Economic crisis mustn't eclipse battle against poverty, says Bill Gates

Les Roopanarine

Bill Gates: ‘economic crisis mustn’t overshadow poverty battle’ Link to this video
Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist, has urged national governments not to allow fiscal concerns to overshadow the need for continued investment in the developing world.
“There are many things going on in terms of the eurozone crisis and budget cutbacks that would make it easy to turn inward and reduce financing,” Gates told an audience of international development experts and students at the London School of Economics on Tuesday.
“The answer is to remind people not only about the needs of the very poorest but also that we are making incredible progress in … the daily battle that is poverty.”
Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, outlined his vision for tackling global poverty in an address that echoed the central themes of his fourth annual letter, published this week.
Gates highlighted the negative impact of food price rises and enlarged on his belief that innovative strategies on agriculture and health – areas he believes are closely interrelated – hold the key to development’s future.
“Agriculture really affects the poorest,” said Gates. “Most of the poor are people with very small farms who barely grow enough to feed their families. In tough years, they are extremely malnourished.
“So health ties very closely to agriculture. The reason why kids die of diarrhoea and pneumonia is because their bodies aren’t very strong. If they had proper nutrition, the death rate would be dramatically lower.”
Gates’ emphasis on the need for greater investment in agricultural research reflected the contents of his annual letter, where the possibility that scientific advances in the understanding of plant genes might lead to new methods of tackling human diseases is among a range of ideas touched upon.
In his speech at the LSE, the Microsoft billionaire also argued for a nexus between food shortages and poor performance on other development indicators, such as education.
He said: “[For many people] the central fact of existence is ‘Can I get enough food?’ That takes away from ‘Can I send my kids to school?’ or ‘Can I pay school fees?’ as well as many other things.
“We’re holding back poor countries, not just by the death rate but by the sickness and lack of development that those children suffer.”
Gates was speaking at an event organised by the Global Poverty Project, a campaign group that has just launched a new initiative aimed at heightening awareness of poverty at community level.
More than 100 ambassadors from across the UK have been selected for the project, which is supported by the Gates Foundation.
They will undertake a two-day training course, either at the London School of Economics or in Edinburgh, which will teach them how to deliver a presentation locally about the complexities of poverty entitled 1.4 Billion Reasons.
For Gates, the attraction of the project lies in its accent on youth and the common ground it shares with the work of his foundation.
“The message of my fourth annual letter is identical to what the Global Poverty Project is all about – that is, that it’s very easy to lose sight of the conditions of the very poorest,” said Gates.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum summit in the Swiss resort of Davos on Wednesday morning, Gates reiterated his call for continued aid investment in the developing world despite the unfavourable global econcomic climate.
He underlined his rallying cry by revealing that the Gates Foundation has pledged $750m to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
“We’re making a new commitment in a somewhat special form that we’ve worked out with the Global Fund, in the form of a promissory note,” said Gates. “It’s a commitment of an additional $750m.
“It frees up funds for the Global Fund so that they can immediately use the money and continue to save lives.”
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Update: Adara Media Secures $12.4 M in Financing Led by August Capital

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(Marketwire -01/24/12)- Global precision marketing platform company Adara Media Inc. has secured $12.4 million in funding from venture capital firm August Capital, with participation from returning investors ONSET Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Baseline Ventures. This financing will fuel increased investment in Adara Media’s award winning TruPrecision Targeting Platform, delivering highly targeted media and ecommerce campaigns based upon specific customer relevance across top travel and hospitality brands. It will also advance Adara Media’s mission to expand its platform into new verticals and invest in sales, marketing and operational resources.
The funding follows exponential spending increases from Adara Media’s clients in 2011. Working with complex customer data sets and valuable audience segments, such as frequent flyers, business and international travelers, Adara Media enables top brand advertisers to connect with a highly desired consumer base via online media channels.
“This new round of funding from an esteemed group of partners represents continued investment in the growth of our business,” says Layton Han, chief executive officer of Adara Media. “Our business has achieved revenue growth every month during 2011 and is now poised to grow more aggressively and efficiently. We’re excited to have the support of August Capital, and the continued backing of our original lead investor ONSET Ventures, and Morgenthaler Ventures, as we invest heavily in our platform development and continue to expand globally.”
Han added that Adara will also use the funding to take the TruPrecision platform into new vertical categories. The company’s growth in 2011 has come from travel, hospitality and closely related verticals. Through Adara Media’s TruPrecision Targeting Platform, brands can reach and activate more than 225 million traveler profiles.
Dave Marquardt and Tripp Jones of August Capital led the investment in Adara Media. “We pride ourselves on investing in companies that show entrepreneurial excellence and technical innovation,” said August Capital co-founder Dave Marquardt. “Adara Media and its management have shown that this platform can bring brands closer to their best customers through the use of technology. We’re excited about Adara’s future as they expand globally and develop into new verticals.”
Adara Media’s industry leadership has been acknowledged through many industry awards including AlwaysOn OnMedia 100, Red Herring North America, and the Mega Awards, hosted by Airline Information. Adara Media has recently established an office in Chicago and announced the promotion of Scott Garner to EVP of business strategy, now responsible for strategic partnerships as well as new product strategy.
About August Capital:
Founded in 1995, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. These companies represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion, generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. August Capital has invested in more than 80 companies including Adchemy, Atheros, Cobalt Networks, Ebates, Postini, Reputation.com, SayMedia, Seagate Technology, Splunk, Xirrus, and Zulily. The firm’s partners have previously invested in a number of ground breaking technology companies, including Actel, Adaptec, Compaq, Grand Junction, Intuit, Linear Technology, Microsoft, MMC Networks, Skype, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Symantec, and Visio. August Capital is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.augustcap.com.
About ONSET Ventures:ONSET Ventures specializes in providing an ideal mix of start-up, follow-on, and intellectual capital to entrepreneurs and early-stage technology ventures, to help transform world-class ideas into sustainable and valuable businesses, through a process of “venture craftsmanship.” The firm has backed over 130 companies since 1984 and now has more than $1 billion under management. ONSET Ventures is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.onset.com.
About Morgenthaler Ventures:Morgenthaler Ventures is a premier venture capital firm, dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build valuable companies for more than 40 years. Today, the firm has nearly $3 billion under management. Morgenthaler Ventures has invested in approximately 300 companies in the information technology and life science sectors. Representative portfolio companies in the IT space include: Adara Media, Evernote, Lending Club, Practice Fusion, Pageonce, Fundly, SohoOS, Socrata, Rhythm NewMedia, NexTag, Nominum, Voltage Security, JasperSoft and MuleSoft. Morgenthaler Ventures is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA.
About Baseline:As an early stage seed investment firm, Baseline helps founders develop their ideas into companies. Baseline has invested in more than 60 companies since its inception and helped more than 15 companies exit. Baseline is proud to be a seed investor associated with promising companies including Instagram, Twitter, Weebly, Formspring, Heroku (acquired by Saleforce.com), CoTweet (acquired by ExactTarget), GeoAPI (acquired by Twitter), IndexTank (acquired by LinkedIn), Rupture (aquired by EA), Sendori (aquired by Ask.com), Parakey (acquired by Facebook), Versely (acquired by Cisco), Aardvark and DocVerse (both acquired by Google).
About Adara Media:Adara Media offers a loyalty audience platform that enables top brands to monetize and nurture their loyalty program customers online and helps advertisers reach exclusive, qualified audiences. Using proprietary loyalty data, Adara Media enables advertisers to reach real individuals, ensuring authenticity while maintaining complete anonymity. Adara Media’s brand partners then gain ancillary revenue streams and the ability to deepen their relationships with loyalty consumers through targeted offers and consistent communication. Adara Media was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.adaramedia.com/.
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AMD Reports Fourth Quarter and Annual Results

