Pc News

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Intel Corp. makes "holistic" push to boost PC use

Intel Corp will expand its effort to provide inexpensive computers and promote WiMax broadband Internet service in developing countries with a $1 billion "holistic" push to increase computer usage, chief executive Paul Otellini said on Wednesday.

Otellini, in a speech at the World Congress on Information Technology, said the No. 1 chip maker plans to train 10 million teachers to use computers in the classroom as part of a program called "The World Ahead," which was announced on Tuesday.

Mexico President Vicente Fox said in a videotaped message that Intel would give low-cost computers and Internet connections to 300,000 Mexican teachers.

Otellini, giving new details about the five-year program, said Intel's plan was to offer cheap computers, but also increase Internet availability and training on how to use it.

"It's a holistic approach to reach the next billion computer users," Otellini said of the latest initiative. "We want to accelerate access to uncompromised technology to everyone in the world."

Intel microprocessors power most of the world's personal computers, but the Santa Clara, California-based company is seeking new markets to offset slowing growth in wealthy, PC-saturated countries.

Even before "World Ahead," Intel promoted inexpensive PCs for developing countries, where most people cannot afford the current models and may not have access to the Internet.

Otellini displayed a portable computer designed for students in India that, to increase durability, uses only flash drive memory, is powered by a cool-running processor to prevent overheating in a tropical climate and has a backup system that can use a car battery for power when electricity is off.

The laptop, to be built by local computer companies using an Intel design, is set to go on the market early next year and sell below $400.

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Microsoft Settles Antitrust Suit in California

Microsoft yesterday reached a tentative $70 million deal to settle a California class-action antitrust lawsuit, according to a statement by the law firm representing the plaintiffs in the suit.

The suit, filed by San Francisco law firm Townsend and Townsend and Crew in August 2004, was one of dozens of private antitrust suits brought against Microsoft in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust proceedings against the software company.


The suit was filed on behalf of government entities in the California cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Los Angeles and Contra Costa. The plaintiffs charged Microsoft with anticompetitive conduct, accusing the vendor of using its market position to overcharge for software.

Making a Deal

The plaintiffs in the suit have approved the basic terms of the settlement, according to a press statement. The final version of the settlement is currently being negotiated and will be presented for final approval in a court in San Francisco.


According to Townsend and Townsend and Crew, the settlement benefits will be divided among the state and local government parties, which can use them to obtain cash refunds for computer hardware and software.


In a statement, Tom Burt, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft, said Microsoft values its relationship with the cities and counties named in the suit and is pleased to have reached a settlement in the case.


Microsoft has already settled a number of class-action suits with individual U.S. states, resulting in the vendor agreeing to pay out millions of dollars to purchasers of its software in each state. The bulk of the cases were filed by the state on behalf of its private citizens; the case settled Tuesday is the only one in which state governments filed separately, according to spokeswoman for Microsoft.


State antitrust cases in Iowa, Mississippi, Wisconsin, and New Jersey are still pending.

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Skype Readies Version 2.5

Skype Technologies today released a beta version of its new Internet calling software, Skype 2.5. Designed for easier use, Skype 2.5 offers easier international dialing and new ways to pay for Skype's fee-based services.

In addition, Skype also announced that it is piloting a new community conference call service called Skypecasts, which can support as many as 100 callers.

Version 2.5

New features in Skype 2.5 include a drop down menu that customers can use to choose the name of the country they want to dial so that they don't have to look up or insert the country code.


Customers can now also add more money to their SkypeOut accounts from the software rather than from Skype's Web site. SkypeOut is the service that lets users place calls to landline phones for a per-minute fee.


Another new feature is the ability to send text messages to mobile phones from Skype, at a cost of 11 cents per message.

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Microsoft Chases Ad Revenue With AdCenter

Microsoft plans to launch its online advertising sales platform for search engine advertising in the U.S. at an event in Seattle today, the company said. The move opens the way for Microsoft to challenge Google's business model for search advertising revenue.

