Jan 12, 2009 at 2:22pm ET by Greg Sterling

As the MicroHoo dance continues, here's a wacky idea that just occurred to me: why doesn't Nokia invest in or acquire Yahoo? It's partly suggested by this Fortune article that discusses the challenges that the world's leading handset maker faces in penetrating North America. Nokia has added a bunch of online services that try and bridge the internet and mobile. Indeed, Nokia is trying to position itself as an internet company of sorts. And mobile search will be a big ad-revenue driver in the medium term. It's already a critical element of an overall mobile offering. Yahoo, obviously, is [...]

Ballmer: Do Yahoo Deal Sooner, Not Later

Jan 9, 2009 at 1:12pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Sick of hearing about Microsoft being interested in buying Yahoo's search business? So am I. Just buy it already. The saga -- now nearly a year old -- is back in the news. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is now saying that a deal should happen within the next few months, due to Microsoft and Yahoo having new "leaders" in place. For Yahoo, that means a new CEO providing leadership. As we covered yesterday, various reports indicate that a new CEO might be named as early as next week. Meanwhile, Microsoft's "Online Services Group," of which search is part of, was just taken over by former Y [...]

Yahoo Board Mulls CEO Pick, Layoffs Loom

Dec 9, 2008 at 8:46am ET by Greg Sterling

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal Yahoo's board is considering offering the CEO job to Arun Sarin, the newly retired CEO of EU mobile carrier Vodafone. It's merely speculation at this point but Sarin is attractive for several reasons: Mr. Sarin, 54 years old, has largely stayed out of speculation over whom Yahoo might tap for the job, which has included a wide range of executives from other Internet giants and technology companies. But the Yahoo board had been seeking a seasoned technology executive with experience running a public company from the start, and Mr. Sarin, who mee [...]

Search Biz: Yahoo Soap Opera Update; Google’s Mobile Plans; Ask.com’s Creepy Commercials & More

Dec 2, 2008 at 3:41pm ET by Matt McGee

The Yahoo-Microsoft-AOL soap opera continues. (You expected otherwise?) At AllThingsD, Kara Swisher was pretty adamant Monday that Yahoo and Microsoft are not in secret talks right now about a new search partnership, and she called the weekend report from The Times (UK) "inaccurate." Part of that UK story had Ross Levinson and Jon Miller taking over the new company, but Levinson told AllThingsD the story was "total fiction." Then, of course, a big soap-operatic (is that a word?) twist today, as Barry Schwartz recapped a Wall Street Journal report saying Jon Miller is trying to raise money t [...]

Microsoft Says It’s Open To Search-Only Deal With Yahoo

Nov 19, 2008 at 3:57pm ET by Greg Sterling

Coming just 24 hours after the resignation of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is saying publicly that Redmond is "open" to a "search collaboration" with Yahoo but not a total acquisition of the Sunnyvale company. The Wall Street Journal and Seattle PI report on the remarks, made during a Microsoft shareholder meeting. Meanwhile, Valleywag says that Yahoo has lost Sean Suchter, a key search executive, to Microsoft. The search collaboration that Ballmer referred to would presumably be similar to the search (as opposed to acquisition) deal previously offered to Yahoo -- esse [...]

The New Yahoo CEO: Let The Speculation Games Begin

Nov 18, 2008 at 10:17am ET by Greg Sterling

Wait, they already have. PaidContent posted a fairly comprehensive roundup yesterday of possible successors to outgoing Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. (Yahoo is up in early trading on the news of Yang's resignation, which was received favorably by most financial analysts.) PaidContent also poses the question: will the board go with a tech executive or a media executive? The answer is that Yahoo needs someone comfortable in both worlds. The incoming CEO, whoever he or she is, is in a similar position as US President-elect Barack Obama -- inheriting something of a mess. Yahoo has a great brand and as [...]

MSFT CEO Ballmer to Yahoo: No New Bid

Nov 7, 2008 at 11:24am ET by Greg Sterling

Speaking at the "Web 2.0" conference in San Francisco earlier this week Yahoo CEO seemed to invite Microsoft to make another acquisition bid for the portal. "To this day the best thing for Microsoft to do is buy Yahoo," the BBC quotes Yang telling interviewer John Battelle. This morning, from Australia, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer decided not to take Yang's advice. "We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition," Ballmer said. Reaffirmation of Microsoft's position that it wouldn't try again to buy Yahoo sent the latter's shares down in early trading. However, given t [...]

