Today's news bullets:


- Microsoft launched the latest version of "Search AND Give" search program hat includes a new, easy-to-use design with enhanced features and more flexible donation capabilities.

Consumers can start donating one cent per search to more than 100,000 schools and 900,000 non-profit organizations worldwide every time they use the Live Search to find whatever interests them. People can also convert tickets they've earned playing games on Microsoft's Live Search Club

Here’s how it works:

Every time you use Microsoft Live Search to search the web, you earn a penny for your cause. Microsoft tracks your earnings and makes an annual collective donation to your selected organization. The more people who use Search and Give to give to that organization, the more money that organization gets every year. So, tell your friends and family and see it all add up.


- Ichan attacked Yahoo severance plan and accused Chief Executive Jerry Yang of going to "inordinate lengths" to sabotage Microsoft Corp.'s bid for the Internet giant and reiterated that "the only way to salvage Yahoo is to merge with Microsoft."


"In a letter to Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock, Mr. Icahn called on the Yahoo board to scrap an employee severance plan that drove up the potential cost of Microsoft's bid. He derided the severance program, which covers all Yahoo employees, as an "entrenchment device."

If Yahoo doesn't cancel the severance program, Mr. Icahn indicated he will follow through on his treat to replace Mr. Yang and the rest of the company's board at an Aug. 1 shareholder meeting."



- Google is building new facility at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., with a lease intended to last up to 90 years.


"Google's 42.2 acre lease at NASA Research Park at Ames will be part of a shared-use educational and research-and-development campus. Google has the option to build up to 1.2 million square feet of of offices and research and development facilities, and con
struction is slated to begin no later than 2013."

Google will pay NASA an initial rent of $3.66 million per year, and construction is expected to begin in 2013.


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- Google offers business Google Site Search, a re-branded version of Google Custom Search Business Edition.
"The new Site Search offers enhanced index coverage. It now indexes documents on public sites that otherwise wouldn't be indexed."

The new Site Search can be re-branded to match the index page. The Google logo can be completely removed. Google Site Search has been integrated with Google Analytics, so Web site owners may benefit from site usage metrics in addition to the Google search experience.

- WhitePages.com, a people search and background information site, will announce their pending acquisition of VoIP and widget startup Snapvine later today, according to TechCrunch. "The acquisition price is not being disclosed, but is rumored to be around $20"

"Algard says they want to make the fast growing WhitePages more relevant to users, and Snapvine can help them do that. Today the company is a phone and people directory that people use, ultimately, to connect to others that they’ve lost touch with."


- Numerous Employees departed Google to work to start new companies or join "pre-IPO" startups, according to Search Engine Land.

"The most recent case involves YouTube’s revenue chief, Shashi Seth. Seth left to take a position as chief revenue officer at Cooliris.
Om Malik quotes Seth complaining that Google had become too big for him: “I think part of being a Googler is that you like smaller environments, and I think Google got a little big for me." But Malik also speculates that Seth had a "thankless job" in trying to figure out how to maximize revenues at YouTube."