AdCenter will now be the sole platform serving up advertisements on MSN, Windows Live, and other Microsoft Web sites, Microsoft said. Microsoft has previously relied on partners like Yahoo to sell advertising on its behalf, said Nate Elliott, an analyst with Jupiter Research.


The launch of adCenter in the U.S. is an important milestone for Microsoft, which says it is shifting from being a software company into a provider of online media through sites like MSN and Windows Live.


AdCenter works in a similar way to Google AdWords and Yahoo's advertising platform, where advertisers set the amount they want to pay each time someone clicks on their ad. Pledging a higher fee then other advertisers delivers a higher placement of the ad on the page. The ads are displayed on pages where users search for certain words that are chosen by the advertiser.


AdCenter uses a slightly more intelligent targeting system then the others, targeting ads based on user demographics in addition to the words they type into the search field, Elliott said. If it works better, advertisers will be drawn to it, he said.

Attractive Option

Initially at least, adCenter is likely to be very attractive to advertisers, Elliott said. Because at first there will be a smaller number of advertisers using the platform and bidding against each other, the prices will be low, he said. "In the early days, there will be some bargains," he said.


However, Microsoft will have to improve the volume of users on its sites if it is to grow adCenter into a major revenue earner, he said. Microsoft "is not representing nearly as many searches as Google and Yahoo and that's their biggest problem," he said.


Microsoft said it will continue to evolve adCenter to become a one-stop shop for advertisers to buy search, contextual or display ads across Microsoft's online sites including Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Spaces, Windows Live Safety Center, Windows Live for Mobile, Office Live, Office Online, and the Xbox Web site. The service will also let advertisers track their ad campaign performance.


As part of the adCenter launch, Microsoft also announced that it bought DeepMatrix, a provider of Web analytics for online marketers and publishers for an undisclosed sum. Microsoft plans to use DeepMatrix's products to offer Web analytics applications as part of adCenter in the future.


Microsoft first launched adCenter in France and Singapore in 2005 after announcing the development of the platform earlier last year. Some advertisers in the U.K. will be able to test the service starting in June, Microsoft said.

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Microsoft CEO sees Web services as top R&D priority

Microsoft Corp. plans to double spending on research and development at its MSN Internet unit as the company focuses on software services, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday.

The world's largest software maker caught investors off guard last week when it said it would sacrifice billions of dollars in profit next year to invest in new business areas.

Investors complained about the lack of clarity in Microsoft's plans to compete with online rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news).

Speaking at an event to promote its online advertising efforts, Ballmer said investments in the coming fiscal year, starting July 1, are a sign of Microsoft's commitment to be a leader on the Web.

"These are certainly early days in this Internet world. I believe only two or three companies can really deliver the infrastructure that's required to keep pace with both consumer demand and advertisers' needs," said Ballmer.

Microsoft said it planned to spend $1.1 billion for research and spending at MSN in the 2007 fiscal year, up from $500 million in fiscal 2005.

The company also plans to increase capital expenditure to $500 million in fiscal 2007, from $100 million in 2005.

"We will spend as a company overall about $6.2 billion in R&D," Ballmer said without specifying a time frame.

"We've told our R&D folks that our number one priority is software as a service," said Ballmer.

Shares of Microsoft rose 34 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $23.52 in afternoon Nasdaq trade. Prior to Thursday trade, the stock had fallen 15 percent since the company forecast next year's earnings below Wall Street estimates on April 27.

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Web Sites Sued for Selling Phone Records

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed federal court complaints against five Web-based operations accused of selling consumers' confidential telephone records, the agency announced this week.

The FTC is asking U.S. courts in five states to order the defendants to permanently halt the illegal sale of phone records. The FTC also wants courts to order the operations to give up the money they've made by selling the records.


"Trafficking in consumers' confidential telephone records is outrageous," Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. "It robs consumers of their privacy and exposes them to everything from snoops to stalkers. We intend to put a stop to it."


