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Internet Yahoo Wants More Money -- Again
Jason Mick (Blog) - April 7, 2008 11:13 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 56 comment(s) - last by desertvet.. on Apr 9 at 10:50 AM

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, will likely not be pleased with Yahoo's response.
Yahoo calls Ballmer's comments "curious"

After sending a letter, which most in the news industry perceived as threatening, Ballmer sent a clear message to Yahoo's board -- prepare to turn over ownership of the company within three weeks, or prepare to be deposed in a proxy battle.  Yahoo's leadership occasionally seemed open to negotiations, having a joint executive meeting between its executives and Microsoft's last month. 

However, Yahoo has more often than not resisted Microsoft's current advances, since its initial rejection.  Microsoft refuses to raise its $44.6B USD offer, while Yahoo states that the offer significantly undervalues the company.

All indications are that the companies are headed for a showdown which will put the power and influence of Yahoo's board to the test.  In a response letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, chairman Roy Bostock and chief executive Jerry Yang expressed that they are not opposed to a deal, but would not accept such a low offer.

Yahoo's confidence was partially due to its reaffirmation of first-quarter and year-end outlooks, which some worried would be revised lower.  Also, Yahoo cites its three-year financial plan and its new AMP advertising management platform as additional strength.  The company has tried to stay independent and turn around by acquiring advertising companies such as Maven and by releasing new services.

Yahoo's response states that Ballmer's letter "mischaracterizes the nature of our discussions".  The letter's hostile language, Yang and Bostock state is "counterproductive and inconsistent with your stated objective of a friendly transaction."

The pair continues, "Your comment that we have refused to enter into negotiations to conclude an agreement are particularly curious given we have already rejected your initial proposal, nominally $31 per share at the time, for substantially undervaluing Yahoo! and your suggestions in your letter and the media that you are considering lowering the value of your proposal. Moreover, Steve, you personally attended two of these meetings and could have advanced discussions in any way you saw fit."

Yahoo also cites concerns over antitrust issues that might arise from a merger.  As it points out, a merger would include an extensive regulatory review.  Rival Google has suggested that a merger may violate antitrust laws and that it might fight a merger on such basis in court.

Yang and Bostock close the letter on an open but firm note stating, "We are open to all alternatives that maximize stockholder value. To be clear, this includes a transaction with Microsoft if it represents a price that fully recognizes the value of Yahoo! on a standalone basis and to Microsoft, is superior to our other alternatives, and provides certainty of value and certainty of closing."

Despite the pair's offer, unless Microsoft reverses its current policy, it appears that Microsoft will likely prepare to finalize its hostile takeover attempt with a proxy battle within three weeks.

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Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/08, Rating: 0
RE: Give me my monies!
By BMFPitt on 4/7/2008 11:56:53 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Yahoo has been in a 25-low30something trading range for the last year and a half, and prior to that a 30-40 range.
And 500SqFt houses in California were selling for $600k last year.


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 12:12:09 PM , Rating: 2
There is a difference between a trading range and a bubble.


RE: Give me my monies!
By TomZ on 4/7/2008 12:18:47 PM , Rating: 5
True, but YHOO trading in the $30 range since the MSFT offer is only because of the offer. If MSFT were to for some reason withdraw, I'm confident the stock would return to the $20 range pretty quickly, since there's nothing that's changed or improved in YHOO's business since pre-MSFT.

So really you could see the current YHOO price as a "bubble."


RE: Give me my monies!
By FITCamaro on 4/7/2008 12:29:24 PM , Rating: 3
Exactly. It's trading high because people are fairly confident that Microsoft will acquire Yahoo at a higher price. If the deal goes south, all those people who were hoping to make a quick buck will sell as fast as possible. I wish I had some Yahoo stock prior to this, I would have sold it at the now higher price, then rebought it once the deal falls through.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if Microsoft does a hostile takeover, they don't buy it at a higher price?


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 12:48:14 PM , Rating: 5
Correct, you offer to buy out a company generally at a premium, which is typically determined by:

1. Share price and average trading range
2. Future revenue enahancement and benefit to the bottom line
3. Value of the IP
4. % of Marketshare your place in the industry will be enhanced by
5. Market Cap of the company
6. Companies performance as of late

Yahoo has been trading between 23-34 for some time now, with a 10-year moving average at around ~28 - 28.5. Its IP is invaluable considering the large % of marketshare they possess. Their revenue has been growing while their income slumped slightly in 2007, it was still very profitable.

