Paul Walker dominates Google PH 2013 searches

MANILA – The late American actor Paul Walker dominated this year’s online searches in the country, according to Google Philippines.

Walker ranked first in four categories, including top overall searches, in Google Philippines’ “zeitgeist” or collection of search queries for 2013.

The actor, who died in a car crash last November 30, also topped the search engine giant’s list of top news, newsmakers and people for the year.

Several fans, including Filipinos, paid tribute to the actor on various social media sites hours after finding out about his death.

Local personalities who figured prominently in Google Philippines’ zeitgeist this year include actress Neri Naig, who was involved in a sex scandal with singer Chito Miranda; EB Babe member Yosh, who was also part of a leaked sex video with comedian Wally Bayola; beauty queen Ariella Arida, who won third runner-up in the Miss Universe 2013 pageant; Megan Young, the Philippines’ first Miss World 2013 titlist; Freddie Aguilar, the 60-year-old singer who tied the knot with a 16-year-old girl; Krista Miller, who was allegedly in a relationship with actor Cesar Montano, who is married; and Alyssa Quijano, the girlfriend of singer Charice.

“Zeitgeist is a tool in discovering the pulse of the people through searches made on Google. With the growing percentage of population going online, Zeitgeist becomes reflective of the issues and topics we’re interested in. This year’s list speak a lot about our concern for national achievement and progress, while at the same time our curiosity in pop culture issues,” Gail Tan, Google Philippines country communications manager, said in a statement.

Here are some of Google Philippines’ top searches for the year:

Top overall

Paul Walker
Samsung Galaxy S4
Movies 2013
Onehitcf
Camera 360
PAL Express
Neri Naig
Miss Universe 2013
EB Babe Yosh
iPhone 5s

News

Paul Walker death
Miss Universe 2013
Pork barrel
FIBA Asia 2013
Election results 2013
SONA 2013
UAAP Season 76
Typhoon Yolanda
Wimbledon 2013
Nelson Mandela death

Newsmakers

Paul Walker
Cory Monteith
Ariella Arida
Pope Francis
Megan Young
Devina Dediva
Nancy Binay
Janet Napoles
Gilas Pilipinas
Nelson Mandela

People

Paul Walker
Neri Naig
EB Babe Yosh
Cory Monteith
Wally Bayola
Ariella Arida
Kevin Ware
Pope Francis
Chito Miranda
Megan Young

Local celebrities

Neri Naig
EB Babe Yosh
Wally Bayola
Ariella Arida
Chito Miranda
Megan Young
Freddie Aguilar girlfriend
Totoy Brown
Krista Miller
Alyssa Quijano

TV shows

The Voice of the Philippines
Got to Believe
Queen and I
Missing You
Juan dela Cruz
Maria Mercedes
Wowowillie
The Innocent Man
The Heirs
ANTM Cycle 20

Movies

Pacific Rim
Despicable Me 2
World War 2
Insidious 2
Warm Bodies
Beautiful Creatures
After Earth
Silver Linings Playbook
Pitch Perfect
The Croods

Music

Harlem Shake
Gentleman
Titanium
Lord Patawad
Magkabilang Mundo
Gwiyomi
Chinito
Heart Attack
Wrecking Ball
Daylight

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Yahoo pushes further into news with 'global anchor'

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo made a fresh move Monday to expand as a media group, naming a star "global anchor" to be the face of its digital news brand.

The California Internet giant hired longtime newscaster and talk show star Katie Couric, well-known to American television viewers, having hosted programs on three top broadcast networks.

"Couric is joining the company as Global Anchor, as part of Yahoo's ongoing commitment to re-imagine how news and information is delivered and consumed," a Yahoo statement said.

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer, hired last year to help revive the fortunes of the faded Internet pioneer, said Couric "will lead a growing team of correspondents at Yahoo News who will cover the world's most interesting stories and newsmakers."

"From pivotal coverage of natural disasters and historic elections to the Royal Wedding and the Olympic Games, groundbreaking interviews with heads of state and leading tastemakers, her experience is unmatched," Mayer said in a blog post.

Couric, 56, will continue to host her daytime television talk show "Katie" while being the "face" of Yahoo News and being part of features for the Internet pioneer's home page, according to Mayer.

Couric will begin with Yahoo News in early 2014 to help reshape coverage for the Internet giant, which hosts the biggest global news website and is gradually moving to control more of the content.

Couric told news website Capital New York the format for Yahoo's programming has not yet been defined.

"I don't think it is going to be a half-hour evening news broadcast or a two-hour morning show," she said.

"We are trying to be very open-minded. What I really am excited about in working with the team at Yahoo is that there are no rules right now, we are going to try things, we are going to see how they go, we are going to see what people are interested in, we can do everything from a town hall meeting to in-depth interviews to a breaking news story."

On Twitter, Couric tweeted: "Thrilled to join @YahooNews as Global Anchor! Great team there led by @MarissaMayer & an exciting future ahead!"

