Google Still Extending Search Lead

Market analysis firm Hitwise reports Google is still extending its Internet search lead over competitors like Yahoo and Microsoft.

 

It’s no secret that Google is the big player in the online search industry, but that’s astonishing about Google’s search success is how the company is able to continue expanding its share of the online search market even when it’s already in such a dominant position. And yet, according to market analysis firm Hitwise, that’s exactly what they’re doing: according to Hitwise, in October 2008 Google accounted for 71.7 percent of all U.S. Web searches, up from 71.2 percent in September and 64.5 percent a year ago in October 2007. And the expansion primarily comes at the expense of rival Yahoo, which say it share drop from 18.1 percent in September to 17.7 percent in October.

Microsoft—which has famously been working to expand its share of the search market first by trying to acquire Yahoo and more recently through a series of partnerships and promotions—managed to increase it’s share slightly: form 5.34 percent in September to 5.4 percent in October. But a year ago, Microsoft accounted for 7.4 percent of the search market. Similarly, Ask.com saw its overall share decline from 3.6 percent in September to 3.5 percent in October; a year ago, Ask.com accounted for 4.8 percent of online search.

Speaking of Microsoft’s promotions to encourage users to try out its Live Search services, the company claims it’s Live Search cashback offering, rolled out back in May, is “showing traction” with consumers and advertisers, announcing that the program is now offering 30 percent more offers and is giving advertisers a good return on their investments. Microsoft is also citing figures from market analysis firm comScore that claim Microsoft Live search is the number two search engine in five of ten commercial categories in terms of conversion rate—the number of searches that actually turn into sales. Microsoft also claims Live Search ranked as the top seatch engine in terms of dollars spent per buyer: in other words, online buyers using Live Search tended to be bigger spenders.

Microsoft also rolled out a new SearchPerks program last month that lets Live Search users accumulate rewards points for using Live Search that can be redeemed for prizes and merchandise.

Source:http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/18416/google-still-extending-search-lead

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Syntactic & The Semantic Web

The World Wide Web (WWW) was developed in 1989 at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. It was Tim Berners-Lee who developed the first prototype of the World Wide Web intended to serve as an information system for physicists.

By the end of 1990, Tim Berners-Lee had written the first browser to retrieve and view hypertext documents and wrote the first Web server—the software, which stores Web pages on a computer for others to access. The system was originally developed to allow information sharing within internationally dispersed working groups. The original WWW consisted of documents (i.e., Web pages) and links between documents.

Browsers and Web server users grew. They became more and more attractive as an information sharing infrastructure. The Web became even more interesting as the amount of available information of every sort increased. A Web page can be accessed by a URL (uniform resource locator) through the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) using a Web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, Safari).

Currently, the World Wide Web is primarily composed of documents written in HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), a language that is useful for visual presentation. HTML is a set of “markup” symbols contained in a Web page intended for display on a Web browser. Most of the information on the Web is designed only for human consumption. Humans can read Web pages and understand them, but their inherent meaning is not shown in a way that allows their interpretation by computers.

The information on the Web can be defined in a way that can be used by computers not only for display purposes, but also for interoperability and integration between systems and applications. One way to enable machine-to-machine exchange and automated processing is to provide the information in such a way that computers can understand it. This is precisely the objective of the semantic Web—to make possible the processing of Web information by computers.

The Semantic Web is not a separate Web but an extension of the current one, in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation. (Berners-Lee, Hendler, et al., 2001)

The next generation of the Web will combine existing Web technologies with knowledge representation formalisms (Grau, 2004).

The Semantic Web was made through incremental changes, by bringing machine-readable descriptions to the data and documents already on the Web. Figure 1 illustrates the various developed technologies that made the concept of the Semantic Web possible. As already stated, the Web was originally a vast set of static Web pages linked together. Many organizations still use static HTML files to deliver their information on the Web. However, to answer to the inherent dynamic nature of businesses, organizations are using dynamic publishing methods which offer great advantages over Web sites constructed from static HTML pages. Instead of a Web site comprising a collection of manually constructed HTML pages, server-side applications and database access techniques are used to dynamically create Web pages directly in response to requests from user browsers. This technique offers the opportunity to deliver Web content that is highly customized to the needs of individual users.

Nevertheless, the technologies available to dynamically create Web pages based on database information were insufficient for the requirements of organizations looking for application integration solutions. Businesses required their heterogeneous systems and applications to communicate in a transactional manner. The Extensible Markup Language (XML, 2005) was one of most successful solutions developed to provide business-to-business integration. XML became a means of transmitting unstructured, semi-structured, and even structured data between systems, enhancing the integration of applications and businesses.

Unfortunately, XML-based solutions for applications and systems integration were not sufficient, since the data exchanged lacked an explicit description of its meaning. The integration of applications must also include a semantic integration. Semantic integration and interoperability is concerned with the use of explicit semantic descriptions to facilitate integration.

Currently the Web is undergoing evolution (as illustrated in Figure 2) and different approaches are being sought for solutions to adding semantics to Web resources. On the left side of Figure 2, a graph representation of the syntactic Web is given. Resources are linked together forming the Web. There is no distinction between resources or the links that connect resources. To give meaning to resources and links, new standards and languages are being investigated and developed. The rules and descriptive information made available by these languages allow the type of resources on the Web and the relationships between resources to be characterized individually and precisely, as illustrated on the right side of Figure 2.

Due to the widespread importance of integration and interoperability for intra- and inter-business processes, the research community has tackled this problem and developed semantic standards such as the resource description framework (RDF) (RDF, 2002) and the Web Ontology Language (OWL) (OWL, 2004). RDF and OWL standards enable the Web to be a global infrastructure for sharing both documents and data, which make searching and reusing information easier and more reliable as well. RDF is a standard for creating descriptions of information, especially information available on the World Wide Web. What XML is for syntax, RDF is for semantics. The latter provides a clear set of rules for providing simple descriptive information. OWL provides a language for defining structured Web-based ontologies which allows a richer integration and interoperability of data among communities and domains.