At the time of the offer, Yahoo was trading at 30-34 back in Novenber of 2007 and had just slumped down to 19 or so bucks, creating a temporary valley in the trading range. Microsoft acted on the opportunity and basically slapped them by giving them an offer of 31.00 a share, which is essentially a 8 - 10% premium over its moving average.

Considering the amount of presence on the internet Yahoo could give Microsoft over what they hold now, take into mind that:

Google has up to 56.5% of the market in Search alone
Yahoo - 23.3%
Microsoft - 11.3%
source: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=17...

That means that Microsoft would potentially gain a 206% increase in market share of search alone! (11.3 -> 34.6% overnight!) This is pretty impressive by itself.

This is just search. I don't use Yahoo to search. I use it for its other IP - i.e. Yahoo! Finance. Many other people utilize Yahoo for things far and beyond search as they provide a wealth of non-search IP and these figures do not take this into account.

So if you consider the market share increase on its own, a 8-10% premium is a huge lowball to the perceived benefit that Microsoft could gain. It is a small sum of money.

Yes the stock was trading at 18 a share, but you have to look at how it has been behaving over time and smooth out the dips and peaks creating a moving average which I've done. It just doesn't compute that 31/share would be acceptable. I'd love to see them offer more.


RE: Give me my monies!
By just4U on 4/7/2008 12:59:40 PM , Rating: 4
I don't know very much about stocks and such but I've heard alot in the news the past few years that alot of it is obsenely overpriced and eventually has to come back down to more realistic levels. Now, I don't know if Yahoo is one of those "overvalued" stocks but with a slowing econemy and the fact that it's been sort of in decline doesn't that mean that it's one of those stocks likely to fall rather then rise over the next couple of years?


RE: Give me my monies!
By Oregonian2 on 4/7/2008 1:35:06 PM , Rating: 3
Trend for the last two years (ignoring the recent jump up to something near the offer price) looks pretty downward using my eye trend averager.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=YHOO&t=2y


RE: Give me my monies!
By TomZ on 4/7/2008 1:29:55 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
At the time of the offer, Yahoo was trading at 30-34 back in Novenber of 2007 and had just slumped down to 19 or so bucks, creating a temporary valley in the trading range.

Again, it only looks like a valley because of the MSFT offer. In other words, there's no evidence that the stock would having done anything other than continuing at the same price or lower in absence of the offer. Especially when you consider the overall background of the mediocre management/execution of Yahoo relative to its peers of late.


RE: Give me my monies!
By onelittleindian on 4/7/2008 7:39:15 PM , Rating: 2
Right. Yahoo at $31 a share is very overpriced. The company has been losing market share for years. A buyout by MS (or someone like them at least) is actually the best thing for them.


RE: Give me my monies!
By BMFPitt on 4/7/2008 2:05:37 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
It just doesn't compute that 31/share would be acceptable. I'd love to see them offer more.
And if Microsoft pulls the offer, then a year from now you'll be wishing you had taken the $31 when they try again and offer $25.


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 2:10:05 PM , Rating: 2
I'd rather take my chances. :)

Yahoo has been around for a while now (in Internet years) and I wouldn't put it past them to figure out on their own how to better compete.

I saw what happened with Hotmail and other IP Microsoft has bought. I'd hate to see Yahoo's quality decrease.


RE: Give me my monies!
By TomZ on 4/7/2008 2:30:58 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Yahoo has been around for a while now (in Internet years) and I wouldn't put it past them to figure out on their own how to better compete.

I don't think they can figure it out - and that is the problem. If you remember, the last time MSFT came around, Yahoo management wanted more time to get the company going into the right direction. And what has changed since then at Yahoo, exactly? Nothing. And that's the problem.

The best way forward for Yahoo and its shareholders is to have its current management team replaced. An acquisition is one way to accomplish that.


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 2:51:52 PM , Rating: 2
I'll give you the management change.

They did make one a year ago and to their credit did say 2007 would be a rough year. We don't know exactly how they will fair this year but speculation is it will be weaker than expected.

Perhaps they could use a management change to help spur them towards better growth.

I'd just like to see it done internally rather than by being bought.


RE: Give me my monies!
By mindless1 on 4/8/2008 7:14:27 PM , Rating: 3
You're saying you don't think they can figure it out, and yet they were still more successfull at it than MS was - so whatever they can't figure out, what would a takeover improve upon?

The truth is, we have a short term anomoly in the market because Google's growth was so grand. Google is now bubbling and ultimately their share is volatile over the next few years. Yahoo could easily gain or lose quite a bit of ground but one thing we still see is that however good or bad they were doing, they were still the largest competitor to Google on their own turf.


