App stores are gaining ground in the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, South and Central America and Africa as smartphone penetration increases and users seek a richer experience on their mobile devices, according to a new report.
Google has pulled the plug on its music search and download services in China from next month after a ‘disappointing’ response from users.
Yahoo has sold back half of its stake in Chinese internet giant Alibaba for $7.6bn (£4.7bn), in a move that has fuelled speculation that the firm could use the cash to bid for a hot web property, such as Pinterest or Foursquare.
As social media and search converge, Facebook is in a unique position to rival Google’s dominance in the coming years. A new survey reveals that Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to mix social with search could give Google a run for their (advertising) money.
Microsoft is recruiting over 1,000 additional employees in China this year and boost research and development spending by 15% as the software giant looks to boost its mobile reach in the highly lucrative region.
Chinese internet marketing giant Baidu is stepping up its product portfolio with major launches in cloud computing and a suite of mobile internet browser tools. Baidu is now looking to markets beyond China and revenues beyond search, directly competing with European and North American mobile, search and hosting firms.
Vietnam has the highest proportion of online video viewers across the Asia Pacific region, but China dominates the market in terms of sheer numbers of viewers, according to new research.
Chinese search engine Baidu has inked a deal with Edinburgh-based flight search company Skyscanner, posing a challenge to Google’s advantage in the lucrative online travel sector.
China’s most popular Web browser Qihoo has replaced Google with its own newly launched search engine as default choice.
The latest mobile advertising forecast data suggests the big boom is yet to come, with the market trippling in side within the next 4 years, Yankee group are forecasting more than $11 billion being invested by brands just in mobile media space, before considering the investment to make websites compatible for mobile phones and tablets. … [Read more…]