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Google’s Project 10 to the 100

May Those Who Help The Most Win

Project 10¹⁰⁰ is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible.

How it works

Project 10¹⁰⁰ (pronounced “Project 10 to the 100th”) is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. Here’s how to join in.

1. Send us your idea by October 20th.
Simply fill out the submission form giving us the gist of your idea. You can supplement your proposal with a 30-second video.

2. Voting on ideas begins on January 27th.
We’ll post a selection of one hundred ideas and ask you, the public, to choose twenty semi-finalists. Then an advisory board will select up to five final ideas.

3. We’ll help bring these ideas to life.
We’re committing $10 million to implement these projects, and our goal is to help as many people as possible. So remember, money may provide a jumpstart, but the idea is the thing.

Good luck, and may those who help the most win.

Guidelines

Our goal is to set as few rules as possible. However, we ask that you put your idea into one of the following categories and consider the evaluation criteria below.

Categories:

• Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
• Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
• Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
• Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
• Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
• Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
• Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
• Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.

Criteria:

• Reach: How many people would this idea affect?
• Depth: How deeply are people impacted? How urgent is the need?
• Attainability: Can this idea be implemented within a year or two?
• Efficiency: How simple and cost-effective is your idea?
• Longevity: How long will the idea’s impact last?

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what is the meaning of blogging ? What is Blogging ?

I think this nice time to know more about blogging, thanks to Technorati on providing such detailed analysis. Good thing is this journey will complete in next 2-3 day because there are couple of more topics left.
 If you read my previous posts then you find I tried to give FAQs in the starting of any post the motive behind is that you have to know what you are going to know through that post.

FAQs

What Is Blogging ?

What The Hell Is Blogging ?

What Is The Meaning Of Blogging ?

What Is The Meaning Of The Term Blogging

Blogging What Is It ?

What Type Of Website Is Best For Blogging And Social Updates?
 

“A Blog (a contraction of the term “Web log”) is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “

“The Blogosphere is the collective community of all blogs. Since all blogs are on the Internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked. Discussions “in the Blogosphere” have been used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues. ”

But as the Blogosphere grows in size and influence, the lines between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site become less clear. Larger blogs are taking on more characteristics of mainstream sites and mainstream sites are incorporating styles and formats from the Blogosphere. In fact, 95% of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter

What is Blogging?

Blogging is…

A truly global phenomenon: Technorati tracked blogs in 81 languages in June 2008, and bloggers responded to our survey from 66 countries across six continents.

Here to stay: Bloggers have been at it an average of three years and are collectively creating close to one million posts every day. Blogs have representation in top-10 web site lists across all key categories, and have become integral to the media ecosystem.

Who are Bloggers?
Bloggers are…

Not a homogenous group: Personal, professional, and corporate bloggers all have differing goals and cover an average of five topics within each blog.
Savvy and sophisticated: On average, bloggers use five different techniques to drive traffic to their blog. They’re using an average of seven publishing tools on their blog and four distinct metrics for measuring success.
Intensifying their efforts based on positive feedback: Blogging is having an incredibly positive impact on their lives, with bloggers receiving speaking or publishing opportunities, career advancement, and personal satisfaction.

 

Blogs are Profitable

The majority of bloggers we surveyed currently have advertising on their blogs. Among those with advertising, the mean annual investment in their blog is $1,800, but it’s paying off. The mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75K+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month. Note: median investment and revenue (which is listed below) is significantly lower. They are also earning CPMs on par with large publishers.

Bloggers are sophisticated in using self serve tools for search, display, and affiliate advertising, and are increasingly turning to ad and blog networks. Many bloggers without advertising may consider it when their blogs grow – the inability to set up advertising will not be a factor.

 

 

Global Snapshot of Bloggers

Segment Snapshot of Bloggers

Global Bloggers by Gender

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Google Phone | Gphone : Google prepares to launch Gphone ‘Dream’ mobile to rival iPhone

The first Google phone is launched today, promising the fastest one-touch access to the internet and smooth multi-tasking.

The ‘Gphone’ will go head to head with Apple’s iPhone as well as the BlackBerry and smart phones from the likes of Nokia.

Details of the Gphone’s features are being kept secret until today’s worldwide launch but it is thought to have both a touchscreen and a slide-out keyboard.

Super phone: Google believe ‘Dream’ will become a top seller

Like the iPhone, the Gphone will have a tilt sensor for gaming and a camera.

There has been speculation in the U.S. that the Gphone will cost $199 - around £110.

But in the past British consumers have had to pay higher prices for hi-tech items - the first iPhones were 35 per cent more expensive.

The phone has been developed in partnership with HTC of Taiwan.

It will be launched on the T-mobile 3G network in Britain and is expected to go on sale next month.

The first Google phone is a version of HTC’s Dream handset, while other manufacturers like LG and Samsung will launch their own Google phones over the next 12 months.

However, it is claimed that pressing a Google button on the GPhone will deliver even faster web access.

The biggest difference to the iPhone is that while the new handset has a touchscreen, it is also expected to have a slide-out physical keyboard.

Importantly, the Gphone will allow users to smoothly run multiple applications at the same time.

Consequently, a user might be able to view a YouTube video and update their Facebook entry at the same time.

Google’s Android operating system will allow third-party companies to offer a raft of services through the phones, including a satellite-based navigation device and a music player.

Among the most unusual of applications is TuneWiki - a music player that encourages mobile karaoke by synchronizing written lyrics on the screen to a YouTube video of the song.