RE: Give me my monies!
By rsmech on 4/7/2008 9:47:47 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Yahoo has been around for a while now (in Internet years)


Maybe that's the problem. People look to the internet for something new & hot, a real potential investment. (Google, Face Book, You Tube, My Space, ect.) Yahoo is past that. If they can't even maintain people see no money to be made. AOL anyone? Their age in the internet may be part of their problem.


RE: Give me my monies!
By jhinoz on 4/7/2008 3:09:19 PM , Rating: 1
I'm still at playschool when it comes to in company analysis but just on the market share figures you've given on search alone:

Google - 56ish %
Yahoo - 23ish %

and they are both on the down trend. (so 79ish % of the market is on a downtrend?)

And Microsoft comes alone and offers a 10ish % premium (ok pretty scant for a takeover but heck a premium on a loser yes please)

I'm missing the part of this that sucks? If I've got yahoo shares, I take the offer, get instant 10% and buy MS shares and take advantage of the synergies provided by the assimilation of the 2 companies.

again, playschool economist here, sorry if i got it wrong.


RE: Give me my monies!
By BMFPitt on 4/7/2008 4:35:27 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If I've got yahoo shares, I take the offer, get instant 10% and buy MS shares
Your Yahoo shares will actually just become MSFT at some exchange rate when the deal is finalized, so that part isn't necessary (and could have negative tax implications, depending what price you bought the Yahoo at.)


RE: Give me my monies!
By modestninja on 4/7/2008 5:28:49 PM , Rating: 2
I'm pretty sure this is a cash offer, not a stock offer so current shareholders of Yahoo! would receive cash for their shares so capital gains/losses would apply.


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/8/2008 9:31:23 AM , Rating: 2
It is up to 1/2 stock 1/2 cash. It could change though.


RE: Give me my monies!
By ElFenix on 4/7/2008 4:19:50 PM , Rating: 3
if MS does a hostile takeover that just means that yahoo's shareholders voted to tender to MS at the price MS was offering. as MS's price is ~50% higher than what yahoo was trading at just before MS offered, just about every shareholder out there would tender.

it's called hostile because the (usually mismanaging) board of the target company is resisting, rather than encouraging, the takeover. they'll say the offer undervalues the company (nevermind the fact that often their own mismanagement is what caused the value drop and they have no plans to correct it), etc. but what the board is really after is keeping their cushy board jobs. if MS takes over yahoo, guess who will be the first people to get canned?


RE: Give me my monies!
By omnicronx on 4/7/2008 12:21:07 PM , Rating: 5
Microsoft is offering something like 40% over the current stock price, I don't see how this is 'ordinary', especially when everyone knows how over inflated search engine company stock is.

If Microsoft launches a proxy battle, Yahoos stock is only going to go down more, and its shareholders will probably end up with less money.

Not that I am cheering for MS here, but the Yahoo board is doing more harm then good here, and in the end, they will probably be ousted, and for a cheaper price.. I think we are about to find out how deep Microsoft's pockets really are..


RE: Give me my monies!
By ElFenix on 4/7/2008 4:22:17 PM , Rating: 2
well historically the takeover premium is closer to 50% than 40%. yahoo's problem with attempting to play hardball (if the board actually intends to sell), is that no one else out there has the ability (or want) to purchase yahoo. who else can get nearly $50 billion in cold hard cash at this time?


RE: Give me my monies!
By omnicronx on 4/7/2008 6:43:29 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
who else can get nearly $50 billion in cold hard cash at this time?
Bill gates?


RE: Give me my monies!
By Ringold on 4/7/2008 8:10:25 PM , Rating: 3
I think you're all nuts, perhaps still being slightly drunk on whatever people were drinking during the dot-com bubble era or the realty bubble. There is no god-given right to a 40% premium, a 50% premium, or even a 5% premium. In some cases of impending collapse, companies can even be 'undertaken'; Bear Stearns, for example.

Another post tried to reduce this to some sort of mathematical formula. That's far too complicated for something that can be inherently so simple. The market was deciding that Yahoo was worth an increasingly small amount as its business deteriorated. Microsoft saw an opportunity to add a component to itself that it felt it was lacking, and made an offer they personally felt was something they were willing to pay. Thus far, there have been no counter-offers, and the stock is trading lower despite the offer.

