Archive for category Business
Google Gives Publishers More Control Over Content
by Jessica E. Vascellaro & Russell Adams – Dec. 3, 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Google Inc. on Wednesday made it easier for news outlets to remove content from its Google News property but keep it accessible through Google.com, the latest concession the search giant is making to publishers who want more control over their articles.
The move, which will let publishers block their content from Google News automatically by adding code to their Web sites instead of by contacting Google through an online form, comes on the heels of Tuesday’s announcement that Google will allow publishers to set a daily limit on the number of articles users can read for free through its search engine.
For several years, Google has allowed publishers to make individual articles that are behind a pay wall free through Google, through a service called “First Click Free.” Previously, users could access an unlimited number of stories this way. Now, it will allow publishers to impose a cap of five free stories a day while continuing to allow them to grant access to more.
Dean Singleton, vice chairman and chief executive of MediaNews Group Inc., one of the largest newspaper companies in the U.S. in terms of circulation, called Tuesday’s announcement “a good faith move.”
“It’s a signal that they’re willing to work with the industry,” said Mr. Singleton, whose company operates 54 daily newspapers in 11 states. “It may or may not be a shallow signal, but I take it as a positive move on their part,”
Nevertheless, the actions seem unlikely to quell the escalating fight between Google and news organizations that are considering removing content from Google because they believe the search giant is unfairly profiting off their material. Recently, news organizations, including News Corp. and the Associated Press, have talked to the major search engines about deals that could give one search partner, such as Microsoft Corp., preferential access to articles from those news organizations in exchange for payment.
On Wednesday, Satya Nadella, senior vice president for online services at Microsoft, said the company has “no real intent” to pay publishers to remove content from Google’s news-search service.
News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, declined to comment. The Associated Press also declined to comment.
Randy Bennett, senior vice president of business development for the Newspaper Association of America, said Google’s moves were a “step in the right direction” but didn’t address the bigger issue of whether Google and other aggregators plan to compensate newspapers that offer their content for free, a pressing issue for an industry battered by the recession and consumers’ shift to online.
In an interview Wednesday, Josh Cohen, senior business-product manager for Google News, said the new Google features weren’t a response to publishers’ growing complaints about Google but were part of ongoing efforts to give publishers more control.
But publishers say they want revenue and not just control. Google, which has long argued that it helps publishers’ businesses by bringing more eyeballs to the content, is exploring ways to help them earn more money directly. It recently launched a service, called Fast Flip, that shows screen shots of an article’s Web page and offers publishers like the Washington Post Co. and New York Times Co. a share of revenue from ads sold alongside that longer content.
Mr. Cohen said Google has further plans in that area. “You’re going to see continuation of exploration in other areas,” he said, adding that Google has been talking to publishers about technology and tools that could help them charge for content.
— Scott Morrison contributed to this article.
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Vivendi, GE Agree on NBC Price, Paving Way for Deal
By Rachel Layne & Andy Fixmer
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) — General Electric Co. and Vivendi SA agreed on a $5.8 billion valuation for the French telecommunications company’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
A deal with Vivendi would clear the way for GE, NBC Universal’s 80 percent owner, to create an entertainment joint venture controlled by Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company. Final agreements on both transactions may be announced as soon as this week, said one of the people, who declined to be named because the discussions are private.
The agreement on price was reached after GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt and Vivendi Chief Jean-Bernard Levy met in France last week. The sides had been less than $500 million apart and were discussing how payments would be structured, two people said on Nov. 25. Vivendi extracted more money than analysts expected and concessions that protect the Paris-based company against the risk regulators will scuttle the deal.
“From Vivendi’s point of view, the good news is that this effectively leaves them to go back to their investors and say they were able to monetize a minority stake at a good level,” Claudio Aspesi, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein in London, said by phone. “That’s the best management can be expected to do.”
Selling Comcast control of NBC would let Immelt use proceeds to concentrate on GE’s financial, health-care and industrial businesses, which include the world’s biggest maker of jet engines, locomotives and medical imaging machines. GE would initially have a minority stake in the NBC Universal entity, selling the rest over a number of years.
Concessions
Vivendi rose as much as 3.3 percent in Paris, advancing 61 cents, or 3.2 percent to 19.80 euros at 1:22 p.m. GE rose 8 cents to $16.02 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Philadelphia-based Comcast lost 22 cents to $14.66 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
GE agreed to make a payment of as much as $2 billion to Vivendi if the separate GE-Comcast transaction doesn’t close by the end of 2010, said one of the people.
Antoine Lefort, a Vivendi spokesman, declined to comment as did Anne Eisele, a spokeswoman for GE, and D’Arcy Rudnay, a Comcast spokeswoman.
“It worked out a little higher than what I had anticipated,” said Tuna Amobi, a New York-based analyst at Standard & Poor’s who covers the entertainment industry. “Vivendi was able to squeeze out an additional $250 million.”
