Despite a bleak economic outlook, 2009 saw the release of some incredible new Web services. But every year--recession or no recession--there are always a few sites that close their doors.
We've highlighted 15 sites that ceased operations over the course of the year. A number of them came from big companies like Google and Yahoo--the latter of which did some major restructuring in 2008 that left it with new leadership and a leaner, meaner mentality towards cutting things that just weren't working. Others were simply ideas that needed a little more time and money, but couldn't get it in time.
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Article updated Tuesday, December 22 at 7:30 am PT with corrected pricing information.
Tax time. We're dreading it as much as you are, but the fact remains that soon after we ring in 2010, we'll be paying for 2009.
In anticipation of the 2009 tax season, we've gathered some preliminary information about tax prep software for the DIY tax-doers among you. There are noteworthy changes to H&R Block's and Intuit's software, the two developers that take up the lion's share of the tax software market and the two we therefore focus on in our coverage. The prices of some applications in the two product families have crept up $10 but others remain steady compared with last year.
If choosing among multiple products weren't confusing enough, you also get to determine if online or desktop apps are the way to go. To that end, we've rounded up pros and cons for these two tax prep approaches.
Taxes are complicated, and the software offerings are no different. We tried to keep information simple and organized in a chart below, but with extra charges for state returns and extra e-file submissions, it's easy to get lost. Keep in mind that this is a preview, not an exhaustive comparison, and that we'll return in early 2010--after we get our own forms in the mail--with in-depth reviews on some of the software products mentioned here.
... Read more
Either side of this fight would be fun for Google's Dana Wagner.
After nearly a decade of slumber, the U.S. government went into 2009 turning over rocks for potential antitrust violations inside the technology industry. Perhaps no company has been affected by this move toward legal activism more than Google, and perhaps no one within Google has the unique perspective on antitrust law and corporate rights of Wagner, senior competition counsel at Google.
Dana Wagner, senior competition counsel at Google
(Credit: Google)A former prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for San Francisco, Wagner's first job in the private sector arrived almost three years ago as he sought new challenges following a stint with a Justice Department that had grown boring: regulators like to regulate and litigate, and when that's not happening, the job is less fun.
While at the U.S. Attorney's Office for San Francisco in 2007, Wagner was approached about becoming Google's first full-time competition counsel, part of the company's decision to aggressively hire attorneys and lobbyists as it anticipated the pending clash with federal regulators. It sounded more interesting than other private sector gigs he had contemplated, and the money certainly didn't hurt: although Wagner pointed out you can make a boatload more with a private law firm if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of your mental health.
Since then, however, life for both antitrust regulators and lawyers at the world's most important Internet company has accelerated amid the intense scrutiny paid to Google's intentions during the last year. He's certainly not bored anymore.
"It's fun," Wagner said, speaking of his "intellectually challenging" role at Google over the last three years. Since arriving in Mountain View, Calif., Wagner has sought to improve Google's image among antitrust regulators and opinion makers by what he describes as directly engaging opponents, seeking out debate, and "trying to get ahead of the curve."
That involved reaching out to his former colleagues in government for a quick lesson on how AdWords works. It included lining up allies friendly to the cause, such as when Google assembled a roster of disability advocates to stump for approval of its Google Books settlement with authors and publishers. And it required a deft hand with the media, hoping to paint a picture of Google as a company that comes in peace, rather than one bent on destruction.
Google needed to do a better job explaining itself to those in government in particular, Wagner said. "Particularly as a west coast engineering company that still very much views itself as a start-up in a lot of ways, striking out against some Goliaths."
Google has long been a trendsetter in the Bay Area, but it found itself a little off guard in the nation's capital, probably because of how quickly the company rose to prominence. In 2006, the year before Wagner was hired, Google spent just $750,000 on political lobbying in Washington. Its current foes on the antitrust front--AT&T and Microsoft--spent a combined $35 million that year in political contributions.