There is clearly no market failure surrounding the pricing of Yahoo stock; everyones information is roughly the same, and Yahoo's financials are likely credible. Therefore, Yahoo is obviously worth one of two prices:
1) The price Microsoft offered
or
2) Some price incredibly lower from here that Yahoo was on track to reach prior to Microsoft's bailout of the stock.

These posts talking of typical premiums and whatnot remind me of these people that think it's divine providence that gold should go ever higher. Unfortunately, the market is the arbiter of prices, America's financial markets are extremely liquid, and it says you're all wrong.

If the shares were trading substantially higher that Microsofts offer price, like BSC did after the $2 offer, then the shoe would be on the other foot. As it is now though, the verdict is what it is. Why the denial? Did you people buy the day the offer was announced and are pissed the stocks gone only down from there? :P


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/8/2008 9:43:28 AM , Rating: 2
I see your point - it falls squarely within Efficient Market Theory.... However, you must also remember that any transaction between two companies - aka Company A and the acquirer, Company B - the result of which comes down to what the Board and really, the shareholders decide.

It is essentially the same as any purchase in an environment where negotiation can take place. What I am seeing here is Yahoo does not want to give up their company and are basically refusing completely. That is their perogative. The managers have a vested interest in the form of renewable income to protect their firm.

I have seen instances where managers are incentivized to foster a potential merger, either through early termination clauses, early retirement or perhaps a stock/cash bonus should a transaction take place. In these cases you will see management very co-operative and willing to make the process go smoothly.

I don't think that is what is going on here.

What I see is a lot of people hold dear and true to their company and don't want to give it up. There are no counter offers, Microsoft has decided on their price, and it boils down simply to:

Do the shareholders like the price Microsoft is offering and are they willing to give up their shares for that offer?

If it is yes, Microsoft has a deal. If it is no, then unless Microsoft manages to pick up the shares in free market transactions and achieve a majority position, they are stuck with not owning the company.

I offered a different perspective at perhaps trying to place value on the company - but - you are correct, there is no perfect example of what a company is worth at any given time. Efficient Market Theory would in fact argue that something is valued at its correct price at any given time.

I also don't feel you can say that Yahoo would continue to slide as we all know, things happen which turn a company around overnight.

It is fun though, to try and come up with different ways to look at a firms worth to put some perspective on the transaction and what they may gain or lose via it and perhaps try and see if true value is being had by it.


RE: Give me my monies!
By AntiM on 4/7/2008 12:25:12 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
It is a real property with some real worth rather than just buying out a company and hoping the customers stay with it. Microsoft should re-think things and consider something better to offer everyone.


I don't see anything really compelling about Yahoo. I think they would do well to accept the MS offer. As a search engine, it's mediocre at best. As an internet portal, there's just nothing there except a bunch of fluff. Just my opinion though, just because it isn't compelling to me doesn't mean someone else wouldn't find it useful. If MS does acquire it, they're bound to screw it up because of a lack of direction. They're going to pay $44 billion+ and then turn it into something worth $0.


RE: Give me my monies!
By rsmech on 4/7/2008 10:03:08 PM , Rating: 2
What do they really need to do with Yahoo besides remove them. Google has the largest share & if Yahoo is losing some of theirs MS is just paying to solicit them first & gain on Google. Many people including my in-laws use Yahoo for the same reason people used AOL. (because they didn't know anything else) So if MS gets them they stay for the same reasons. Maybe it's not the company they are paying for, but the potential market share, that's all Yahoo really has to offer MS. I know more people with hotmail or yahoo mail than gmail. In this regards it could make MS #1 in e-mail accounts.

Just a laymans thought.


RE: Give me my monies!
By 16nm on 4/7/2008 1:32:39 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
A prime corner lot in the semi-Times Square of the internet.


That's the problem. Google owns Park Place and is building Hotels on it. Yahoo is no longer in its glory days and is having a hard time competing with Google.

YAHOO - Owns Times Square and no money to build with
GOOGLE - Owns Park Place and building non-stop
MICROSOFT - Plenty of money but no property to build on

Microsoft marries/kidnaps Yahoo, equals better competitor to Google

If you ask me Microsoft jumped too soon. They should have waited another quarter. Yep, hindsight is 20/20.


RE: Give me my monies!
By desertvet on 4/9/2008 10:50:01 AM , Rating: 2
You bring up an interesting point: Microsoft does have significant capital resources. Makes me wonder why they haven't taken advantage of the financial markets' woes and entered the lending market.


RE: Give me my monies!
By Some1ne on 4/7/2008 1:39:37 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
No, it is nothing but pure mediocrity.


