| Web traffic to eBay and Yahoo continues to grow
Web traffic to Yahoo has increased by 3 percent since last year and eBay has seen a 12 percent rise in the same time frame, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Yahoo parent company increased three percent year over year, from a three-month average monthly unique audience of 104.7 million unique visitors in Q1 2006 to 107.5 million unique visitors in Q1 2007. In online advertising, estimated revenue from image-based impressions on Yahoo grew 54 percent from Q1 2006 to Q1 2007. Sponsored links on the Yahoo property grew 16 percent in the same time period. Web traffic to the eBay parent company increased 12 percent year over year, from a three-month average monthly unique audience of 60.9 million in Q1 2006 to 68.2 million in Q1 2007. EBay brands eBay, PayPal, Shopping.com Network, and Skype all ranked number one in subject categories in March 2007, including classifieds/Auctions, Financial Tools, Shopping Directories and Guides and Long Distance/Local Carriers.
Germany to offer unrestricted 3G concessions
Reuters reports that Germany's telecoms regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), plans to auction a second lot of UMTS concessions in early 2008 that would allow operators to offer more services than before. The first sale in 2000 drew criticism from cellcos because the amount of spectrum fell below what they needed to offer full voice, video and data services to wireless devices anywhere in the world. ‘We will not put down any conditions saying you may offer this or that service or technology. It will be more open,’ Matthias Kurth, head of the BNetzA said in an interview. ‘Operators will also be allowed to deal in frequencies, meaning they can swap with others,’ he added. Six operatorss spent EUR51 bullion (USD66 billion) in 2000 on domestic 3G licences, but only four actually deployed services.
Net auctioneer's profit jumps
EBay Inc., the world's largest online auction company, says its first-quarter profit soared 52 per cent after the company raised fees on items for sale and held more auctions outside the United States. Net income climbed to $377.2 million (U.S.), or 27 cents a share, from $248.3 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier, eBay said yesterday. Excluding some expenses, eBay earned 33 cents, three cents more than analysts estimated. Revenue increased 27 per cent to $1.77 billion as a weaker U.S. dollar and demand in western Europe boosted results internationally. Last year, eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman more than doubled fees for merchants selling goods at fixed prices. A higher percentage of listings are now leading to sales. "They're still the gorilla," said Rachel Wakefield, portfolio manager for Coldstream Capital Management in Portland, Ore.
Historic Century Farms not immune to struggle
For more than 100 years, Windy Bluff Farm was a tranquil 250-acre cattle, horse and hay farm in Greene County near the South River and the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. "It was my great-great-grandfather's farm," said Tommy Shelton, the farm's owner. "It goes way on back." Yet when Shelton's father passed away in 2001, tracts of the farm were sold off. The bulk of the land became another family's goat farm, another cattle farm and South River Vineyards. All that remains today of the historic Windy Bluff Farm is a 5-acre sliver of farmland. "The way this real estate is getting more and more valuable, it's kind of foolish to hold on to it," Shelton said. Windy Bluff is one of 59 farms in the Charlottesville region that has been in continuous operation by the same family for more than 100 years.
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