During the holidays, a few search-related business dealings were going on. Google wants to buy video compression company On2. Their initial offering was 0.0001 shares of Google Class A common stock for every share of On2 stock. Shareholders were hesitant, so Google has returned to the bargaining table with an additional 15 cents in cash per share. As a result, shares of On2 were up 15 cents today. Meanwhile, on December 22, ReachLocal filed for an IPO .

While machine-generated translation is a worthwhile goal, it's not always perfect. Google is attempting to make up for the gap by adding chat to its Translator Toolkit . The chat works like IM in Gmail. You can type messages to your contacts and groups directly from Translator Toolkit regarding questions you may have about a translation issue. If you're not interested in using chat, you can turn it off in the Translator Toolkit settings.

Google announced today that it has released chat in the Google Translator Toolkit . "Collaboration is an important part of translation," says Kartik Singh, Software Engineer for the Translator Toolkit. "Whether you work with editors to translate documents, customers to clarify terms or project managers to meet deadlines, working with other translators is key to making high-quality translations." "Just like chat in Gmail, you can send instant messages to colleagues, friends,

by Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Spiderman-4 (Searches increased by 4,571%). Despite rumors of script problems, the movie is slotted for release in the summer of 2011 . Maya Angelou (+1,627%). Kanye West says he is channeling the poet for his latest return to the recording studio . San Diego Zoo panda cam (+278%). Welcome, baby panda Yun Zi. You're adorable . Palm Springs Film Festival (+270%).

Today, Yahoo proved that it's all about bringing together TVs and the Internet, and also that it has plenty of allies in that mission. The company announced new partnerships, a wide release of the Widget Developer Kit, and a significant range of new TV widget providers and content. Press releases are often just four or five short paragraphs. There's an introduction, a brief description of whatever's happening, an exec's glowing take on it,

Baidi, China's major search engine and Internet presence, is partnering with Hulu investors, Providence Equity Partners, to launch an ad-supported online video service in China. According to a press release issued this week, the pair are currently in the process of licensing premium content to populate the site, including movies, popular TV series, and sports content. Citing a source "familiar with the situation,

Samsung unveiled its own app store for HDTVs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. With Samsung Apps, users can download and purchase applications from select 2010 Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray Players and Home Theater systems via the upgraded Internet@TV Content Service. "Samsung's goal over the past two years has been to really push the envelope in terms of consumer experience with connected TV, and 2010 is no different," said Kevin Kyungshik Lee,

Last week there was a question posted in our advertiser forum asking what can be done about competitors bidding on terms that infringe upon intellectual property that does not belong to them. As its been some time since we last discussed this issue.

Last night at the 2010 CES in Las Vegas, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took to the stage to deliver his keynote address. He, of course, included Bing in his speech, noting one important announcement regarding the newbie search engine. Bing will be set as default on HP devices in 42 countries. Additionally, MSN will be set as default as the homepage in the agreement. This is an expansion of a previous agreement where HP would ship their 2009 PCs with the Live Search toolbar .

Yahoo! is expanding their foray into television by creating a wider availability of their TV Widget Engine. They've announced new partnerships with Vizio, Hisense, ViewSonic, MIPS Technologies and Sigma Designs to include Yahoo!'s TV Widgets in their consumer devices and technologies. New widgets are being added to the program, including ones from content providers such as The Weather Channel, NBC, Napster, and DailyMotion. Last but not least, Yahoo!