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May 6, 2008

Arrington and Ross Sorkin Talk About Yahoo On Charlie Rose

Erick Schonfeld

32 comments »

Last night, Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times and our own Michael Arrington appeared on the Charlie Rose Show to talk about —what else?—Yahoo, Microsoft and the non-deal that everybody can’t stop talking about. The segment is embedded above.

Michael notes in the piece that Microsoft has a long-term problem in that it has to figure out its Internet strategy. And even putting together AOL, MySpace, and Facebook does not bring what Yahoo does to the table: a real player in search. He also suggests that Microsoft might come back with another lower bid. And that Yahoo should have accepted the bid back in February.

He also notes that Yahoo’s banker, Goldman Sachs, was rumored to have gotten an independence fee, meaning it will be paid extra if Yahoo stays free. If true, it could have been working at cross-purposes. As he points out, on Saturday, the most important day of the deal, the company sends Jerry Yang and David Filo. He asks: “Why wasn’t [chairman] Roy Bostock there to make the deal?” Good question. Here’s another one that Mike poses: “Is Jerry Yang still going to be the CEO of Yahoo?”

(Check out Michael’s first appearance on the show from March).

  • Sphere It

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  1. Mike

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:44 pm

    Arrlington was wrong!! He predicted the deal would go through and it hasn’t.

    Time to go to http://www.inquisitr.com/ to get my Tech News.

    Go Duncan.

  2. Jay Neely

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    Yahoo! is not a search company. And they don’t need to be; search is no longer the killer app of the web.

    They’re the single largest destination site in the U.S., and while search will always be a compelling feature(with search ads part of their revenue, whether outsourced through Google or not), it is not their primary business.

    Every time I hear an analyst or journalist talk about Yahoo! as a search company, they sound like one of those old people who calls all computers running Windows an “IBM”. Businesses change!

    Keep up, or switch to writing memoirs, not analysis.

  3. delaneyomg

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    @mike based on this comment, I doubt you will be sorely missed.

  4. Trench

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    I envy anybody that gets to have a sit-down with Rose, no matter the subject.

  5. Mike

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    @delaneyomg

    Apparently you don’t read ‘The Onion’ or understand humor.

  6. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

    Michael once called Microsoft Yahoo resulting in a very confusing and extremely long sentence, and Andrew stole his “getting in bed with Google” line from this blog. I didn’t learn anything new.

  7. Jay (Twitter @qthrul)

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    Michael and Andrew should do a Crossfire format show.

  8. sea

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    haven’t finish yet, there may be still opportunity for Microsoft.

  9. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:29 pm

    @qthrul, I doubt it. Michael would own Andrew. Andrew got all of his talking points either from this blog, or out of his arse.

  10. Michael Campbell

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    I agree with Jay Neely’s comment that search is quickly becoming secondary. I’m more likely to broadcast a tweet on Twitter, and get the opinions of people I trust, instead of relying on a search engine, that constantly gets gamed by people in the SEO business.

    The search engines are advertising companies now. Google is a verb. Yahoo is still a portal. MSN is a software company that has no memorable online branding.

    The take away lesson in all this, are the new kids on the block, like Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook, et al. If I was Google, Yahoo, or MSN, I’d be looking to them for the future.

  11. James Gardiner

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

    Wow Mike, good overview at the end.
    Exactly what I see happening.
    Strange how its hard to get precise and brief description like yours on the web.

    I personally still think it will happen (70%), but lower then $30 now.

    Microsoft will make Yahoo board pay for letting Yang pull what he did.

    This may take 3 months however.

    30%, they just go out any by page views..

    James

  12. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:35 pm

    @Michael Campbell

    Your personal experience with twitter is irrelevant. Search is not quickly becoming secondary to anything.

    Duh.

  13. Please budget Cut on healthcare

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:41 pm

    Who cares… It’s worthless talking trash. Why can’t mike talk about economy and inflation?

    I think we could save the economy… If we have huge budget cuts on healthcare for retired executives, seniors & upper class seniors. This means we can save billion dollars on food crisis, oil, college education, and other mortgage crisis.

  14. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    @ previous poster

    This blog is about economics. It’s run by a freaking economist for crying out loud.

    My tolerance for some of the comments around here is shrinking. I should stop reading them.

  15. Jay (Twitter @qthrul)

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

    @Brian Mingus - Okay, so cycle out the Andrew seat periodically. It could be like Cranky Geeks end of the table seat… only more relevant.

  16. Techcrunch attack health care!!

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pm

    We need to protest against the government for giving too much healthcare access for seniors & upper class seniors. They always get everything they want.

    http://news.google.com/news?hl.....tnG=Search

    Every seniors who frought WW2, Vetinam wars, etc… They all give us too much trouble for younger generation. War on terrorism, 9/11, everything is brainwashing. We want higher budget cuts on healthcare!