To date, access to the internet via mobile phones has generally been frustratingly slow and fraught with technical problems blocking access to many websites.

The intention is that the Android operating system will effectively turn the Gphones into hand-held personal computers.

When Google announced its plans for Android last year they came alongside the unveiling of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of mobile phone makers and networks whose stated purpose is to ‘accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience’.

As part of this plan, it made Android a so-called ‘open platform’, which means no one is charged to use it either in a device or as a basis for writing applications.

As a result, anyone can write programmes that will run on an Android phone - from maps and calendars to word-processing software and games.

Source:

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Why banks are going bankrupt from mortgage crisis? | What is mortgage crisis? | What are the responsibilities of borrowers mortgage loan crisis us ? | what caused the mortgage crisis?

You will get All the FAQS at single place

What is mortgage crisis?
What is subprime mortgage crisis ?
What are the responsibilities of borrowers mortgage loan crisis us ?
How mortgage crisis affects police departments ?
Why banks are going bankrupt from mortgage crisis?
what are banks doing to survive mortgage crisis?
what caused the mortgage crisis?

1) Housing downturn

Subprime borrowing was a major contributor to an increase in home ownership rates and the demand for housing. The overall U.S. homeownership rate increased from 64 percent in 1994 (about where it was since 1980) to a peak in 2004 with an all time high of 69.2 percent.

This demand helped fuel housing price increases and consumer spending. Between 1997 and 2006, American home prices increased by 124%. Some homeowners used the increased property value experienced in the housing bubble to refinance their homes with lower interest rates and take out second mortgages against the added value to use the funds for consumer spending. U.S. household debt as a percentage of income rose to 130% during 2007, versus 100% earlier in the decade. A culture of consumerism is a factor “in an economy based on immediate gratification”.

In the early 2000s recession that began in early 2001 and which was exacerbated by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Americans were asked by the current President, George W. Bush, to spend their way out of economic decline and “Get down to Disney World in Florida.” This call linking patriotism to shopping echoed the urging of former President Bill Clinton to “get out and shop”, and corporations like General Motors produced commercials with the same theme.

Overbuilding during the boom period, increasing foreclosure rates and unwillingness of many homeowners to sell their homes at reduced market prices have significantly increased the supply of housing inventory available. Sales volume (units) of new homes dropped by 26.4% in 2007 versus the prior year. By January 2008, the inventory of unsold new homes stood at 9.8 months based on December 2007 sales volume, the highest level since 1981. Further, records of nearly four million unsold existing homes were for sale, including nearly 2.9 million that were vacant.

This excess supply of home inventory places significant downward pressure on prices. As prices decline, more homeowners are at risk of default and foreclosure. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller price index, by November 2007, average U.S. housing prices had fallen approximately 8% from their Q2 2006 peak and by May 2008 they had fallen 18.4%. However, there was significant variation in price changes across U.S. markets, with many appreciating and others depreciating. The price decline in December 2007 versus the year-ago period was 10.4% and for May 2008 it was 15.8%.Housing prices are expected to continue declining until this inventory of surplus homes (excess supply) is reduced to more typical levels.

2) Role of borrowers

Mortgage fraud by borrowers from US Department of the Treasury

A variety of factors have contributed to an increase in the payment delinquency rate for subprime ARM borrowers, which recently reached 21%, roughly four times its historical level.

Easy credit, combined with the assumption that housing prices would continue to appreciate, also encouraged many subprime borrowers to obtain ARMs they could not afford after the initial incentive period. Once housing prices started depreciating moderately in many parts of the U.S., refinancing became more difficult. Some homeowners were unable to re-finance and began to default on loans as their loans reset to higher interest rates and payment amounts. Other homeowners, facing declines in home market value or with limited accumulated equity, are choosing to stop paying their mortgage. They are essentially “walking away” from the property and allowing foreclosure, despite the impact to their credit rating.

Misrepresentation of loan application data and mortgage fraud are other contributing factors. US Department of the Treasury suspicious activity report of mortgage fraud increased by 1,411 percent between 1997 and 2005.

3) Role of housing investors and speculators

Speculation in real estate was a contributing factor. During 2006, 22% of homes purchased (1.65 million units) were for investment purposes, with an additional 14% (1.07 million units) purchased as vacation homes. During 2005, these figures were 28% and 12%, respectively. In other words, nearly 40% of home purchases (record levels) were not primary residences. NAR’s chief economist at the time, David Lereah, stated that the fall in investment buying was expected in 2006. “Speculators left the market in 2006, which caused investment sales to fall much faster than the primary market.” While homes had not traditionally been treated as investments like stocks, this behavior changed during the housing boom. For example, one company estimated that as many as 85% of condominium properties purchased in Miami were for investment purposes. Media widely reported the behavior of purchasing condominiums prior to completion, then “flipping” (selling) them for a profit without ever living in the home. Some mortgage companies identified risks inherent in this activity as early as 2005, after identifying investors assuming highly leveraged positions in multiple properties.

4) Role of financial institutions

A variety of factors have caused lenders to offer an increasing array of higher-risk loans to higher-risk borrowers. These high risk loans included the “No Income, No Job and no Assets” loans, sometimes referred to as Ninja loans. The share of subprime mortgages to total originations was 5% ($35 billion) in 1994 , 9% in 1996, 13% ($160 billion) in 1999 , and 20% ($600 billion) in 2006. A study by the Federal Reserve indicated that the average difference in mortgage interest rates between subprime and prime mortgages (the “subprime markup” or “risk premium”) declined from 2.8 percentage points (280 basis points) in 2001, to 1.3 percentage points in 2007. In other words, the risk premium required by lenders to offer a subprime loan declined. This occurred even though subprime borrower and loan characteristics declined overall during the 2001–2006 period, which should have had the opposite effect. The combination is common to classic boom and bust credit cycles.