Owners see success with mortgage modifications
Posted by admin in Business, Housing Market on November 30th, 2009
by Russ Wiles – Nov. 29, 2009 06:56 PM
The Arizona Republic
It took a while for mortgage-modification programs to gain any lift. For the first several months, they resembled those early flying contraptions that would bounce along the ground before crashing in a tangle of wood, metal and canvas.
But lately, some loans have gotten reworked, helping certain cash-strapped owners stay in their homes and convincing others to try again.
For example, the government’s Making Home Affordable program seems to be gaining traction, with 650,000 modifications in the works, including more than 34,000 in Arizona, the third-busiest state, according to the Treasury Department. Plus, some homeowners are getting mortgage help in other ways, without resorting to the federal program.
Mortgage counselors still caution that most troubled homeowners won’t qualify for a better loan deal, either because their finances aren’t solid enough or their lender isn’t willing to deal. But enough success stories are emerging to provide glimmers of hope.
Janet Davis of Mesa is one, having received a principal deferral on her main loan that she doesn’t have to pay until she moves or the home is sold. Davis said she also was able to settle a second mortgage on the property for 10.5 cents on the dollar.
“My payments are down to what they were on the original first mortgage, and I now have no second at all,” said Davis, who works in sales support for an electronics-infrastructure firm.
Cindy Frugé is another success story. With the help of a mortgage counselor, she obtained a reduction in the interest rate on her mortgage to a new rate of 3 1/8 percent.
“He contacted my mortgage company and negotiated a decrease in the rate by half,” said Frugé, a school teacher who lives in Coolidge.
Neither woman went through the Making Home Affordable program, but both got assistance from Take Charge America, a not-for-profit Phoenix credit-counseling entity that traditionally has focused on helping consumers with credit-card debts. The firm recently added a mortgage-modification unit after obtaining certification from HUD, the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Quite a few of our clients are going through the (government) program,” said Matt Harvey, a mortgage-counseling supervisor at the firm, which is hosting a free open house at its Phoenix offices on Saturday to explain the loan-modification process.
Insured but not covered
by David Lazarus – Nov. 29, 2009
Los Angeles Times – Business
Every driver in California is supposed to have uninsured-motorist coverage. But if you’re in an accident and the other driver flees, you could be left holding the bag.
As if the lousy economy hasn’t done enough damage, here’s another thing to worry about: more people driving without automobile insurance.
State insurance officials say the number of drivers without legally required coverage rises in tandem with unemployment, which is now more than 12% in California.
About 18% of drivers didn’t have insurance in 2007, the most recent year for which data are available. Back then, the unemployment rate was just 5.4%.
“We’ve seen in the past that higher unemployment tracks with a higher rate of people being uninsured,” said Darrel Ng, a spokesman for the department. “So we suspect that the number of people without coverage has gone up.”
What happens if you get hit by an uninsured driver? Worse, what if that driver flees the scene rather than face the music for lacking coverage?
Pacific Palisades resident Jill Smith, 53, believes this is what happened to her after her Volvo got rear-ended this month while she was exiting the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills. The driver of the other vehicle took off at top speed.
And because she was unable to get the vehicle’s license plate number, Smith is now stuck with the bill for $650 in repairs to her car.
“It seems so unfair,” she told me. “I’m the one with insurance. I’m the one who obeyed the law. And now I’m the one who has to pay for all the damage.”
What happened to Smith could happen to anyone. She said that she stopped at a red light at the bottom of the freeway offramp.
Read the rest of this entry »
U.S. stimulus funds run out for lower SBA loan fees
by Nancy Waitz – Nov. 24, 2009 7:20 AM est
Reuters.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Small Business Administration said on Tuesday that supplemental economic stimulus funds for its two most popular loan programs have run out and new loan volumes could fall if funds are not extended.
The SBA said $375 million in Recovery Act funds for use in 7(a) and 504 loan programs were exhausted by Monday, leaving thousands of struggling but viable small businesses in limbo unless new resources can be found.
The money was used to temporarily reduce fees on SBA-backed loans and raise SBA’s guarantee percentage on some loans to 90 percent from 75 percent. This saved small businesses up to $60,000 in fees, made lenders more willing to extend credit and helped lure investors back into the market for securities backed by SBA loans.
“We are continuing to work with Congress on funds to continue these programs, which have helped engineer a turnaround in SBA lending following last year’s credit crunch and resulted in more than 40,000 loans to small businesses during these tough economic times,” said Jonathan Swain, assistant administrator for communications and public liaison at the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The programs were authorized through February 16, and the Obama administration is seeking enough funding to extend them until that date. One administration official said this would likely amount to around $100 million.
A lack of sufficient capital for small businesses has been weighing on the U.S. economy’s recovery from a deep recession. Small companies, which are a key driver of U.S. job growth, are the traditional customers of community banks.
Companies with fewer than 500 employees accounted for 64 percent — or 14.5 million — of the 22.5 million net new jobs between 1993 and the third quarter of 2008, the SBA said.