SUNNYVALE, CA–(Marketwire -01/24/12)- AMD (NYSE: AMD – News)
Q4 2011 Results

• AMD revenue $1.69 billion, flat sequentially and increased two percent year-over-year
• Net loss $177 million, loss per share $0.24, operating income $71 million
• Non-GAAP(1) net income $138 million, earnings per share $0.19, operating income $172 million
• Gross margin 46 percent

2011 Annual Results

• AMD revenue $6.57 billion, flat year-over-year
• Net income $491 million, earnings per share $0.66, operating income $368 million
• Non-GAAP(1) net income $374 million, earnings per share $0.50, operating income $524 million
• Gross margin 45 percent
• More than 30 million Accelerated Processor Unit (APU) shipments in 2011 drives record annual notebook revenue

AMD (NYSE: AMD – News) today announced revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 of $1.69 billion, net loss of $177 million, or $0.24 per share, and operating income of $71 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $138 million, or $0.19 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $172 million. Fourth quarter non-GAAP net income excludes an impairment of AMD’s investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES of $209 million, restructuring charges of $98 million, the loss from discontinued operations of $4 million, the amortization of acquired intangible assets of $3 million and a loss on debt repurchase of $1 million.
For the year ended December 31, 2011, AMD reported revenue of $6.57 billion, net income of $491 million, or $0.66 per share, and operating income of $368 million. Full year non-GAAP net income was $374 million, or $0.50 per share, and non-GAAP operating income was $524 million.
“AMD shipped more than 30 million APU’s in 2011, resulting in record annual notebook revenue,” said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. “The unmatched combination of computing and graphics capabilities in our low-power ‘Brazos’ platform has made it our fastest ramping platform ever, paving the way for continued growth in key segments and geographies. Our server business has re-gained momentum, delivering two consecutive quarters of strong sequential growth.
“We continued optimizing our financial model in 2011, consistently delivering operating income and creating the foundation for sustained success. We begin 2012 clear on our priorities and opportunities. We are building an AMD that consistently delivers on its commitments.”

GAAP Financial Results(2)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q4-11         Q3-11      Q4-10        2011        2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue            $1.69B       $1.69B      $1.65B      $6.57B      $6.49B
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating
income             $71M         $138M      $413M       $368M       $848M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net income
(loss) /
Earnings
(loss) per
share        $(177)M/$(0.24) $97M/$0.13 $375M/$0.50 $491M/$0.66 $471M/$0.64
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Non-GAAP Financial Results(1)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q4-11       Q3-11       Q4-10        2011        2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue             $1.69B      $1.69B      $1.65B      $6.57B      $6.49B
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating income    $172M       $146M       $141M       $524M       $553M
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net income /
Earnings per
share           $138M/$0.19 $110M/$0.15 $106M/$0.14 $374M/$0.50 $360M/$0.49
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quarterly Summary

