Overture to court with T-online

Article

[lazerzubb]

[netimperative.com...]

[heini]

They have said from the beginning that T-Online was in breach of contract - I wonder if the last word is spoken on this matter.
As I said when T-Online announced the switch: Google is prbably the larger threat to T-Online than Yahoo...

[markus007]

"The agreement with Overture was scheduled to run until next year but T-Online decided to draw on the change-of-control clause that enables it to terminate the deals in the event of a buyout by a competitor."

Hardly breach of contract.

[heini]

>Hardly breach of contract.
That may be so, the court in Frankfurt obviously found this to be less clear. I don't know the details of the contract.
In any case this is a bad development for both sides, and frankly I don't understand the decision made by T-Online. They could easily have waited for the contract to expire, or at least make absolutely sure it's safe to pull out of the contract early.
Now they had to change partners two times, effectively going back to a partner they are in an legal argument with.
Overture on the other hand looks like a company that needs court decisions to hold their partners.

[SlyOldDog]

T-Online is awful anyway. I can't understand why anyone uses it. I think Heini is right. Google is the big threat, but that is for SERPS and content and doesn't really apply in the case of advertising. Who among the public cares who delivers the ads?

Interesting story though. I'm sure Google would also have taken it to court if the scenario was reversed.

[tschild]

T-Online is awful anyway. I can't understand why anyone uses it.

Old story. Users of largest German ISP staying with their provider's home page (until they know better).

[claus]

>> can't understand why anyone uses it

...think about email

/claus

[antizwerg]

Old story. Users of largest German ISP staying with their provider's home page (until they know better).

I once witnessed a t-online customer using the "back" button on her browser until she was back at their homepage again, because she didn't dare severing the internet connection before returning ... :-)

[heini]

T-Online still using Google as of today...

[Fiete]

T-Online still using Google as of today...

That's still true. Are there any news out there?

[Fiete]

Next step in the 'war of roses':

Overture demands a 250'000 EUR fine from T-Online because they are using google adwords.

See (only in German):
[chip.de...]

[Macguru]

I see T-Online is using Google for 'Internet ergebnisse' (Internet results) but is still using Fast for 'Service ergebnisse' (Service results). My German is very poor (can't even ask for a beer in German :(!) But 'Service ergebnisse' seems like T-Online internal search site search results.

Am I wrong?

Has it been like that since the beginning of this legal dispute?

Finally, how do I politely ask for a beer in German?

[Sinner_G]

"Ein Bier bitte." Lots of variations depending on what kind of beer and how much of it you want. :)

As for T-Online, the results in T-Online Ergebnisse are from the T-Online portal, those in Internet Ergebnisse look like Google. On that page, there are also sponsored links that come from Overture.

[Tor]

"Ein Bier bitte."

"Noch ein bier bitte" that`s my standard expression when I am in Germany. ;)

[Macguru]

>>On that page, there are also sponsored links that come from Overture.

I believed that T-Online adopted AdWord and dropped Overture. Is this a new developpement?

(Thanks for the Beer info guys, it's a matter of survival on travel. :) )

[Sinner_G]

Only just found the 'Service Ergebnisse'. It looks like a search only in the part of the T-Online portal which deals with services they offer.

Tor, try saying 'Eine Mass Bier bitte' (or just 'eine Mass bitte'). You won't have to ask for another very often :).

[Macguru]

Anyone noticed if the 'Service Ergebnisse' was still using Fast since T-Online dropped ATW for web results?

[Sinner_G]

I believed that T-Online adopted AdWord and dropped Overture.

That's VERY strange. On the right of the search resuts, there is a text stating that you can manage your own accounts with Adwords, with a link. But if you look at the URL for a sponsored link, you will see channel=overture.

[Macguru]

Yes, there is something going on... look at the URL after a web search...

...brisbane.t-online.de/fast-cgi/tsc?start=0&num=10&context=all&tpc=themen&mandant=toi&PortalLanguage=de&UserLanguage=de&device=html
&dia=hdr&ptl=&q=eine+Mass+bitte&lang=primary

Lieber T-Online User,

zur Zeit liegt eine technische Störung vor. Wir setzen alles daran, das Problem schnellstmöglich zu beheben. Bitte versuchen Sie Ihre Anfrage zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt erneut.

Für Ihr Verständnis dankt Ihnen

Ihr T-Online Team

At the bottom...

Enanced by Google... powered by Fast.

T-Online is abiding by the court injunction right now?

[heini]

Looks like they are working on the search, could be they change back to OV/ATW finally.
The sponsored listings you see are 100% Google adwords though. It's confusing as in the url they have the OV handle, but comparing OV and Google clearly shows, T-Online shows adwords targeted at german users.

As to the Fast logo on the Service Ergebnisse serps: This is internal search results, drawn from T-Onlines own channels. Fast ASA delivers the search technology. This is not to be confused with ATW/OV. Fast ASA is the ex-owner of ATW. Fast ASA is still in business and doing extremely well in the corporate search market, working with multinational corps and governmental organizations.

[Macguru]

They must be in a hurry then, doing this at this hour of day in Germany will do some damage.

Thanks for the clarication heini. I guess T-Online never dropped Fast for internal searches. Switching it must be more complicated than for Google's web search and AdWord packages.

I guess enough damage was made between Overture and T-Online at this time. Question is, will they switch back to Google as soon the Y! deal is effective or when the contract with Overture is due to expire? Since the case is in court, it might be later...

[Sinner_G]

I only get the error message when searching from the homepage, when I get to the Speed search tab. If I click another tab (e.g. Internet Ergebnisse) and then click on Speed, I see the same results as Internet, accompanied by a speed (page load) indicator.

As for the change, I guess they will change as soon as the Y! deal is effective IF AND ONLY IF their lawyers say it's ok.