SocialThing, a lifestreaming/social aggregation site, has been acquired by AOL. We currently have no information about the final price of the acquisition, but given that SocialThing was still in private beta, we assume that it was relatively low. SocialThing was founded in 2007 with $15,000 in seed capital from TechStars. AOL seems to be rather interested in the lifestreaming and aggregation business these days, as it just released its AIM BuddyUpdates yesterday.

While it is not unusual for a company to be bought up this quickly, it is interesting that SocialThing was acquired before it even came out of private beta. This could mean that AOL was less interested in the technology behind SocialThing and more in the team behind the service. SocialThing, after all, is still in such an early phase of its development that it doesn’t even support Microsoft’s Internet Explorer yet.

While SocialThing does the things it does well, it never quite got the hype and user base that its nearest direct competitor Friendfeed has been getting for the last few months. While SocialThing CEO and founder Matt Galligan pointed out to us that he doesn’t think SocialThing is actually competing with FriendFeed, the similarities between the two are just too striking.

It is true, though, that SocialThing is less focused on creating an internal community and puts more emphasis on sharing information back to the aggregated services than Friendfeed, especially since they just integrated ping.fm updates.

It will be interesting to see what AOL is going to do with this new property. Chances are that it will be integrated into AOL’s new BuddyUpdate service or that the SocialThing team will move over to work on BuddyUpdates while SocialThing itself will become a thing of the past.

According to Google, the acquisition of Omnisio will allow them to keep pushing the envelope of what is possible with online video. Neither Google nor Omnisio have commented on the price of the acquisition, but it is clear that the Omnisio team is going to join YouTube.

In the typical fashion of Google’s latest acquisitions, sign-ups for Omnisio are now closed. Instead, Omnisio now redirects users to YouTube and its (relatively limited) annotation function.

As with so many Google acquisitions, Omnisio’s product doesn’t seem to be so advanced as that Google couldn’t produce it in-house as well. There are, after all, Chances are that Google was mostly interested in the talent at Omnisio - something they hint at in the announcement of the acquisition that mostly focuses on how great the expertise of the Omnisio team is and less on the actual technology behind Omnisio.

Besides video annotations, Omnisio also allowed its users to make their own videos by assembling clips from blip.tv, YouTube, and Google Video. Clearly, Omnisio was already working closely with YouTube’s assets, so this acquisition probably seemed like a natural fit, though it remains to be seen if using blip.tv videos will remain an option after this acquisition if Google ever brings Omnisio back in some form.

Users could also use Omnisio to synchronize slide shows with video clips. In many respects, Omnisio was similar to Viddler, which also has comments as its main distinctive feature, though Google, of course, also already allows its video publishers to add annotations to their videos.

Given the level of maturity of most YouTube commenters, it remains to be seen how useful this function is going to be when/if it gets integrated in YouTube. At least with the current commenting system, you can still stay away from the spam, flamewars, and ubiquitous “that sux” comments.

Today, Hasbro and EA announced that the Facebook app EA has been working on for more than six months will be launched later this month, although a version on Pogo (EA’s online casual gaming site) is available today.

There is a Facebook Scrabble app in private beta, but the company is still testing it. It is not clear what is taking EA so long. After all, this is just a Facebook app, not a fully-featured video game like Spore.

It is also not clear what will happen to Scrabulous, the unofficial version of Scrabble that has become one of the most popular apps on Facebook.

Scrabulous, which was developed by two brothers in India, was almost shut down earlier this year because Hasbro claims that it infringes on its trademarks. Scrabulous was in acquisition talks with many different companies, including Electronic Arts (which has the domestic license to digital versions of the game) and Real Networks (which has the international digital rights), but everyone balked on price.

Rather than force Facebook to shut down Scrabulous immediately, however, Hasbro and Electronic Arts realized that they would suffer an extreme backlash if they took away everyone’s favorite Facebook game without offering up an alternative. Now that the alternative is almost here, it remains to be seen whether they will try to eliminate the competition.

Court documents in the ConnectU case reveal that when it comes to the price of Facebook common shares, Facebook’s board values the company at $3.75 billion — far lower than the $15 billion valuation set by Microsoft’s $240 million purchase of 1.6 percent of the company. As an investor, Microsoft owns preferred stock — worth more in part because, in case of an acquisition or an IPO, it’s the stuff that gets sold first. That means Facebook board really thinks the company isn’t worth $3.75 billion or $15 billion, but somewhere in between.

