Today, BoomTown motored down to the Sunnyvale HQ of Yahoo, this time with a tiny bit of trepidation. Ok, not that much, but some! Why? Because CEO Carol Bartz had invited me to be the first in a new speaker series for employees at the Internet giant, called "Yahoo from the 'Outside In,'" due to my intense--some might say obsessive--interest in the company.

Yahoo has hired Jeff Bronikowski, who until a year ago was SVP of global digital initiatives at Universal Music Group, as the new head of Yahoo Music, according to Billboard; he is replacing Michael Spiegelman, who is now the senior director of global entertainment and lifestyles products at Yahoo .

Gmail, Too, Seeks to Rival Facebook Google is taking a swipe at Facebook and Twitter with a new feature that makes it easier for users of Gmail to view media and status updates shared online by their friends.

A big elephant has been in the room ever since Google faced off with China's government over censorship and threatened to leave the country.

Debate over Vanity Fair cover kicks up over 18,000 responses at Yahoo site.

Google , which shook up the e-mail industry when it integrated chat with e-mail, is now trying to catch up to its rivals by letting Gmail users share status updates. The WSJ reports that Google will soon add a "new module that will allow Gmail users to view a stream of status updates from people they choose to connect with."

A 60-second commercial on Sunday night's Super Bowl was Google's first TV ad about its search engine. CEO Schmidt said, "Hell has indeed frozen over."

AOL has taken another step closer to selling off its ICQ instant messaging service, culling seven bids to four "serious" ones, said sources close to the situation. The price for the service is hovering just under $200 million, several sources said, with one bid 15 to 20 percent higher.

QuinStreet Corp., an Internet marketer that competes with Yahoo and Google, is the one beacon of hope in this week's crop of initial public offerings as the market contends with jitters spurred by concerns about the economy, and IPOs from companies with more than their fair share of debt.

Google got a second ad for free last night: A Vizio ad that promoted YouTube, along with a slew of other Web services. But the ad did a lousy job of promoting the company's Internet-connected TVs.

Market Keeps Ignoring Tech's Spreading Strength Investors turn a blind eye to techland's good fortunes. Netflix, watch your back.

No Sure Shots on IPO Horizon Investors hoping for a turnaround deal that will jump-start the IPO market will have to search hard this week.

NEW YORK -- Portfolio Manager David Peltier discusses two stocks that have pulled back recently, despite reporting good news.