Week in Review: Confusing results

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It’s been a bit of a confusing week in the IT world. Thankfully, it’s been a short one, too.

Privacy campaigners are likely giggling with glee over the rough ride Phorm has had this week. First, the EU considered legal action against the UK government over Phorm. Then, Amazon opted out of the behavioral advertising system. And today, Wikimedia has very publicly asked to be removed from the system.

On the other hand, the Information Commissioner has decided not to shut down Google’s Street View, after a complaint from Privacy International. You win some, you lose some.

The same waffling has followed quarterly results announcements from big tech firms. Intel, Nokia and Google have all posted bad results, just not quite as horrifying as expected. So is this good news? Is the recession over? No, but there’s no reason to sit in the corner crying anymore - not until the next round of results at least.

eBay also spent the week making our heads spin. Reports over the weekend suggested Skype’s founders wanted their firm back from the auction site, so eBay turned around and sold StumbleUpon back to its founders. Maybe eBay clicked the wrong company in their ‘Sell’ list?

But Skype’s founders shouldn’t fret too much, as eBay said it does want to ditch the VoIP firm by next year, as it moves back to its core business of helping us sell the stuff we no longer want.

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