The Zen of Web

Afraid that it will get caught up in a long legal battle with the government, Google today announced that it would widthdraw from the advertising partnership with Yahoo that would have allowed Google to serve text ads on Yahoo’s search engine.

This isn’t really a huge setback for Google as it is doing just fine with or without this deal. However, it does leave Yahoo in a difficult place as it was the main reason Yahoo was able to fend off Microsoft’s hostile takeover attempt.

As they would say… the saga continues… Let’s see what will happen next. I wonder who will blink first. Microsoft or Yahoo? One way or another, it is indeed possible and even very likely that they will now go back to negotiating table and try to work something out. We’ll see…

written by Allen \\ tags: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo

I’m totally speculating here, of course — I’m not somebody who’d have any such insider information. But I think what I’m suggesting now does seem somewhat possible…

Could Microsoft never really intend to buy Yahoo from the start?

Before Microsoft publicly announced their bid to buy Yahoo, people (as in shareholders) weren’t happy with its declining share price. And for sure people were saying that Yahoo needed to better compete with Google in search advertising (but I actually don’t necessary feel that way myself). But what people weren’t saying back then was that Yahoo didn’t have a future as an independent company. People saw Yahoo as a powerful brand and understand its position as the Internet company with the most aggregated pageviews. Somehow after Microsoft came into the picture, people suddenly said Yahoo needed to be acquired.

Why? All for maximizing shareholder value? Whatever…

I’m just thinking… Maybe someone foresaw the tailspinning Yahoo would be in today and advised Steve Ballmer to make a move. The purpose would not be to actually buy Yahoo but to put it in a situation where it would be busy regrouping and could no longer compete effectively with Microsoft. As we have found out now, the #1 got bigger, but at least Microsoft has a chance becoming #2…

We may not ever find out. But could this be possible? Most definitely!!!

written by Allen \\ tags: Microsoft, Yahoo

The story everyone focuses on now is obviously Yahoo’s breaking off talks with Microsoft and entering an advertising partnership with Google instead. In trying to make itself more relevent through acquisition, Microsoft got the worst case scenario that was possible and drove Yahoo to Google.

Yeah, so the big winner here obviously is Google. The partnership with Yahoo allows it to grab an even bigger share of the online advertising market (assuming the deal can gain approval from the government). As for Yahoo, it did ok, too. It once again fended off Microsoft’s overture (though this may not be the end of it) and, for the immediate future, could boost its revenue from the deal. Best yet, the deal allows Yahoo to have a lot of control how Google’s ads are displayed. I say that’s not bad at all.

But what do Steve Ballmer and Co. have to show for after all the drama that went down over the last few months? Not much. They announced to the world that they desperately needed help to compete with Google and couldn’t pull off what was their master plan. Sad. Very sad. What were they thinking anyway?

I’ve sided with Yahoo from the beginning. I’d very much like to see them remain as an independent company. A lot of people are on Yahoo’s case for destroying shareholder value. Whatever… There are many positions you can take in looking at this whole thing. I don’t know why Michael Arrington keeps bashing Yahoo and Jerry Yang (see here and here). Is he among the shareholders losing money now??? How about see this from the perspective of the end users? Or from the perspective of the rest of the Web industry? Do we really want Yahoo under Microsoft’s control at all? (I know I don’t.)

Arrington says execuitive level departures now are because these execuitives don’t feel there’s a future in Yahoo anymore. Well… if Microsoft didn’t decide to mess with Yahoo in the first place and subsequently put Yahoo in a really difficult position, would they feel this way?

Anyway… especially considering some of the exit clauses in the Yahoo-Google deal, Microsoft’s continuous posturing publicly (which kind of signals they may still have desire to deal with Yahoo after all) and the upcoming shareholder meeting which involves a proxy fight with Carl C. Icahn (the asshole “activist” investor, as I’d call him), a lot more can still happen and this remains very very intersting…

written by Allen \\ tags: Microsfot, Yahoo