That has changed. However, Google has certainly had its setbacks with the government: its proposal to strike a search deal with Yahoo was clearly not going to fly, CEO Eric Schmidt had to step down from Apple's board due in part to scrutiny regarding his overlapping roles, and Google was forced to amend its book search settlement at the last second after the Justice Department raised an eyebrow at several provisions. That included agreeing to limit the scope of the agreement and backing off some business models for book search.
Yet Google continues to introduce new products such as Chrome OS and expand existing ones like Android while keeping its gravy train--search advertising--intact from regulators. For now, at least: Google's increasing power over the Internet is troubling in many corners of the country, and although the company has not been accused of any wrongdoings it's safe to say that as the decade closes, a lot of people are starting to get freaked out by Google.
Despite that external perception, many people inside Google still think of the company as a unique force for good in the world. Wagner is a card-carrying member of the Google creed, with perhaps a lawyer's intuition of what "don't be evil" means.
"It's really important to people here; I can say something is perfectly legal but it's not good for users, and that would be taken seriously," he said. Earlier in the year, during a meeting with the tech press in San Francisco, Wagner blurted out "there's a lot of companies for which I wouldn't do this job. I would not be doing this at Halliburton."
Wagner, 34, has spent his whole adult life in government service before taking his current gig at Google, coming out of the University of California at Berkeley and Yale Law School. "As soon as he arrived here, you could tell he was destined for big things," Mark Siegel, Wagner's former supervisor at the Justice Department, said in an interview with Law.com earlier this year. "He was always the youngest guy in the room."
While those in the top jobs at government organizations change offices with the political winds, the people inside those organizations doing the brunt of the work--former colleagues now on the opposite side of the conference room table from Wagner--are for the most part career professionals.
"There is more consistency than people think. Ninety-five percent of the organization is the same people with the same values," he said, referring to the fact that despite the clear increase in antitrust activity inside the Obama administration--which Wagner concedes--the lawyers that are actually doing the work are the same people they were five years ago when the pace of antitrust scrutiny slowed during the Bush administration.
So will Wagner end up inside a courtroom in Washington, D.C. sometime in the next several years, defending Google's business practices against some of the same antitrust lawyers he once called friends?
While there's a part of Wagner that would likely relish the challenge, he has too keen a sense of antitrust history as it pertains to the tech sector to hope the situation gets that far.
"We don't want to repeat the mistakes of past companies," Wagner said. "Even when you are doing good things, you can end up suffering."
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz
(Credit: Yahoo)Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has abruptly canceled her scheduled keynote speech at CES, arguably the biggest event on the technology calendar.
Tech Trader Daily noticed Tuesday that Bartz's name had disappeared from the list of keynote speakers for the 2010 CES, almost a month to the day that the Consumer Electronics Association announced her plans to attend the show. A representative of the CEA later confirmed that Bartz was no longer in the mix, and announced plans to have Qualcomm's Paul Jacobs keynote the event.
A Yahoo representative cited "changes in her calendar" that would prevent Bartz from showing up at CES but declined to provide any further details. Bartz was recently forced to cancel appearances on Yahoo's third-quarter earnings call and an interview at the Web 2.0 conference due to the flu.
If you think these prices are good, wait until you apply coupon code ENTREE.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled tech deals to bring you this important bulletin...
Food!
Specifically, restaurant food. As many of you know, Restaurant.com sells gift certificates for a fraction of their face value. And right now, you can buy them for a fraction of that fraction.
For example, $25 certificates normally sell for $10, but if you enter coupon code ENTREE at checkout, the price drops to $2. And $10 certificates, normally $4, drop to just 80 cents. Yowza.
For those unfamiliar with Restaurant.com, the only real "string" attached is a minimum food or drink purchase. However, it's not like you have to order the lobster tail and a case of wine. To use a $10 certificate, for example, your total bill usually has to be at least $20.
What's nice is that you can print the coupons right on your own printer; they're immediately ready for use. They're also transferable, so they make ideal ... Read more
Yahoo's current headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)Yahoo is apparently thinking about making a run for the border: the Sunnyvale border, that is.