In addition to considering higher-risk borrowers, lenders have offered increasingly high-risk loan options and incentives. One example is the interest-only adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), which allows the homeowner to pay just the interest (not principal) during an initial period. Another example is a “payment option” loan, in which the homeowner can pay a variable amount, but any interest not paid is added to the principal. Further, an estimated one-third of ARM originated between 2004 and 2006 had “teaser” rates below 4%, which then increased significantly after some initial period, as much as doubling the monthly payment.

Some believe that mortgage standards became lax because of a moral hazard, where each link in the mortgage chain collected profits while believing it was passing on risk.

Critics note that the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act did nothing to curtail the predatory practices of credit card companies, such as exorbitant interest rates, rising and often hidden fees, and targeting minors and the recently bankrupt for new cards. The bill’s critics pointed out that these practices are themselves significant contributors to the growth of consumer bankruptcies.

The Center for Responsible Lending, in its report on IndyMac, related testimony that the bank actually made efforts to avoid having income information about some borrowers. The Associated Press has reported that a federal grand jury is investigating subprime lenders Countrywide Financial Corp., New Century Financial Corp. and IndyMac Bancorp Inc. and reports also that the FBI is investigating IndyMac for possible fraud.. The question, then, is whether banks and other private mortgage originators of subprime and other “nonprime” loans might deliberately have profited or attempted to profit - in moneys, economic benefit or even fraudulent gain - through reducing the amount of information they collected from borrowers.

Judge Leslie Tchaikovsky of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, found on 25 May 2008 that even though a pair of borrowers had, indeed, misrepresented their incomes on a “stated income” home equity loan, National City Bank’s “reliance” on these statements of income “was not reasonable based on an objective standard”.

Investment banks are not subject to the same capital reserve regulations as depository banks. Some of the larger investment banks were highly leveraged (i.e., a high ratio of debt to capital reserves). As a result, they were not as capable of absorbing MBS losses. In addition, they were also counterparties to complex credit derivative transactions insuring various types of debt instruments. The combination of MBS losses and leverage rendered their ability to perform their counterparty role less certain. This in turn represented a broader risk to the financial system, resulting in their outright or “arranged” takeovers.

5) Role of securitization

Borrowing Under a Securitization Structure

Securitization is a structured finance process in which assets, receivables or financial instruments are acquired, classified into pools, and offered as collateral for third-party investment. There are many parties involved. Due to securitization, investor appetite for mortgage-backed securities (MBS), and the tendency of rating agencies to assign investment-grade ratings to MBS, loans with a high risk of default could be originated, packaged and the risk readily transferred to others. Asset securitization began with the structured financing of mortgage pools in the 1970s. The securitized share of subprime mortgages (i.e., those passed to third-party investors) increased from 54% in 2001, to 75% in 2006. Alan Greenspan stated that the securitization of home loans for people with poor credit — not the loans themselves — were to blame for the current global credit crisis.

6) Role of mortgage brokers

Mortgage brokers do not lend their own money. There is not a direct correlation between loan performance and income. They have a financial incentive for selling complex, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), since they earn significantly higher commissions.

According to a study by Wholesale Access Mortgage Research & Consulting Inc., in 2004 Mortgage brokers originated 68% of all residential loans in the U.S., with subprime and Alt-A loans accounting for 42.7% of brokerages’ total production volume.

The chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association claimed brokers profited from a home loan boom but didn’t do enough to examine whether borrowers could repay.

7) Role of mortgage underwriters

Underwriters determine if the risk of lending to a particular borrower under certain parameters is acceptable. Most of the risks and terms that underwriters consider fall under the three C’s of underwriting: credit, capacity and collateral. See mortgage underwriting.

In 2007, 40 percent of all subprime loans were generated by automated underwriting. An Executive vice president of Countrywide Home Loans Inc. stated in 2004 “Prior to automating the process, getting an answer from an underwriter took up to a week. We are able to produce a decision inside of 30 seconds today. … And previously, every mortgage required a standard set of full documentation.” Some think that users whose lax controls and willingness to rely on shortcuts led them to approve borrowers that under a less-automated system would never have made the cut are at fault for the subprime meltdown.

Role of government and regulators

Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the subprime meltdown. A taxpayer-funded government bailout related to mortgages during the Savings and Loan crisis may have created a moral hazard and acted as encouragement to lenders to make similar higher risk loans. Additionally, there is debate among economists regarding the effect of the Community Reinvestment Act, with detractors claiming it encourages lending to uncreditworthy consumers and defenders claiming a thirty year history of lending without increased risk.

Some have argued that, despite attempts by various U.S. states to prevent the growth of a secondary market in repackaged predatory loans, the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, at the insistence of national banks, struck down such attempts as violations of Federal banking laws.

In response to a concern that lending was not properly regulated, the House and Senate are both considering bills to regulate lending practices.

Lawmakers received favorable treatment from financial institutions involved in the subprime industry; see Countrywide Financial political loan scandal, below.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development helped fuel more of that risky subprime lending.

9) Role of credit rating agencies

Credit rating agencies are now under scrutiny for giving investment-grade ratings to securitization transactions (CDOs and MBSs) based on subprime mortgage loans. Higher ratings were justified by various credit enhancements including overcollateralization (pledging collateral in excess of debt issued), credit default insurance, and equity investors willing to bear the first losses. Critics claim that conflicts of interest were involved, as rating agencies are paid by the firms that organize and sell the debt to investors, such as investment banks. On 11 June 2008 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposed far-reaching rules designed to address perceived conflicts of interest between rating agencies and issuers of structured securities. The proposal would, among other things, prohibit a credit rating agency from issuing a rating on a structured product unless information on assets underlying the product was available, prohibit credit rating agencies from structuring the same products that they rate, and require the public disclosure of the information a credit rating agency uses to determine a rating on a structured product, including information on the underlying assets. The last proposed requirement is designed to facilitate “unsolicited” ratings of structured securities by rating agencies not compensated by issuers.

