Hello Email Wars: Yahoo Buys Bloomba

from the buying-frenzy dept

Forget the "search wars" that everyone's talking about, the real battle appears to be for places to put all that "paid search" ad inventory. Following Google's announcement of Gmail, Yahoo quickly came back and bought popular web-based email provider Oddpost. Still, Oddpost's interface was more of a traditional email program, while Gmail's tried some new features on for size -- including a system that was less about folders, and more about search-based email. However, even Google wasn't the first doing that. There was Stata Labs, makers of Bloomba, who received much of the credit for that innovation. So, now, Yahoo has bought Stata Labs, with the idea of taking the team there and throwing them on their web-based email offering. Unfortunately for happy Bloomba users, the client is no longer available, but expect the eventual Oddpost/Bloomba/Yahoo mail product to have quite the interface. Yahoo appears to have acquired Stata strictly for the talent, and not for the Bloomba product. Update: Someone who prefers to remain anonymous, suggests (smartly) that this isn't so much about email, but about desktop search. The Stata team built Bloomba as basically a demonstration of their desktop search technology, so forget email, this is a response to Google's desktop search offering.

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