The defendants in these cases are: 77 Investigations and Reginald Kimbro, based in Upland, California; AccuSearch, doing business as Abika.com, and Jay Patel, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming; CEO Group, doing business as Check Em Out, and Scott Joseph, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Information Search, and David Kacala, based in Baltimore, Maryland; and Integrity Security & Investigation Services, Edmund L. Edmister, Tracey Edmister, and F. Lynn Moseley, based in Yorktown, Virginia.

Private Property

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 says customers' phone records are their private property and can only be disclosed to the customer or with the approval of the customer, the FTC said.


The defendants advertised on their Web sites that they could obtain the confidential phone records of any individual, including lists of outgoing and incoming calls, and make that information available for a fee, the FTC said.


Congress and the FTC have focused on the sale of phone records after complaints last year from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. In January, Representative Edward Markey (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat, said he had asked the FTC and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate Web sites that offer to sell mobile phone records, including information about incoming and outgoing calls, for as little as $90.

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AOL Dials Up Free Phone-to-PC Service

America Online is offering free phone numbers to the 41 million users of its instant messaging service, which will allow them to receive unlimited free phone calls from regular phones using Voice over Internet Protocol technology. Called AIM Phoneline, the offering is set to go live May 16.

In addition, AOL next week plans to launch AIM Pages, a new service designed to compete with the massively popular MySpace.com site.

Not All Free

AIM Phoneline isn't entirely a giveaway. The phone number and inbound calls are free, but to place calls from your PC to regular phones you will have to upgrade to AIM Phoneline Unlimited. It costs $14.90 per month for unlimited domestic and international calling. This flat-rate pricing also includes PC calls made to landline numbers in 25 countries and PC calls to cell phones in 5 countries.


AOL is offering a one-month free trial of its premium inbound and outbound PC-to-phone service and will offer a discount (a lifetime price of $9.95 per month) if you are one of the first to sign up for AIM Phoneline Unlimited.


Initially AOL will offer phone numbers in 50 metropolitan areas. The free service comes with voice mail and the ability to send voice-mail alerts to your cell phone. AOL plans to make money from outbound call fees, by displaying ads to consumers, and by "upselling" ring tones and call forwarding services to users.

AOL Gets Skype Envy

AOL is entering a crowded marketplace: Skype and a host of competing VoIP services offer similar VoIP calling plans.


Skype's PC-to-PC calling service is free, but it charges 2.1 cents a minute for outbound domestic calls using its SkypeOut PC-to-telephone service. Skype also offers a SkypeIn beta service, which allows you to subscribe to a telephone number for $38 a year. You must purchase Skype minutes for inbound and outbound calls.


AOL already offers a number of VoIP services, some of which PC World has reviewed.

Gunning for MySpace.com

Expected to launch in beta form next Wednesday is AIM Pages. When it goes live, you will be able to access AIM Pages at aimpages.com.


The service will allow AIM users to create personalized home pages (which will follow the naming convention www.aim.com/screenname). AIM Pages consist of modules like About Me, Photo and Buddy Gallery, User and Guest Comments, and Artist Videos and Music Feeds. AIM Buddy Lists will feature a symbol that indicates which buddies have recently updated their AIM pages.


Look for a full review of AIM Phoneline and AIM Pages when these services become available.

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Yahoo Faces Class-Action Spyware, Ad-Sales Suit

An antispyware activist and lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against Yahoo, accusing the Web heavyweight of placing advertisements on spyware-vendor and "low-quality" sites.

Ben Edelman, a Massachusetts lawyer and spyware researcher, is one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit earlier this week on behalf of Yahoo advertiser Crafts By Veronica, as well as other advertisers. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, accuses Yahoo and its ad sales subsidiary Overture Services Inof charging higher rates for ads promised "premium" placement, but then placing those ads on spyware-vendor sites and on Web pages with URLs that are misspellings of popular sites.


A Yahoo spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for comment.

