Only question remaining is whether Balmer pulls a De Niro “team” from Untouchables or Keitel
“clown” from Goodfellas…
Yahoo, Google ink ad-test deal; Microsoft is not amused
Under this agreement, up to 3 percent of Yahoos search volume will get Google ads slapped onto their results for a period of up to two weeks. It doesnt sound like much, but industry analysts have speculated that outsourcing the entire Yahoo search advertising function to Google might increase the companys cash flow by 25 percent in the first year. Googles monetization power is simply that much stronger. Lets hope for a detailed update on the outcome of this proof-of-concept when its over.
(via DaringFireball)
I, Cringely . The Pulpit . The Men Behind the Curtain | PBS
BUT KILLING GOOGLE ISNT THE POINT FOR MICROSOFT.
What we have here at Microsoft is a generational transition like weve seen in many other industries as leading companies go from robber barons to industry stalwarts. Look at railroads and oil in U.S. business history and youll see the same thing. And just as in those industries, Gates and Ballmer know that Microsofts style has to change with the times, but even more importantly to them Microsoft has to change because they simply lack confidence that any successor can do as well at playing hardball as Gates and Ballmer did.
Think of it like the generational change in command of an organized crime family. Tony Soprano wants the best both for his gang and for his son A.J., but does Tony really think he can count on Anthony Jr.s ability to put a cap in some future rival? Not likely. So Tony will push A.J toward investment banking and away from loan-sharking.
Same for Microsoft, which with its Yahoo acquisition will quite consciously try to convert itself into the next General Electric, a company that uses its sheer economic power to make most of its money. All those golf games with Jack Welch were for a purpose. Thats why Microsoft is assuming debt to buy Yahoo. It is a logical thing to do and will be accepted by Wall Street much more easily than if Ballmer explained that Microsoft was restructuring and acquiring debt to make it possible for the company to not just pay $44.6 billion for Yahoo, but probably another $100 billion for the other acquisitions that will shortly happen to position Microsoft in the GE space, where it will be protected from bad guesses on technology shifts.
Bill Gates is no fool. His companys pirate days are waning and a bold move is required to prove that to the world. Yahoo has no choice at all and can do little but quibble over price. Notice, too, that an all-cash deal gives Yang and Filo no stake in the combined company. They are gone.
Gruber straps on his funny in what’s sure to presage a shift to IR focus for DaringFireball:
Daring Fireball: Translation From PR-Speak to English of Selected Portions of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yangs Company-Wide Memo Regarding the Microsoft Takeover Bid
Company-wide memo from Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang earlier today, capitalization sic, as filed with the SEC:
