as we look ahead and to position us for success in 2009, we’re continuing the work already underway to get fit as an organization: actively looking for ways to make process and structural changes to our business that will allow us to work more efficiently, with more scale. we’ve enlisted the help of Bain & Co. to work with the leadership team on identifying ways to leverage our strengths, and to improve and accelerate our performance.

You know it's Jerry, because there aren't any capital letters. Yang doesn't say "layoffs" or "cuts," but it's pretty clear what he means by "getting fit as an organization." The full memo:

yahoos,

it's time for another update.

as a company, we've made some great progress this year. while it hasn't been easy, especially in light of the challenges we’ve faced (not to mention the current downturn in the macro economic environment), we've accomplished a tremendous amount and we’re all working hard to continue executing on the company’s strategic plan.

as we look ahead and to position us for success in 2009, we’re continuing the work already underway to get fit as an organization: actively looking for ways to make process and structural changes to our business that will allow us to work more efficiently, with more scale. we’ve enlisted the help of Bain & Co. to work with the leadership team on identifying ways to leverage our strengths, and to improve and accelerate our performance.
we all know and experience parts of yahoo! where we can do better and be more agile in a competitive marketplace. this is consistent with what you told us in the YEES survey conducted in may – we need to find easier ways to work within yahoo!, and more importantly, create an even better experience for our customers and users.

each one of us will play an important role in this process. in the coming weeks, we’ll be soliciting your input and feedback. i want to know how we can improve the way we work with each other, and the way others work with yahoo!.

i know that yahoo! can benefit greatly from more discipline among all departments and functions, across the company. longer term, getting fit now will enable us to be more successful moving forward.

thanks,

jerry

Many of you know I've said in the past that 10 years was about the right amount of time for any CEO to stay at the helm of a company. Now that I've reached that milestone myself, I still believe this. It's time for eBay, and this community, to have a new leadership team, a new perspective and a new vision.

As we announced today, I will step down as eBay's President and CEO on March 31, 2008, and our current head of eBay Marketplaces, John Donahoe, will succeed me in my role. Rajiv Dutta, our current president of PayPal and former CFO for several years, will replace John as the president of eBay Marketplaces. You'll be hearing more from them and their teams in the coming weeks and months.

Looking back, I was given a remarkable opportunity when Pierre Omidyar, eBay's founder, asked me to join eBay in January 1998. Ten years later, I couldn't be more in awe of what we accomplished together. When I joined eBay, it was a small site, in some ways still very much an experiment. Most people didn't know, or didn't believe, that perfect strangers would trade with one another, and that they could almost always be counted on to do the right thing.

Over the course of a decade, you have helped revolutionize the way people use the Internet, buy and sell things, create and grow businesses, and connect with each other. In 2007 alone, our community of hundreds of millions of people around the world traded more than $60 billion in goods. Millions found the courage to tap their entrepreneurial spirit and start businesses. Millions more have pursued passions and made connections that will last a lifetime. And countless others found that perfect thing - an old high school yearbook, a favorite toy from their youth - that they couldn't get anywhere else.

I am truly astounded by what has been built here. And all the credit goes to you, our community. You took the chances to start businesses. You created markets for products where there were none before. You defined what it means to be a good citizen in this Internet-enabled world. And yes, we hit a few bumps along with way, but that's to be expected when you're building something that has never existed before. But even, and especially, during those times, I was always inspired by the passion you showed.

It's with great pride and a strong sense of accomplishment that I leave this post and hand it over to the capable leaders we have in John and Rajiv. I've known both of them for many years and have believed for a long time that they are the ideal people to steer eBay into the future.

eBay is in my blood and always will be, so I'm not stepping back completely; I will remain on eBay's Board of Directors. And of course, I'll keep buying and selling on the site.

I'm so very honored to have worked with you in building this incredible community. Thank you for letting me be a part of it for the last decade.

Meg

Oh, wait. That's Fran Norris Scoble, headmistress of Pasadena's Westridge School, not egoblogger Robert Scoble. My mistake!

Today, Webshots was sold to American Greetings for approximately $45 million. This was a tough decision but the right business decision. Selling Webshots allows us to focus our efforts against long term strategic goals, and concentrate on the passion-based categories we believe offer the most promise for CNET Networks.

We are pleased that Webshots can become an important ingredient to American Greetings' business, and we are committed to making this a successful transition over the next several months.