Which is exactly what Yahoo is. Seems fitting, really.

Now with Google, you've got something special, but Yahoo is already like the Microsoft of the Internet world, so they might as well just stop fighting it and accept their destiny.


RE: Give me my monies!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 2:12:08 PM , Rating: 2
Yahoo Finance is anything but mediocre. It is actually one of the best Financial resources on the internet.


RE: Give me my monies!
By Some1ne on 4/7/2008 3:22:33 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, and Microsoft Windows is one of the best OS's available.

The mediocrity, and the parallel between MS and Yahoo, comes in the fact that while both companies have some successful/popular products, they also both have a bunch of "kind of okay, but not great" products, and that they also both have issues with cultivating a stylish/appealing image like some of their competitors (Google, Apple, etc.) have. So in that sense, they're mediocre. They've both got some good products, and some excellent IP, but their execution on that IP isn't always 100% up to snuff, and they have problems getting people excited about their brand/image. I think they make a good fit, in terms of complementing each other, however something like a Google/Microsoft deal might have been more interesting, if only to see what Microsoft could accomplish if given control of Google's excellent image and strong consumer recognition.


RE: Give me my monies!
By Ringold on 4/7/2008 8:17:42 PM , Rating: 2
Except for most of the ones brokerages give their customers. I do like it's news feed though, particularly some of its less traditional sources. Some times those sources help put things in perspective -- or translate legalese for non-lawyers.


RE: Give me my monies!
By 16nm on 4/7/2008 2:40:05 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Yahoo has been in a 25-low30something trading range for the last year and a half, and prior to that a 30-40 range. 31 seems, well, ordinary. Nothing extravagant. No festoon of WOW - what an offer!


Microsoft's offer is excellent. I seriously doubt we will see $31 on Yahoo! any time soon or at all. It's more likely that their share price will fall rather than rise. Compare Yahoo! (PE 60) to Google (pe 35). No one in their right mind would buy Yahoo!. If you ask me, Microsoft are offering too much. They should take their offer off the table and then re-approach Yahoo! in 3-6 months. I bet Yahoo!'s attitude will be a little better then.


RE: Give me my monies!
By TomZ on 4/7/2008 2:44:52 PM , Rating: 1
I'm sure that's what Microsoft thought last time. But the problem is that Yahoo management is delusional, so they cannot react with any type of logic or reason. I personally don't think they would agree to be acquired at ANY COST. They obvously value their company quite a bit more than then market does, and they refuse to accept the reality that "their baby" is not as valuable as they think it is.


RE: Give me my monies!
By eye smite on 4/8/2008 11:57:52 AM , Rating: 3
I can't fault yahoo for wanting more money, they've been around quite a while and worked hard to build what they have. It's understandable.


Pictures
By dluther on 4/7/2008 11:24:07 AM , Rating: 5
... accompanying this article are absolutely priceless!




RE: Pictures
By daftrok on 4/7/2008 11:36:55 AM , Rating: 1
I know! Ah the times when it wasn't creepy to watch Tom Cruise on the silver screen...


RE: Pictures
By mondo1234 on 4/7/2008 11:46:46 AM , Rating: 2
Look at the other DT article to see whats underneath that coat. It looks like he sweat an (upsidedown) picture of Marge Simpson on his shirt.


RE: Pictures
By Owls on 4/7/2008 12:01:44 PM , Rating: 4
In related news Ikea has depleted its stock of chairs. No word on when they will be available again.


KABOOM!!
By TimberJon on 4/7/2008 2:58:04 PM , Rating: 1
If MS acquires Yahoo, then they are going to kill it. The execs ask the peons how they can making the silver lining on their pockets shine more, and the peons propose audacious plans in order to do this while minimizing the risk to the EXEC and not so much the company.

Then the exec signs something not caring what will happen as long as they get paid & laid.

SO! Yahoo will die! Advertisement hell. Not to mention the querky relationship between Windows Live, Xbox Live and MS-only email accounts for access to services.

Tough shit for us but good for google! I'm watching this closely as My company subscribes to Yahoo for Email and Web hosting services. I will have to move us to Google if the merger or -A S S I M I L A T I O N- goes through, just to be safe.

I only have one example of how MS screwed up something great because they wanted to acquire it for the sheer joy of acquisition. MechAssault for the Xbox, and MA-2.

Terrible cheap-shot game dev that slaughtered all the good laws of the BattleTech Universe. They even stole all my good ideas for the ex-Upcoming MechWarrior 5 for the PC, and put all those good elements into MechAssault 2.

