Bebo Launches ‘Social Inbox’

Bebo Builds on the Foundations of Social Networking to Become the First Major Network to Give Consumers a One-Stop Destination from Which to Experience Life Online

Social Media Network Opens Its Doors to Aggregated Social Feeds, Mail and Media Recommendations

Launch Companies Include Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, AIM, YouTube, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and AOL Mail

Every AOL and AIM User Now Can Now Log into Bebo Using Their Credentials

Bebo today made it easier for Internet users to manage their online life by providing users with a one-stop “Social Inbox” that combines e-mail, social networking and media recommendations in one easy-to-use interface. Designed to allow consumers to organize their lives online, Bebo’s Social Inbox makes it simple for users to keep in touch with the information and people who are important to them. The Social Inbox aggregates feeds and updates from Twitter, Flickr, Del.icio.us, YouTube, AIM and others, so users can see at-a-glance what's going on in their online world. The new experience also offers one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, AOL Mail, as well as user-selected media favorites, such as videos, music and photos. In addition, more than 100 million* users of AOL and AIM can now log directly into the Bebo service, http://www.bebo.com, using their existing screen names.

Yahoo! Announces New Privacy Choice for Consumers

Will Expand Its Opt-Out Policy to Customized Advertising on Yahoo.com

Today Yahoo! Inc. announced that it will offer users greater choice in how they manage their privacy online by enabling them to opt-out of customized advertising on Yahoo.com. This new option expands Yahoo!’s existing opt-out program for customized advertising served by Yahoo! on third party networks.

Yahoo! announced the new opt-out capability as part of its response to a Congressional inquiry about customization sent to 33 companies from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Yahoo!’s full response to the letter from Congressman Dingell is attached below.

Anne Toth, head of privacy and VP for policy, said, “Yahoo! understands the trust of our users is our greatest asset, so we strive to create the most trusted, compelling online experience.”

“Yahoo! strongly believes that consumers want choice when customizing their online experience and they have also demonstrated a strong preference for advertising that is more personally relevant to them,” continued Toth. “However, we understand that there are some users who prefer not to receive customized advertising and this opt-out will offer them even greater choice.”

This new opt-out capability is expected to be available for consumers by the end of August. Users will be able to access the opt-out in the Yahoo! privacy center, which is linked on the home page and nearly every page on the Yahoo! network. Users will also be able to access the opt-out through a link in the public service advertising campaign Yahoo! has been running with online ads across its network to educate users about customized advertising.

Julian Lennon Invests in MyStore.com

Today MyStore.com confirmed Julian Lennon, son of Beatles icon John Lennon, is among the group of private investors behind yourStore, LLC. The company owns and operates www.mystore.com, an online marketplace.

"In addition to his monetary investment, Julian has contributed some great ideas to the options MyStore.com offers to musicians and artists who want to resell or self distribute their music and art online. As an independent artist himself, Mr. Lennon was an early user of MyStore.com, setting up his own MyStore and linking it to several places he has a presence online including his MySpace page. We are glad to have him involved. He's been a friend for a long time," stated Todd Meagher, the company's CEO.

About MyStore:

MyStore.com is owned by yourStore, LLC (http://www.yourstore.com) which is a virtual real estate company and application service provider offering individuals and businesses with FREE online "retail" space and software usage in the form of personalized web stores located within the company's marketplace http://www.MyStore.com and an e-commerce service provider offering seller support and software services; including web hosting, site design, marketing, fulfillment and inventory and customer management tools. MyStore is not an alternative but rather an additional sales channel that can be either a stand-alone store or integrated as part of other websites like eBay, Craigslist, MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Amazon or Yahoo. Users simply build a store and start selling. MyStore provides the marketplace
and tools to promote, sell or trade your items and services.

New Jersey cracks down on internet dating

New Jersey is currently pushing through legislation which will require online dating websites to tell their customers whether or not they have performed background checks on users of the site.

Furthermore, the Internet Dating Safety Act stipulates that if the site does perform background checks, it must then state whether it allows those who have failed the checks to use the site. Sponsors of the bill claim that it would ensure that the websites themselves take responsibility for the safety of dating online.

However, internet dating sites are opposed to the legislation, maintaining that background checks are not reliable enough to be trusted. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson told the Associated Press: "We are charged with protecting the safety of the public we serve and this bill is a major step, even though it's not the perfect bill."

Internet giant Yahoo! is opposed to the act.

Yahoo! chiefs blasted by congress

The House of Representatives foreign affairs committee has severely criticised Yahoo! for giving the Chinese government information which led to the arrest of journalist Shi Tao.

Furthermore, Yahoo! then went on to lie to congress about its actions during the affair, the committee said. Yahoo! chief executive Jerry Yang and general counsel Michael Callahan were both berated by the chairman of the committee, California Democrat Representative Tom Lantos.

He criticised Yahoo! for not making more efforts to aid the family of Shi Tao, who has been sentenced to ten years in prison for forwarding information about China's ban on reporting the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Rep Lantos said: "Why is it such a complicated issue to help a family whose breadwinner is in prison because of Yahoo's cooperation?

"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies." The two executives were then made to apologise to Shi Tao's mother, who was present at the hearing.

Yahoo! makes apology

An apology has been issued by a Yahoo! executive on the company's failure to inform US authorities about China's request for information on an internet user.

The information resulted in the imprisonment of the Chinese journalist Shi Tao, who has been sentenced to a decade behind bars. Executive vice president of the company, Michael Callahan, admitted to a House Foreign Relations panel last year that Yahoo! gave information to the Chinese government. Later, after learning why the request was made and the nature of the information in question, Mr Callahan did not tell US lawmakers.

He said: "I neglected to directly alert the committee of this new information, and that oversight led to a misunderstanding that I deeply regret and have apologized to the committee for creating." Next week Mr Callahan and Jerry Yang, Yahoo!'s chief executive are to appear before the House committee to answer more questions over the affair.

Yahoo! comes out on top in user satisfaction

A recent user satisfaction survey conducted in the U.S. resulted in Yahoo! beating out its search engine rival Google.

In the University of Michigan's American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI), Yahoo! gained three points to end up being rated 79 out of 100. Google on the other hand slipped three points from last year to end up with a score of 78, marking the first time it has slipped below a rating of 80 since 2002.

Larry Freed, chief executive of ForeSee Results, which sponsored the survey, said: "Even more important than Yahoo's first lead over Google is the trend of their scores moving in opposite directions. "Since the ACSI is a leading indicator of financial performance on the macro scale and at the company level, we may see a real turnaround for Yahoo! in the next year." The website with the largest increase in customer satisfaction this year was Ask.com, which garnered a rating of 75. AOL.com was the website that saw the biggest fall in customer satisfaction, sliding more than nine percent to 67.

The ASCI measures the performance of over 200 companies annually.