So.. Jerry Yang stepped down last week, and there was a lot of speculation (including by myself) about the MicroHoo deal finally going through… especially with Icahn on the board.
However, things have changed now… for a start Yahoo’s share price has dropped significantly and after being re-buffed twice… it looks like Microsoft is not contemplating acquisition options any more. According to this WSJ article, where Ballmer said they had ‘moved on’.
The rumor-mill is projecting a potential Search deal… similar to that of Google’s but I’m not sure how that would work. I don’t for a minute think Microsoft is in a position to provide Yahoo with their sponsored links!??!
For a start in many markets (including the likes of Australia) Yahoo actually powers Microsoft sponsored ads on the local MSN sites. Check 9MSN.com.au for example (the 9 refers to Channel 9 which is a partner in the local JV). But let’s look at the US specifically, which was where the Google-Yahoo search deal was meant to happen… where Microsoft sponsored links do exist, I still don’t think there are enough Long Tail ads on the Microsoft AdCenter to add much value to Yahoo’s results page.
Here’s a comparison done on SearchEngine Land by Danny Sullivan… of both Yahoo options, back when the Google-Yahoo deal was first announced.
In hindsight, I bet Yang regrets not putting aside the ideological differences and went along with the Microsoft acquisition plan (if Google didn’t lobby enough to stop it).
With Yahoo starting to sell off some of the acquired brands they’d purchased over the last decade… are we witnessing the slow demise of an internet giant? Or will it just shift to focus on the markets (Asia specifically) where it continues to dominate the search landscape?
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