Microsoft-Murdoch axis lurks as Yahoo twists and turns
Google tips up with two cents too
THE POTENTIAL YAHVOLE merger appears to be turning into quite a free for all. Microsoft is reported to be in discussions with News Corp over a joint bid for Yahoo while Yahoo is reportedly in discussions with Time Warner over a possible merger with AOL, in an attempt to stave off the hostile bid. Meanwhile, Yahoo is teaming up with Google to test ad outsourcing for two weeks.
According to the New York Times, discussions between Volish representatives and News Corp are at a sensitive stage, but it cites no sources. News Corp had originally been one of the parties in talks with Yahoo, when the company was frantically scurrying about looking for partners to help it fight off the increasingly hostile Microsoft.
Apparently News Corp decided that if you can’t beat the Vole, it would be better to just join it. According to the Wall Street Journal, in exchange for a bite of the Yahoo carcass, News Corp would probably offer up its Fox Interactive Media unit, which owns MySpace, and possibly cash to the Vole.
But Yahoo is simply refusing to give up without a fight. It emerged yesterday that the company was deep in talks with Time Warner’s AOL to merge AOL's business, apart from its legacy dial-up Internet access operations, into a combined Yahoo company. Yahoo would get cold hard cash from Time Warner in return for 20 per cent of a merged Yahoo-AOL, an anonymous spokesperson told the WSJ.
To make the Vole’s life even more difficult, Yahoo yesterday also announced that it was about to begin a two week test of search engine giant Google’s advertising system, which could help to either get MS to cough up a lot more cash for the company, or even provide Yahoo with enough security to stay independent.
The ad trials will allow Google to put targeted adverts next to Yahoo search results, in a move that could eventually lead to Yahoo outsourcing its whole search advertising system to the search engine giant.
It remains to be seen whether Yahoo’s latest efforts will be enough to stave off a hostile Volish takeover, including a lower offer from the $42 billion previously offered to close the deal. µ
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Comments
usually means the end user product gets worse, or vanishes altogether
What will all of that garbage mean to the end user of yahoo products - will their e-mail and geocities and groups services remain as they are (which are fine and don't need any alterations).Microsoft has hotmail already, AOL had some kind of free e-mail that ceased operating correctly & I never bothered finding out if they ever repaired it; google has e-mail and blogspaces.....what concerns me is that whoever wants to own yahoo will change those services mentioned, or remove them.