• Gross margin was 46 percent, a sequential increase of one percent.
• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance, including long-term marketable securities, was $1.91 billion at the end of the quarter.
• Computing Solutions segment revenue increased two percent sequentially and seven percent year-over-year. The sequential increase was driven by double digit growth in Server and Chipset revenue. The year-over-year increase was driven by higher mobile processor and Chipset revenue.
  • Operating income was $165 million, compared with $149 million in Q3 11 and $91 million in Q4 10.
  • Microprocessor ASP increased sequentially and was flat year-over-year.
  • AMD launched its “Bulldozer”-based AMD Opteron™ 6200 Series and AMD Opteron 4200 Series processors, delivering industry-leading performance(3) for business, increased scalability for virtualization and more efficient economics for the cloud.
    • HP introduced five new ProLiant systems, including the industry’s fastest dual-socket database server.
    • Dell introduced four new PowerEdge systems, including the world’s most power-efficient blade server. The AMD-powered PowerEdge R715 was awarded Technology of the Year from InfoWorld magazine based on its outstanding virtualization performance.
    • The AMD Opteron 6200 Series Processors were honored with the Analysts’ Choice Award for Best Server Processor by the Linley Group and “Technology of the Year” from InfoWorld.
    • AMD Opteron processor adoption in the HPC market continued, as the National Science Foundation announced a new supercomputer at the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) will be powered by approximately 50,000 AMD Opteron 6200 series processors.
  • Worldwide demand for AMD APUs continued to increase throughout the fourth quarter. AMD shipped more than 30 million APUs in 2011, including a record number of mobile processors found in notebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.
  • AMD introduced new A-Series notebook and desktop APUs that offer improved performance and enhanced features. We expect that systems based on the refreshed A-Series APU will be offered from the world’s largest PC companies in early 2012.
• Graphics segment revenue decreased five percent sequentially and 10 percent year-over-year. The sequential decrease was driven primarily by a decline in mobile graphics processor unit (GPU) shipments, partially offset by a seasonal increase in game console revenue. The year-over-year decrease was primarily driven by decreased desktop and Add-in Board (AIB) graphics revenue.
  • Operating income was $27 million, compared with $12 million in Q3 11 and $68 million in Q4 10.
  • GPU ASP increased sequentially and year-over-year.
  • In December, AMD launched the world’s fastest single-GPU graphics card(4) and the first member of its AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Series graphics family, the AMD Radeon HD 7970. The HD 7970 delivers up to 150% performance improvement per square millimeter compared to our previous generation GPU, and is the industry’s first 28nm GPU(5).
  • AMD launched the AMD Radeon HD 7000M series mobile graphics processors for smaller form factor notebooks. Both HP and Lenovo announced new notebooks powered by the new GPU.
  • AMD is the industry leader in leading-edge graphics technology, having shipped more than 100 million DirectX® 11 graphics engines across its GPUs and APUs that enable superior visual experiences.
• Corporate
  • The Company announced a restructuring plan and implementation of operational efficiency initiatives designed to strengthen the Company’s competitive positioning. The Company plans to reinvest a significant portion of the anticipated savings to fund initiatives designed to accelerate AMD’s strategies for lower power, emerging markets, and the cloud.
  • AMD strengthened its leadership team with the additions of Mark Papermaster as senior vice president and chief technology officer, Rajan Naik as senior vice president and chief strategy officer, and Dr. Lisa Su as senior vice president and general manager, global business units.

Current Outlook
AMD’s outlook statements are based on current expectations. The following statements are forward-looking, and actual results could differ materially depending on market conditions and the factors set forth under “Cautionary Statement” below.
AMD expects revenue to decrease eight percent, plus or minus three percent, sequentially for the first quarter of 2012.
For additional detail regarding AMD’s results and outlook please see the CFO commentary posted at quarterlyearnings.amd.com.
AMD Teleconference
AMD will hold a conference call for the financial community at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET) today to discuss its fourth quarter financial results. AMD will provide a real-time audio broadcast of the teleconference on the Investor Relations page of its Web site at AMD. The webcast will be available for 10 days after the conference call.
Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Net Income(1)

------------------------------------------------
(Millions except per share
amounts)                         Q4-11           Q3-11           Q4-10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP net income (loss) /
Earnings (loss) per share    $(177) $(0.24)     $97   $0.13    $375   $0.50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due
to deconsolidation of
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deconsolidation gain on
the fair value assessment
of investment in
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equity income (loss) and
dilution gain in
investee, net                   -       -       -       -      27    0.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES       -       -       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impairment of investment
in GLOBALFOUNDRIES          (209)  (0.28)       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income
excluding GLOBALFOUNDRIES
related items                    32    0.04      97    0.13     348    0.47
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amortization of acquired
intangible assets           (3)       -     (8)  (0.01)    (11)  (0.01)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement               -       -       -       -     283    0.39
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Income tax related to
legal settlement              -       -       -       -    (47)  (0.06)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gain on investment sale        -       -       -       -      17    0.02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loss on debt repurchase      (1)       -     (5)  (0.01)       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Restructuring (charges)
reversals, net             (98)  (0.13)       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loss from discontinued
operations*                 (4)  (0.01)       -       -       -       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income /
Earnings per share             $138   $0.19    $110   $0.15    $106   $0.14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Loss on discontinued operations consists of charges related to the sale of
our DTV division to Broadcom which occurred in 2008.

--------------------------------
(Millions except per share
amounts)                          2011            2010
------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP net income (loss) /
Earnings (loss) per share      $491   $0.66    $471   $0.64
------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due
to deconsolidation of
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -      69    0.09
------------------------------------------------------------
Deconsolidation gain on
the fair value assessment
of investment in
GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -     325    0.44
------------------------------------------------------------
Equity income (loss) and
dilution gain in
investee, net                 492    0.66   (462)  (0.63)
------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES    (24)  (0.03)       -       -
------------------------------------------------------------
Impairment of investment
in GLOBALFOUNDRIES          (209)  (0.28)       -       -
------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income
excluding GLOBALFOUNDRIES
related items                   232    0.31     539    0.73
------------------------------------------------------------
Amortization of acquired
intangible assets          (29)  (0.04)    (61)  (0.08)
------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement             (5)  (0.01)     283    0.39
------------------------------------------------------------
Income tax related to
legal settlement              -       -    (47)  (0.06)
------------------------------------------------------------
Gain on investment sale        -       -      24    0.03
------------------------------------------------------------
Loss on debt repurchase      (6)  (0.01)    (24)  (0.03)
------------------------------------------------------------
Restructuring (charges)
reversals, net             (98)  (0.13)       4    0.01
------------------------------------------------------------
Loss from discontinued
operations*                 (4)  (0.01)       -       -
------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP net income /
Earnings per share             $374   $0.50    $360   $0.49
------------------------------------------------------------
* Loss on discontinued operations consists of charges
related to the sale of our DTV division to Broadcom which
occurred in 2008.

