The merger of Focus Digital and Tomorrow Internet into the largest Internet
media group in Germany will lead to the elimination of up to 20 percent of
the jobs in both companies.
According to a report by “w&v,” an industry
magazine, the group’s planned savings of 25 to 30 million German marks can
only be achieved by layoffs. Up to 100 of the 540 jobs in total in Munich
and Hamburg are in danger, particularly in the technology and marketing
departments.
According to media information, the Netguide search engine developed by
Focus Digital is also under review. The advertising campaign with Mehmet
Scholl, 30, which has already been produced, will not be launched for the
time being. It is unclear whether the campaign will ever be seen, because
after the merger, it is highly probably that a pared-down version of
Netguide will be integrated into existing websites as a search service. It
would therefore not make sense to expand Netguide into an independent online
brand.