Money Matters

The lawsuit seeks to recover the money advertisers paid to Yahoo for premium, "highly targeted," ad placement at Web sites including ones owned by Microsoft and CNN, Edelman said. Although plaintiffs' lawyers have not released an estimate of damages, it could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, he added.


"It seems like there's a lot of money at issue," Edelman said.


The lawsuit accuses Yahoo of placing ads on sites run by Intermix Media and Direct Revenue, two companies identified in an April lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as distributors of spyware and unwanted pop-up adware. Both companies have disputed Spitzer's charges.


Edelman agrees with Spitzer's assessment of the two companies, he said. "It's software that at least sometimes gets on your computer without your permission," he said. "It tracks where you go online."


In addition, Yahoo places ads on so-called "typosquatting" Web sites, the lawsuit says. Typosquatters register Web sites that have URLs that are common misspellings of popular Web brands, and many typosquatting sites that Yahoo placed premium ads have long lists of advertisements as their only content, the lawsuit says. Ads placed with Yahoo have appeared on Expedai.com, a typosquatter of the popular Expedia.com travel site, the lawsuit says.

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Sony Delays First Blu-ray Disc Titles

Sony Pictures Entertainment is delaying the launch of its first titles on the new Blu-ray Disc high-definition video format for a month, it said this week.

The company had originally planned to ship eight movie titles on May 23 and seven more on June 13. Now the initial eight titles will ship on June 20 while a new launch date for the latter seven has not been decided, said Sony Pictures Entertainment.


The delay is unlikely to inconvenience consumers as the first Blu-ray Disc player isn't expected to be available until five days later on June 25.

Samsung Shipment Slips

Samsung Electronics has originally planned to launch a player on May 23 and Sony's original launch date was chosen to coincide. However, a month ago Samsung said it was delaying the sale of its player. At the time Sony said it wouldn't hold up its Blu-ray Disc launch, but on Thursday said retailers had requested a delay to match Samsung's launch date.


The first eight Sony titles will be: "50 First Dates," "The Fifth Element," "Hitch," "House of Flying Daggers," "A Knight's Tale," "The Last Waltz," "Resident Evil Apocalypse" and "XXX." A ninth movie, "Underworld: Evolution," that had been scheduled to debut on June 3 will also launch on June 20. The latter seven titles are: "Kung Fu Hustle," "Legends of the Fall," "Robocop," "Stealth," "Species," "Swat" and "Terminator."


Lionsgate Films is also planning to launch Blu-ray Disc titles on June 20.

Second to Market

Blu-ray Disc is one of two new optical disc formats vying to replace current DVDs for high-definition content, such as movies. The format battle has pitted industry giants against each other. The main backers of Blu-ray Disc include Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung while companies supporting the rival HD-DVD format include Toshiba, NEC, and Intel.


Players and discs for the rival HD-DVD format went on sale in Japan in March and in the U.S. in April.

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Avoiding delays at a high-tech airport

For Wesley Britton, signing up to have his irises scanned at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport was an easy decision.

A structural engineer in the space industry, Britton passes through the bustling European hub four times a week, and being able to avoid long passport lines can often mean the difference between making or missing a connecting flight.

"I actually go through the airport quite often, so this was worth it," Britton said, after spending about 20 minutes in Schiphol's Privium office to sign up for the service.

Schiphol, at its peak, handles about 160,000 passengers per day, and is one of the world's most modern airports, with iris-scanners and a security scanner that would replace body searches, now being tested. There is also airport-wide wireless Internet access, countless flat-panel screens and, as it is close to the city, a live map online that tells nearby residents which runways are being used and what levels of jet noise to expect.

Introduced five years ago, the high-tech Privium identity system allows travelers to record their passport information and unique iris patterns on a smart card. Then, with a quick scan of either eye to verify identity -- a method widely considered more secure than fingerprints -- an automatic gate opens and Privium members are whisked through immigration.

Total time elapsed: 10 to 15 seconds.

