Month: September 2005

“I don’t have the ability to put $50 million into a marketing campaign. So, I’m bringing back the dog.”

Lycos CEO Alfred Tolle, on boosting awareness of his company with a mascot no one remembers, MarketWatch, 28 September 2005

“We’re announcing tonight that in terms of unduplicated pages our index is now three times larger than any other search engine.”

Google CEO Eric Schmidt, deigning to speak to News.com two months into a ten-month boycott, News.com, 26 September 2005

“Google is a company that hires software talent…. We both believe in hiring smart people, but the breadth of what they’re working on is not nearly as broad as what we do.”

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, on his company’s strategic lack of focus, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 24 September 2005

“I have no problem with him saying not-nice things about me in the past. I might have said some things about him. I forgot.”

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, displaying selective amnesia after buying ex-employee Tom Siebel’s company, San Francisco Chronicle, 22 September 2005

“Jeeves will disappear, and we will probably be called Ask or Ask.com.”

IAC/InterActiveCorp CEO Barry Diller, removing the butler icon as if he were a vegetarian fishing a caterpillar out of his salad, Newsday, 22 September 2005