Microsoft finally sells Razorfish for $530 million

Publicis, a French advertising firm with clients as large as Coca-Cola, is the proud new owner of Razorfish.

We’ve been chronicling the plight of Razorfish for a few months now. To recap: Microsoft acquired Razorfish’s parent company in 2007 and has been looking to unload the interactive agency ever since. Razorfish, formally known as Avenue A, has offices all over the world including Center City Philadelphia.

According to the Times of London, Microsoft was in “an unholy rush” to get the deal done so it wouldn’t have to pay scheduled bonuses to Razorfish’s employees.

Details of the deal after the jump.
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Friday Tech Links: SEO with Duck Duck Go, 8-bit music and More

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

The blog from incubator DreamIt Ventures features some knowledge spilled at a lecture on search engine optimization by Gabriel Weinberg, the CEO of Duck Duck Go, the Valley Forge search engine we’ve covered.

After the jump, business leaders playing squash, video from the Philly Startup Leaders barbecue and six other tech stories, including our best read story of the week.

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If you call now, Microsoft will also throw in an ad agency

As we told you many a Friday Tech Link ago, Microsoft is looking to unload the Internet ad agency Razorfish.

The software giant is said to be courting five major ad firms with the help of banker Morgan Stanley.

To refresh your memory, Microsoft acquired the agency, which has offices in Center City, in 2007 when it purchased Razorfish’s then-parent company, aQuantive. Since, many suspected that Microsoft would eventually sell the Razorfish brand.

But, according to the Wall Street Journal and other sources, the lack of credit in the market and a potential conflict of interest for buyers are putting the prospects of a sale in serious doubt.
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Friday Tech Links: Glowing report on Ben Franklin Tech Partners called out plus more

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

The state budget deadline came and, like every other year of Gov. Ed Rendell’s tenure, it went by without a completed plan.

This year, though, the fight has something to do with the state collecting $3.5 billion less in taxes than it anticipated. So everyone’s feeling the pinch. Even, it seemed, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the state-funded, startup investment company that we reported could see a $10 million, 60 percent budget cut or more — and then others did too.

But the Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano thoughroghly researched the report, suggesting that the report BFTP pointed to in its defense was less than square — a report from the Pennsylvania Economy League that showed BFTP bringing in $3.50 for every $1 invested in it.

“That’s not real,” DiStefano wrote. “The authors [of the report] estimated, and extrapolated, and multipliered, using what the Economy League’s Rich Stein told me were “quasi-experimental” techniques.

According to his article, the state put $50.7 million into BFTP this year, a total Rendell wants to cut to $35 million the coming fiscal year. The original Senate Republican budget put it nearer to $20 million.

Little question remains whether BFTP has done good, but much debate, DiStefano clearly shows, can be had on if it’s done enough to avoid one of the largest state budget tightenings in recent memory.

After the jump, Michael Nutter is not on Twitter, a biomedical firm brings jobs to Philly and six other tech and innovation links you need in your life right now, including our most read story of the week.

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Friday Tech Links: Big Brother in Lancaster, girls still hate tech and More

Lancaster security cameras on the streets are monitored by civilians working for a nonprofit group. They pan, zoom and call police if they see a crime. Linda Johnson / For The L.A. Times

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

You’re probably being watched in Lancaster.

This city of 54,000 in the middle of a rural county of the same name just may be the most closely scrutinized place in the country, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times.

As many as 165 closed-circuit TV cameras that will soon bring constant live surveillance of very nearly every street, park and other public space. That would be more outdoor cameras than cities as large as Boston and San Francisco.

Two more things are unique about the camera network, as the L.A. Times story suggests: it was built and maintained by a private nonprofit group and few seem concerned about the privacy implications.

The group, which hires civilians to move and follow the cameras and dispatch police to suspiscious activity, hasn’t found much public outcry.

“Years ago, there’s no way we could do this,” said Lancaster’s police chief Keith Sadler told the Times. “It brings to mind Big Brother, George Orwell and ‘1984.’ It’s just funny how Americans have softened on these issues.”

There is some question as to the effectiveness of cameras, though. In what the Times report calls the largest U.S. study, US Berkeley researchers evaluated 71 cameras that San Francisco put in high-crime areas beginning in 2005. In December, they released a report that found “no evidence” of a reduction in violent crime, though it did note “substantial declines” in property crime near the cameras.

Hat Tip Philly Tech News.

After the jump, the continued spat over a state film tax credit, robot-loving high schoolers and eight more of the week’s tech stories you shouldn’t miss, including our best read story of the last seven days.

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Your guide to Philly at SXSWi

So let’s just say you just (hypothetically) graduated from college and moved into new digs in the city. Then, let’s assume that you don’t (hypothetically) have the money to take a five day vacation to Austin, Texas and immerse yourself in the biggest tech conference of the year. Sure, that may be the story told by most of Technically Philly’s (hypothetical) staff, but we’d bet that not every reader is leaving us on a jet plane headed for SXSWi.

No worries. Technically Philly is here to give you the low down on all things Philly at the music/movie/tech festival that is South by Southwest. The “i” component of the festival, meaning “interactive,” is four days of panels, talks, parties and even karaoke. Plop down in your favorite chair, and read along about those with ties to the metro area who will make noise in Austin. It will be like you’re there. Sorta.

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SEO copywriter: Musicians should turn to a variety of social networks for promotion

Sansone presents his case study at Ly Michael's in Chinatown.

For a plurality of users, MySpace is all but dead. But for musicians, the social networking site remains crucial for maintaining connections with fans and venue owners, according to a lecture by local SEO copywriter Ron Sansone.

Before a modest crowd of a dozen-and-a-half on hand to hear Sansone’s talk on social media and music, organized by the Philadelphia Standards Organization, he presented a case study observing new media marketing practices implemented for his own local band.

According to the speech by Sansone, whose day job is with the Philadelphia branch of global digital branding company Razorfish, MySpace can be a powerful central hub for promotion when flanked with a multitude of additional social networking sites.
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