Hi Everybody,

The third quarter marks a turning point for us. After a year on the job, I am confident we are building a company that can succeed in 2008 and beyond. Today, during our Q3 Earnings Call, I will make several major announcements that underscore our progress.

Strategically, we are focused on providing people with brands that make a difference and that help marketers win. Financially, we evaluated our asset mix and are focused on those areas that best fit within our brand portfolio, represent the largest opportunity and where we can be leaders. Operationally, we have a winning team that knows what success is and is committed to achieving it.

Let me provide more detail for you on those announcements.

Sale of Webshots Today, Webshots was sold to American Greetings for approximately $45 million. This was a tough decision but the right business decision. Selling Webshots allows us to focus our efforts against long term strategic goals, and concentrate on the passion-based categories we believe offer the most promise for CNET Networks.

We are pleased that Webshots can become an important ingredient to American Greetings' business, and we are committed to making this a successful transition over the next several months.

New Head of the Combined Entertainment and Lifestyle Business Unit I am pleased to announce Stephen Colvin as EVP of our new Entertainment & Lifestyle business. A 20-year media veteran, Stephen joins us from Dennis Publishing, where he built Maxim, Blender, Stuff and The Week magazines. He has a track record as a dynamic leader and brand builder. Stephen will be based in our NYC office which allows us to expand our presence in a city that is the hub of the media world. Stephen will be spending a lot of time in San Francisco.

The merger of CHOW and Urban Baby into the Entertainment & Lifestyle business unit simplifies our business, and allows us to leverage infrastructure, tools and best practices across this larger group. Over the next few days and weeks there will be individual and team meetings within Entertainment and Lifestyle to discuss the transition process.

Stephen will be in San Francisco next week, and he is looking forward to meeting the team.

Partnership Marketing and Sales Jack Haire joined us several months ago to evaluate and evolve our sales structure and go-to-market strategy. As a result of his assessment, Jack will be taking on the newly formed role of Chief Client Officer. In his new position, Jack will oversee the Partnership Sales team, chair the revenue council and have responsibility and final decision making for sales best practices, infrastructure and policies.

This new sales construct provides the flexibility to tap our best people across the company and align them against our best opportunities for revenue growth. The team will include dedicated centralized resources as well as part time allocation of resources from each BU. More announcements regarding this new team structure will be made in the coming weeks.

Channel Moves into the CNET BU The joining of Channel and CNET brings together two category leaders. Together, they cover the spectrum of bringing information and services to manufacturers, distributors, retailers and consumers. The two businesses will benefit from a holistic view of tech consumption with the channel and to the consumer.

Steve Parrot will report to Joe Gillespie and continue to manage Channel as a stand alone business within the CNET BU.

Credit Facility Last week we announced that we secured a $250 million credit facility. A credit facility is a set of loans that allow us to borrow money in order to enhance our ability to grow. Together, with the proceeds from our sale of Webshots, we have the financial resources available to create value for our shareholders.

Q3 Earnings We reported that revenues for the third quarter were $99.5 million up 7% compared to the same period in 2006. Excluding all exited businesses, including Webshots, from both 2007 and 2006, total revenue increased 11% during the quarter. In addition, CNET networks' global Internet properties reached and average of 141 unique monthly users consuming over 91 million pages per day.

At the beginning of the year, I laid out three initiatives and key areas of focus as part of our long term growth strategy:

First, realize the potential and opportunity of existing brands. Second, identify new opportunities for growth. And third, continue to strive to do what we do better.

Today's announcements directly support our ability to achieve these initiatives and build a vibrant and valuable company that seizes the long term opportunity and creates value for users, employees, marketers and shareholders.

As we exit the third quarter, we have made real progress on our transformation to a new CNET Networks. A bold company that is entrepreneurial and aggressive. CNET Networks is not the site-of-the-day. CNET Networks is the media company of the future.

Best, NA

__________________________ Neil Ashe CNET Networks, Inc. 415-xxx-xxxx

"I think Silicon Valley is the most exciting place in the world right now," says Murdoch, DeWolfe's boss for another two years.

"Looking back, it looks like you got a pretty good deal," observes Battelle. "What did you see?" he asks Murdoch. "Was it like, 'I hope this one works out,' or did you think you'd be sitting on a red couch at Web 2.0 two years out?"

"We thought there was a real opportunity, and [asked ourselves], 'What do we have to pay to shut the doors?'" replies Murdoch. "We never imagined it would do this well."