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP
Operating Income(1)
----------------------------------------
(Millions)                            Q4-11   Q3-11   Q4-10    2011    2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP operating income                    $71    $138    $413    $368    $848
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due to the
deconsolidation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES        -       -       -       -      69
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -    (24)       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amortization of acquired intangible
assets                                  (3)     (8)    (11)    (29)    (61)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement                           -       -     283     (5)     283
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Restructuring (charges) reversals,
net                                    (98)       -       -    (98)       4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP operating income               $172    $146    $141    $524    $553
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Gross Margin (1)
----------------------------------------
(Millions except percentages)         Q4-11   Q3-11   Q4-10    2011    2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP Gross Margin                       $773    $756    $743  $2,940  $2,961
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAAP Gross Margin %                      46%     45%     45%     45%     46%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross margin benefit due to the
deconsolidation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES        -       -       -       -      69
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment to GLOBALFOUNDRIES                 -       -       -    (24)       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal settlement                           -       -       -     (5)       -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP Gross Margin                   $773    $756    $743  $2,969  $2,892
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-GAAP Gross Margin %                  46%     45%     45%     45%     45%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

About AMDAMD (NYSE: AMD – News) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD’s server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD’s superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.
Cautionary StatementThis release contains forward-looking statements concerning AMD, its first quarter 2012 revenue, its future growth in key segments and geographies, the momentum of its server business, its ability to deliver sustained success, the timing of future products that incorporate the company’s products, and the company’s restructuring plan implemented in the fourth quarter of 2011, the anticipated operational savings resulting from the restructuring and the company’s plans for reinvesting these savings, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as “would,” “may,” “expects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “projects,” and other terms with similar meaning. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this release are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations, speak only as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Risks include the possibility that Intel Corporation’s pricing, marketing and rebating programs, product bundling, standard setting, new product introductions or other activities targeting the company’s business will prevent attainment of the company’s current plans; the company will be unable to develop, launch and ramp new products and technologies in the volumes and mix required by the market and at mature yields on a timely basis; GLOBALFOUNDRIES will be unable to manufacture the company’s products on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies; the company will be unable to obtain sufficient manufacturing capacity or components to meet demand for its products or will under-utilize its commitment with respect to GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ microprocessor manufacturing facilities; the company will be unable to transition its products to advanced manufacturing process technologies in a timely and effective way; global business and economic conditions will not continue to improve or will worsen resulting in lower than currently expected demand; demand for computers and consumer electronics products and, in turn, demand for the company’s products will be lower than currently expected; customers stop buying the company’s products or materially reduce their demand for its products; the company will require additional funding and may not be able to raise funds on favorable terms or at all; there will be unexpected variations in market growth and demand for the company’s products and technologies in light of the product mix that it may have available at any particular time or a decline in demand; and the company will be unable to maintain the level of investment in research and development that is required to remain competitive. Investors are urged to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 1, 2011.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, AMD Radeon, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and used to identify companies and products and may be trademarks of their respective owner.
(1) In this press release, in addition to GAAP financial results, the Company has provided non-GAAP financial measures, including for non-GAAP net income excluding GLOBALFOUNDRIES related items, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP earnings per share and non-GAAP gross margin. These non-GAAP financial measures reflect certain adjustments as presented in the tables in this press release. The Company also provided Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP Adjusted free cash flow as supplemental measures of its performance. These items are defined in the footnotes to the selected corporate data tables provided at the end of this press release. The Company is providing these financial measures because it believes this non-GAAP presentation makes it easier for investors to compare its operating results for current and historical periods and also because the Company believes it assists investors in comparing the Company’s performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that it does not believe are indicative of its core operating performance and for the other reasons described in the footnotes to the selected data tables. Refer to corresponding tables at the end of this press release for additional AMD data.
(2) For the year 2010, the Company accounted for its investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES under the equity method of accounting. Starting in the first quarter of 2011, the Company started accounting for its investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES under the cost method of accounting.
(3) The highest 2P TPC-C performance score ever was achieved by an AMD Opteron™ processor-powered server. Based on results published by the Transaction Processing Performance Council as of November 15, 2011, an AMD Opteron™ processor-based server achieved the highest TPC-C performance score of any 2P server. 1,207,982 tpmC using 2 x AMD Opteron™ processors Model 6282 SE in HP ProLiant DL385 G7 server, 512GB memory, Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition, Microsoft® SQL Server® 2005 Enterprise x64 Edition SP3. http://www.tpc.org/results/individual_results/HP/HP_ProLiant_DL385G7_TPCC_111114_01_es.pdf. For the latest TPC-C results, visit www.tpc.org. TPC Benchmark and TPC-C are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Performance Council. SVR-105
(4) As of December 22, 2011, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 scores in excess of X2700 in 3DMark® 11, the highest single-GPU graphics card score achieved on a stock platform to date.
(5) The AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 Series GPU offers more than 1.54X times the compute power/mm2 when compared to the AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 Series GPU: the AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 Series GPU has been calculated at 2.703 TFLOPs of compute power with a measured die size of 389mm2, while the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 Series GPU has been calculated at 3.789 TFLOPs of compute power with a die size of 352mm2.