Actual shareholders — including Facebook employees, we’ve heard — are more than willing to move their shares at a $4 billion valuation. The revealing court documents, in which ConnectU lawyers complain about Facebook’s valuation, are embedded below. Before you feel too sympathetic, ask yourself: Isn’t this the kind of thing lawyers are paid to know?

Source: Valleywag

It has long been assumed by many investors that acquiring Valueclick (VCLK) would be the first step in “plan B” for Microsoft (MSFT) if its bid to take over Yahoo (YHOO) was unsuccessful. When MSFT’s Steve Ballmer recently ruled out a slew of acquisitions of smaller internet players after pulling its bid for Yahoo, ValueClick’s stock seemed to lose some of its “takeover bait” premium over the next couple of trading sessions. Since that time, the sell off in ValueClick shares has intensified and the stock has set new 52 week lows three times over the last week as rumors swirl that it is now hunting for some strategic acquisitions of its own. As might be expected, investors appear to be pricing in 1) concerns over dilution that might accompany any acquisition 2) typical “sell the buyer, buy the seller” arbitrage or 3) that an acquisition is signaling the switch of management efforts to acquiring instead of being acquired.

Much of the chatter regarding ValueClick acquisitions has focused on the possibility of their acquiring a company that would gain them entrance to the “Pay Per Click” [PPC] advertising space, the very high margin business that the Google empire was built upon where advertisers bid for placement in search results that are offered when consumers seek information on specific keyword search terms. This business was invented by Goto.com, which became Overture.com and was acquired by Yahoo and is now Yahoo Search Marketing. This space has been dominated by Yahoo and Google (GOOG), with Microsoft making a late run to gain a foothold in this space and round out “the big three” in the PPC space. While there has always been a “second tier” of companies trying to gain traction in the pay per click space, none have been able to come close to challenging “the big three” for various reasons.

While we are not in a position to know if there is any substance to the rumors, it does seem that the recent upheaval at Yahoo might make a historic opportunity for the right company to make waves in the pay per click space. If a Yahoo/MSFT deal were to reemerge or if Yahoo moves forward with its plans to outsource much of its premium PPC business to Google, the combination of the #2 and #3 players or the #1 and #2 players in this space would leave the door open for another company to slip into the #3 position. While we don’t think there is any magic associated with being the #3 player in PPC search, we do think that there are quite a few deep pocketed advertisers out there who view both Microsoft and Google as their most feared competitors and would like to see their advertising dollars flow to someone else, particularly newspaper publishers, magazine publishers, TV, radio and other legacy media companies.

Another factor that could make for a historic opportunity to enter the PPC search fray is the current market valuations of the second tier players. Just over a year ago, all companies in the online advertising space (but particularly the owners of ad networks) were being bid up to new trading highs after the frenzied buying of many of the other players ((ie.Aquantive, Doubliclick, 24/7 Media, Linkshare, Digitas) in this space for large premiums to their trading prices. As the deal volume dried up, much of the money flowed out of these names and many are now trading at historic lows.

The two names we have seen tossed around most often as a ValueClick acquisition targets fit neatly into this category - Miva (MIVA) and Think Partnership (THK).

Miva Media Solutions, previously known as Findwhat.com, is the largest of the second tier networks. With over $100 million in annual click revenue flowing through the company’s North American and European networks, Miva stands out as the quickest option for an acquiror looking to gain heft quickly. Miva also owns a number of valuable content sites including the rapidly growing Spill.com, Screensavers.com and WeatherStudio.com in addition to a growing toolbar segment that currently boasts of over 6 million active users.

In addition to offering the possibility of instantly becoming the next largest player in PPC behind MSFT, adding highly regarded content sites and leveraging the possibilities inherent in having an installed base of over 6 million toolbars, ValueClick and others have to look at the current market valuation of MIVA as extremely attractive. With a current market cap of $32.5 million (closing price July 1), no debt and over $22 million in the bank, the same marketplace that one year ago placed a valuation on these operations of just over $225 million is currently placing a value on this same business of less than $10 million. While the $250 million+ valuation achieved during the height of the ad network buying frenzy of a year ago might be on the high side, its hard to imagine that there are not buyers out there willing to pay three or four times the current trading price to take down such a large piece of pay per click market share. ValueClick in particular does seem like a company with the complementary assets, existing clientele and market cache’ necessary to take a business like Miva’s that is struggling to be profitable and significantly expand the margins by reaching the critical mass of advertisers necessary to ramp profitability quickly. With an existing CPA (Cost Per Action) network and display advertising business that reaches 74% of US internet users, its quite likely that ValueClick’s reach and brand name would bring many more advertisers into the fold quickly and also that existing advertisers would be more likely to bid higher and spend more through a ValueClick ad network than they would through Miva owned network.