Proof: http://www.dropshipcommand.com/forum/dcboard.php?a...




RE: KABOOM!!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 3:08:45 PM , Rating: 2
The Mechwarrior franchise being destroyed is one of the largest gaming tragedies in history. >:(

I played 2, 3 and 4 online, competed in NBT, ADL etc. It was an amazing community - great people.

Only to be destroyed with their acquisition of FASA Interactive.

Thankfully, the Mechwarrior IP was purchased from Microsoft late last year! ;) We have hope. It is not much hope, but it is hope.


RE: KABOOM!!
By TomZ on 4/7/2008 3:10:42 PM , Rating: 2
That's all silly-talk. Microsoft has a pretty long history of acquiring other companies and integrating them into their line of products and services. Actually, this strengh is often quoted by Microsoft haters who claim that Microsoft never innovates - they only acquire. While I think that overstates quite a lot, there is no question that a lot of Microsoft's current offerings originally came to them through acquisition.


RE: KABOOM!!
By MrBlastman on 4/7/2008 3:17:01 PM , Rating: 2
Microsoft does innovate on occasion. You can not, however much you want to try, deny the fact that they did destroy the Mechwarrior franchise.

They didn't just destroy it, they obliterated it. We had a THRIVING community on the PC. There were quite a bit of active people in the community.

They were going to release 5 years ago, but cancelled and instead released Mechassault. The community has all but died. There are some people that partake in it, but nowhere near what they used to.


Google
By Etsp on 4/7/2008 12:21:52 PM , Rating: 2
At this point, I would kinda like to see Google swoop in and offer to buy yahoo for $50B, if for no other reason than to see Ballmer's reaction.




RE: Google
By just4U on 4/7/2008 12:38:28 PM , Rating: 3
It wouldn't happen I don't think. There very thought of such a merger would send the watchdogs into a frenzy. Google does have a very large slice of the pie already.


Hope deal goes through.......
By phxfreddy on 4/7/2008 11:39:16 AM , Rating: 2
.......I need to see Ballmer do the strange dance and scream like a girl at Beatles concert while on the monthly.




RE: Hope deal goes through.......
By jlips6 on 4/7/2008 1:40:55 PM , Rating: 2
developers, developers, developers, developers!


Admitting defeat
By tallcool1 on 4/7/2008 12:31:55 PM , Rating: 2
Being the huge powerhouse software giant that Microsoft is with more money than they know what to do with, it amazes me that they cannot develop their own successful search engine/community software set for Internet users. That they have to resort to a hostile take over of another company which has this type of product that they have failed at.

Why don't they just come out and say it. "Yes, we, Microsoft, despite having billions of dollars of cash available for R&D, have decided that we cannot succeed in this field on our own and need to bully someone whom can do the homework, to do it for us."




RE: Admitting defeat
By tanishalfelven on 4/7/2008 1:09:36 PM , Rating: 2
it is amazing. MS creates some excellent products, and is able to improve them untill they can oust the competition.
its only after there is not competition that they slack off (eg IE, and windows)

to me its surprising that live search and hotmail suck so much.


Mortal Kombat
By jbzx86 on 4/7/2008 11:22:14 AM , Rating: 2
PREPARE TO FIGHT!!!




LOL!!
By RandallMoore on 4/7/2008 2:55:03 PM , Rating: 2
They should have used a picture from the most recent South Park episode for this article!!




leave the emotion out of business
By bigpow on 4/7/2008 4:22:26 PM , Rating: 2
whatever is offered, was calculated (based on past performance and prediction for future growth, calculating the market sentiment ie while Yahoo's weak, risks, etc).

If that offer is really too low, why isn't there any other offer? Doh!

Yahoo says it has four of a kind, however, the cards on the table don't support that possibility
.. MS calls its bluff
We'll see who's better at playing cards




Improve the MSN site
By kmmatney on 4/7/2008 6:20:05 PM , Rating: 2
I don't see why Microsoft just doesn't improve their MSN site. If they improved their search engine, then people would start using it instead of google. They just need to improve the MSN search, and make the site a little cleaner. You always go to the MSN site at least once when you update or install explorer. The basic problem with the MSN start site is that it is way too cluttered and the search engine sucks (although its better than Yahoo's, IMO).




By bupkus on 4/7/2008 6:46:41 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
chairman Roy Bostock and chief executive Jerry Yang expressed that they are not opposed to a deal


quote:
Sonny: Oh, now, are you telling me that the Tattaglia's guarantee our investment without...




"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer











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