Gasta to Attend Scottish Technology Showcase 08.

Don't miss this chance to do business with some of Scotland's leading technology companies at the Scottish Technology Showcase 08.

Being held on 27 February at the SECC in Glasgow, the 2008 showcase will comprise of 3 distinct zones:

• Technology Zone - 72 innovative technology organisations will demonstrate their products and services to representatives from a range of industry sectors, all looking to do business.
• Opportunity Zone - Hear 5-minute presentations from exhibitors outlining a specific business need with the objective of identifying individuals/organisations that can help meet this requirement. If you think you can help meet a need then follow up with exhibitors at their stand.
  
• Meeting Zone - pre-book a number of 20-minute meeting slots with exhibitors ahead of the Showcase, encouraging interaction on the day. The online meeting request system, powered by Kanyo, is now available, enabling exhibitors and delegates to arrange meetings.

All aspects of the Scottish Technology Showcase 08 have been designed to make it easier for both exhibitors and delegates to make new contacts and do business. In addition to the 3 Zones will be the popular Marketplace cafe, providing further networking opportunities.

Attendance is free but registration in advance is required.

Gasta Launches:Gaelic and multi-language Search

Gaelic and multi-language

Gasta is proud to add a new multi-language implementation across it network. The new platform has extended multi-language support for a vast number of languages.
Currently we will provide Gaelic, French, Spanish, German, Japanese and Simplified Chinese support. Other languages deployments take less than one hour to incorporate and we will roll out new language support as our partners demand.

• Gaelic - gaelic.gasta.ie
• French - fr.gasta.eu
• Spanish - www.gasta.es
• German - www.gasta.at
• Japanese - www.gasta.jp
• Simplified Chinese- www.gasta.cn

Gasta launches new search platform

Gasta launches new search platform

Gasta has rolled it’s new search platform. Stuart Manning said “We are redefining how users search on the internet by breaking the traditional paged based search mould. Instead we are providing a new rich interactive application approach, allowing the user to search unlimited web, video, images and news on one page. Added to the search are bookmarking and history tools to help make those searches easier to find again.”

We have enriched the user experience with social bookmarking, recent search history and all-in-one page search. We believe that more and more search engines will follow this route and users understand the new language of web 2.0 and break away from traditional paper-based hyperlinking and move to application based search.

Our new engine also provides potential search partners like ASK or Google better information as to the nature of our site and already we are seeing increased page indexing for each site using our test site www.mysearchmachine.com.

Gasta Platform is now a rich web application that utilises the best of the web 2.0 technologies. We have rebuilt Gasta from the ground up to be an extensible white label product that can be quickly deployed over our partner network.

Gasta Tech News: Mobile TV

Mobile TV is not that far away, Gasta.com has been looking at the leading companies that are ready to offer the middlepath software to enable mobile devices to become Mini television recievers.

Mobile TV services are based on two different technologies: the incumbent 3G-based services and the now emerging DVB-H-based services. Axel Technologies' solutions enable mobile TV services based on both technologies. The company's flagship product, Salmonstream Mobile, enables the implementation of full digital mobile TV service based on DVB-H. In addition to comprehensive middleware products, the company develops user interface software that supports several digital television standards.

Gasta Tech News: Mobile Email for the Masses

Mobile Email for the Masses

Until recently, mobile email use has been limited to business users who can afford to buy an expensive smartphone and are willing to accept a costly data plan. But there have been strong signs over the course of 2007 that the age of mobile email for the masses is upon us. The combination of the adoption of industry standards enabling push email on mass market feature phones and affordable service plans is set to make mobile email for the mass market a reality. Evidence of this shift is seen in particular in emerging markets, where fixed-line infrastructure is limited and PC penetration is low, whilst mobile phone penetration is soaring.

The mobile operators in emerging markets now have the opportunity to make the mobile phone the primary method of accessing the internet, with mobile email probably being the most popular application for both business users and consumers. As a result, I can see mobile email consumption in the emerging markets of Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe leapfrogging the 'developed world' in Western Europe and the U.S., which will mostly remain limited to high-end business user email.

However, to make this happen, it is important to use middleware that can support the majority of the mobile phones that are already out there in those markets. Communication only works if it can be sent and received; so, by using standards such as IMAP (LEMONADE), SyncML, and email-to-SMS conversion, we will see email and synchronization services extended to every single mobile phone on the planet.

