What do AOL, Inc., Google. Inc., IAC Search & Media, Inc., Gannett Company, Inc. and Target Corporation have in common? They were all named today in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by I/P Engine, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for unlawfully using systems that incorporate features claimed in two patents owned by I/P Engine, Inc.

I/P Engine’s patents are directed to relevance filtering technology used in the search engine industry in producing better search results. It is also the dominant technology used in search advertising to position high quality advertisements.

In standing his ground, Andrew K. Lang, Chief Executive Officer of I/P Engine and co-inventor of the patents, argued:

“These patents, which we own, apply to relevance filtering techniques that are fundamental to the technology employed by the defendants in their highly profitable search business.  The defendants have infringed on our patents.  We are committed to upholding our rights with respect to these patents.  We have the resources and focus to assert our intellectual property.”

The patents were actually part of a portfolio of 8 patents that I/P Engine purchased from Lycos, Inc. which they bought as well from WiseWire Corporation. The latter is an entitiy founded by Lang together with Donald Kosak. As part of the acquisition, Lang and Kosak both joined Lycos. They are now shareholders and members of I/P Engine’s executive team.

In the meantime, the battle for search supremacy continues.

AOL, Google, IAC, Gannett Sued for Infringement of Search Patents is a post from: The Inquisitr

Fresh from forcing an unpaid week long holiday on all non-union staff, Gannett has announced that the Tuscon Citizen is on the market and will close if no buyer is found by March 21st.

The Tucson Citizen is a daily newspaper servicing Tucson, Arizona and is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Arizona, having been founded (as the Arizona Citizen) in 1870.

President of Gannett U.S. Community Publishing Robert Dickey said in a statement to staff that:

“The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976, and we deeply regret having to take this step. But dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy — particularly in this region — mean it is no longer viable for our partnership with Lee Enterprises Incorporated to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson.”

The Citizen operates under a joint operating agreement with the Lee Enterprises owned Arizona Daily Star that includes print production, distribution, sales and other non-editorial functions.

The paper has a daily circulation of 17,000 copies.

Tucson Citizen to Cease Publication if No Buyer Found is a post from: The Inquisitr

The job satisfaction site compiled its user-submitted rankings and reviews from the past year and found Gannett to have an overall rating of 2.6 (out of a possible 5 points). CEO Craig Dubow’s approval rating? A whopping 19 percent. He’s even beating President Bush’s historically low approval score with that number.

Gannett appears to be the only media ownership group that made Glassdoor’s bottom 50 list.

Clicking over to the reviews page for the company provides some interesting user-submitted headlines. To be fair, some of them are neutral or even slightly positive. Some of the ones that stood out the most, however, included:

• “I am sorry for those that are still there” –Executive Assistant in McLean, VA (US)

• “The horribly mismanaged side of the media industry.” –Web Developer in Bridgeport, CT (US)

• “Working for Gannett feels like you’re on the lower class levels of the Titanic.” –Master Control Operator

• “Gannett will erode your soul.” –Marketing in Indianapolis, IN (US)

Gannett, as you may recall, has seen more than its share of layoffs and profit challenges this past year as the company struggles to find its way in the modern media world. CEO Craig Dubow recently cut his next year’s salary from $7,500,000 to $7,300,000 to help. We sarcastically commended his oh-so-generous gesture here, in case you missed it.

You can check out Glassdoor’s full list of the 50 worst companies — which also includes AT&T/AT&T Mobility, Blockbuster, Real, and eBay — here. The site’s top 50 list, which includes Netflix, Adobe, Google, and Best Buy, is here.

Gannett Ranked As One of America’s Worst Places to Work is a post from: The Inquisitr

The cutbacks reached across multiple departments and locations but hit CareerBuilder’s small business unit the hardest, the Tribune reports. CareerBuilder has a staff of about 2,000, suggesting somewhere in the ballpark of 15 percent got the ax.

The changes aren’t necessarily a surprise when you consider the companies behind the site: CareerBuilder is 50 percent owned by Gannett — which has dealt with enough cutbacks within its own ranks to inspire a dedicated Gannett layoffs Web site — and 30 percent owned by Tribune, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. (McClatchy and Microsoft also own small shares of the company.)

