Yahoo to Launch New Homepage Months Ahead of Schedule

Yahoo Inc. is expected to launch its new homepage Tuesday, months earlier than previously planned, according to people briefed on the company's plans.

Yahoo's overhaul of its flagship site, originally scheduled for this fall, has been one of its biggest undertakings over the past year. The project, known internally as "Metro," was kicked off under Yahoo's former chief executive, Jerry Yang, as a way to let users customize the site with links to other Internet services with which Yahoo has been continually competing for users' attention.

The biggest change in the new design is a left-hand menu users can customize with links to dozens of potential third-party software developers may seek to build, such as micro-blogging service Twitter, for example, and Google Inc.'s Gmail, said the people briefed on the plans. Yahoo will pre-populate the menu with some applications and recommend other ones users should add based on their browsing behavior, these people said; news and headlines still run down the middle of the site, which has a slightly cleaner look than the current homepage, they said. [Click for MORE]

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News Corp., AOL Pursue Yahoo Deals

Murdoch, Microsoft
Consider Joint Bid;
Google Ad Pact

Yahoo Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL are closing in on a deal to combine their Internet operations, a move aimed at thwarting Microsoft Corp.'s effort to acquire Yahoo, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

But Microsoft is recrafting its assault plan by talking with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, about mounting a joint bid for Yahoo, people familiar with the matter said. Microsoft and News Corp. have yet to reach an agreement on joining forces but one person apprised of the plan described the discussions as serious. Such a deal would combine three of the biggest Internet properties: News Corp.'s MySpace, Microsoft's MSN and Yahoo. [Click for MORE]

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Microsoft Sets Deadline for Yahoo to Make Deal

Microsoft warned the board of Yahoo on Saturday that if a merger agreement was not completed in the next three weeks, Microsoft would make its offer directly to Yahoo shareholders, probably at a lower price. [Click for MORE] Sphere: Related Content

Yahoo Launches Site for Women

Yahoo Inc. on Monday launched a site for women between ages 25 and 54, calling it a key demographic underserved by current Yahoo properties.

The site, Shine, is aimed largely at giving the struggling Internet company additional opportunities to sell advertising targeted to the key decision-maker in many households. Yahoo said advertisers in consumer-packaged goods, retail and pharmaceuticals have requested more ways to reach those consumers.

Amy Iorio, vice president for Yahoo Lifestyles, said internal research also shows women are looking for a site to combine various content and communications tools. [Click for MORE]

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Journal Register Co. Stock Price Sinks Below Cost of a Daily Newspaper

Journal Register Co. stock price sinks below cost of a daily newspaper

It's now cheaper to buy a share of Journal Register Co. than its daily newspaper in Lorain, Ohio, The Morning Journal.

Is Yahoo the right fit for newspapers?

Wall Street calls Microsoft's generously priced but unwelcome bid for Yahoo Inc. a "bear hug" -- but will it be newspapers who get squeezed? Some of the newspaper industry's new-media gurus think so. No matter who wins, they say, the fight will distract Yahoo at a crucial time in the rollout of its next-generation online ad tools for the 600-plus papers in the newspaper consortium.

Hollinger Inc. to relinquish control of Sun-Times Media Group in litigation settlement

Conrad Black's former holding company will relinquish control of the parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times under a settlement announced late Tuesday by Sun-Times Media Group (STMG).

Fitch to Tribune: Sell, Zell, sell

Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell's new senior management team and cost-cutting measures are unlikely to outrace deteriorating revenue, making the sale of assets like the Chicago Cubs -- and perhaps The Los Angeles Times and Newsday -- all the more critical, Fitch Ratings Service said in a report issued Tuesday.

Lawyer says fired Santa Barbara newspaper workers should be reinstated

A federal labor lawyer argued Monday that eight workers fired from the Santa Barbara News-Press should be put back on the job immediately because they are likely to prevail in their case claiming they were improperly fired for union activity.

[ChainLINKS]

> Sam, the viagra man
> Newspaper for Sale?
> Newspapers Aren't Dying
> Register Star offers buyouts to employees
> CNET lays off 120, 10 percent of U.S. workforce
> Zev on planning and the Los Angeles Times
> These are not the salad days of American newspapers

[Ed Padgett]

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