While we are all drawn to sexy new devices such as the Apple iPhone, the fact is that smartphones represent only a tiny portion of the addressable market. The vast majority of phones in use today (and in the foreseeable future) are mass market feature phones. Therefore, it is essential for service providers to offer push email and synchronization solutions that work well on the phones that are already in users' hands today. In 2008, the time is right for mobile data pricing plans to fall and, as customer numbers increase, we will start to see mobile email becoming the next generation SMS.

*Source: Visiongain Mobile Email Market Report

Gasta News: Google to Aquire AOL?

Imedia has a story about a rumour, Gasta News picked up this rumour before but the latest development by yahoo/microsoft makes it even more interesting now.

News of Microsoft's unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo may have far-reaching implications for the mergers and acquisitions frenzy that has come to dominate interactive industry headlines. According to a report in The New York Times, a redrawing of the industry landscape could put AOL in play.

While rumors have long circulated about AOL's parent Time Warner looking to spin-off the internet giant, a united Yahoo and Microsoft -- still a big if -- could prompt Google to reconsider its position with respect to AOL.

Google, which handles search for AOL, already owns a 5 percent stake in the company.

Gasta Advertising: CPA model

Gasta CPA Model is proving more and more popular.

Mason Wiley: Writing on Imedia Connection

Advertising on social networks can be very expensive -- with little payoff. Here's an easy solution to this cost problem.

Social networks are commanding attention -- for good reason. Millions and millions of people visit them daily (and to many an employer's chagrin, hourly). Given the sheer number of users and their length of stay, the big social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and others should be an advertiser's paradise. But they're not -- yet.

Ironically, the huge number of impressions generated by social networks poses challenges for advertisers. For example, buying all those eyeballs on a cost-per-thousand (CPM) ad model can be prohibitively expensive for many. And unlike sites centered around a specific interest, social networks attract so many different types of people that targeting is difficult. Behavioral targeting offers promise, but hasn't yet evolved to the point at which it can guarantee a positive ROI.

A new ad model has emerged that can. The cost-per-acquisition model (CPA) provides advertisers with a guaranteed way to ensure ad efficiency, while also opening the door for social networks to monetize more of their traffic.

The benefit of CPA for advertisers
The CPA model is ideal for social networking sites because it eliminates virtually all the risk for advertisers of buying on a CPM basis. As a performance-based model, advertisers pay a fee only for the results their CPA campaign generates. That result can be any transaction specified by the advertiser. For example, an advertiser places a CPA campaign on ESPN.com. Rather than paying for all the people who see that ad, the advertiser only pays the publisher for each user that not only clicks on the ad but also follows through and completes the desired action as defined by the advertiser -- anything from an email submit or qualified lead to a sale or paid membership.

Through its 1:1 ratio of pay-per-action, CPA changes the rules for advertisers. The need for narrow targeting to eliminate ad waste becomes irrelevant since there is no waste. Similarly, there's almost no possibility for click fraud since advertisers only pay for results. And unlike CPM, the results of a CPA campaign are directly verifiable through tracking technology, which enables advertisers to determine which ads convert and which do not. For example, an A/B test of landing pages can be measured against the actions completed via any number of creatives or landing pages as well as the conversion processes. The path to purchase is easily tracked back to the source, including the placement of the original creative.

But the single greatest appeal of CPA for advertisers is that it is performance-based. With advertising costs directly tied to results, it provides them a way to advertise with full accountability and control. Advertisers simply establish the actions -- signups, sales, leads, etc. -- they want to reward, and establish how much they're willing to pay. If online publishers think the campaign will generate sufficient response with their audience base to meet revenue goals, they can choose to run the campaign.

Certainly, by running campaigns based on the promise of a potential future reward, publishers are taking a risk. But given that CPA campaigns are more aggressively focused on generating response than the many revenue-sharing campaigns available, it's a gamble that has been paying off for them. Now, social network publishers are finding that CPA can pay off for them, too.

The benefit for social networks
Like any publisher site, social networks want to maximize advertising revenue. Cost-per-thousand is the most prevalent model they use to do it, and it seems to make sense because CPM focuses on the number of impressions generated -- and these sites generate a lot of them. The problem is that these impressions come from an incredibly broad cross-section of the population, many of which can be irrelevant to a given advertiser. As mentioned above, although these sites generate billions of impressions, targeting the right ones is challenging. While targeting users based on where they have clicked (behavioral targeting) can help improve the odds, it is by no means an exact science or a guarantee that a sufficient number of users will perform the desired action.