The employees losing their jobs were reportedly given the notice at the end of last week.

Unfortunate Irony: CareerBuilder Lays Off 300 Employees is a post from: The Inquisitr

The site, operated by an Ohio law firm looking to “protect” the “layoff rights” of Gannett workers, was just registered last Tuesday, December 2. It’s already filled with advice for those fearing the ax may fall.

“Laid off employees have numerous rights under state and federal law. Signing a release, separation agreement, severance agreement or similar document may waive these rights and bar you from enforcing your legal rights, so it is important to understand the rights you may be waiving,” the site says.

Of course, it then goes on to offer free consultation and the option to enlist full legal services.

Interesting phenomenon, especially being that the site has managed to grab the attention of Gannett employees within its first week. Wonder if the firm put out a targeted press release?

This also made me curious if the specific [company]layoffs.com site idea had been around for a while, and I just hadn’t heard of it until now. Could be. For what it’s worth, though, as of the time of this posting, tribunelayoffs.com isn’t registered yet. Neither is newsdaylayoffs.com. Think we’ll see any takers?

Gannett Layoffs Inspire Their Own Web Site is a post from: The Inquisitr

The company bought Pearls Review, Paid Content reports, a certification and continuing eduation site for nurses. The same report from which that revelation was plucked also contained previously unreported facts about Gannett’s digital revenues. While its broadcast and print incomes have been falling at the speed of light, it turns out Gannett’s digital dollars are up — and by a good amount, too. Revenue from the company’s online properties, Paid Content discovered, more than quadrupled in the third quarter of 2008 — jumping from $17.2 million to $77.6 million. When it comes to the year, the total has nearly doubled from ’07, moving from $46.6 million to $111.5 million so far.

Well, that must be a relief for the scores of workers losing their jobs. At least they can go into the unemployment line knowing that their company is actually making money — just not money that it wants to spend on, you know, providing them employment. Or substantial severence.

Attention Gannett Employees: Your Company Is Now Making Money. But You’re Still Being Laid Off. is a post from: The Inquisitr

Chief Executive Craig Dubow made the heroic announcement in an internal memo picked up by former Gannett veteran Jim Hopkins’ blog this week. “All Gannett employees are making deep sacrifices for their company,” Dubow writes. “I have great empathy for those employees and their families who have lost their jobs.”

Other execs are already heaping on the praise, Hopkins reports. “We commend Craig for his leadership in taking this step,” writes Gannett Presiding Director Karen Hastie Williams.

The memo emphasizes that Dubow’s rate cut is a whopping 17 percent. It is — if you factor in only his base salary of $1.2 million a year. But once you add in bonuses, stock awards and options, and deferred compensation interest earnings, he’s pulling in a cool $7.5 mil, Reuters notes. All added together, the now 3 percent drop seems slightly less significant. Though, to be fair, when you’re used to making $7,500,000, dropping down to $7,300,000 could be a big adjustment.

Gannett’s most recent cutbacks follow the elimination of about a thousand jobs back in August. The company saw an 18 percent drop in advertising revenue this past quarter compared to the same time last year. Its shares have also fallen more than 75 percent in the past year. Executives have indicated more layoffs could be on the way soon.

But hey, at least the people at the top are doing their part, too — right?

Opinion: Gannett CEO’s Pay Cut Seems Overhyped is a post from: The Inquisitr

Gannett’s newspaper division has announced a new round of layoffs. The company will reduce staff numbers by 10% during the first week of December, according to E&P. As we reported October 24, Gannett, which publishes USA Today and a range of titles domestically and overseas saw newspaper advertising revenue drop 17.6% in the quarter ending September 08.

Time is to cut 6% of its workforce, or around 600 people in a restructure to be formally announced Tuesday, according to the NY Times (registration required). The job cuts would be implemented over the following two weeks. The report notes that Time doesn’t plan to shut any magazines, but some titles will be “severely cut back.”