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Millions except per share amounts and percentages)

Quarter Ended                Year Ended
-------------------------------  --------------------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 1,    Dec. 25,   Dec. 31,   Dec. 25,
2011       2011       2010       2011       2010

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net revenue           $   1,691  $   1,690  $   1,649  $   6,568  $   6,494

Cost of sales               918        934        906      3,628      3,533

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Gross margin                773        756        743      2,940      2,961

Gross margin %               46%        45%        45%        45%        46%

Research and
development                358        361        352      1,453      1,405

Marketing, general
and administrative         243        249        250        992        934

Legal settlement              -          -       (283)         -       (283)

Amortization of
acquired intangible
assets                       3          8         11         29         61

Restructuring charges
(reversals), net            98          -          -         98         (4)

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Operating income             71        138        413        368        848

Interest income               2          3          2         10         11
Interest expense            (43)       (42)       (39)      (180)      (199)
Other income
(expense), net            (207)        (7)        14       (199)       311

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Income before equity
income (loss) and
dilution gain in
investee and income
taxes                     (177)        92        390         (1)       971

Provision (benefit)
for income taxes            (4)        (5)        42         (4)        38

Equity income (loss)
and dilution gain in
investee, net                -          -         27        492       (462)

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Income (loss) from
continuing
operations           $    (173) $      97  $     375  $     495  $     471

Loss from
discontinued
operations, net of
tax                         (4)         -          -         (4)         -

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net income (loss)     $    (177) $      97  $     375  $     491  $     471

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Net income (loss) per
share
Basic
Continuing
operations       $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.52  $    0.68  $    0.66
Discontinued
operations           (0.01)         -          -      (0.01)         -
---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Basic net income
(loss) per share   $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.52  $    0.68  $    0.66

Diluted
Continuing
operations       $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.50  $    0.67  $    0.64
Discontinued
operations           (0.01)         -          -      (0.01)         -
---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Diluted net income
(loss) per share   $   (0.24) $    0.13  $    0.50  $    0.66  $    0.64

---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------

Shares used in per
share calculation

Basic                     732        729        717        727        711

Diluted                   732        741        758        742        733

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Millions)

---------  ---------  ---------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 1,    Dec. 25,
2011       2011       2010
---------  ---------  ---------

Assets

Current assets:
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable
securities                               $   1,765  $   1,807  $   1,789
Accounts receivable, net                        919        908        968
Inventories, net                                476        540        632
Prepaid expenses and other current assets        69        157        205

---------  ---------  ---------

Total current assets                      3,229      3,412      3,594

Long-term marketable securities                   149         50          -
Property, plant and equipment, net                726        697        700
Investment in GLOBALFOUNDRIES                     278        486          -
Goodwill                                          323        323        323
Other assets                                      249        268        347

---------  ---------  ---------

Total Assets                                $   4,954  $   5,236  $   4,964
=========  =========  =========

Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity

Current liabilities:
Accounts payable                          $     363  $     467  $     376
Accounts payable to GLOBALFOUNDRIES             177        151        205
Accrued liabilities                             550        590        698
Deferred income on shipments to
distributors                                   123        131        143
Other short-term obligations                      -          -        229
Current portion of long-term debt and
capital lease obligations                      489        489          4
Other current liabilities                        72         27         19

---------  ---------  ---------

Total current liabilities                 1,774      1,855      1,674

Long-term debt and capital lease
obligations, less current portion              1,527      1,571      2,188
Other long-term liabilities                        63         66         89

Stockholders' equity:
Capital stock:
Common stock, par value                         7          7          7
Additional paid-in capital                  6,672      6,652      6,575
Treasury stock, at cost                      (107)      (107)      (102)
Accumulated deficit                          (4,977)    (4,800)    (5,468)
Accumulated other comprehensive income
(loss)                                          (5)        (8)         1
---------  ---------  ---------

Total stockholders' equity                1,590      1,744      1,013

---------  ---------  ---------

Total Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity  $   4,954  $   5,236  $   4,964
=========  =========  =========

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
(Millions)
Quarter
Ended      Year Ended
-----------  -----------
Dec. 31,     Dec. 31
2011         2011
-----------  -----------
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income (loss)                                $      (177) $       491
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Equity in net (gain) loss of investee                    -         (492)
Impairment charge of GF investment                     209          209
Depreciation and amortization                           70          317
Compensation recognized under employee stock
plans                                                  21           90
Non-cash interest expense                                5           21
Net gain on sale of marketable securities               (1)          (4)
Other                                                   (5)           2
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable                                    (10)        (347)
Inventories                                             65          157
Prepaid expenses and other current assets               73          115
Other assets                                             2           (1)
Accounts payable to GLOBALFOUNDRIES                     26          (28)
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and
other                                                 (91)        (148)
-----------  -----------
Net cash provided by operating activities          $       187  $       382
-----------  -----------

Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property, plant and equipment               (87)        (250)
Proceeds from sale of property, plant, and
equipment                                                 -           16
Purchases of available-for-sale securities              (125)      (1,586)
Proceeds from sale and maturity of available-
for-sale securities                                     311        1,726
Other                                                     (2)         (19)
-----------  -----------
Net cash provided by (used in) investing
activities                                        $        97  $      (113)
-----------  -----------

Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from borrowings, net of issuance cost             -          170
Net proceeds from foreign grants                          10           20
Proceeds from issuance of AMD common stock                 1           18
Repayments of debt and capital lease obligations         (51)        (209)
Other                                                      -           (5)
-----------  -----------
Net cash used in financing activities              $       (40) $        (6)
-----------  -----------
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents                  244          263
-----------  -----------
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period   $       625  $       606
-----------  -----------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period         $       869  $       869
-----------  -----------