The company whose name seems to be most frequently mentioned as a takeover candidate for ValueClick is called Think Partnership, (THK). Think Partnership (hereinafter THK) is in many respects similar to ValueClick, albeit a smaller version as it is most widely known for the affiliate marketing platform (Kowabunga) within its “network” segment and the lead generation operations within its “Direct” segment.

THK’s Kowabunga is a highly regarded player in the affiliate marketing space that has long been a thorn in the side of ValueClick, whose “Commission Junction” is the largest player in the affiliate marketing space. While Kowabunga is much smaller than Commission Junction, many high profile corporate names have either chosen Kowabunga over ValueClick’s Commission Junction when they started their affiliate program (like Microsoft and Yahoo Search Marketing’s affiliate programs ) or migrated to Kowabunga after testing the Commission Junction platform (like Intuit). Taking ownership of Kowabunga would make ValueClick’s Commission Junction not only the largest affiliate program provider, but also the “go to” provider for the largest names in technology, not to mention that the removal of a competitor like Kowabunga from the playing field might allow them to raise their percentage take on affiliate transactions.

While the lead generation operations within THK’s “Direct” segment are much smaller than ValueClick’s lead generation ops from a revenue standpoint, THK has actually had more success at maintaining strong margins while steering clear of Federal Trade Commission sanctions. Additionally, the specific niche’s served by THK’s direct segment (home based business owners and life stage niche marketing) would be complementary to ValueClick’s lead generation offerings.

Despite the obvious synergies of the THK businesses above with ValueClick, it is a third aspect that makes it most attractive to ValueClick. THK’s ValidClick AdExchange offers ValueClick an entry into the Pay Per Click space with what is arguably the most differentiated offering in the PPC space and also what is likely the fastest growing ad exchange. The ValidClick AdExchange platform combines a unique patent pending technology for eliminating click fraud combined with an exclusive technology alliance with Fair Isaac Corporation (FIC) that uses analytics based on artificial intelligence and patented profiling technologies that adapt to each click and conversion, scoring publishers on their ability to drive conversions for advertisers. This new exclusive partnership with the company whose FICO score has become the standard in the lending industry makes the ValidClick Ad Exchange that much more attractive to a company wanting to differentiate themselves from the pack in the PPC space. It has also caused many of the second tier networks to run their own ads through ValidClick’s Ad Exchange to take advantage of its Click Fraud protection.

Recent comments by THK management and our own channel checks in several verticals suggest that the ValidClick exchange is experiencing exponential growth in clicks, searches and revenues generated. In the verticals we tested, we saw more than 100% growth in Q2 over the record clicks and revenue achieved by the network during Q1 2008. This Google-like growth stands in stark contrast to the declines in revenue experienced by most of the other Pay Per Click search networks (including Miva) over the last few quarters as Click Fraud concerns seem to have scared more and more advertisers away from second tier PPC networks. These concerns appear to be making the ValidClick’s click fraud prevention technology and alliance with Fair Isaac that much more appealing.

Despite the success of the ValidClick network, THK’s stock has recently traded down to a historical low, with a market cap settling in the $27 million range. With its existing business pieced together by acquisitions totaling nearly $90 million over the last three years, several business segments that appear to be flourishing and a company campaign to divest non core assets that could raise cash greater than its existing market cap, we believe that THK might look like a tremendous bargain to ValueClick and more importantly, a quick entry into the PPC space with a unique offering whose technology solves the biggest problem (Click Fraud) plaguing the second tier PPC networks.

We believe that ValueClick is uniquely positioned to make waves in the Pay Per Click space if it should make an attempt to enter the fray. We also believe that the timing is perfect for such an entry. The current Yahoo conundrum that will likely result in only two of the big three Per Per Click networks surviving combined with the capitulation among investors in the small cap online advertising names makes the “perfect storm” and possibly a historic opportunity for a well financed player with a good name to stake a claim to be the new “first tier” player in this highly profitable space. ValueClick’s sterling balance sheet (over $160 million with no debt) and scale would likely be attractive to MIVA and/or THK’s management team if they are in fact entertaining offers. We believe that they are and note that both have recently announced steps to divest of assets that would not be appealing to a ValueClick or other similarly situated suitor.

