When Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz suggested yesterday at the D7 conference that she would consider doing a deal with Microsoft for “boatloads of money,” she might have been doing more than just answering a hypothetical question. It could have been an opening salvo. If the late-night buzz I heard at the conference is correct, Bartz is meeting this morning with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who is also at the conference and is due to be onstage today. The two started talking in April about renewing negotiations between Yahoo and Microsoft over a search and advertising deal.
Last summer, Yahoo rejected Microsoft’s offer to buy its search business after earlier talks to buy the entire company also fell apart. But that was before Bartz became Yahoo’s new CEO in January. By March, Ballmer was publicly begging Bartz to come back to the negotiating table. When Bartz was asked yesterday if the two were talking, she said, “Yeah, a little bit.”
If Ballmer wants to get anywhere with her this morning, he had better bring more than just a boatload of money. Bartz also made it clear yesterday that the data produced by Yahoo’s search engine is crucial to Yahoo’s overall advertising business and to improve its consumer properties. But she also signaled that she is more open to a search deal than she was when she first took the job:
We went from ‘we will never sell it’ to ‘if they have the right idea.’ There are two parties in all of this. The other party has all the money, we have the data. It is not like a big secret what happens when you do a deal.
When it comes to winning in search, money is no object for Microsoft. Ballmer is expected to unveil a brand new version of Microsoft’s own search engine this morning, internally dubbed project Kumo (possibly to be branded Bing). Microsoft is reportedly planning on spending $80 million to $100 million on just the marketing campaign for Kumo/Bing. It is the data-sharing discussion which might be the stickler. So don’t expect any announcements today. But at least the two sides are talking again.
Update: Walt Mossberg asked Ballmer ontsage today, “Have you met with Yahoo recently?” Ballmer tried to dodge the question, replying: “I don’t have to answer it. I can talk about the new Zune HD.” Then he spoke in generalities about how there could be a search partnership if it makes sense. Mossberg pressed him again, and Ballmer took the easy way out, telling Mossberg, “You were at the meeting. I went into the green room to get ready. You saw it.” Bartz had left a note for Ballmer in the green room joking that “the makeup couldn’t fix me if it tried,” says Ballmer. Sounds like a love note to me.
Come on Yahoo! As much as I like singing your name like the yodeling guy from the commercials, everytime I visit your site, doesn’t mean you should back down from a sweet deal like this!
It was a good deal, which was rejected by Yahoo. If you compare Yahoo and Google in the search market, Yahoo was far behind despite in the second place. Microsoft knows this and I doubt if it will offer a price for Yahoo anywhere higher than the one it offered before. That is if Microsoft considers again to buy Yahoo. With all the buzz, Microsoft is making these weeks with its new, upcoming search engine, called Bing, I am afraid Microsoft is far from thinking of buying out Yahoo.
Don’t be so obsessed with these ‘market shares’, MBA’s! In this crazy new super-interconnected world these ’shares’ can come and go in an instant. Look at Chrome and guess what it will do with Mozilla in a short while. They will just stomp on it and that’s it.
Think about the substance. Users WANT something (they don’t know what actually), keep offering something to them, don’t sit on your … counting on the persistence of your imaginary ’shares’ (and the price of your personal options of course).
Chrome will stomp on nothing. Javascript is ubiquitous, any speed advantage will be quickly replicated.
google!
.
These discussions have a negative effects on the real hard working engineers trying to produce anything compelling.
Why? You should keep coding to the requirements you were provided and not get distracted by this stuff. Besides, what has Yahoo developed in the last couple of years that’s compelling?
Nothing. She can posture all she wants, yahoo is very weak in the negotiation.
P.S. That photo is just mean. Is it from her time in the Wizard of Oz?
what time is MS presenting today?
I’ll call it “the BING effect”. I believe Microsoft and BING is like North Korea and their atomic bomb, just noise to get attention. Microsoft will buy Yahoo next month.
imagine be-ing ballmer having to sing a new name for his engine and on the church alter the sameday asking for the hand of another engine. reminds me of a “baller-ina.” yeah Y gots patent 360 but that will not be needed for next generation natural language “location engines.” yeah Gaggl made all there money from it when in reality the end product is garbage. the internet’s not about search it’s about location and always will be. its nice to see behemoths going in the wrong direction.
KillerLocator.com – easy prey
TechCrunch: Would it be possible to block all comments from anythingLocator.com and/or @MyLocator? This guy is a troll, and an idiot at that. Nearly every story has some worthless spammy comment with some worthless spam site appended at the end. It makes the community less trustworthy, less attractive, and less safe.
Like most things that reach this stage, it’s like all about the valuation of the deal at this point, a.k.a. making Yahoo shareholder’s cash happy. http://www.netw...nity/node/42225
Mitchell
What valuation do people think MSFT and Yahoo would agree? Would it be 50% less than MSFT offered last year?
Wow, finally an up to date photo of Ms Bartz.
I seem to usually see a stock photo where she looks years younger, and like some sort of Barbie Doll model.
looks decades younger to me.