Rating agencies have lowered the credit ratings on $1.9 trillion in mortgage backed securities over the past four quarters. This places additional pressure on financial institutions to lower the value of their MBS. In turn, this may require these institutions to acquire additional capital, to maintain capital ratios. If this involves the sale of new shares of stock, the value of existing shares is reduced. In other words, ratings downgrades pressure MBS and stock prices lower.

As of July 2008, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) had downgraded 902 tranches of U.S. residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) and CDOs of asset-backed securities (ABS) that had been originally rated “triple-A” out of a total of 4,083 tranches originally rated “triple-A;” 466 of those downgrades of “triple-A” securities were to speculative grade ratings. S&P had downgraded a total of 16,381 tranches of U.S. RMBS and CDOs of ABS from all ratings categories out of 31,935 tranches originally rated, over half of all RMBS and CDOs of ABS originally rated by S&P. Since certain types of institutional investors are allowed to only carry investment-grade (e.g., “BBB” and better) assets, there is an increased risk of forced asset sales, which could cause further devaluation.

10) Role of central banks

Central banks are primarily concerned with managing the rate of inflation and avoiding recessions. They are also the “lenders of last resort” to ensure liquidity. They are less concerned with avoiding asset bubbles, such as the housing bubble and dot-com bubble. Central banks have generally chosen to react after such bubbles burst to minimize collateral impact on the economy, rather than trying to avoid the bubble itself. This is because identifying an asset bubble and determining the proper monetary policy to properly deflate it are not proven concepts. There is significant debate among economists regarding whether this is the optimal strategy.

Federal Reserve actions raised concerns among some market observers that it could create a moral hazard. Some industry officials said that Federal Reserve Bank of New York involvement in the rescue of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998 would encourage large financial institutions to assume more risk, in the belief that the Federal Reserve would intervene on their behalf.

A contributing factor to the rise in home prices was the lowering of interest rates earlier in the decade by the Federal Reserve, to diminish the blow of the collapse of the dot-com bubble and combat the risk of deflation. From 2000 to 2003, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate target from 6.5% to 1.0%. The central bank was concerned with promoting continued economic expansion after the dot-com bubble, and believed that interest rates could be lowered safely because the rate of inflation was low. The Federal Reserve’s inflation figures, however, were flawed. Richard W. Fisher, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, stated that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy during this time period was misguided by this erroneously low inflation data, thus contributing to the housing bubble.

Effects of Subprime Mortgage Crisis

1) On Stock Markets

On 19 July 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high, closing above 14,000 for the first time. By 15 August, the Dow had dropped below 13,000 and the S&P 500 had crossed into negative territory year-to-date. Similar drops occurred in virtually every market in the world, with Brazil and Korea being hard-hit. Large daily drops became common, with, for example, the KOSPI dropping about 7% in one day, although 2007’s largest daily drop by the S&P 500 in the U.S. was in February, a result of the subprime crisis.

Mortgage lenders and home builders fared terribly, but losses cut across sectors, with some of the worst-hit industries, such as metals & mining companies, having only the vaguest connection with lending or mortgages.

The crisis has caused panic in financial markets and encouraged investors to take their money out of risky mortgage bonds and shaky equities and put it into commodities as “stores of value”. Financial speculation in commodity futures following the collapse of the financial derivatives markets has contributed to the world food price crisis and oil price increases due to a “commodities super-cycle.” Financial speculators seeking quick returns have removed trillions of dollars from equities and mortgage bonds, some of which has been invested into food and raw materials.

Stock indices worldwide trended downward for several months since the first panic in July-August 2007. All three major stock indices in the United States (the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, and the S&P 500) entered a bear market during the summer of 2008. On 15 September 2008, a slew of financial concerns caused the indices to drop by their sharpest amounts since the 2001 terrorist attacks. That day, the most noteworthy trigger was the declared bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers. Additionally, Merrill Lynch was joined with Bank of America in a forced merger worth $50 billion. Finally, concerns over insurer American International Group’s ability to stay capitalized caused that stock to drop over 60% that day. Poor economic data on manufacturing contributed to the day’s panic, but were eclipsed by the severe developments of the financial crisis. All of these events culminated into a stock selloff that was experienced worldwide. Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial plunged 504 points (4.4%) while the S&P 500 fell 59 points (4.7%). Asian and European markets rendered similarly sharp drops.

2) On Financial Institutions

Many banks, real estate investment trusts (REIT), and hedge funds suffered significant losses as a result of mortgage payment defaults or mortgage asset devaluation. As of 21 May 2008 financial institutions had recognized subprime-related losses and write-downs exceeding U.S. $379 billion.

Profits at the 8,533 U.S. banks insured by the FDIC declined from $35.2 billion to $646 million (89 percent) during the fourth quarter of 2007 versus the prior year, due to soaring loan defaults and provisions for loan losses. It was the worst bank and thrift quarterly performance since 1990. For all of 2007, these banks earned approximately $100 billion, down 31 percent from a record profit of $145 billion in 2006. Profits declined from $35.6 billion to $19.3 billion during the first quarter of 2008 versus the prior year, a decline of 46%.

Other companies from around the world, such as IKB Deutsche Industrie bank, have also suffered significant losses and scores of mortgage lenders have filed for bankruptcy. Top management has not escaped unscathed, as the CEOs of Merrill Lynch and Citigroup were forced to resign within a week of each other. Various institutions follow-up with merger deals.