    People today, they can’t even afford anything… minnesota electric, oil, and whole thing is turning upside down.

    Techcrunch Go attack Healthcare plan!!!

  17. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

    @qthrul, I can see that. I’d like to see a bloggingheads.tv version of the Gillmore Gang chats, which I think might be similar to what your suggesting, although not sure about the crossfire format. Occasionally completely ludicrous comments creep in there. I think most of them would be avoided if they were all on camera.

  18. antje wilsch

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    I thought Aaron was older than that… geesh he looks like a young’un (and hate that he said “a advertising xxx” it’s like nails on a chalkboard… (picky picky). ”
    Mike, like the pen touch :)

  19. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    @qthrul, I just checked out Cranky Geeks. There’s only one problem with that site. Its name is John Dvorak.

  20. Michael Campbell

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    Twitter is a broadcast medium, plain and simple. Some early adopters have 15,000 followers. I doubt if any of them “HAVE TO” search for anything ever again.

    I am #1 on Google, MSN and Yahoo for my target keywords. Google is hanging in at my #1 traffic source, but Yahoo is #6 and MSN #7 in terms of traffic, behind PRWeb #2, iTunes #3, StumbleUpon #4 and Twitter #5.

    So in reply to @Brian (who seems to have lots of time to comment, leaving 6 of 19 here so far) it’s not just my “personal experience” from Twitter, its hard data, stats collected last month, from sites that my corporation operates.

    People can live in the “Google” world as long as they want, with its 2001 search technology. But future traffic (people under 30) lies in (dare I say it) Web 2.0 properties with its social WOM (word of mouth) marketing.

    Change happens. Search and its effectiveness have declined. When it comes to getting traffic and paying customers, search has become secondary in many markets. It’s no longer effective at getting the word out and takes too long.

  21. Peteski

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    You have to stop letting Enzo cut your hair, try Gino - he’s the best.

  22. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:48 pm

    @Michael Campbell

    Your “corporation’s” experience with twitter is irrelevant.

    MonthlyTweets = 12,000,000 // Tweet Scan
    MonthlySearches = 61,000,000,000 // comScore

    MonthlyTweets*x = MonthlySearches
    x ~= 5,000

    Move along now.

  23. Amy Huang

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    @Brian Sounds like someone needs a hobby. Looks like Lord of the Flies mentality around here.

  24. Brian Mingus

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    @Amy Huang, right, just without the plane crash, deserted island, all of which is on fire, cold blooded murder, infighting, factions and a mysterious beast. Good analogy!

  25. bambooo

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

    tc …..

  26. chance

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:34 pm

    If Yahoo or MSN really wants to be a search company - then they should just white out their home page and put a single search bar like Google.

    Everything else is just a distraction to the branding of search and on Yahoo - people ready sports, finances, news, but don’t search. On Google, there is nothing to do but search. Of course, if Yahoo abandons the content and goes only with search, the users might go away also. In the 90’s Yahoo was the web directory for everything.

    If yahoo really wants to lead in Search, it has to Brand an independent venture as its Search Engine, Genie, wizard, etc. Otherwise, consumers will not know they are supposed to equate Yahoo = search.

  27. Hendra

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    Is Arrington a big fan of Microsoft?

  28. bambooo

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    Yahooooooooooooooooooooooooooo is a great Company…………………………………………………. Good Luck

  29. jf

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:42 pm

    Can I ask a dumb question? What does it mean that more than 100% of Microsoft’s profits are tied up in Windows & Office?

  30. Amy Huang

    May 6th, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    @Brian LOL “infighting, factions and a mysterious beast” yea it’s hard to read the label when you are the can. You are obviously a master debater and love to do it every day.

  31. Michael Campbell

    May 7th, 2008 at 7:36 am

    My “corporations experience with Twitter is irrelevant?” I would hardly call the ability to reach thought leaders and decision makers in my market irrelevant. The only thing that’s irrelevant is your argument that, “Search is not quickly becoming secondary to anything.” Search is becoming secondary to social networks in many markets.

  32. Mighty Sam Faceball

    May 8th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    Andrew Ross Sorkin says “Bill Miller. Bill Miller. Bill Miller. Blah Blah Blah.”

    What a load of crap.

    Andrew Ross Sorkin says “Yak Yak Yak. Wah. Wah. Wah.”

    Who the frick is Andrew Ross Sorkin.

    Jeeze. Charlie Rose show looks like a morgue. Good thing Arrington didn’t go there. Otherwise he might have caught ebola virus or something contageous at PBS.

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