The iris, the colored area around the pupil that controls its size, contains several times more unique information than a fingerprint. Even identical twins have different irises, and the ID method can be used regardless of whether the user is wearing contacts or eyeglasses.

Schiphol, as Amsterdam's airport and starting point for much of travel between Europe and the rest of the world, needs to adopt modern technology to keep the 44 million passengers it handles every year safe and happy, said Mirjam Snoerwang, an airport spokeswoman.

"It's very fast and there's no possibility of fraud," said Snoerwang, who, like other airport employees, is required to use the iris scanning system to enter secure areas.

The program costs 100 euros ($126) per year. For an extra 20 euros, Privium members can get priority check-in as well as priority parking.

NO MORE FRISKING

In addition to iris-scans, Schiphol is piloting another scanning system that is aimed at speeding up the process of checking a passenger's belongings.

Airline staff and ground personnel at Schiphol must also have their bags and personal belongings checked, and are, in fact, scrutinized more carefully than many of the passengers.

Instead of being frisked by a security guard, the subject can stand in a pod-like machine that uses non-harmful millimeter waves -- different from X-rays -- that can see through clothing and detect any suspicious objects.

To deal with the potential embarrassment of having a body image displayed, all images are viewed in a separate room by security personnel who cannot see the subjects' faces. All images are discarded once viewed.

"It is very quick, compared to being checked," said Coby Tetteroo, a KLM flight attendant on her way to work a domestic flight.

About half of airline and ground personnel use the scanner, which will be piloted until the end of this week. The system is also being tested in Mexico City's airport and London's Paddington train station, with the goal being to ultimately roll it out to all travelers.

That would relieve congestion at many airports -- especially in the United States -- where security and body checks were increased after the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

More than 30,000 have signed up for the Privium system, with a similar system being adopted at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

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FTC Halts, Fines Spyware Operation

District Court judge has ordered a spyware operation to give up more than $4 million in profit after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against the company.

The FTC accused the company and an affiliate of deceptively downloading spyware onto computers, changing the computers' settings, and hijacking their search engines.


In a separate case, another company, accused of "stealthy" download practices, has been barred from collecting consumers' personal information pending trial, the FTC said this week.


The FTC sued both operations, charging that the stealthy downloads of spyware were unfair and deceptive and violated federal law. The two companies used different techniques to direct consumers to their Web sites and start the downloads, but the FTC accused both operations of taking over computers without the owners' approval, secretly changing their settings and barraging the owners with pop-up ads. The spyware and other software the defendants installed caused many computers to slow down or crash, the FTC said.

IE Vulnerability Exploited

The FTC accused Sanford Wallace and his company, Smartbot.Net, of exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser in order to distribute spyware.


The spyware caused the CD-ROM tray on computers to open and then issued a "FINAL WARNING!!" to computer screens with a message that said, "If your cd-rom drive's open...You DESPERATELY NEED to rid your system of spyware pop-ups IMMEDIATELY! Download Spy Wiper NOW!"


Spy Wiper and Spy Deleter, the purported antispyware products the company promoted, sold for $30.


A default judgment against Wallace and Smartbot.Net orders them to give up nearly $4.1 million in profit from the spyware operation.


The order, issued by the U.S. District Court in New Hampshire, also bars Wallace and his company from:


-- Downloading spyware and any software onto consumers' computers without consent;


-- Redirecting consumers' computers to sites or servers other than those the consumers selected to visit;


-- Changing any Web browser's default home page.


A settlement with defendants OptinTrade and Jared Lansky prohibits the same practices. Lansky, an ad broker who distributed ads containing Wallace's spyware, will give up $227,000 in spyware-related profits.

Second Case

In a second case, the FTC charged that Odysseus Marketing and its owner, Walter Rines, lured consumers to their Web site by advertising bogus software they claimed would allow consumers to engage in anonymous peer-to-peer file sharing.