These inherent challenges under the CPM model have limited the appeal of social networks for advertisers. The result has been a tremendous surplus of excess inventory that despite all best efforts just can't be sold. And a lot of those billions of impressions have gone un-monetized. But now that's changing thanks to CPA.

With CPM, the advertiser assumes the risk by paying the publisher for uncertain potential results. In CPA the publisher assumes the risk by running ads for uncertain potential payments. But when its remnant inventory at issue, the publisher runs no risk; it is inventory that would otherwise go unsold. So it only stands to reason that a social networking site will make more money running CPA ads on remnant inventory than it can just selling space based on CPM alone.

Conclusion
The CPA model is not new, but it has evolved to be a highly cost effective way for advertisers to use social network sites, and an effective way for social networks to generate increased revenue. And new widgets and applications are emerging for social networks that can make CPA even more powerful in the future.

Gasta Keywords: most popular sales

Tip: Gasta Keyword Sales such as loans, mortgage,credit cards, holidays, cheap flights, hotels, used cars,are often found with the prefix 'online' more companies are using the tagline gasta keyword=
in their advertising literature and paper adverts. This is good news as gasta gets ready to launch the new web.20 version of the site with enhanced advertising features and more opportunities for campiagns. check the new interface below on http://www.mysearchmachine.com
TOP Keywords
UK engine only.
Commercial Mortgages, Computer Accessories, Computer Training, Corporate Events, Corporate Training, Credit Transfer, Data Recovery, Discount hotels ,Gold card, Home Finance, Investment Advice, Loan Specialists, Marketing, MasterCard, Mobile Games, Mortgage Deals,Mortgage Finders, Online Betting, Online Bingo ,Online Bookmakers, online Dating,

Gasta News: Microsoft to buy Yahoo for $44.6bn (£22.4bn)

Microsoft has offered to buy the search engine company Yahoo for $44.6bn (£22.4bn) in cash and shares.

The offer, contained in a letter to Yahoo's board, is 62% above Yahoo's closing share price on Thursday.

Yahoo cut its revenue forecasts earlier this week and said it would have to spend an additional $300m this year trying to revive the company.

It has been struggling in recent years to compete with Google, which has also been a competitor to Microsoft.

"We have great respect for Yahoo, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said.

Chairman quit

There has not yet been any comment from Yahoo.

Its chief executive, Jerry Yang, announced on Tuesday that he intended to lay off 1,000 staff as part of a restructuring plan.

Terry Semel, who stepped down as chief executive last June, also quit as non-executive chairman on Thursday.

Microsoft said that Yahoo shareholders could choose to receive either cash or shares.

Yahoo shares have fallen 46% since reaching a year-high of $34.08 in October. They rose 54% in pre-market trading.

"Ultimately this corporate marriage was forced by the rise of Google, which has grown into a serious competitor for both Microsoft as a software company and Yahoo as an internet portal," said Tim Weber, business editor of the BBC News website.

"It is a shotgun marriage, but the person holding the shotgun is Google."

'Exorbitant premium'

According to its letter to Yahoo, Microsoft attempted to enter talks about a deal a year ago, but was rebuffed because Yahoo was confident about the "potential upside" presented by the reorganisation and operational activities that were being put in place at the time.

"A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved," Microsoft's letter said.

But there has been some concern about the price that Microsoft is offering.

"To me, the premium seems exorbitant, for what is a dwindling business," said Tim Smalls from the brokerage firm Execution LLC.

"I personally don't see how the synergies of Microsoft-Yahoo is going to take on Google."

Other analysts were more enthusiastic about the offer.

"It is a fantastic offer. It is game on," said Colin Gillis from Canaccord Adams.

"This consolidates the marketplace down to Google versus Microsoft. These two companies will be going head to head."

Gasta search convergence

The Register reports that Microsoft is to acquire Norwegian business search engine company Fast Search and Transfer for 6.6bn kroner ($1.23bn)

The software giant said it would pay 19 Norwegian kroner a share for the Oslo-based firm, which represents a 42 per cent premium to the closing share price on 4 January, the day before Microsoft stepped in with its bid.

Fast's board of directors and nearly half of its shareholders have already voted in favour of the buy-out and urged its remaining shareholders to accept Redmond's hefty offer.

In recent months Microsoft has beefed up its Web 2.0 intentions by investing in a number of data centres inside and outside the US as it clambers for a larger chunk of the search engine pie.