In addition, Northern Rock and Bear Stearns have required emergency assistance from central banks. IndyMac was shut down by the FDIC on 11 July 2008.

The crisis also affected Indian banks which have ventured into USA. ICICI, India’s second largest bank, has reported mark-to-market loss of $263 million in its loans and investment exposures. Other state owned banks such as State Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Baroda have refused to release their figures.

At least 100 mortgage companies have either shut down, suspended operations or been sold since 2007.

As increasing amounts of bad debt are passed on to professional debt collectors, the collection industry are projected to grow by 9.5 percent in 2008 and will continue to experience growth as long as delinquencies continue to mount. On September 14th 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after more than 150 years in business as a consequence of losses stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis. On September 16, 2008, the Federal Reserve gave an $85 billion loan to the insurer A.I.G. in exchange for an 80% stake; the company had been expected to declare bankruptcy the next day if no intervention occurred.

3) On Insurance Companies

There is concern that some homeowners are turning to arson as a way to escape from mortgages they can’t or refuse to pay. The FBI reports that arson grew 4% in suburbs and 2.2% in cities from 2005 to 2006. As of January 2008, the 2007 numbers were not yet available.

4) On Municipal bond “monoline” insurers

A secondary cause and effect of the crisis relates to the role of municipal bond “monoline” insurance corporations such as Ambac and MBIA. By insuring municipal bond issues, those bonds achieve higher debt ratings. However, some of these companies also insured CDOs backed by low-rated tranches of subprime mortgage-backed securities, and as default rates on those MBS have risen, the insurers have suffered significant losses. As a result, rating agencies have downgraded several bond insurers–as well as the bonds they insure–some to low speculative grade rating categories. The downgrades further threaten the bond insurers because they become unable to underwrite new business going forward. The downgrades may also require financial institutions holding the bonds to lower their valuation or to sell them, as some entities (such as pension funds) are only allowed to hold the highest-grade bonds. The effect of such devaluation on institutional investors and corporations holding the bonds (including major banks) has been estimated as high as $200 billion. Regulators are taking action to encourage banks to lend the required capital to certain monoline insurers, to avoid such an impact. However, rather than recapitalizing insurance units plagued by exposure to subprime related products, some insurers are focused on moving excess capital to previously dormant units that could continue to underwrite new business.

5) On Homeowners

According to the S&P/Case-Shiller housing price index, by November 2007, average U.S. housing prices had fallen approximately 8% from their 2006 peak. However, there was significant variation in price changes across U.S. markets, with many appreciating and others depreciating. The price decline in December 2007 versus the year-ago period was 10.4%. Sales volume (units) of new homes dropped by 26.4% in 2007 versus the prior year. By January 2008, the inventory of unsold new homes stood at 9.8 months based on December 2007 sales volume, the highest level since 1981.

Housing prices are expected to continue declining until this inventory of surplus homes (excess supply) is reduced to more typical levels. As MBS and CDO valuation is related to the value of the underlying housing collateral, MBS and CDO losses will continue until housing prices stabilize.

As home prices have declined following the rise of home prices caused by speculation and as re-financing standards have tightened, a number of homes have been foreclosed and sit vacant. These vacant homes are often poorly-maintained and sometimes attract squatters and/or criminal activity with the result that increasing foreclosures in a neighborhood often serve to further accelerate home price declines in the area. Rents have not fallen as much as home prices with the result that in some affluent neighborhoods homes that were formerly owner occupied are now occupied by renters. In select areas falling home prices along with a decline in the U.S. dollar have encouraged foreigners to buy homes for either occasional use and/or long term investments. Additional problems are anticipated in the future from the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation. It is believed that a significant proportion of baby boomers are not saving adequately for retirement and were planning on using their increased property value as a “piggy bank” or replacement for a retirement-savings account. This is a departure from the traditional American approach to homes where “people worked toward paying off the family house so they could hand it down to their children”.

6) On jobs in the financial sector

According to Bloomberg, from July 2007 to March 2008 financial institutions laid off more than 34,000 employees. In April, job cut announcements continued with Citigroup announcing an extra 9,000 layoffs for the remainder of 2008, back in January 2008 Citigroup had already slashed 4,200 positions.

Also in April, Merrill Lynch said that it planned to terminate 2,900 jobs by the end of the year. At Bear Stearns there is fear that half of the 14,000 jobs could be eliminated once JP Morgan completes its acquisition. Also that month, Wachovia cut 500 investment banker positions, Washington Mutual cut its payroll by 3,000 workers and the Financial Times reported that RBS may cut up to 7,000 job positions worldwide. According to the Department of Labor, from August 2007 until August 2008 financial institutions have slashed over 65,400 jobs in the United States.

7) On Minorities

There is a disproportionate level of foreclosures in some minority neighborhoods.

About 46% of Hispanics and 55% of African Americans who obtained mortgages in 2005 got higher-cost loans compared with about 17% of whites and Asians, according to Federal Reserve data. Other studies indicate they would have qualified for lower-rate loans.

On Tenants

Many renters have been forced from their homes by foreclosures due to their landlords defaulting on loans. According to a January study by the Mortgage Bankers Association, one out of every seven Maryland homes that lenders began foreclosure proceedings on last summer was not occupied by the owner. Foreclosure voids any lease agreement, and renters have no legal right to continue renting.

9) On World Economy

People queuing outside a Northern Rock bank branch in Great Britain to withdraw their savings due to fallout from the subprime crisis.

