The Web Host Industy Review (or The WHIR) today posted an exclusive interview with Aplus.net’s new CEO, Phillip Spencer.

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Several news sites reported today that the long-in-the-making search advertising partnership between Yahoo and Google — which we’ve been following with interest here at the Aplus.net Blog because of the implications it has for the entire world of online commerce — was changed dramatically when the companies agreed to “scale back” the scope of the merger in order to improve their chances of federal approval.

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Google has just announced exciting improvements in store for one of its signature offerings, Google AdSense, an ad revenue service that runs ads specially suited to a website’s target audience.

AdSense ads (which include text, image, and video) generate revenue on standard “per-click” or “per-impression” basis. But they also usually provide higher-than-normal revenue because they use Google’s trademark search engine technology to provide ads customized around specific data such as website content and geographical area. The end result is ads that are much more smoothly integrated into your site than traditional banner ads — meaning that website users will be less bothered by them and more inclined to click on them. Of course, keeping all your site’s content relevant to your visitors often amounts to increased traffic, in addition to greater ad revenue. In short, AdSense has proven to be an effective, and relatively easy, method of monetizing your website.

So, it’s exciting news that Google is now working on a plan to integrate AdSense into its trademark Web Analytics services. “By integrating your AdSense account with a new or existing Analytics account,” writes the company on its AdSense Blog page, “you’ll have access to in-depth reports about user activity on your site. In addition to … metrics already available in Analytics such as unique visitors and visitor language, you’ll now have access to granular reports that break down AdSense performance both by page and by referring site. Armed with this new data about user behavior, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions on how to improve the user experience on your site and optimize your AdSense units to increase your revenue potential.”

We wouldn’t be sharing this news if it didn’t represent a pretty big leap forward in making your website effective and profitable. Although this development is still in an early stage — in other words, not yet widely available — it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on. Remember, Aplus.net is proud to offer Google AdSense as part of our arsenal of high-powered online marketing tools. And with Google actively working on making huge improvements like this, there’s no better time than right now to start taking advantage of this unique revenue-generating resource.

Thanks to Gregory Go’s About.com blog for the tip.

Writing for Reuters international news agency today, Franklin Paul reports that, despite numerous rebukes over the course of this past year, Microsoft is still interested in partnering with Yahoo in some capacity.

Just how far-fetched is this idea? Well, Yahoo’s shares jumped as much as 17 percent when investors heard of Microsoft’s comments — which could very well lead to a return to the negotiating table, especially in these rocky economic times, when standards may be a bit lower than usual. According to the story, Yahoo’s gains later amounted to “about 12 percent” after Microsoft released an official statement indicating that it was not specifically interested in buying Yahoo.

Still, 12 percent is a healthy bump, especially given Yahoo’s poor performance as of late. From the article:

Since talks broke off (in July), Yahoo shares have plunged to a 5-1/2-year low of $11.37, weighed by concerns over the outlook for Web display advertising, as major advertisers such as banks and automakers cut back spending.

“We offered 33 bucks not too long ago and it’s 11 and a half. So I don’t know what price might have got the job done,” [Microsoft CEO Steve] Ballmer said, responding to a question from Gartner analyst David Smith on whether Microsoft might take another stab at buying Yahoo now that its stock price is so low.

“It’s clear that Yahoo did not want to sell the company. It did not want to sell when we offered 33 … They probably think it’s worth at least 33 today.”

Yahoo declined comment. Its shares rose to as high as $13.73 on Thursday, before settling at around $13.16 in late trading on the Nasdaq.

“Our position hasn’t changed. Microsoft has no interest in acquiring Yahoo; there are no discussions between the companies,” a spokesman for Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft shares were up 3.6 percent at $23.48.

Despite the market’s excitement, any pursuit of new talks would be impeded by several issues, including Yahoo’s severely depressed stock price and the poor outlook for the advertising market due to the weak economy, analysts said.

“The larger issue is strategic fit,” Cross Research analyst Richard Williams said. “Microsoft clearly has spent money and changed its focus to ‘build’ rather than ‘buy.’

He added that for businesses driven by advertising, such as Microsoft and Yahoo’s Internet operations, it is the wrong time for a deal with markets reeling and consumer confidence plummeting.

“Going into a recession is about the worst time to buy an advertising firm,” Williams said. “It’s hard to know how hard they are going to be hit and how low they are going to go.”

Read the original story here.

A common question facing a lot of business owners and managers these days: BlackBerry or iPhone?

BlackBerry has been the dominant business phone for years, but the iPhone has made a solid push into their territory in recent months with strong efforts to make their notoriously consumer-oriented product more business-friendly.

As a response to this invasion of its territory, the makes of the BlackBerry are incorporating into their soon-to-be-released latest version some of the features that makes the iPhone such a consumer favorite — in particular, the iPhone’s famous touch-screen feature, which the new BlackBerry seeks to not only copy but improve upon.

From the Associated Press:

Research in Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, is taking on Apple Inc. with a touch-screen phone that puts a new twist on the technology.

RIM is known for its e-mail-oriented phones with large keypads. With the new model being announced Wednesday, the Storm, RIM is for the first time giving up the physical keypad in favor of a large screen, just like the one on Apple’s iPhone.

But RIM has listened to users who find the iPhone’s glass screen awkward to type on because its virtual buttons provide no tactile feedback. The Storm’s whole screen is backed by springs, and when pressed, it gives under the finger.

The long-rumored Storm will be available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and from Vodafone Group PLC overseas before the holidays, the companies said. No price has been disclosed yet.

Read the full story by the AP’s Peter Svensson here.