The Fast deal, which should be completed in the second quarter of 2008 subject to the usual regulatory approvals, will give the firm tailored internet search functions for corporate customers that include the likes of United Parcel Services and Deutsche Telekom AG.

Publicly-listed Fast said it welcomed the arrival of the Bill Gates jamboree, perhaps unsurprising given that in its last set of results the firm reported a third-quarter loss of $100m.

Gasta Video:Prepare for Web 3.0

This is a facinating article by Phil Cooper about the advance of video and (UGC) user generated content on the Internet

Gasta.com has just launched its own unique video services great for 'mash up' mixs and 'speeding through' every body wants the 15 minutes of fame.

Prepare for Web 3.0

Phil Cooper, CEO, Utarget Networks

Video continues to expand rapidly online. This new market has been driven by users, both consuming and generating video. Professional digital producers, big and small, are now responding to this user demand by delivering their content online. Short form video is proliferating on the open internet and this may well extend to long form video content. Advertising is becoming the main revenue model to propel this market. Walled garden services may well become submerged under an open internet video tsunami.

Doubters should look at the US market to see the large amount of video now online. But advertising on US TV is holding up compared to the UK. Online spend over there remains proportionally only half that of the UK. So we’re behind the US in putting video online (by about 18 months) but, it would seem, ahead in the web encroaching on TV. It seems UK users are moving from TV to online particularly quickly. ITV and other commercial channels are finally responding to the threat as convergence looms ever larger.

Utarget is proud to have launched the UK’s first online video advertising net work in June 2006 and to have since led the growth of the UK video ad market. YouTube has demonstrated the huge user interest in video but has equally high lighted the problems in monetizing uncontrolled and variable content. In contrast, we represent video ad inventory across top tier websites offering quality content. As of this month, we’re pleased to include the leading online video pioneer, Blinkx, within our network.

Other networks and major sites now offer targeted streamed placements for video advertisers around well produced short and long form content. In addition, there are video players supplied with rich syndicated content, such as Roo Media and Brightcove (as well as our own ad supported player). Through such players we have sites where video is the hero. These aren’t traditional text based sites but broadband TV channels. Most are ad funded but some are brand sponsored. They’re the future of online and show the video market growing and maturing.

Video ads will become the key format for brand advertisers online. They’re increasingly attracted to video ads as the online format that uniquely offers the impact and reach of TV. Our experience is that online usage is evolving from lean forward to more laid back due to the browsing of online video. It will never be couch potato but new media specialists will increasingly have to compete against big agency TV departments as the two media converge.

From our market position, Utarget is now seeing a sharp upturn in overall video spend in the UK. Test budgets are rising to £20,000 and more clients are willing to invest by equipping their agencies with creative of appropriate length for online. Expect this to rapidly accelerate. We predict that a large part of TV will be distributed online by 2010.

Gasta Advertising

GASTA WEB 2.0

We will soon be launching our next generation web.20 multimedia search, this version is almost complete and has simple push button administration areas that control search feeds, adverts, links, and keywords, all linked by our InstantLinks, InstantAds, and SearchMatch products. Gasta disseminates information and like an electronic amoeba spreads the information across networks, when a search is made on Gasta the search keyword is collected and collated for popularity, the most popular keywords are then added to the list of Gasta directories; this is all carried out in quantum nanoseconds (on the fly). Web marketers and SME’s then have the opportunity to create an IntantLink ™ to that directory. Users can also bookmark videos, images, webpage’s, and view their search history.

This is a new innovation in web directories and dynamic linking, and part of the new exciting Gasta interface. Gasta’s new interface is designed to give the maximum use of directories but at the same time make easier to use the search tool. Having morphed from an old school directory like Yahoo, Gasta has now harnessed the minimalist elements of Google and tied these to the directory listing by popular keywords. This is very new and very creative design for the launch of Gasta web2.0 with the additional tools of predictive search assists, playlists, and transparent search history we give the user more power to search faster, and more precisely.

Please feel free to have a look around http://www.mysearchmachine.com

And let us know what you think, we would like the opportunity to discuss future strategies partners and individuals.

Gasta & Baidu.com Inc

This is the latest search engine reach report from Gasta news, Baidu the robot that crawls gasta in eastern europe for results is growing at a phenomenal rate, as is the China net market.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Baidu.com Inc led China's search engine market in last year's fourth quarter with a 60.1 percent share, research firm Analysys International said on Friday.