We also note that timing is of the essence as there may be some increase in the valuations accorded many of the online advertising assets when Interactive’s (IACI) spin off is complete next month and they begin shopping with their $1.5 billion cash war chest and a stock currency whose valuation will be based on the prospects of Ask.com rather than many of the slower growth businesses that plagued IACI’s valuation for so long. It will likely take just one deal by IACI, CBS’s (CBS) recently acquired CNET or one of the other media players who would benefit from owning an ad network to make the valuations move back to historical norms - much higher than where the currently reside.

Microsoft will announce today that they have acquired San Francisco based semantic search engine Powerset. The acquisition price is not being disclosed, but our understanding from sources close to the deal is that the previously rumored $100 million is “roughly accurate.”

The company had raised $12.5 million in venture financing, plus another $8 million or so in convertible debt as bridge financing. That means investors will get a decent return (but not a home run), and the founders and employees will also take some real money off the table.

Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to buy MobiComp, a Portuguese company that makes software for the mobile world, including mobile posting to Web sites such as Facebook.

Microsoft hopes the acquisition will further its mobile ambitions, particularly in building new mobile data protection and sharing services, the company said in a statement. The company also plans to use MobiComp to further expand its ability to provide compelling software that can be used for work and play with mobile phones, PCs and the Internet.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MobiComp offers several Web based software services. For example, its MobileKeeper Backup & Restore backs up mobile phone data, while MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities connects mobile phone to social networking sites and gain updates on entertainment and news.

Microsoft paid US$240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook last year.

The rumors were accurate: Comcast will announce their acquisition of social contact list Plaxo today. Financial terms are not being disclosed, but the purchase price is between $150 and $170 million. Plaxo, which was founded in 2002, has raised just under $30 million in venture capital.

Plaxo has been the subject of considerable acquisition rumors lately, with both Google and Facebook named as potential suitors.

Plaxo says they will remain an independent organization in Silicon Valley. It will report into Comcast Interactive Media, which is a division of Comcast that develops and operates Internet businesses focused on entertainment, information and communication.

Hewlett-Packard agrees to buy IT services and pioneering outsource firm Electronic Data Systems, Mark Hurd’s biggest acquisition since taking the helm of Hewlett-Packard in 2005. The deal could spark more consolidation in the technology outsourcing sector.

The companies said Tuesday their boards had unanimously approved the deal, in which EDS  shareholders would get $25 per share. That is a premium of almost 25 percent over what EDS  had been trading on Friday. Word of the talks emerged Monday. 

It would be HP’s biggest deal in six years. 

HP is the world’s largest maker of personal computers, while Texas-based EDS provides technology services to the governments and companies around the world. 

The sale is expected to close in the second half of this year and more than double HP’s revenue from services, which was $16.6 billion in 2007. EDS had $22.13 billion in revenue last year. 

Their combined services business would have 210,000 employees - although some analysts expect HP would trim jobs - and operations in more than 80 countries. 

HP said the business would be based at EDS’ headquarters in Plano, Texas, and led by EDS chairman and Chief Executive Ronald A. Rittenmeyer. 

HP said it expects the deal would produce “significant” cost savings and add to earnings by next year. 

Palo Alto-based HP and EDS had said Monday that they were in “advanced discussions” about a possible combination without providing additional details. 

In Tuesday’s announcement, the companies said the deal would have an enterprise value of $13.9 billion without defining what that included. But based on 502.6 million EDS shares outstanding as of April 25, the acquisition would be worth $12.57 billion. 

HP ended January with nearly $10 billion in cash and has a market value of about $115 billion. 

If the deal is completed, it would be HP’s biggest acquisition since it bought Compaq Computer Corp. for $19 billion in 2002. That acquisition paved the way for HP to supplant Dell  Inc. as the world’s largest PC maker. 

Buying EDS would give HP more tools to challenge IBM  Corp. in the lucrative technology services field. HP already has replaced IBM as the world’s largest technology company, based on revenue. 

The demand for data management and technology consulting services has steadily grown during the past two decades as the automation of corporate America and the rise of the Internet prompted more businesses to hire contractors to help run their computer software and hardware. 