Couric joins a team of other respected journalists including Megan Liberman, David Pogue and Matt Bai, hired from the New York Times.

Yahoo last month named Pogue to head a grand expansion of consumer-focused technology news.

Liberman was hired in September to be editor in chief to "lead a major expansion of Yahoo News, bringing in new voices and defining features for the site."

Bai was hired this month to be a national political columnist.

The Couric recruitment comes as Yahoo continues a quest to redefine itself as an online venue for "premier digital content."

Couric joined the CBS "Evening News" in 2006 after 15 years presenting NBC's "Today" show. She left CBS in 2011 and since 2012 has had her own show with ABC, which has a news partnership with Yahoo.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Meet 2012's biggest business newsmakers

MANILA, Philippines - 2012 was the year that PLDT was supposed to buy GMA, and Ayala or SM was supposed to buy Ortigas. It was also the year San Miguel bought PAL.

Here are some of the people behind -- or in front of -- some of 2012's biggest deals and events.

KIM HENARES: BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE

BIR Commissioner Kim Henares sparred with Manny Pacquiao insisting he submit his foreign tax documents, and then Chief Justice Renato Corona - testifying, investigating and filing tax evasion complaints against him and his family.

By year end, she was the first trillion peso BIR commissioner, and raring to collect P30 billion of newly increased sin taxes in 2013.

GABBY LOPEZ: ABS-CBN CORP.

For the first 3 quarters, ABS-CBN Chairman Gabby Lopez kept his cool as PLDT tried to bring TV5 and GMA together. He said what mattered was not how many networks one owns but how good a network is at producing content, and made a movie that made P300 million to prove it.

By year end, the PLDT-GMA deal fell through, and Lopez who marked his 60th year by running the Paris marathon announced he was stepping down as CEO while staying as chairman.

ROBERTO ONGPIN: DEALMAKER

The Corona impeachment trial sidetracked the Senate's investigation on Roberto Ongpin's deals with DBP.     But by year-end, the Ombudsman ordered the filing of graft charges against him and 28 others, the firing of DBP officials linked to the deals, and the anti-money laundering council got a court order to freeze over 100 accounts owned by him and companies and persons linked to him.

LANCE GOKONGWEI: JG SUMMIT

Lance Gokongwei was in the midst of talks to be part of the controversial Kazuo Okada's Entertainment City project when Andrew Tan snagged a part of it. But by year end, he had a comprehensive partnership deal with the Japanese gambling magnate giving JG Summit a whole new business line and three of his stocks were in the top 10 index gainers of the year.
          
ORTIGAS FAMILY

The Ortigas clan has spent most of the last 90 years developing and selling one of Manila's biggest landbanks without the hoopla of other developers.

But they grabbed attention this year after not one but two of those other developers -- the Ayala and SM groups -- said they were in talks for a takeover or partnership, and one -- Ayala -- said they had a deal. Six months later, there's still no deal, which only means they may be in the headlines again in 2013.

JAIME AUGUSTO ZOBEL DE AYALA: AYALA GROUP

Starting with winning the government's first PPP project in December 2011, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and his brother Fernando spent 2012 making clear the country's oldest business group won't be left behind as rivals bid for chunks of the fast growing Philippine economy.

Aside from battling for Ortigas, they partnered with Manuel Pangilinan for railway projects, the Aboitiz group for Cebu's airport and made a bid for Philippine National Bank. Before the year was out, they also announced the next president of Bank of the Philippine Islands, a regional investment banker expected to be more acquisitive here and abroad.

LUCIO TAN: PHILIP MORRIS FORTUNE TOBACCO, PNB, PAL

Lucio Tan started the year by selling half of Philippine Airlines to San Miguel, putting Ramon Ang in charge of one of Tan's most challenging businesses. He ended it by trying to sell PNB to BPI, which would have taken care of another part of his conglomerate. The deal is in limbo after he himself reportedly scuttled it.

In the meantime, he started to put his empire under one company, LT Group, and one leader, his son Michael Tan, while fighting an eventual losing battle against higher taxes on the cigarette business at the heart of his empire.

RAMON ANG: SAN MIGUEL, PAL

Ramon Ang spent the past few years pushing San Miguel into power and infrastructure. In 2012, he made it take flight, buying half of PAL and taking over management.

In October, he said he was gunning for a $5 billion acquisition. It could be a regional airline not subject to U.S. and European restrictions on PAL.

MANUEL PANGILINAN: PLDT, METRO PACIFIC, PHILEX

2012 wasn't kind to Manuel Pangilinan. He gave up his latest bid to take over GMA Network. And a tailings spill forced him to shut down Philex Mining's main mine and fight a P1 billion fine.

And while he didn't lose his bid to connect NLEX and SLEX, he'll have to share the traffic with Ramon Ang's parallel project. But Smart, his cash cow, looked good as rival  Globe Telecom was hit for real or allegedly bad service.

source: abs-cbnnews.com