When the crisis first came to light, many analysts called it a domestic problem—one that would only affect US housing markets. However, the crisis quickly spread throughout the world. In September 2007, Northern Rock, a British Bank, experienced a bank run after it was revealed that the bank was having trouble raising liquidity. Within one day, customers had withdrawn an estimated £1 billion. This was the first bank run in Britain since 1866. The Bank of China (the #2 bank in China) announced in August 2007 that it held $9.7 billion dollars of US subprime debt. In January of 2008, Korean markets fell due to the “selling spree” of shares of US mortgages. Because of the global economy, and the huge subprime “pool” of mortgages that was bought by investors world wide, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “says that the worldwide losses stemming from the US subprime mortgage crisis could run to $945 billion.”

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List of bankrupt or acquired banks during the subprime mortgage crisis

However  I am not a marketing guy but this market fall is craeting my interest in it. One good data from WiKi

During the subprime mortgage crisis, many banks have failed or were acquired due to being in a poor state. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) may assume deposits of banks or allow other banks to assume them. So far, one investment and two diversified service banks have been acquired by other banks with government assistance in selling the company. The largest banks to be acquired have been the presumed Merrill Lynch acquisition by Bank of America, the Bear Sterns acquisition by JPMorgan Chase, and the Countrywide Financial acquisition also by Bank of America. IndyMac Bank was also a large bank that was changed into a bridge bank by the FDIC, after its failure, until the funds can be disposed of. In addition, the investment bank Lehman Brothers has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Acquisitions

Acquisition date	Acquired company	Acquirer	Type of bank acquired	~Value (USD)
02008-05-30 May 30, 2008	Bear Stearns	JPMorgan Chase	Investment	$&0000002200000000.0000002,200,000,000
02008-07-01 July 1, 2008	Countrywide Financial	Bank of America	diversified financial services	$&0000004000000000.0000004,000,000,000
02008-09-14 September 14, 2008 - Presumed	Merrill Lynch	Bank of America	diversified financial services	$&0000044000000000.00000044,000,000,000
02008-09-16 September 16, 2008 - Presumed	American International Group	US federal governmentA	diversified financial services	$&0000085000000000.00000085,000,000,000A
02008-09-18 September 18, 2008 - Presumed	HBOS (United Kingdom)	Lloyds TSB	diversified financial services	$&0000021850000000.00000021,850,000,000A

Bankrupt, filed for bankruptcy protection, or closed and received by the FDIC

Date	Company	Deposits and/or branches taken by	Type of bank bankrupt or closed
02007-02-02 February 2, 2007	Metropolitan Savings Bank	Allegheny Valley Bank
02007-09-28 September 28, 2007	NetBank	ING Direct	Retail and mortgage
02007-10-04 October 4, 2007	Miami Valley Bank	Citizens Banking Corp; FDIC
02008-01-25 January 25, 2008	Douglass National Bank	FDIC
02008-03-07 March 7, 2008	Hume Bank	Security Bank
02008-05-09 May 9, 2008	ANB Financial	Pulaski Bank and Trust Company
02008-05-30 May 30, 2008	First Integrity Bank	First International Bank and Trust; FDIC
02008-07-11 July 11, 2008	IndyMac Bank	IndyMac Federal Bank
02008-07-25 July 25, 2008	First National Bank; First Heritage Bank	Mutual of Omaha Bank
02008-08-01 August 1, 2008	First Priority Bank	SunTrust Bank; FDIC
02008-09-15 September 15, 2008	Lehman Brothers	(filed for bankruptcy protection)	Investment

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Guerilla Search Engine Optimisation

I got a call today from one of my student asking for Guerilla Optimisation. Its tough for me to explain all this in few words because it doesn’t directly realted to Search Engine Marketing.

Well the term Originates from Ambush Marketing , Ambush marketing is a marketing campaign that takes place around a event but does not involve payment of a sponsorship fee to the event. For most events of any significance, one brand will pay to become the exclusive and official sponsor of the event in a particular category or categories, and this exclusivity creates a problem for one or more other brands. Those other brands then find ways to promote themselves in connection with the same event, without paying the sponsorship fee and without breaking any laws.

How I am correlating it with Search Engine Marketing is for example MakemyTrip is running any event and populating their with the name ‘Make my Trip’ and the competitor’s get benefit of it.

Make a search Make my Trip you will some other websites ranking there. Find beneath some popular terms

• 1984 Olympics; Kodak sponsors TV broadcasts of the games as well as the US track team despite Fujifilm being the official sponsor.
• 1988 Summer Olympics; Fujifilm sponsors the games despite Kodak being the official sponsor.
• 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona; Nike sponsors press conferences with the US basketball team despite Reebok being the official sponsor. During ceremonies, the players covered their Reebok logos.
• 1994 Winter Olympics; American Express sponsors the games despite Visa being the official sponsor.
• 1996 Atlanta Olympics; sprinter Linford Christie wore contact lenses embossed with the Puma AG logo at the press conference preceding the 100 metres final, despite Reebok being the official sponsor.
• 1996 Atlanta Olympics; Messages On Hold strategically infiltrates a banner within the camera frame as US runner Jon Drummond prepares for the opening leg of 4×100 relay final. The moment is broadcast live across the world.
• 1996 Cricket World Cup; Pepsi ran a series of advertisements titled “Nothing official about it” targeting the official sponsor Coca Cola.
• 1998 World Cup; Nike sponsored a number of teams competing in the Cup despite Adidas being the official sponsor.
• 2000 Sydney Olympics; Qantas Airlines’ slogan “The Spirit of Australia” sounds strikingly similar to the games’ slogan “Share the Spirit.” despite Ansett Air being the official sponsor.
• 2002 Boston Marathon; as Adidas-sponsored runners come off the course Nike are treated to spray-painted messages honoring the day of the race, but not the race itself.
• 2003 Cricket World Cup; Indian players threatened to strike over concerns that the anti-ambush marketing rules were too strict. Of particular concern was the length of time before and after the cup that players were not allowed to endorse a rival to one of the official sponsors. Players argued that if they had pre-existing contracts that they would be in breach of them if they were to accept the ICC’s rules.
• 2006 FIFA World Cup; fans of the Netherlands had to disrobe Bavaria Brewery’s leeuwenhosen because Budweiser was the official beer sponsor.
• 2008 Beijing Olympics; entire countries were tuned into the Opening Ceremonies, and worldwide, millions more saw Li Ning light the torch and learned that he owns a shoe company with the same name, a direct rival of Adidas and quite famous in China, but not an official Olympic sponsor. ^[2]

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Google Search Evaluation Process Difficulties

Google Discusses Search Evaluation Process

Google had been doing a series of posts about search quality. Today, the latest post in the series discusses how evaluation enters into the the process.