Murdoch says that Fox Interactive Media, the unit of which MySpace is the biggest part, could cross $750 to $800 million in revenues next year. And there's a hint, in the back-and-forth, that the rumored earnout provision in DeWolfe and Anderson's contract might be tied to MySpace and the rest of FIM hitting a target of $1 billion in revenues.

DeWolfe and Murdoch make nice-nice comments about Google, which has a $900 million contract to provide search and ads on MySpace. Battelle keeps probing them. It's almost like he wants Murdoch to call Google a "frenemy," but, alas, the wizened, megarich News Corp. mogul settles for "threat and friend." (Google executive Megan Smith, recently locked in negotiations with MySpace rival Facebook, sat next to DeWolfe at the dinner before the interview.)

Confirming Valleywag's scoop that the MySpace platform would not be ready for today, DeWolfe says that the company is, as we reported, compiling a directory of third-party widgets currently used on the site's profiles.

Battelle asks Murdoch, "What do you think of Facebook?" A pause. "I think it's pretty cool," says Murdoch. "It's more of a utility.... In spite of the hype, we seem to be growing faster."

"Is that a reference to the September ComScore numbers?" asks Battelle. (ComScore, controversially, showed a drop in Facebook's traffic last month.) "Yes," says Murdoch. A pause. "I love that Rupert Murdoch is referencing ComScore Internet numbers. I don't know why, but I love it."

Is MySpace a portal? "We're more like a connectivity engine," says DeWolfe. Apparently that's better than being a "utility."

Battelle asks Murdoch about the acquisition of Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal. "Well, I haven't paid for it yet," says Murdoch, alluding to the deal's expected closure in December. "Are you going to kill the New York Times?" asks Battelle. "That'd be nice," says Murdoch. Murdoch then says CNBC, rival to News Corp's newly launched Fox Business Network as "half-dead" — and then retracts the observation, noting that CNBC's still making hundreds of millions of dollars. As for FBN's future, "I'll stick with it for at least a few years."

Murdoch talks acquisitions for a bit, grousing that everything's too expensive and he doesn't want to pay 30 times earnings. He sounds like an old man complaining about the menu prices in a restaurant. DeWolfe talks a bit about the acquisition of SDC, an ad-targeting startup, and Photobucket, whose purchase Valleywag reported exclusively.

Intrepid special correspondent Paul Boutin steps up to the microphone and asks Murdoch, "With all the deals you do, how do you know when the price is right?"

"I don't," says Murdoch. "I just hope." More will be said, but for that, Murdoch deserves the last word.

Update: The fine Black Rock City Fire Department — a volunteer organization, of course — has put the blaze out. You never saw so may hippies so conflicted.

A live TV report from last night is available at KRON 4. If you have any information, photos, or first-hand accounts, e-mail tips@valleywag.com. A reader sends the following IM conversation they had with an eBay employee in the building.

My friend was working late at eBay tonight when there was a large explosion within the building.

Here's the breaking news story:
Firefighters Respond to Explosions within eBay Building

And here's the IM thread of them telling me a few minutes ago.

friend-at-ebay: http://www.nbc11.com/news/10205869/detail.html

me: wft?
you there?

friend: Crazy shit! A bunch of us were there working late and all of a sudden BOOOOOOM!!!!
I ran outside looking for a plane crash.
But is from inside the building. Some are saying it was a transformer.
Windows were blown out.

me: top floor? basement? or somewhere in between?

friend: Bottom floor hallways were filled with smoke. I had to run through the buildings and yell for people to evacuate because....get this...
There were no fricking fire alarms to pull.

More after the jump.

me: no fire alarms?

friend: The bomb squad and hazmat are on site searching the buildings.

friend: Yeah. Crazy. Couldn't find one anywhere. And I looked high and low.

me: everybody OK afauk?

friend: Yeah...no injuries.
Just a lot of rattled nerves.

=== 45 minutes later ==

friend: Whoa. It was a bomb.
http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_305004735.html
Man, I never even considered that. I ran over there straight past the location of the bomb and was just thinking about making sure everyone was okay.

me: wonder if it was Halloween punk kids. office near anything residential?
friend: Dude...it was a huge explosion.
friend: Rattled all the buildings on campus.

• What will happen to YouTube
• What will happen to Google
• How VP Marissa Mayer will spin this weeks after putting Google Video on the Google.com homepage

Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion [NY Times]