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
SELECTED CORPORATE DATA
(Millions except headcount)

Quarter Ended               Year Ended
------------------------------------------------------- --------------------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 2,    Dec. 25,  Dec. 31,   Dec. 25,
Segment and Category
Information               2011       2011       2010      2011       2010

-------------------------------- --------------------

Computing Solutions (1)
Net revenue           $   1,309  $   1,286  $   1,219 $   5,002  $   4,817
Operating income      $     165  $     149  $      91 $     556  $     529

Graphics (2)
Net revenue                 382        403        424     1,565      1,663
Operating income             27         12         68        51        149

All Other (3)
Net revenue                   -          1          6         1         14
Operating income
(loss)                    (121)       (23)       254      (239)       170

Total
Net revenue           $   1,691  $   1,690  $   1,649 $   6,568  $   6,494
Operating income      $      71  $     138  $     413 $     368  $     848

------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

Other Data

Depreciation and
amortization
(excluding
amortization of
acquired intangible
assets)              $      67  $      71  $      78 $     288  $     322
Capital additions     $      87  $      58  $      38 $     250  $     148
Adjusted EBITDA (4)   $     260  $     239  $     241 $     902  $   1,031
Cash, cash
equivalents and
marketable
securities (5)       $   1,914  $   1,857  $   1,789 $   1,914  $   1,789
Adjusted free cash
flow (6)             $     100  $     131  $      11 $     528  $     355
Total assets          $   4,954  $   5,236  $   4,964 $   4,954  $   4,964
Long-term debt and
capital lease
obligations,
including current
portion              $   2,016  $   2,060  $   2,192 $   2,016  $   2,192
Headcount                11,093     12,019     11,068    11,093     11,068

------------------------------------------------------- --------------------

See footnotes below

(1) Computing Solutions segment includes microprocessors, chipsets and
embedded processors.

(2) Graphics segment includes graphics, video and multimedia products
developed for use in desktop and notebook computers, including home
media PCs, professional workstations and servers and also includes
revenue received in connection with the development and sale of game
console systems that incorporate the Company's graphics technology.

(3) All Other category includes certain operating expenses and credits that
are not allocated to the operating segments. Also included in this
category are amortization of acquired intangible assets and
restructuring charges. It also includes the results of the Handheld
business unit because the operating results of this business unit were
not material.

(4) AMD reconciliation of GAAP operating income to Adjusted EBITDA*

Quarter Ended               Year Ended
------------------------------ --------------------
Dec. 31,  Oct. 1,   Dec. 25,   Dec. 31,  Dec. 25,
2011      2011      2010       2011      2010
------------------------------ --------------------
GAAP operating income    $      71 $     138 $     413  $     368 $     848
Payments to
GLOBALFOUNDRIES               -         -         -         24         -
Legal settlement               -         -      (283)         5      (283)
Depreciation and
amortization                 67        71        78        288       322
Employee stock-based
compensation expense         21        22        22         90        87
Amortization of
acquired intangible
assets                        3         8        11         29        61
Restructuring charges
(reversals), net             98         -         -         98        (4)
------------------------------ --------------------
Adjusted EBITDA          $     260 $     239 $     241  $     902 $   1,031
============================== ====================

(5) Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities also include the long-
term portion of marketable securities.

(6) Non-GAAP adjusted free cash flow reconciliation**

Quarter Ended                Year Ended
-------------------------------- ---------------------
Dec. 31,   Oct. 1,    Dec. 25,   Dec. 31,   Dec. 25,
2011       2011       2010       2011       2010
-------------------------------- ---------------------
GAAP net cash
provided by (used
in) operating
activities           $     187  $     189  $    (213) $     382  $    (412)
Non-GAAP adjustment         -          -        262        396        915
-------------------------------- ---------------------
Non-GAAP net cash
provided by
operating activities       187        189         49        778        503
Purchases of
property, plant
and equipment            (87)       (58)       (38)      (250)      (148)
-------------------------------- ---------------------
Non-GAAP adjusted
free cash flow       $     100  $     131  $      11  $     528  $     355
================================ =====================

* The Company presents "Adjusted EBITDA" as a supplemental measure of its
performance. Adjusted EBITDA for the Company is determined by adjusting
operating income for depreciation and amortization, employee stock-based
compensation expense and amortization of acquired intangible assets. In
addition, for the fourth quarter of 2011 and fiscal 2011, the Company
included an adjustment for restructuring charges and reversals, net; for the
fourth quarter of 2010 and fiscal 2010, the Company also included an
adjustment related to its legal settlement with Samsung; and for fiscal
2011, the Company included an adjustment related to a payment to GF. The
Company calculates and communicates Adjusted EBITDA in the financial
schedules because the Company's management believes it is of importance to
investors and lenders in relation to its overall capital structure and its
ability to borrow additional funds. In addition, the Company presents
Adjusted EBITDA because it believes this measure assists investors in
comparing its performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by
excluding items that the Company does not believe are indicative of its core
operating performance. The Company's calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may or
may not be consistent with the calculation of this measure by other
companies in the same industry. Investors should not view Adjusted EBITDA as
an alternative to the GAAP operating measure of operating income (loss) or
GAAP liquidity measures of cash flows from operating, investing and
financing activities. In addition, Adjusted EBITDA does not take into
account changes in certain assets and liabilities as well as interest and
income taxes that can affect cash flows.