IBM’s technology services division brought in $54 billion in revenue last year, accounting for half of the company’s total sales. Combined, EDS and HP’s technology services division had about $39 billion in revenue last year. 

In one of its biggest previous attempts to expand its technology services, HP attempted to buy PricewaterhouseCoopers’ consulting division in 2000. IBM wound up buying the unit instead. 

HP has been on a roll since it hired Mark Hurd as chief executive three years ago. Propelled by earnings growth that has consistently exceeded analyst expectations, the company’s stock price has more than doubled since Hurd’s arrival. 

Acquiring EDS could yield more government work for HP, which had about $500 million in prime federal contracts in fiscal 2007. EDS is far better connected, with deals worth about $2.5 billion - putting it among the top 10 among government technology contractors. 

Combined, HP and EDS still would lag significantly behind government contractors like Lockheed Martin  Corp. and Boeing  Co. 

As in many corporate marriages, cultural clashes between HP and EDS could ruin the union, said AMR  Research analyst Dana  Stiffler. “Palo Alto versus Plano wrangling will destroy any short-medium term benefit unless there’s a strong integration roadmap,” she predicted. 

HP earned $7.3 billion on $104 billion in revenue last year while EDS made $716 million on $22.1 billion in revenue. 

EDS has been linked with possible deals previously, including a reported interest by Deutsche Telekom late last year and Dell before that. No suitors ever confirmed reports that they were talking. 

Former IBM salesman H. Ross Perot started EDS in 1962 to help run other companies’ computer systems - a specialty generally known as information-technology or IT services. 

Perot sold EDS to General Motors  Corp. for $2.5 billion in 1984 and eventually became so disillusioned with how that deal worked out that he sold his remaining EDS shares to the automaker so he could start a new rival service bearing his name. 

An outspoken billionaire, Perot became even more famous for running for U.S. president in 1992 and 1996. GM spun off EDS as an independent company in 1996 and remained its largest customer. 

EDS was riding high at the start of the decade, despite the dot-com bubble’s bursting. But in late 2002, earnings shortfalls led to investor lawsuits, a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, the ouster of the chief executive, and a sharp drop in the stock price.  The company lost $1.7 billion in 2003 but gradually righted itself under CEO Michael Jordan , a retired CBS  and Westinghouse CEO. He fixed some money-losing contracts, including a multibillion-dollar deal to build a communications network for the Navy and Marine Corps, and began cutting costs by sending thousands of jobs to low-cost countries such as India. 

Although he has not seen any signs to suggest EDS has been looking for a buyer, Jefferies & Co. analyst Joseph Vafi said the company’s board might have decided a sale would create a quicker payoff for shareholders than continuing to try to grow the company in the highly competitive technology services industry. 

Under Hurd’s leadership, HP bought business software maker Mercury Interactive Corp. for $4.9 billion in 2006 and last year paid $1.7 billion for data management service Opsware Inc., which had sold a large chunk of its operations to EDS in 2002. 

AP Business Writers Jennifer Malloy in New York, David Koenig in Dallas and Dibya Sarkar in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. 

Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard says the deal has been unanimously approved by both companies’ boards. 

It is expected to close in the second half of this year. 

Google has auto-complete options for its browser search, and Yahoo has Search Assist. And thanks to the acquisition of Inquisitor, Yahoo now has similar search features for Safari users as well. Amidst rumors that Yahoo may be on the short list of logical potential buyers of Blinkx, it’s Inquisitor that Yahoo has in fact added to the Yahoo family today.

The amount of the acquisition has not been disclosed, but it’s clear that Yahoo is targeting the Mac community in order to continue to push its quality-driven search techniques. Inquisitor is a browser plug-in that offers search assistance features for a faster way in which to dig down into search results. Yahoo chose Inquisitor for acquisition because of its existing similarities to its own Search Assist technology, which includes suggestions for filtering through search results.

This will, of course, provide access to Yahoo Search results, and even vertical searches across sites like Flickr, among other search engine default options that can be changed based on user preference. Should Yahoo acquire Blinx, this would be a good search vertical for Inquisitor as well. Yahoo has generally been keen on providing refining search techniques in an integrated manner, across email, and through other plugins that work with blogging platforms like Wordpress.

So it’s no surprise that Yahoo has turned to Inquisitor to appeal to Safari users. While there are no affiliate ad links in the current version of Inquisitor, I imagine that Yahoo could layer those back in, if need be, sometime in the future