Local television stations appear to be doing it tougher than first thought, according to Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield quoted at Silicon Alley Insider. The crisis in the car industry (in part due to the broader economic crisis) is driving a massive drop in car advertising, with auto related advertising dropping 50% over the last 12 months. Car advertising accounts for 25% of all local TV advertising. Worse may be ahead, with a growing rate of car yard closures, and the possible merger of Chrysler and GM delivering even less advertising then today.

Media Briefs: Gannett to cut 10%, Time 600, TV stations hit by car industry is a post from: The Inquisitr

Now it’s official: the death spiral of newspapers is accelerating, with the largest newspaper publisher in the United States reporting an increased decline in advertising revenue.

Gannett, which publishes the USA Today and a range of titles domestically and overseas saw newspaper advertising revenue drop 17.6% in the quarter, inline with declines of 16% at the NY Times company and 19.9% at McClatchy Co. All three results are deeper than the 14% decline reported industry wide for the first half of 2008.

Like its competitors, classified advertising is taking the biggest hit, declining 28.5% for Gannett vs declines in retail ad revenue at 10.1% and national down 7.8%. Real estate classifieds dropped 33.4%, help-wanted was down 36.5%; and automotive slipped 18.7%.

Unlike some of the others who have reported steady or small increases in circulation revenue of the back of increased prices, circulation revenue fell 3.3%.

E&P has more.

More bad news for newspapers: advertising at Gannett down 17.6% is a post from: The Inquisitr

NBC is rolling out a “link out” policy with its owned affiliate stations starting today, The New York Times reports. Starting with Chicago station WMAQ, the network will attempt to recreate its local Web sites as “city guides,” with ample links to third-party sites. A beta version, The Times says, featured links to local papers as well as USA Today and TMZ — and, perhaps most notably, there’s no difference in branding between the internally created and externally created content. As an executive explained to The Times:

“If we can provide them great content, that’s wonderful. If it comes from somebody else, that’s fine, too.”

Spin Zone

While the stations are working hard to spin the shifted focus as a fresh change that’ll “provide a destination” for its audience, we here in the modern Web community know the concept is far from new; it’s just thus far been resisted (or ignored) by traditional media. There’s another side of the equation not being touted, too: cost-cutting. Local television stations are scaling back like you wouldn’t believe. Smaller staffs are doing more than ever, and typically, these added online duties are being done by the same people already performing the equivalent of two jobs for the on-air product.

A Matter of Math

Now, to be fair, in NBC’s case, the network says it’s hired about 50 people to help power the expanded online operation. But what it doesn’t say is how many others it laid off in the time leading up to then. At Gannett, for another example, the nauseatingly overpromoted “Information Center” notion attempts to give viewers the impression that TV stations are a central source of information flow in and out, and that the news teams are everywhere, bringing you the latest information on whatever medium you need.

The impression you don’t see is that within the same company, producers — who are responsible for shaping a newscast, writing its content, and conceptualizing all of its graphics and visual elements, among other things — are also about to start having to edit video for their shows as well. (That’s something that one or two dedicated and trained video editors used to do.) Many of them are also now finding themselves overseeing two newscasts rather than one, as positions are being eliminated. Oh yeah, and those are the same people bringing you those “24/7 information updates” online at the same time, too. And that’s just one example.

The Final Word

The efforts to evolve, even if overdue, are a positive step. The underlying problem, however, remains constant. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The broadcast news industry cannot grow and expand into new media while concurrently cutting back its staff and resources in record numbers. The math just doesn’t add up.

“Traditional Media 2.0″ Still Doesn’t Add Up is a post from: The Inquisitr

Up and Down

Gannett paid $135 million for the extra stake — a figure somewhat surprising to see that it even has in its coffers. The company just announced the cut of a full 1,000 jobs at its U.S. newspapers a few weeks ago (Gannett-owned USA Today won’t be affected). Gannett’s overall revenues were down more than 12 percent in July, and it’s a trend we’ve been seeing month after month. Though no official announcement has been made, I can also tell you that the company has been slowly cutting staff at its TV stations over the past several months as well, with two entire departments being eliminated at all of its local stations and other individual employees being laid off bit by bit at the properties.