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Adara Media Secures $12.4 M in Financing Led by August Capital

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(Marketwire -01/24/12)- Global precision marketing platform company Adara Media Inc. has secured $12.4 million in funding from venture capital firm August Capital, with participation from existing investors Morgenthaler Ventures, Onset Ventures, and Baseline Ventures. This financing will fuel increased investment in Adara Media’s award winning TruPrecision Targeting Platform, delivering highly targeted media and ecommerce campaigns based upon specific customer relevance across top travel and hospitality brands. It will also advance Adara Media’s mission to expand its platform into new verticals and invest in sales, marketing and operational resources.
The funding follows exponential spending increases from Adara Media’s clients in 2011. Working with complex customer data sets and valuable audience segments, such as frequent flyers, business and international travelers, Adara Media enables top brand advertisers to connect with a highly desired consumer base via online media channels.
“This new round of funding from an esteemed group of partners represents continued investment in the growth of our business,” says Layton Han, chief executive officer of Adara Media. “Our business has achieved revenue growth every month during 2011 and is now poised to grow more aggressively and efficiently. We’re excited to have the support of August Capital, and the continued backing of our existing investors, as we invest heavily in our platform development and continue to expand globally.”
Han added that Adara will also use the funding to take the TruPrecision platform into new vertical categories. The company’s growth in 2011 has come from travel, hospitality and closely related verticals. Through Adara Media’s TruPrecision Targeting Platform, brands can reach and activate more than 225 million traveler profiles.
Dave Marquardt and Tripp Jones of August Capital led the investment in Adara Media. “We pride ourselves on investing in companies that show entrepreneurial excellence and technical innovation,” said August Capital co-founder Dave Marquardt. “Adara Media and its management have shown that this platform can bring brands closer to their best customers through the use of technology. We’re excited about Adara’s future as they expand globally and develop into new verticals.”
Adara Media’s industry leadership has been acknowledged through many industry awards including AlwaysOn OnMedia 100, Red Herring North America, and the Mega Awards, hosted by Airline Information. Adara Media has recently established an office in Chicago and announced the promotion of Scott Garner to EVP of business strategy, now responsible for strategic partnerships as well as new product strategy.
About August Capital:
Founded in 1995, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. These companies represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion, generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. August Capital has $1.3 billion under management, and has invested in more than 75 companies including Atheros, Cobalt Networks, Iridigm, Mimosa Systems, Postini, Seagate, Shopping.com, SixApart and Silicon Image. Recent investments range from $500,000 to $130 million in information technology businesses from semiconductors to ecommerce. The firm’s partners have previously invested in a number of ground breaking technology companies, including Actel, Adaptec, Compaq, Grand Junction, Intuit, Linear Technology, Microsoft, MMC Networks, Skype, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, Symantec, and Visio. August Capital is located in Menlo Park, California. For more information, please visit: www.augustcap.com.
About Adara Media:Adara Media offers a loyalty audience platform that enables top brands to monetize and nurture their loyalty program customers online and helps advertisers reach exclusive, qualified audiences. Using proprietary loyalty data, Adara Media enables advertisers to reach real individuals, ensuring authenticity while maintaining complete anonymity. Adara Media’s brand partners then gain ancillary revenue streams and the ability to deepen their relationships with loyalty consumers through targeted offers and consistent communication. Adara Media was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.adaramedia.com/.
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New Release of Quest Site Administrator for SharePoint Delivers Central Reporting for Microsoft SharePoint Online in …

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Tweet this: New release of @QuestSharePoint tool, Site Administrator, extends centralized reporting to #SharePoint Online in #O365 http://bit.ly/rDHvPY
News Facts:

• Quest Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSFT – News) today announced a new release of Quest® Site Administrator for SharePoint, a Microsoft SharePoint management solution, to include central reporting capabilities for SharePoint Online in Microsoft Office 365. The product helps users understand, manage and secure multiple SharePoint installations from a single product whether on-premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid of both.
• Site Administrator for SharePoint gives users an overview of their existing environment by providing metrics, trends and other insights into Office 365 usage, data growth, and storage distribution, which enables organizations to efficiently manage their SharePoint Online licenses.
• As organizations adopt this technology, one key area of focus will be maximizing efficiencies. Quest’s Site Administrator empowers SharePoint administrators to understand if that investment is being used, or needs to be expanded, by aggregating license and storage information from across all site collections and displaying it through centralized charts and reports.
• As more organizations consider moving to SharePoint Online, many will deploy proof-of-concept and pilot projects that result in hybrid environments, spanning both on-premise and cloud deployments. Site Administrator makes it easy for businesses to centrally monitor and manage their environments regardless of whether SharePoint is based on-premises, online, or both.

RSS Feeds:
Technorati Tags:
Supporting Quotes:

• Bill Evans, vice president and general manager, SharePoint business unit, Quest Software

“With this first-to-market Office 365 reporting capability, Quest Site Administrator for SharePoint will help IT managers be confident as they take the first step to the cloud. This single tool helps them understand and manage their existing on-premise environments and prepare for migrations to SharePoint Online in Office 365. Once there, users will better understand the value of their new environments, fostering maturity and growth in the market for hybrid and cloud environments.”

• Kristina Kerr, group product manager for SharePoint, Microsoft Corp.