Yahoo Invites Another Bid From Microsoft

Nov 6, 2008 at 7:39am ET by Greg Sterling

Everyone at Yahoo must be totally exhausted -- perhaps most of all CEO Jerry Yang. It's probably apprpriate to now use modifiers such as "beleaguered" or "embattled" to describe Yang. Mike Arrington has called for Yang to be replaced, as have others before him. After the termination of the Google paid search deal yesterday, more people will likely be doing the same. Yahoo has many initiatives in various stages of execution and still has tremendous value to the consumer public (consumers don't care who the CEO of Yahoo is). But if Yahoo were a parliamentary regime, there would be a vote of " [...]

Citing Risk, Google Ends Yahoo Paid Search Deal

Nov 5, 2008 at 11:14am ET by Greg Sterling

Only days after the two companies submitted a modified proposal to try and win the favor of anti-trust regulators, Google has unilaterally decided to discontinue its paid-search agreement with Yahoo, citing "a protracted legal battle but also damage to relationships with valued partners." Yahoo issued a public statement expressing disappointment with Google's decision: Yahoo! continues to believe in the benefits of the agreement and is disappointed that Google has elected to withdraw from the agreement rather than defend it in court. Google notified Yahoo! of its refusal to move forward w [...]

Now A Yahoo Board Member, Icahn Continues to Pitch MSFT Search Deal

Nov 4, 2008 at 10:31am ET by Greg Sterling

Billionaire inventor/corporate gadfly Carl Icahn, who owns 5 percent of Yahoo and is now a board member, continues to publicly advocate a MIcrosoft deal for the portal site. Icahn has at least two board members aligned with his positions (former Viacom CEO Frank J. Biondi Jr. and former Nextel CEO John H. Chapple) based on an earlier settlement that saw him and the two handpicked others added to the Yahoo board. Since Icahn joined the Yahoo board, and since the rejection of the multiple Microsoft offers, the company has lost roughly 40 percent of its value. Yahoo and Google just resubmi [...]

Republican Congressman Calls For More “In-Depth” Review Of Proposed Google-Yahoo Search Deal & Another Microsoft-Yahoo Deal On Deck?

Oct 29, 2008 at 9:27am ET by Greg Sterling

Texas Republican Congressman and Google critic Joe Barton wants more information about the proposed paid-search deal between Google and Yahoo. Dissatisfied with Yahoo's responses to his questions to date, Barton has asked the US Department of Justice to "thoroughly investigate issues of competition and privacy that Yahoo failed to address fully." He is concerned about Google developing "an effective monopoly" in paid search. If you're having a sense of deja vu, it's probably because all this sounds very much like a rerun of Barton's public pronouncements in scrutinizing the Google-Double [...]

Google Negotiates With DOJ To Avoid Suit, Yahoo Continues M&A Dance With AOL

Oct 14, 2008 at 2:33pm ET by Greg Sterling

Silicon Alley Insider was reporting that a Yahoo-AOL deal was imminent. Now the site says that a source within Time Warner contradicted the imminent claim but says the parties are still talking. Meanwhile just a hop, skip and a jump from AOL's Virgina headquarters, Google and Yahoo are seeking to head off a US Justice Department anti-trust action to block the paid search partnership between the two. The Wall Street Journal conveys the impression that anti-trust ligitation is being activity prepared by the government and that it is all but certain unless Google and Yahoo can head it off at t [...]

Yahoo Investor Seeks New Microsoft Takeover Bid

Oct 10, 2008 at 9:17am ET by Greg Sterling

Mithras Capital, a small Yahoo institutional shareholder, is suggesting that Microsoft take another look at Yahoo and buy the company for $22 per share. That's $9 less than Microsoft's original bid for Yahoo during the takeover saga earlier this year. Yahoo shares are now trading near their 52 week low. As of the stock market's close yesterday Yahoo shares were trading at $12.65. Microsoft's final bid for Yahoo was $33 per share before Redmond formally pulled its offer in May. Yahoo's 52 week high was just over $34 per share. At the time of the original Microsoft offer in February, Yahoo s [...]

Vote Count Controversy: Yahoo Shareholder Wants Recount

Aug 5, 2008 at 12:08pm ET by Greg Sterling

At last Friday's annual Yahoo shareholder meeting, the Yahoo slate of directors was re-elected, with CEO Jerry Yang and Chariman Roy Bostock receiving 15 percent and 20 percent "no" votes. AllThingsD points out these numbers are actually better than last year in the absence of the MicroHoo controversy and proxy contest. Yahoo Director Robert A. Kotick, who was re-elected, is resigning to make way for Carl Icahn. Capital Research Global Investors, which owns 6.5 percent of Yahoo, is asking for a recount, chiefly as an expression of its frustration and anger with Yang and Bostock. Any recount, [...]

Microsoft To Take Another Run At Yahoo In 2009?