WAITING LIST
To accommodate businesses that can afford to wait for funding, the SBA has implemented a transition period called the Recovery Loan Queue enabling those businesses to get their loan applications in line.
Loan applications that are conditionally approved subject to the funding will be placed in the loan queue in the order in which they were approved.
An Education in Student Loans
by David A. Graham – Nov. 20, 2009
NewsWeek.com
College degrees are supposed to last a lifetime, but should tuition loan payments? How some schools got away with charging interest rates of up to 18 percent.
Graduation day should have been a happy one for Tyrone Bailey. The first in his family of three children to earn anything beyond a high-school diploma, Bailey, 24, received a bachelor’s in criminal studies from Westwood College in Torrance, Calif., two years ago. But even while the day’s pomp and circumstance played out, his thoughts turned quickly to the tough job market and the $20,000 in loans he borrowed directly from his alma mater that were set to accrue a whopping 18 percent interest rate.
Not long ago, low-interest student loans were as easy to come by as a pass to get out of gym class. But the economic downturn and ensuing credit crunch put an end to that. As relatively cheap, private bank and federally backed loans became harder to come by, some colleges, vocational schools, and online institutions filled the void by lending directly to students like Bailey. Loans from traditional sources like Student Loan Marketing Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, fell by more than 50 percent from 2007–08 to 2008–09 after years of rapid growth, according to the College Board. (Article continued below…)
Since they’re largely unregulated and come from many sources, the rise of direct school-to-student loans are hard to estimate on a national level. “It’s a new twist that in the proprietary-school sector, schools are making their own loans,” says Deanne Loonin, who directs the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project. For example, Westwood, which operates 17 campuses nationwide and offers online-degree programs as well, hands out direct loans to about a quarter of its 17,000 students. Like most privately held companies, it isn’t required to disclose just how much money it loans out. But it’s likely similar to schools like Corinthian Colleges, the Santa Ana, Calif.–based owner of Everest College and WyoTech chains, whose direct-lending division is expected to make $140 million for the school during the current fiscal year. Then there’s ITT Educational Services, which, according to SEC filings, generated $52 million from its in-house student-loan program. (ITT didn’t respond to NEWSWEEK’s request for comment, and neither school makes its interest rates public.) Career Education Corp., which runs campuses under a variety of names (including the Brooks Institute, American InterContinental University, and Sanford-Brown Institutes and Colleges), has expanded an existing program over the last year, says Jeff Leshay, senior vice president for corporate communications. The program now brings in about $34 million annually, still a small percentage of total revenues, which the school projects will be $1.75 billion for the year. That program charges interest rates between federal level and market rate for private loans.
Consumer advocates see nothing wrong with schools that offer to help finance their students’ educations. It’s rates as much as 10 percent higher than federal student-loan rates that have them worried. Before the recession and credit crunch hit the student-loan market, it wasn’t uncommon to see federally backed loans hovering around 3 percent or even lower. For qualified students, 8 percent bank loans are still common. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Finaid.org, says it’s hard to estimate the average private student-loan rate, but he said most loans are in the low double figures. Eighteen percent, however is near predatory and driven by a pure profit motive, says Loonin. “The [traditional] lenders pulled out for now, and [some] schools were searching for ways to continue to have their students pay the same kinds of tuition,” says Loonin.
PSA: Smoking is so bad it voids your computer warranty
Nov. 23, 2009 01:27 PM EST
Yahoo.com – Tech Blog
Heads up, schmokers: Lighting up near your computer is heresy enough that Apple says it voids your warranty should you need to bring a smoke-exposed computer in for repair.
Specifically, in at least two instances in different parts of the country, Apple has voided the warranty and refused to provide repair service on Macintosh computers exposed to environments where cigarette smoke has been present. Calling cigarette smoke residue (tar and whatnot) inside a computer a health risk and a “biohazard,” in both cases Apple customers have been denied service despite having time left on a valid warranty.
Apple is standing by the decisions, saying that repair centers have the authority to make decisions like this on their own, citing OSHA rules that include nicotine in a list of hazardous substances that could damage the health of someone exposed to it. (Consumerist, which digests the issue with its typical aplomb, adds that sucrose, talc, and calcium carbonate are all also on the OSHA hazardous materials list.)
Apple isn’t formally commenting on the issue or responding to media requests for comment, namely regarding whether there’s a threshold for cigarette smoke exposure beyond which a computer won’t be serviced. Is one cigarette too much? 200? The answer is probably far less scientific than that: If a technician doesn’t like cigarette smoke and your computer smells a bit smoky, it probably won’t get serviced.
I can understand the policy here, but Apple’s failure to mention this issue in its warranty materials is out of line. To leave consumers on the hook for repairing their multi-thousand dollar machine by themselves, without notifying them in advance that cigarette smoke exposure could void their warranty, well… sounds a lot like typical Apple behavior, to be honest.
No word on whether other computer vendors have the same or similar policies. If you’ve encountered this issue in the past, please let us know about it here.