“Quest Site Administrator for SharePoint provides customers with a quick view of the way Office 365 subscription resources are being used. SharePoint customers can use it to aggregate data from across multiple site collections to produce an easy-to-view report which helps them maximize their investment in Office 365.”
Supporting Resources:
About Quest Software, Inc.
Quest Software (Nasdaq: QSFT – News) simplifies and reduces the cost of managing IT for more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Our innovative solutions make solving the toughest IT management problems easier, enabling customers to save time and money across physical, virtual and cloud environments. For more information about Quest solutions for administration and automation, data protection, development and optimization, identity and access management, migration and consolidation, and performance monitoring, go to www.quest.com.
Quest, Quest Software and the Quest logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Quest Software in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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General Atlantic, Sequoia Invest $108 Million in Analytics Firm Mu Sigma

Mu Sigma, a company that helps businesses make decisions by analyzing data, attracted a $108 million investment, the largest round of private-equity financing in the analytic-services industry.
The funding was led by General Atlantic LLC and followed a $25 million round in April, Northbrook, Illinois-based Mu Sigma said today in a statement. Sequoia Capital led the earlier investment and participated in the new round, raising its stake in Mu Sigma, according to the statement.
Mu Sigma will use the capital to add 600 to 700 employees to its 1,500 within the next year, said Dhiraj Rajaram, chairman and chief executive officer of Mu Sigma.
“The whole area of big data and data analytics and support, we think, is very large and will continue to grow,” Pat Hedley, a managing director at General Atlantic, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, said in an interview. “Mu Sigma has a great client base and a strong management team.”
The deal is the largest investment on record by a private- equity or venture-capital firm in the data-processing and enterprise-software services industries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The second-largest is Penta Capital LLC’s $94 million investment earlier this year in Six Degrees Technology Group Ltd., a company that specializes in cloud computing.
William Ford, General Atlantic’s CEO, will join the Mu Sigma board.
Mu Sigma’s revenue will increase 35 percent to 40 percent in 2012 and profit will “dip slightly” as the company increases investments in a training program, marketing and services for clients such as Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. (DELL), Rajaram said. The money raised will also be used for hiring and to buy out early investors, he said.
Mu Sigma helps clients analyze larger sets of data than software tools ordinarily are capable of handling. The amount of data in the world is doubling every two years, according to EMC Corp.
“It’s a big problem that we’re trying to solve,” Rajaram said in an interview.
To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Kucera in San Francisco at dkucera6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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Travel Sites Hate Google More than Ever

Travel sites still say that Google is using its own algorithm to promote its flight searches and hiding those of competitors, while the search titan maintains that’s the only way airlines wanted to do business.
“The airlines told us that they would not give us [travel data] if we provided booking links to” online travel agencies, Jeremy Wertheimer, an ITA Software founder and now a Google vice president, said at an online travel conference last month according to the Wall Street Journal.

The travel industry outcry started last year when Google bought ITA Software for $700 million, the company from which most everyone gets their flight search information, and Microsoft, Expedia and Kayak began to lobby to stop the deal. Not surprisingly, when Google managed to clear the government antitrust probe and used a Google flight search without ITA’s software, the travel sites are still unhappy with the deal. (Google has used ITA Software to create a flight search on its Android and iOS app OnTheFly, which is nothing short of great.)

Google, which has branched into travel, likely saw the buy as a supplementing its search services. But online travel agencies such as Expedia, and more importantly travel search engines such as Kayak, see the competition as deadly.
It’s true that Kayak has the most to lose here, because it has the least to offer. At least Orbitz and Expedia are travel agencies that sell airlines, trips and hotel rooms (and make most of their money from hotels,) but Kayak made itself simply an online tool to aggregate travel information. In a face off between aggregators — a small, narrowly-focused aggregator doesn’t stand a chance against Google’s almighty algorithm. Is that fair? We suppose it depends on whom you ask.

Google’s search engine was started 13 years ago, long before Kayak’s travel search started in 2004. So isn’t it simply a matter of Kayak having a poor business model from the beginning? Of course, that idea will be batted away for now because the company is desperately trying to launch an  IPO before anyone sees that this startup isn’t viable in the long term.

 

This article is from http://tourism9.com/ 

Google under fire for travel search placement

Searching for flights on Google.
(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Google is taking heat from travel companies that say the search engine is giving preferential treatment to its own travel search tools over those of competitors.
The Wall Street Journal today points to a practice begun by the search giant earlier this month, which provides results for travel-related searches–such as domestic flights–from right within Google, as opposed to pointing searchers towards places like Priceline, Expedia, and Orbitz.
The move poses a serious threat, the Journal says, for these competing travel sites, which can depend on Google for 10 percent to 20 percent of their incoming traffic. With the newer technique of putting links to airline sites right up top, there’s a chance visitors won’t scroll down to try their search from one of these other sites, the Journal argues.
Google made serious moves to get into the travel business in the middle of last year, announcing plans to buy travel software company ITA as part of a $700 million deal. ITA’s core business is curating and indexing prices, flight schedules, and open seats, and offering the data to partners. When Google first announced plans to buy the company, it said it intended to use ITA’s technology to let users buy tickets directly from its search pages.
The 500-person company has relationships with airlines and travel agencies and can be found powering sites like Kayak, Hotwire, and Orbitz–many of which opposed the deal.
In April, Google and the Justice Department announced that a deal had been struck, granting Google the right to acquire ITA. But that deal came with strings attached, including that Google continue to license ITA’s technology to competitors for five years, and pass along any complaints from competitors about their listings not receiving fair placement on Google’s results pages.
In October, a federal judge approved the consent decree between Google and the Justice Department.
The Journal points to a statement made by Google vice president, and ITA founder, Jeremy Wertheimer last month, in which he said that airlines refused to give the company data about flights if that information was linked up to travel agencies as opposed to the airliners’ own sales sites. Google declined further elaboration on that point, the Journal said.
Worth pointing out is that Microsoft has a similar practice of putting travel results on the top of its Bing search pages, as it’s done since March of this year. However that technology is a partnership with Kayak, as opposed to Microsoft’s own travel tools. The Journal notes that Bing brings in “less than a quarter of Google’s audience,” giving the practice less of an impact.

This article is from http://tourism9.com/