Aug 4, 2008 at 12:08pm ET by Greg Sterling

If absurdist playwright Samuel Beckett were still alive, he might be tempted to write a drama about the Microsoft and Yahoo non-merger that seems to keep generating news and speculation. Better yet, maybe living playwright David Mamet will take a crack at some point. The latest justification for writing yet another post about whether or not Microsoft will take another run at Yahoo is an eWeek piece in which Eric Jackson, who runs Ironfire Capital, a Yahoo investor, argues that Microsoft still needs Yahoo and predicts another acquisition attempt. The larger article is actually more about how [...]

Report: AOL Units Being Readied For Sale

Aug 4, 2008 at 11:43am ET by Greg Sterling

For months there's been anticipation that some or all of AOL would be sold. Talks between AOL and Yahoo have been ongoing, as they have with Microsoft to a lesser degree. But months ago AOL decided to separate its ISP business (8.7 million subscribers) from its advertising and consumer portal businesses. According to the Wall Street Journal today, the accounting exercise of dividing assets and liabilities between the two sides of the business has now largely been concluded. That means the way is now cleared for a sale or merger of one or both businesses. The WSJ article suggests both will be [...]

Yahoo Survives Annual Meeting, Re-Elects Board, Microsoft Cries Foul

Aug 1, 2008 at 6:31pm ET by Greg Sterling

Perhaps we're coming to the point where we'll no longer be writing about Microsoft and Yahoo and their failed courtship. We'll see. Today Yahoo survived its long-anticipated shareholder meeting. It's detailed in this CNET blog post. At the conclusion of the meeting, Yahoo issued a statement that its slate of directors was elected, following the settlement of the Carl Icahn proxy challenge. According to CNET, Yahoo board chairman Roy Bostock said, "At no point did the board or management in any way, despite rumors and speculation, ever resist Microsoft's proposal . . . There was never any dou [...]

Icahn Settles With Yahoo, Joins Board

Jul 21, 2008 at 12:36pm ET by Barry Schwartz

As Greg noted earlier, Carl Ichan was seeking control of Yahoo's board. Instead, Yahoo and Ichan came up with a compromise, giving Ichan 3 of the 11 seats on Yahoo's board. Eight members of the board will stand for reelection, including Yang. Robert Kotick will not be up for reelection. The board will expand to 11 members, with the two remaining seats chosen by the board. The possible two seats will go to the list provided by Icahn. You can see all the buzz on this news at Techmeme. [...]

As Yahoo Proxy Vote Looms, Questions Arise About Board Composition And Management’s Future

Jul 21, 2008 at 6:39am ET by Greg Sterling

The never-ending MicroHoo drama has provided virtual reams of blog posts and endless fodder for speculation. The latest installment involves the question of whether Carl Icahn's proxy battle for control of Yahoo's board will see any success. In case you joined this story late, institutional shareholders are frustrated by Yahoo's unwillingness to take the original Microsoft offer, but may be uncomfortable with Icahn's apparent lack of a strategy--other than sell to Redmond. Now some shareholders (a group known as "Yahoo Plan B") are calling for a compromise and for the election of a split boar [...]

Report: AOL Merger Or Sale Likely In The Next Two Weeks

Jul 16, 2008 at 7:58am ET by Greg Sterling

Reuters is reporting that TimeWarner is seeking to strike a deal with either Yahoo or Microsoft for AOL. It says that talks between the companies "have taken on new urgency ahead of Yahoo's Aug 1 shareholders meeting." Any deal with Yahoo would apparently be along the lines of a merger, with TimeWarner owning a minority stake in the combined company. By contrast, a deal with Microsoft would be an outright sale. A Yahoo-AOL combination would present some of the same challenges and difficult choices that we earlier speculated about in a MicroHoo merger. Arguably this scenario would be more [...]

Get Our News, Everywhere!

Follow @sengineland

Got a tip? Tell us here!

Most Likes
Most Tweets
Comments

Our Stories Being Liked on Facebook

Search Engine Land Sponsors

Advertise With Us

Free Daily Search News Recap!

SearchCap is a once-per-day newsletter update - sign up below and get the news delivered to you!

Click to watch SMX conference video

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

North America

SMX Advanced - June 11-12, 2013
SMX East - Oct. 1-3, 2013
SMX Social Media Marketing - Nov. 7-8 2013
SMX West - March 11-13, 2014
SMX Toronto - March 2014

EMEA

SMX London - May 15-16, 2013
SMX Paris - June 6-7, 2013
SMX Stockholm - Oct. 14-15, 2013
SMX Milan - Novemeber 7-8, 2013
SMX Israel - January 2014
SMX Munich - April 2014

APAC

SMX Sydney - April 2014

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.