Marketwatch reports that Yahoo is finally preparing plans for a parcel of land it acquired three years ago in Santa Clara, Calif., a few exits south on U.S. 101 of its current headquarters in Sunnyvale. The land has apparently sat vacant ever since Yahoo bought it in 2006 in hopes of expanding, which, of course, didn't exactly work out given Yahoo's financial performance over that time and the economic downturn.
It's not clear whether Yahoo wants to move the executive offices or just expand into that location. But the proposal submitted to Santa Clara officials involves a 13-building complex covering 3 million square feet, which means it's probably not going to be used as a satellite office for obscure divisions of the company.
It seems Yahoo is feeling confident enough about its business prospects to consider taking on a building project. The ... Read more
Tim Berners-Lee at the Web 2.0 Summit.
(Credit: Rafe Needleman/CNET)SAN FRANCISCO--When Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, entered the room for the final interview at the Web 2.0 Summit, the audience stood up for him.
Appropriately so, since most of those present here Thursday owe their livelihoods to his invention. In an on-stage interview with Tim O'Reilly, the audience was listening to Berners-Lee not just for his perspective but his guidance. While not explicitly called out in the discussion, there was good advice in what he had to say. Here's what I heard:
Don't build your laws into the Web. "Technology shouldn't tell you what's right and what's wrong," Berners-Lee said. "The rule of law applies on the Web. It's a platform for humanity." He does not appear believe that it is appropriate to code local laws onto the global platform, preferring to leave enforcement to existing means--police and courts.
Fault-tolerance is vital. Responding to question from O'Reilly about the "404" ... Read more
Yahoo revenue is still down compared to last year, but stabilized in the third quarter while profits surged.
(Credit: Yahoo)Updated 1:40 p.m. PDT with additional details from the release, and throughout at 3:45 p.m. PDT following the earnings call.
Yahoo's cost-cutting moves this year are starting to show up in the bottom line, as the company's third-quarter profit exceeded analyst expectations by a wide margin.
Revenue is still declining at Yahoo, which recorded $1.6 billion in revenue, down 12 percent from last year. Excluding traffic acquisition costs paid to partners, revenue was $1.1 billion, in line with analyst estimates.
But following several rounds of layoffs and belt-tightening, Yahoo's net income came in at $186 million, a 244 percent increase over last year's third-quarter net income of $54 million or $0.13 in earnings per share. And when you factor out special items, net income was $213 million or $0.15 in earnings per share. Analysts were looking for $0.07 in earnings per share ... Read more
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Among the tech industry's up-and-coming, ad-supported business models appear to be out of fashion. Or at least that appears to be the trend among the companies that just graduated from the annual Boulder, Colo.-based incubator program TechStars. Representatives from some of those start-ups convened for an "Investor Day" at a Microsoft-owned auditorium here on Wednesday morning.
Founded by venture capitalists David Cohen and Brad Feld three years ago, TechStars accepts a total of 20 participants in both Boulder and Boston for a summer of development, seminars with industry veterans, and a small amount of seed funding. Thirteen of those 20 companies were advanced enough to earn spots at Wednesday's Investor Day, in which they offered short presentations to more than 100 members of the venture capital community who are actively interested in making early-stage investments.
And not a single one was offering a strictly advertising-supported business model, something that would've been pretty unthinkable not so long ago.
"(These companies) are the future of the entrepreneurial ecosystem as it ... Read more
Google has finally whittled down the more than 150,000 ideas submitted as part of its Project 10^100 to 16 themes that will compete for $10 million in funding.
It's taken far longer than Google had originally anticipated, but the results of the company's 10th anniversary project to solicit ideas that could change the world are ready for inspection. Google is asking the public to vote on the most worthy of the 16 "idea themes" that it has identified from the submissions it has received over the past year.
Google had originally planned to choose individual ideas, but was "overwhelmed" by the number of submissions, which took 3,000 employees to properly vet, according to Google spokesman Jamie Yood. In addition, many of the ideas were extremely similar or overlapping, so Google decided to emphasize project categories that resonated with the company, rather than individual ideas.
Some of those themes, and Google's comments on those ideas, follow below:
• Enhance science and engineering education: "Users from many countries agreed that encouraging ... Read more