Google Inc came second with a 25.9 percent share, followed by Yahoo China with 9.6 percent, it said in a statement.

Baidu's fourth-quarter market share was roughly unchanged from the previous quarter. Google Inc, meanwhile, gained 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter from the third, and has launched a mobile short message search service.

China's search engine market reached 946.6 million yuan ($131.3 million) in the fourth quarter -- almost double from a year earlier -- and was dominated by Baidu, Google and Yahoo China with a combined share of nearly 96 percent.

China had 210 million Internet users at the end of 2007, second only to the United States, and the population would become the world's largest at the beginning of this year, Xinhua news agency said this month.

Gasta , Fidel Castro "Globalisation:the new atomic bomb"

In an interview with The New Yorker magazine in 1999 Fidel Castro said that "Globalisation was the new atomic bomb" we here at Gasta HQ had a debate at the time about what that he could mean, we thought it might be a statement about the enviroment or an isolationist nightmare, but what is now apparent is that Fidel Castro was talking about the big bang of communication. Information is now spread so fast across the globe that a blip on the economic markets in Asia/Europe or one of the other 'emerging markets', can cause a nerve jangling pulse in the market worldwide, everybody is watching everything! We in Belfast are famous for our corner boy politics, now we have our corner boy economists and doomsayers! The recent credit cruch is a typical example of the 'rush to fear'; financial journalists and the media as a whole have been quick to deny any cause and effect of their reports, but every force has an opposite and althought the media may not have meant to start a run on the Northern Rock, they did! Is this the new atomic bomb that Castro predicated? Can modern communication cause widespread panic and fear at such a fast pace that the shockwave hits us all at once?

Gasta the amoebic replicant

Gasta the amoebic replicant

Growing faster and replicating itself across the universe how big can Gasta get?

Gasta disseminates information and like an electronic amoeba spreads the information across networks, when a search is made on Gasta the search keyword is collected and collated for popularity, the most popular keywords are then added to the list of Gasta directories; this is all carried out in quantum nanoseconds (on the fly). Web marketers and SME’s then have the opportunity to create an IntantLink ™ to that directory. This is a new innovation in web directories and dynamic linking, and part of the new exciting gasta interface. When designing a new interface a range of disciplines must be used to create the best experience for the interface user, Gasta.com's new interface is designed to give the maximum use of directories but at the same time make easier to use the search tool. Having morphed from an old school directory like Yahoo, Gasta has now harnessed the minimalist elements of Google and tied these to the directory listing by popular keywords. This is very new and very creative design for the launch of Gasta web2.0 with the additional tools of predictive search assists, playlists, and transparent search history we give the user more power to search faster, and more precisely.

Gasta mobile world congress, Barcelona 2008

Gasta to attend mobile world congress in Barcelona on 11-14 Febuary 2008, InestNi have kindly invited gasta to attend the mobile world congress in Barcelona. The event is aimed at the wireless telecommunications sector but is also relevant for ICT/Digital Media/Web Development, and mobile marketing companies that supply services and technologies to the sector. This is a great idea by InvestNI as outlined in the recent strategy document converging technologies and industry collaborations are the way forward.

Belfastmediagroup:strategic alliance with gasta.com

Belfastmediagroup announces new online strategy with gasta.com, heres how the announcement was made on the new Belfastmediagroup websites front pages.


"Equally exciting is the move towards digital 'citizen' hubs across the city as we roll out our newly-acquired sites including, southbelfast.com and belfasteast.com. These hubs are being developed under our new strategic alliance with gasta.com, the successful search engine company based in Belfast which enjoys marketing deals with yahoo, askjeeves and google. These sites will carry the news and advertisements from the Belfast Media Group newspapers while tailoring their offering to the younger reader with 'what's on' lists of local pubs and restaurants, cinema listings and photo-ordering facilities."

Gasta online sales 50% rise

Gasta online sales of advertising rose in the last quarter despite the doom and gloom initiated by the credit crunch, according to the BBC overall online sales rose by 50% . This is good news for the technology sector and the online advertising community, Gasta will continue to offer the most cost effective internet campiagns to SME's.

UK online sales rose by more than 50% in the three months to Christmas, according to an industry survey.

Internet sales between 1 October and 31 December hit £15.2bn, up from £9.61bn a year earlier, with electronics and clothing doing well, Capgemini said.

Firms with both a High Street and online presence, such as John Lewis, did best, the survey said.