The spyware and other software bundled with it hijacked search engines and reformatted search engine results, placing Rines' clients first, the FTC said. Rines also distributed spyware by exploiting security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and other applications, and the spyware captured consumers' personal information, including their names, addresses, e-mail addresses and information about their online transactions.


That personal information was transmitted to defendants' Internet servers, where they compiled the information into a database in order to sell access to the data, the FTC said.


A preliminary injunction, also issued by the New Hampshire court, bars Odysseus and Rines from downloading spyware without consumers' consent, and from disclosing, using or further obtaining consumers' personal information, pending trial. The FTC will ask the court to order a permanent halt to their activities and order them to give up their gains.

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ABC affiliates join online streaming program

ABC is getting some of its affiliated stations on board its two-month trial of streaming shows online, including "Lost."

Disney-ABC Television Group said Friday the Web sites of outlets in Dallas, Orlando, Milwaukee and Knoxville, Tenn., have begun linking to http://www.ABC.com, which is making free advertising-supported episodes of such series as "Desperate Housewives" and "Commander in Chief" available online from May 1-June 30.

A fifth station, ABC-owned KABC in Los Angeles, also is participating.

The move comes as ABC's expansion into several digital formats has drawn grumbles from its affiliate body about pulling viewers away from local television. ABC Media Networks co-chair Anne Sweeney has argued that such experiments help affiliates.

"Having these affiliates participate in, and share research from, this experiment will help us to best determine a successful model for all of our businesses as they continue to evolve," ABC senior vp affiliate relations John Rouse said.

The arrangement represents the first public sign of cooperation between ABC and its affiliates. Last month, Fox Broadcasting Co. struck a deal with its entire affiliate body setting aside a portion of revenue from digital platforms.

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Beatles and Apple Computer await court decision

Judgment is due on Monday in a High Court battle between the Beatles' record company Apple Corps and Apple Computer Inc..

The music firm says the computer company has violated a 1991 trademark agreement by moving into the music business through its market-leading iTunes online store.

Apple Computer argued in court hearings in London earlier this year that iTunes was primarily a data transmission service, permitted by the agreement.

Apple Corps counsel Geoffrey Vos argued that Apple Computer could go "into the recorded music business in any way they want."

"What they cannot do is use the Apple (trade)mark to do it," he said.

Apple Corps, owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, has sued Apple Computer twice before.

The 1991 out-of-court settlement, which included a $26 million payment by Apple Computer, set out areas in which each party would have exclusive use of their respective fruit-shaped logos.

Apple Corps is seeking a judgment of liability and an injunction against Apple Computer. If it succeeds, a subsequent trial will assess damages.

Apple Computer has become a major force in the music industry, selling some 14 million iPod portable music players and more than one billion songs from the iTunes Music Store.

The Beatles have consistently refused to license their songs to any online music services.

But it emerged during the High Court proceedings that Apple Corps was digitally remastering the entire Beatles catalog, paving the way for selling the songs online.

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Worldwide survey estimates 694 mln adult Web users

Calculating the worldwide growth of the Web remains largely a matter of guesswork, more than a decade after the commercial Internet exploded into popular view.

Seeking to standardize global online measurements, comScore Networks Inc. introduced on Friday a new global survey with an estimate that 694 million people, age 15 or higher, used the Internet during March, or around 14 percent of adults.

The survey, called the comScore World Metrix, estimates there are 168.1 million users across four Asian countries -- China, Japan, India and Korea -- or nearly 25 percent of the total online population. By contrast, the United States is home to 152 million users, or 22 percent of the world's Web users.

The monthly study seeks to balance out the traditionally U.S.-centric art of Internet measurement, since market research data in the world's largest market is more widely available.

ComScore, a Chicago-based traffic measurement firm, known for its surveys of U.S. users, said it had surveyed 2 million Internet users representing a cross-section of countries with 99 percent of the world's population -- representing one of the most universal estimates based on a consistent methodology.

