Bartz Talks About MSFT Deal, Google & More At D7 Conference

May 27, 2009 at 5:27pm ET by Matt McGee

If Microsoft brings “boatloads of money and the right technology,” Yahoo would be willing to strike a long-rumored search deal. So said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz at the D7 Conference today, where All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher interviewed her on stage. Bartz followed up that statement by saying Microsoft would need “biiiig boatloads of money” if it wanted to buy Yahoo entirely.

That’s just one of the headlines coming out of Bartz’s appearance, but certainly not the only one. According to coverage from Barron’s, the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, and All Things D here are other highlights:

Yahoo is interested in video advertising and social networking, and would consider acquisitions in those two areas.
Bartz said Google is “very good” in search and with its maps/Earth service, but Google doesn’t have the same reach & positioning that Yahoo has. “We are a place people come to be informed. Google is a place people go to do search.”
Bartz listed Yahoo’s three most important properties/focuses as its home page, search, and its mail/news/sports/finance sites.
She emphasized Yahoo’s deep content several times, at one point saying Facebook doesn’t give users news, stock quotes, and “a lot of things.”
Yahoo needs to make its user experience simpler and more customizable.
Bartz says Yahoo has 76% reach in the 18-24 year old demographic, and half the mobile users in the U.S.
Yahoo’s new home page should debut this fall.
Bartz wants Yahoo to get more local. On its new home page, users will be able to access highly local apps and information. She mentioned wanting to show high school football “Flip videos.”
The need for better organizational structure at Yahoo is one of the main things that led her to accept the CEO position. “Yahoo is on its way to being a lot simpler and therefore faster on its feet,” Bartz said.
Bartz doesn’t expect any more layoffs.

There’s more coverage of the Bartz interview on Techmeme.

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee

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