For every pound spent on goods in 2007, 15 pence was spent online, pushing annual electronic sales to £30.2bn.

In 2006, for every pound spent on retail goods, the internet spend had been 10 pence.

Discounting

"There can be no doubt [that] online is growing its share at the expense of bricks and mortar retailers and we believe this trend will continue," said Anthoula Madden, vice president at Capgemini's consumer products and retail division.

Online shopping peaked during the first week in December, with sales rising 9% year-on-year.

However, in previous years the busiest period had been earlier, signalling that consumers were delaying spending, to take advantage of discounting before Christmas.

Retailers have painted a mixed picture of results covering the crucial Christmas period, but several firms have highlighted the strength of their online sales.

In its latest trading update, music shop HMV said its bookstore chain Waterstones saw internet sales double in the five weeks to 5 January.

Argos, which is owned by Home Retail Group, said internet orders increased by a third in the 18 weeks to 5 January, representing nearly a quarter of all sales at its Argos stores.

The firm said its online reservation system for collection in store proved particularly popular.

Tesco said its online businesses had a "very successful" Christmas, in the six weeks to 5 January, with strong demand for MP3 players, digital cameras and laptops sending total sales 24% higher.

Even Marks & Spencer, though seeing its worst Christmas sales for more than two years, saw internet sales surge 78% in the last three months of 2007, year-on-year.

Gasta & Mobile web support tools.

If you have seen our previous posts about the potential of a Gasta Phone then read on and see its not so pie in the sky!

Gasta& Mobile web support tools.

Yahoo chief Jerry Yang has revealed the firms future ambitions for an open and mobile web.

Central to the company's aims is allowing third party software developers to create small applications which can run in Yahoo portals.

The first Yahoo platform to allow these widgets, as they are known, will be Go 3.0, developed for mobile phones.

The search firm showed off applications that allow people to check MySpace, eBay and MTV on the go.

"Bringing a rich web experience to mobile devices is not an easy task," said Mr Yang.

"There are literally billions of mobile users, thousands of different devices and hundreds of different carriers.

"The challenge is to create a simple starting point for all of them."

Mobile browser

Yahoo Go is a suite of downloadable tools that allow people to carry out every day internet tasks on a mobile phone.

Software allows people to search the net, send emails, upload photos, download maps and receive news updates.

In previous versions, users have been limited to browsing and using Yahoo content.

The latest edition will do away with that and allow third party developers to create widgets that will suck content from other areas of the net.

"We're opening up all of Yahoo Go to the world, meaning every publisher and developer small or large will be able to develop mobile," said Marco Boerries of the firm.

"Consumers will be able to find those, discover those and subscribe to those very easily."

The model is very similar to that used by other sites such as Facebook which also allows software developers to create widgets for the social networking site.

Go 3.0 will initially be available to download on to 30 devices, although it can be run on other phones through a mobile browser.

The firm said it was working with mobile phone manufacturers such as Motorola and LG to preload the suite of tools.

Smart search

Mr Yang also showed off a prototype smart inbox for Yahoo mail.

Yahoo mail is a web based email and messaging program that has more than 250 million users worldwide.

"This is not a launch - it is more of a concept demonstration," he said.

The prototype allowed users to import contacts from social networking sites such as MySpace.

The inbox would automatically prioritise messages from people that the inbox owner regularly communicated with across all of the networks.

Other tools allowed a user to drag a message on to a map tool to see quickly the location of places linked in the body of the message.

Mr Yang showed off an example of a message that contained a link to a restaurant.

Dragging the message on to the map brought up its location, reviews, photographs and also whether the restaurant was compatible with a person's stored dietary preferences.

Coming soon

Other tools imported labels, known as tags, from the popular photo-sharing site Flickr and displayed them on a map.

The size of the font indicated the number of times a particular landmark had been photographed and tagged, and therefore its popularity.

Other tools would cross reference a person's preferences with the food on offer at the restaurant and if not compatible would suggest other eateries in the area.

"It's taking advantage of the social networks, it's taking advantage of connections, it's taking advantage of large blocks of structured data, it's taking advantage of a lot of tags that have been submitted by our users to offer a fairly seamless experience," said Mr Yang.

"These are the things I think we can be doing more of."

Yahoo co-founder David Filo added: "The good news is that we're not that far away from market. In the coming months you'll be hearing a lot more about Yahoo open platforms."

The technologies were showed off at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.