement to directly call that advertiser.

Then yesterday Ebay announces an agreement with Google…

MOUNTAIN VIEW and SAN JOSE, Calif., August 28, 2006 – Google Inc.
(Nasdaq: GOOG) and eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) today announced a
multi-year agreement to benefit both companies’ collective communities
of users, merchants, and advertisers around the globe. The agreement
consists of two primary components involving text-based advertising and
“click-to-call” advertising functionality.

Specifically, Google will become the exclusive text-based advertising
provider for eBay outside the United States. In addition, eBay and
Google plan to integrate and launch “click-to-call” advertising
functionality that leverage both Skype and Google Talk globally in each
company’s respective shopping and search platforms. The companies said
the financial terms for certain components of the deal involve revenue
sharing, but did not disclose specific details.

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dellbatteryprogram.com = poor customer service

Shel Israel says Dell warned customers about the Sony hot battery problem. However, I’ve got to say not good enough here. In fact my Dell laptop does run hot. When I got a recall notice on my car once, they mailed me a letter and notified me directly. What a concept actual communication to the affected customer. 

Dell has the data to inform the customers themselves directly. Instead they are sending people to a lame web site, http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com, asking customers to do their work for them. If you are Dell you have service codes, you have email addresses in other words you have all the data necessary to contact these people…yourself. You didn’t need to spread panic in this manner. You could have issued a statement saying “We contacted all the parties with the batteries under recall and will immediately be shipping them the new batteries after we have verified their current address.”

Dell, you can and should do better here. I want you to tell me whether I’m affected. Even if I’m not, my laptop still runs hot, why is that?   

Speaking of Dell, the Dell blog has still never acknowledged my post about USB shortcomings in my new Dell desktop. Will they ever innovate from customers?

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Commercializing Software Ideas via Crowd Wisdom

My friend Peter Harkins has joined this new place called Cambrian House. They are based in Calgary, I’d love to do some marketing for these folks as a trip to Banff or Drumheller would be oh so nice!

“Cambrian House’s mission is to discover and commercialize
software ideas through the wisdom and participation of crowds.
Contributors earn royalties, sharing in the success of the products.”

I could have oh so used this concept for my music business plan from 2003 that went unexecuted! I see great world changing value in the new things that are being created out there that are removing friction from the start up process!

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Entrepreneurs Sharing Ideas = Success

Eariler this week, I posted the 7 Reasons Crazy Egg will be Successful. Leading that list is that Crazy Egg was transparent to the world about it’s plans for the service from day 1.

Ironically a few days later, Hiten Shah of Crazy Egg showed me a new site, buildv1, for connecting entrepreneurs. I looked through all of it’s blog posts and there was this gem from a few months back. (UPDATE – THIS POST HAS BEEN DELETED)

Do you get it yet world? Share your ideas, win. Shield your ideas, lose. Please send this post to someone you know who is hiding great ideas and isn’t trusting and living an empty life of non-execution.