Most existing global surveys are a hodgepodge of national statistics stitched together with extrapolations on computer use in regions where data is sketchy. Some compilation efforts have estimated numbers in excess of 1 billion users.

Among major Web sites, Web search leader Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), a diversified network of Internet media sites, are neck and neck in terms of total worldwide audiences, the study found.

Google ranked No. 2 in terms of global Internet audience with an estimated 495.8 million users in March, compared with No. 3-ranked Yahoo, with 480.2 million users.

Microsoft's collection of sites attracted the largest global audience with 538.6 million, which includes not only its consumer Internet audience for MSN, instant messaging and its free e-mail service, Hotmail, but also traffic to Microsoft.com for software downloads and other non-consumer activities.

EBay Inc., Time Warner, Amazon.com Inc., the user-contributed Wikipedia and IAC/InterActiveCorp.'s Ask network rounded out the top rankings, according to the comScore World Metrix survey.

By contrast, Nielsen//NetRatings, a rival U.S. Web traffic measurement firm, offers a global estimate of active home Internet users of 317 million in March. China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), a government-backed Internet organization, estimated there were 111 million users of all ages in an annual statistical report issued in January 2006.

ComScore estimates 74.7 million adult Web users in China, a figure that excludes public computer use in Internet cafes -- a popular means of online access, especially among young people.

Japan ranks No. 3 with 52.1 million, Germany No. 4 with 31.8 million users and Britain nearby at 30.2 million, according to the comScore.

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Yahoo reinvigorates Web advertising search battle

Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) is set to introduce on Monday a long-delayed upgrade to its Web search advertising system, setting the stage for a face off with Web search leader Google Inc. later this year.

The diversified Internet media company is looking to encourage both new and existing corporate advertisers to start working with its rebuilt search marketing system in preparation for full introduction during the third quarter of 2006.

The highly anticipated redesign is the first big overhaul of the search advertising system since GoTo.com pioneered paid search advertising eight years ago. Yahoo paid $1.6 billion to buy the successor to GoTo, called Overture Systems, in 2003.

"Understanding how ads actually work together is what we are introducing with the new system," said Steve Mitgang, Yahoo's senior vice president of advertising. "The current core platform for YSM (Yahoo Search Marketing) has run its course."

The system is a software-based marketing console to help corporate advertisers and advertising agency buyers understand how to target relevant advertising to Web users based on the keyword search terms consumers use to find information on Web sites.

Advertisers can instantly calculate the cost of acquiring new customers using Yahoo's data and analytic system. Buyers can also test for the most effective ads and make rapid changes.

But the highly competitive online ad market is not standing still. Ad agencies and sophisticated buyers hungry for customers say they are agnostic over which system they use.

Ad systems from Google and Yahoo, along with lesser players Microsoft Corp., MIVA Inc. and LookSmart Ltd. all give advertisers the ability to run ads triggered when Web site users search for popular keywords on a site.

"With this release, Yahoo catches up to Google from a technology standpoint," said Paul Kelley, 27, an ad buying specialist with Carat Fusion agency in San Francisco.

"It's something the industry has been waiting on a long time."

Samir Patel, 28, the founder and CEO of SearchForce, a paid search marketing consultant, said Yahoo's software fixes basic usability problems that have given Google big advantages in the market in recent years. This may lure more small businesses to become active paid-search advertisers with Yahoo, he said.

The Yahoo ad system also offers geographical targeting based on databases of geographical terms it acquired when it bought London-based WhereonEarth last year. Thus Yahoo can infer when Web searchers mean Soho, London or Soho, New York.

Eventually, the system will also allow advertisers to buy ads across Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and other systems, allowing for comprehensive budgeting, something Google already offers.

Mitgang said the system will be rolled out in phases in order to lessen disruption to Yahoo's base of hundreds of thousands of customers, who need time to optimize the system to maximize the number of customers their ads may attract.

The first phase, which begins on Monday, is to deliver the core upgraded data and analytics platform. The second phase begins in the third quarter, when the full marketing campaign application becomes available to advertisers.