Maktoob may not be a site with which many American search experts are familiar, and similarly, Yahoo's name probably isn't something Arabic-speaking individuals are used to seeing on a daily basis.  But an introduction of sorts has occurred, as Yahoo Search is now powering Maktoob, which is the largest online Arabic-language community.

Yahoo announced its interest in acquiring Maktoob in August of last year, and at the time, described the move as its biggest geographic expansion in quite a while.  So this development, which more or less sees the matter through, is a big deal.  Thanks to it, around 17 million people will lay eyes on the Yahoo logo on a regular basis.

What's more, it seems that Yahoo's planning to take additional steps in the Arabic-language arena.

Kaushal Kurapati, Head of Search for Emerging Markets at Yahoo, explained on the Yahoo Search Blog, "This is just the beginning of our long-term commitment to deliver relevant Arabic-language content and services to the region.  Stay tuned for more news about our efforts in these emerging markets."

It should be interesting to see how things proceed.  Reactions to the initial announcement about Yahoo acquiring Maktoob were positive, with an official blog post receiving roughly 20 comments.

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Thu Jan 28, 2010 09:30 am

We'll let you decide whether, given the recent loss of life in Haiti and Chile, Google's timing is a little off here.  But for better or for worse, the search giant picked today to promote Google Apps in a blog post titled "Disaster Recovery by Google."

A few points in Google's defense: it created a Person Finder tool in response to the earthquake in Haiti, which it pulled out again following the earthquake in Chile.  Also, the company used its homepage and official blogs to solicit aid donations and spread awareness both times around.

So on to the new development.  In a lengthy post on the Official Google Enterprise Blog, Rajen Sheth, a senior product manager over Google Apps, asserted that the service can save businesses from losing any information in the event their hardware is damaged or destroyed.  Physical backups will only help businesses restore things up to the latest backup point.

Sheth then noted that storing information with Google Apps can be cheaper than relying on physical solutions and storage area networks, too.

He at last concluded, "No one likes preparing for worst-case scenarios.  When you use Google Apps, you have one less critical thing to worry about."

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Thu Mar 04, 2010 14:45 pm

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Great SAP Report: Five Key Areas Of Risk and How To Manage Them

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This Free SAP Report lists the five areas of risk that every manager must be aware of. More importantly, it describes how to views these areas comprehensively in order to reveal opportunities that may otherwise be missed when risk is only mitigated against and not fully studied. The white paper goes on to expla

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   Wed Mar 03, 2010 09:10 am

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   Want Web Marketing Success? Experiment!
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   Back from a week off with my family because the kids had off for winter break. While I was away, Internet Evolution posted my latest column, which I hope that you all will check out. Often, I hear people telling me how difficult it is for them to keep up with Internet marketing because they feel overwhelmed by all the changes going on. They don't know where to start. If that's you, you need to check out my latest column, "Want Web Marketing Success? Experiment!"

   
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   Tue Feb 23, 2010 13:55 pm

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