Analyzing the Change

The Inquisitr’s Duncan Riley has written much about the inevitable eventual fall of broadcast television, and Gannett’s story sure seems to support his theory. The ownership group has recently thrown a lot money into online investments — this one, plus recent transactions with companies such as ShopLocal, Cozi, and Mogulus — and has concurrently slashed its traditional media spending. Combined with the ongoing revenue drops, it certainly gives the impression that Gannett is trying to move its assets away from the suffering traditional forms of media and into the areas that are actually growing.

Another trend you’ll notice is Gannett stations heavily promoting a new concept branded as the “Information Center,” which is basically just the idea of their local Web site combined with the broadcast news. It’s really the same stuff with a new name and new promotional push. Ironically enough, most of the stations are operating with far fewer people, so while the Web sites have a slightly updated look, their resources are not as robust as one might be led to believe. In actuality, most modern mainstream journalists just do double duty, splitting their time between broadcast and online work. Still, the notion highlights the industry’s attempt to at least outwardly rebrand itself away from its long-standing primary interest.

The major networks are showing the same trends, too: There’s news this week that NBC will offer some of its fall series premieres on the Web before they ever air on TV, indicating a sharp change in the “broadcast first” priority of the past — and with some of the networks’ biggest assets, too. The Internet is slowly becoming the top priority all around, as broadcast fades further back.

Survival of the Smartest

Television ads simply aren’t selling like they used to. Right now, we’re in the midst of a massively high-profile election season — the time when ad revenue should be skyrocketing. Gannett, however, lost just over 5 percent in TV ad income in July, even with the political boost. Things just aren’t adding up.

Ultimately, Gannett’s reallocation of its cash may demonstrate the traditional media company’s best hope for survival — but in general, broadcast stations’ reluctance to invest in people is what continues to hold them back. It’s great to put money into growing Web properties, but you also have to devote people to building them. Having one person do three jobs simply doesn’t result in the same quality of work as having dedicated employees with expertise in each area, and viewers are smart enough to see the difference. If these companies are to succeed in transitioning into the world of new media, their standard bare bones and spreading-out-thin approaches and will have to be reconsidered.

The end of broadcast television, as Duncan predicts, may be in the cards. Based on companies’ resource allocation patterns, as illustrated with this week’s news from Gannett and NBC, one wonders if the industry is knowingly preparing for the same evolution — and whether that evolution will involve TV properties shutting their doors sooner than we expect.

Could Television’s Fall Be Closer Than We Thought? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Lesjeudis describes itself as one of the most visited job sites in France, featuring six separate sub-sites focused on different career fields. The company will keep its name and CEO as it goes under CareerBuilder’s control.

The two companies hope the merger will give Lesjeudis more power in the French market. It’s the latest of a string of international acquisitions by CareerBuilder, following purchases in Sweden (Jobbguiden.se), The Netherlands (JobbingMall.nl), and Greece (Kariera.gr).

CareerBuilder Buys French Job Site is a post from: The Inquisitr

Gannett competitor Tribune had owned 42 percent of the company and McClatchy 15 percent until this transaction. Gannett says it will pair ShopLocal with its rich media PointRoll system to develop an all-purpose multimedia advertising solution.

It’d be a solution Gannett desperately needs: Sliding shares and dropping revenues have become the norm for the company as of late, with many of its newspapers and television stations struggling. Gannett had to write down its assets by around $3 billion last month because of the decreasing value of its various operations.

Gannett Fully Acquires Ad Network is a post from: The Inquisitr

The media ownership group has announced a “strategic investment” partnership with Cozi, a free service for intrafamily communication. Cozi gives families options to manage schedules, share information, and stay in communication via its web portal.

Gannett will now hold a minority stake in the company as well as a seat on the board of directors and will begin promoting the services through its television stations, newspapers, and web sites. It is also expected to add new Cozi features that will utilize its various forms of local city-based content.

The news comes the same week as word that Gannett’s shares have plummeted to their lowest level since 1994 with a 4.5 percent drop at the market’s close yesterday. Gannett’s publishing ad revenue dropped 14 percent in May, and its television stations saw an average loss of six percent the same month.

Gannett Snuggles Up with Cozi as Shares Slide is a post from: The Inquisitr