Thursday, February 12, 2009Google Shuts Radio Advertising EffortsSearch engine giant Google said Thursday that it is exiting from the radio advertising business, putting an end into the firm's attempt to leverage its online advertising success into other media. Google--which pulled the plug on its newspaper advertising efforts on January 20th--said the move came because the radio advertising efforts did not have "the impact we hoped for." Google entered the radio advertising market with the buy of Newport Beach-based dMarc Broadcasting in January of 2006. Tha (More info...)
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AdventureLink Gains FundingLos Angeles-based AdventureLink, which operates an online booking system for adventure travel, announced today that it has raised a Series A funding for the firm. The funding came from Anthem Venture Partners and The Mail Room Fund. Amount of the investment was not disclosed. According to AdventureLink, its online booking system allows travel agents to book adventure travel opportunities in 164 countries. The firm is headed by Kelly Tompkins, who was the founder of LeisureLink, which runs an onl (More info...)
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Study: U.S. E-Commerce Drops In Q4A new report released this morning find that retail e-commerce sales dropped in Q4 by 3 percent, as the dismal economy began to affect the online retail sector. According to comScore, which tracks e-commerce spending, Q4 of 2008 was the first quarter of negative growth since it started tracking spending in 2001. The drop follows double digit gains throughout 2007 and the first half of 2008 in year-to-year ecommerce sales. Among the winners in e-commerce for 2007: video games, consoles, and acces (More info...)
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Celerus Diagnostics Gets $5MCarpinteria-based Celerus Diagnostics, which is developing products focused on providing rapid cancer diagnostics, announced today that it has raised $5M in a Series C funding round. Investors in the new round were not disclosed. According to Celerus, it will use the funding to accelerate the commercialization of its products. Celerus develops equipment which provides standardized histology and cytology results, used in diagnosing cancer. The firm said it now has systems installed in hospitals a (More info...)
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Stamps.com Gains PatentLos Angeles-based Stamps.com, which operates an Internet-based postage service, has scored a new patent, covering the firm's cryptography systems. The patent, number 7,490,065, was granted to Craig L. Ogg and William W. Chow, and was first filed in October of 2000. The patent was granted Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to the patent filing. According to Stamps.com, the patent covers core technology the firm uses to make sure its postage prints are secure. Christie, Par (More info...)
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OSI Systems Snags $11M ContractHawthorne-based OSI Systems, a developer of electronic systems for the homeland security, defense, aerospace, and health industries, said this morning that it has snagged a $11M contract from an undisclosed country for its cargo and vehicle inspection systems. The firm said the sale was made in the Asia Pacific region. OSI Systems' products are used for screening out narcotics, weapons, and contraband in trucks and shipping containers.
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Insights: 7 Tips to Help Jobless Americans Persevere
For our Insights & Opinions section today, John McKee, a Los Angeles resident and former executive at DirecTV, and currently an author and business coach, gives seven tips to the currently unemployed on how to persevere through - and even make the most of - this difficult time.
The numbers are staggering: The Labor Department recently reported 598,000 Jobs losses in January 2009, the worst one-month decline in 35 years, with the overall unemployment rate now at a whopping 7.6 percent - the (More info...)
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H2scan Appoints Engineering VPValencia-based H2scan, which develops hydrogen sensor systems, announced Wednesday that the firm has hired on Dr. Vikas Lakhotia as its Vice President of Engineering. H2Scan said that Lakhotia joins the firm from Anadigics, Inc., and has over 14 years of engineering and research experience. H2Scan is backed by Ravinia Venture Fund and Chrysalix Energy, and is based on technology from Sandia National Laboratories.
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Intelligent Beauty Names ExecutiveEl Segundo-based Intelligent Beauty, a venture-backed provider of online marketing and ecommerce technology, said recently that it has named Dan Williams as the firm's new President of ecommerce site DermStore. Intelligent Beauty said that Williams was most recently Vice President of Customer Relationship Management at the firm, and has nine years of experience in ecommerce. Intelligent Beauty is venture backed by Technology Crossover Ventures.
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Syntricity Names CEOSyntricity Inc., a publisher of yield management software for the semiconductor industry, reported Wednesday that it has promoted Steven Griffith to president and chief executive officer. Griffith, the San Diego-based company noted, had previously served as its chief operating officer and chief technology officer. He succeeds A.C. D'Augustine, who will remain as chairman of Syntricity's board\. Prior to co-founding Syntricity in 1997, the company said, Griffith worked for Rockwell Corp., Brooktr (More info...)
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