Watson ... bring
the Ad Catalyst.

Ad Tools and Technology:

• EyeWonder has upgraded AdWonder to enable the creation of widgets, flash in flash authoring and advanced-reminder settings.
• Industry watchers believe Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are about to announce the relaunch of the WiMax development initiative, this time with funding by Intel.
• Gaming community Aeria Games has partnered with MochiAds. The latter will help proliferate over 1,000 casual online games, all ad-supported.
• Vizu has unveiled the Ad Catalyst, which measures viewer perceptions behind online ad clicks.
• Voce has tapped Radian6 to help monitor its social media presence.

Cross Media:

• NASCAR and its sponsors are increasingly putting campaigns online as they realize typical race fans are also tech savvy.
• ESPN is revamping its online site, which will feature interactive content and de-emphasize print subscriptions.
• Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is paying $45 million for media and branded properties owned by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

Legal:

• Ohio search company Paid Search Engine Tools is suing Microsoft and Google, alleging the companies used technology it developed for optimizing and adjusting keyword bids and infringed on their copyright.

Microsoft:

• Microsoft consolidated some of its online services under newly promoted Bill Veghte, who will now handle sales and marketing of Windows and online ventures.
• The company announced that a handful of expensive graphic design software products will be available for free to college students for educational purposes.

Overseas:

• Google has lay a foundation in Japan by signing deals to put its search tools on devices supported by two of the country's biggest mobile carriers.
• The length of time search engines can retain user data could be cut by European regulators.
• Motorola is paying an undisclosed amount to acquire Asian online music provider Soundbuzz.

Yahoo:

• Yahoo is prepping the launch of Buzz, a Digg-style social news site that primarily draws from Yahoo News and other Yahoo sites.
• The portal giant is also re-launching a new and improved Yahoo Video, this time allowing user submissions as well as exclusive professional content.
• Yahoo is talking to AOL about merger possibilities as an alternative to Microsoft.