Scott Huffman, Engineering Director, gave four insights into the nuances of difficulty experienced in search evaluation:

• First, understanding what a user really wants when they type a query — the query’s “intent” — can be very difficult. For highly navigational queries like [ebay] or [orbitz], we can guess that most users want to navigate to the respective sites. But how about [olympics]? Does the user want news, medal counts from the recent Beijing games, the IOC’s homepage, historical information about the games, … ? This same exact question, of course, is faced by our ranking and search UI teams. Evaluation is the other side of that coin.
• Second, comparing the quality of search engines (whether Google versus our competitors, Google versus Google a month ago) is never black and white. It’s essentially impossible to make a change that is 100% positive in all situations; with any algorithmic change you make to search, many searches will get better and some will get worse.
• Third, there are several dimensions to “good” results. Traditional search evaluation has focused on the relevance of the results, and of course that is our highest priority as well. But today’s search-engine users expect more than just relevance. Are the results fresh and timely? Are they from authoritative sources? Are they comprehensive? Are they free of spam? Are their titles and snippets descriptive enough? Do they include additional UI elements a user might find helpful for the query (maps, images, query suggestions, etc.)? Our evaluations attempt to cover each of these dimensions where appropriate.
• Fourth, evaluating Google search quality requires covering an enormous breadth. We cover over a hundred locales (country/language pairs) with in-depth evaluation. Beyond locales, we support search quality teams working on many different kinds of queries and features. For example, we explicitly measure the quality of Google’s spelling suggestions, universal search results, image and video searches, related query suggestions, stock oneboxes, and many, many more.

Not sure if I’m buying that Olympics example. Google didn’t do a great job with the Beijing Olympics, and surely their algorithm could handle serving up more relevant search results during the time surrounding the event.

I’m not saying that search query intent evaluation is easy, just that the Olympics query is not quite as problematic as Google is making it out to be.

The rest of the points are things we’ve been hearing from Google for a long time. We know they’re progressing on universal and personalization search efforts, all in their famous intent to create the best user experience.

So, what methods does Google employ to address these evaluations? Huffman offered up the following:

• Human evaluators. Google makes use of evaluators in many countries and languages. These evaluators are carefully trained and are asked to evaluate the quality of search results in several different ways. We sometimes show evaluators whole result sets by themselves or “side by side” with alternatives; in other cases, we show evaluators a single result at a time for a query and ask them to rate its quality along various dimensions.
• Live traffic experiments. We also make use of experiments, in which small fractions of queries are shown results from alternative search approaches. Ben Gomes talked about how we make use of these experiments for testing search UI elements in his previous post. With these experiments, we are able to see real users’ reactions (clicks, etc.) to alternative results.

What do you think of Google’s search evaluation? What evaluations would you like to see them conduct? Discuss in the comments.

Source: (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/080916-110700)

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LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS INC. ANNOUNCES IT INTENDS TO FILE CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY PETITION

LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS INC. ANNOUNCES IT INTENDS TO FILE CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY PETITION; NO OTHER LEHMAN BROTHERS’ U.S. SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES, INCLUDING ITS BROKER-DEALER AND INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SUBSIDIARIES, ARE INCLUDED IN THE FILING
NEW YORK, September 15, 2008 – Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (“LBHI”) announced today that it intends to file a petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. None of the broker-dealer subsidiaries or other subsidiaries of LBHI will be included in the Chapter 11 filing and all of the broker-dealers will continue to operate. Customers of Lehman Brothers, including customers of its wholly owned subsidiary, Neuberger Berman Holdings, LLC, may continue to trade or take other actions with respect to their accounts.
The Board of Directors of LBHI authorized the filing of the Chapter 11 petition in order to protect its assets and maximize value. In conjunction with the filing, LBHI intends to file a variety of first day motions that will allow it to continue to manage operations in the ordinary course. Those motions include requests to make wage and salary payments and continue other benefits to its employees.
LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS INC. ANNOUNCES IT INTENDS TO FILE CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY PETITION / pg.2
LBHI is exploring the sale of its broker-dealer operations and, as previously announced, is in advanced discussions with a number of potential purchasers to sell its Investment Management Division (“IMD”). LBHI intends to pursue those discussions as well as a number of other strategic alternatives.
Neuberger Berman, LLC and Lehman Brothers Asset Management will continue to conduct business as usual and will not be subject to the bankruptcy case of its parent, and its portfolio management, research and operating functions remain intact. In addition, fully paid securities of customers of Neuberger Berman are segregated from the assets of Lehman Brothers and are not subject to the claims of Lehman Brothers Holdings’ creditors.
Lehman Brothers (ticker symbol: LEH) is headquartered in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Tokyo, and operates in a network of offices around the world. For further information about Lehman Brothers, visit the Firm’s Web site at www.lehman.com.

Source: http://www.lehman.com/press/pdf_2008/091508_lbhi_chapter11_announce.pdf

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