EIC podcast: Search wars; Viacom vs. YouTube (and its users)

It was a busy week on the search front. Adobe kicked off the week by announcing Flash is more searchable now. It could be a boon for the Webtop. Or as Dan pointed out--it just makes a lot of sense. What's unclear is whether Flash will be search friendly everywhere--like on Microsoft's search. Microsoft has said that Silverlight is search friendly too.

Speaking of Microsoft, the software giant pulled the trigger on its long-rumored plan to acquire Powerset, the semantic search startup. Dan noted that the Powerset deal isn't a game changer, but could pay off down the line. We both agreed that Microsoft picks up some serious search brainpower.

Also on the search front there were the usual Microhoo song and dance. Everyone's talking, but nothing is really happening--unless you consider peeved shareholders as considerable movement.

And finally, there's the Viacom-Google lawsuit over YouTube. If you combined the worst aspects of a fishing expedition and a witch hunt what would you get? The Viacom suit. Viacom wanted Google IP in the name of copyright infringement, but only wound up getting the history of all YouTube users. The situation is fluid though as Caroline McCarthy reports and the YouTube user information may be stripped down a bit. Overall, it's a win for Google and a loss for YouTube users.